Fort Lauderdale - Hotel for the DAY?

Thanks for all the great advice I've seen on these forums. A question I have...

We return from our cruise on March 14th, arriving in Fort Lauderdale around 8:30am. We don't need to be at the airport until around 4pm.

Ideally we'd like to find a hotel that would let us have a room for the day (say 9-4), and that is on the beach. We'd like to finish our vacation with a day on the beach, but would like a room to store our luggage, have a shower before getting on the plane, and give our daughter a nap if necessary. I've called and email several hotels, but either got no response or was told they don't do day rates.

Anybody have any ideas?

Alternatively, any other suggestions for things to do in Fort Lauderdale for the day?

Thanks
Ian

I'm wondering if you're also on Celebrity's Millenium. We're on that ship 3/7 to 3/14 and are bringing children. We've tried to find others on the cruise w/ kids but so far no luck. Let me know.

I don't think you have as much time as you think you do. In the past I've just headed to the airport and waited it out. Assuming you can't get a hotel, the cruiselines sometimes offer excursions in the debarkation city. Then they'd be handling your bags. You could also try checking your bags at a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale. I've done this in other cities, like Chicago, when I've checked out of a hotel but have a later flight home and want to continue sightseeing until then. I've also done it when I wasn't even a guest at the hotel (they don't ask - they just expect a tip). I don't know what to tell you about the nap issue, except that if your daugther doesn't get a nap that day, she may be so exhausted she'll sleep on the flight home which has it's own benefits.

Hi Christine

Actually, we're on the Costa Atlantica. Hopefully there will be kids our daughter's age (5) on board for her to play with.

We are kind of assuming that (if we ask nicely) we could just go back to the Sheraton, where we're staying the night before the cruise, and have our bags stored for the day without too much difficulty, and maybe even use the showers at the pool. Our flight home isn't till after 6pm, so I'm thinking getting to the airport at 4 would be about right, unless I read somewhere that getting through security takes more than 2 hours. I'd rather spend the last day of our vacation on the beach than at the airport.

The nap was worrying me, especially as we're thinking she may be exhausted after a week of playing, shore visits etc., but she seems to have made a big leap in maturity the last few weeks, where she can cope much better without a nap, and even stay up late without falling into hysterics when she gets tired. A few weeks ago I would have doubted that she would sleep on the plane (this is a girl that slept less than an hour on an overnight to England last year), but now it may be a possibility. We'll make sure she gets a good nap the last full day at sea, and hopefully she'll be fine.

Ian

Since you are staying at the Sheraton for a pre-cruise night, did you ask them if you could get a day room or else check your luggage for the day? They might let you since you will be staying with them one night pre-cruise.
Don

Don - yes I've tried asking Sheraton for a day room, but they won't do it. Of all the places I called (beach hotels) only one would, but couldn't guarantee a room before noon, and I'm not sure I want to pay close to $100 for 3-4 hours. I think the problem is that most of the hotels are fully booked on the Saturday night, both with cruise passangers and spring break. Several of the airport hotels would do day rooms, but we'd rather be at the beach.

I've also emailed the Sheraton a couple of times to ask about luggage storage and they haven't responded. I figure we'll just ask when we're there, it'll be easier to convince them that they should help us out when asking in person.

Ian