We will be cruising on the DVC Member cruise next August and I'm starting to look at booking a hotel near the port for the night before departure. I'm interested in the Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port & Convention Center since I can use my CC pts to book. Has anyone stayed there before? Some reviews online are good, some are bad so figure I'll ask the Dis! Also, I saw that there is a Publix nearby which would be helpful to stock up on stuff that my picky toddler eats. Will I be allowed to bring packaged food items (no fresh fruit/vegs) in my luggage onto the cruise? It's been 10 years since we've been on a cruise and first one with a child. Thanks!
We stayed there in March. It wasn't horrible but it's in need of remodeling. Little things like sofa edges looking a bit worn. It wasn't so old as to have tube tv. lol. Our room was clean and everything functioned properly. They offer a free buffet breakfast and the room where food is on display is a bit small compared to other similar hotels that offer this such as Hampton Inn, Fairfield Inn, Spring Hill Suites, etc. There is outdoor seating too if the indoor area gets crowded.
At the time, I first felt like I wouldn't stay there again but we're cruising from PE again in April and will probably stay there again. We got a good deal using our cc points last time and hopefully will get that again.
Yes, Publix is a short walk from the hotel. We bought bottled water to carry on. You can carry on sealed, pre-packaged foods but no fruit or meat, IIRC. We only ever carry on bottled water and occasionally a bag of candy such as jelly beans or Swedish fish so I've never explored what else could be carried on.
There is an Italian restaurant next door to the Hyatt called Mezzaluna. The menu looked expensive and we weren't looking to splurge so we walked one more property down and ate at the Outback Steakhouse. At no time in our walks to the Outback and Publix did I feel unsafe.
Friends of ours joined us at the last minute (surprised us at our home airport gate) and they stayed at the Renaissance and really liked it. It was close enough to the port that in the morning, they took a walk down to the port just to see the ship while passengers were disembarking.
One more thing. Unlike most hotels close to the airport, this Hyatt Place does not offer free shuttle from FLL to the hotel. I had looked at several hotels for different trips and for some reason, I thought the website said it offered free shuttle. After waiting a while, I looked around the website and couldn't find anything so I called the hotel and was connected to someone who offered to book a paid shuttle. I'm not 100% sure of the charge, I think around $12 or 15 pp. I declined and decided to Uber. In the 20 minutes we wasted dealing with all of that, it felt like 5 more planes landed and the pick up area became much more crowded and the Uber price went up by a lot, making the shuttle the better deal. I should have just Ubered as soon as we got our luggage.
