There are a lot of hotels near the port in Fort Lauderdale, and we have tried many of them. We don’t have one specific hotel that we recommend, we usually look at price and understand that often the furnishings will be dated. We also look at Trip Advisor/Google Reviews to see reviews of the properties from other travelers. We have never booked a hotel through Celebrity so don’t know if you get transportation–though honestly, we really don’t want to take a cruise transfer as it’s normally on a crowded bus and takes a long time.

A word on transportation to the port:

Most hotels are only a mile or two from the pier–especially those on 17th St. Some hotels offer shuttle service, but that service moves slowly (up to an hour to get to the ship) and often has long wait times. Plus, it’s annoying that you may have to stop at several other ships to unload people–and that can take a long time…and it feels even longer when you can see your ship right over there. Those services often cost $20-$30 per person.

We have simply used Uber (or a cab) to get to the port. It comes when we want it (we can even pre-book in the app) and it delivers us quickly and directly to the pier–typically for $25-$35 for all of us. Because of that, it is usually CHEAPER than the hotel shuttle. When we disembark, we just call for an Uber and they get there in about 10 minutes…again much faster than waiting for that hotel shuttle to roll around with it’s many people and jam-packed luggage trailer.

Hi Karen,

Our last time we were on Reflection before it went in for dry dock was April of ’22…and then we were on right after dry dock in January of ’23. It’s been a little more than a year, but I didn’t notice many updates around the ship. At that time, I know that the cruise line was still recovering from the pandemic, so budgets were limited. I think they stuck to the painting of the hull and necessary repairs.

We had a WONDERFUL time cruising with you, Gail! We’re so happy you had a fun, relaxing experience and want to cruise more. We’d hoped people would feel that way. We hope to cruise again with you one day!