BACKGROUND INFORMATION: This is our 6th cruise, 3rd on Celebrity. Have also sailed NCL (twice) and RCI (once). DH (48) and I (46) were celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary on the cruise.
PRE-CRUISE : We flew into FLL two days early arriving on Good Friday, with the ship sailing on Easter Sunday. Northwest managed to get us started off a bit awkwardly as only two of our three pieces of luggage arrived (third piece did arrive on next flight). We rented a car for the two days pre-cruise, as we wanted to see a bit of south Florida. We stayed at the Florida Grande ( a Hilton property) which is at the end of the 17th St. Causeway, and about ¾ of a mile walk to the FT. Lauderdale Beach. The hotel is a bit dated, but our room was quite nice, and recently updated. There is a nice pool area and the pool bar was hopping both Friday and Saturday evening, with many of the guests getting ready to leave on Sat or Sun cruise departures. Great place to share the pre-cruise excitement. The Florida Grande is also a water taxi stop, which is quite convenient. On Friday afternoon, we hopped the water taxi to the Las Olas shopping area, and then walked from there to the Ft. Lauderdale Beach and from the beach back to the hotel as coming from the north (Wisconsin) it felt great to be outside and walking! Had some nice appetizers at one of the restaurants along Ft. Lauderdale Beach, which given it was Spring Break, wasn't as crazy as I was expecting. Dinner Friday evening, at Bimini Beach, which is a short walk from the hotel. Food was good.
On Saturday, we took a nice long walk in the morning along the beach, then drove to a couple of shopping areas to pick up provisions for the cruise (light for the balcony, casual shoes for DH, etc.). Then off to Little Havana for perhaps the best meal of the trip (and we did eat good on the ship). We had lunch at Versailles Restaurant, apparently an institution in Little Havana. I had a roast pork sandwich was to die for. If you have a chance, I would recommend it as a stop. From there, spent the afternoon in South Beach. Unfortunately, it rained most of the afternoon, so we left sooner than we expected to and took a leisurely drive up A1A through all the beach communities. Quiet evening at the pool bar, where we ate dinner and met other cruisers.
Great location, quiet. Storage adequate, particularly if you are creative.