Embarkation Day on Celebrity Ascent | Celebrity Cruise BlogThere's a special thrill when you pull into the port and see your cruise ship in person on embarkation day. 
Celebrity Ascent in Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades
This 7 Night Western Caribbean Cruise on Celebrity Ascent departed from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In This Post:Checking in at Port Everglades | Celebrity cruise Review BlogWe had already checked in for our cruise on the Celebrity App, but as you can imagine from this picture, checking in is an efficient process in this elegant cruise port terminal. We were dropped off outside at 1pm, took the following pic at 1:04pm and were inside our room by 1:18pm! 
A classy and efficient check-in process
When can you check in for a Celebrity Cruise? You can check in for your Celebrity Cruise 45 days before embarkation using the Celebrity Cruises app or website. Infinite Veranda | Celebrity Ascent ReviewWe spent the week in an infinite veranda stateroom 8280. This is a balcony cabin on Celebrity Ascent. 
Infinite Veranda 8280 on Celebrity Ascent Cruise Ship
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Padrino's Cuban Cuisine Pics & Review
FORT LAUDERDALE RESTAURANT REVIEWS
Affordable Fort Lauderdale Tours
FLORIDA HOTEL REVIEWS
- Port Everglades Cruise Port Hotel Review: Gallery One Doubletree by Hilton Fort Lauderdale
- Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel Review with Photos
- Holiday Inn Sebring Florida Hotel Review (HGTV Hometown Takeover) - coming soon
- Hyatt Regency Miami Cruise Port Hotel Review with Photos - coming soon
- Villa Lemon Tree Venice Beach Pool House Review with Photos - coming soon
Miami Restaurant Reviews
- El Primo Red Tacos Miami Review - Too Good To Go Review
- Meraki Greek Bistro Restaurant Review - Miami Happy Hour Review
- A Family Brickell Review - Too Good To Go Review
- Dumplings Mi Amor Review - Miami Ramen and Dumpling Restaurant Review
- Marabu Coal Fired Cuban Cuisine - Miami Happy Hour Review
- Raccoon Coffee and Kitchen Miami Food Truck Review - Too Good to Go Review
- Versailles Cuban Cuisine Miami Restaurant Review
- Azucar Ice Cream Company Review - Miami Little Havana Calle Ocho
- Miami Slice Review - Pizza Review
Port Everglades Cruise Hotel Review
After disembarkation day from our Southern Caribbean Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas, we checked in to GalleryOne a Double Tree Suites by Hilton in Fort Lauderdale for a few days.
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In This Post:Port Everglades Cruise Hotel Review
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If you're looking for a hotel near Ft. Lauderdale's Port Everglades for an overnight stay before or after your cruise, hopefully this photo review will help you decide if GalleryOne DoubleTree is the right fit for you!
Water TAxi Stop 7
You can purchase a water taxi ticket for $38 that gives you unlimited rides. They also offer multi-day passes and annual passes.
Outdoor Space
One fun thing outside of the hotel was the placement of outdoor games to pass the time along the water.
Would you be playing corn hole or jenga?!
Outdoor Bar
There is a nice outdoor bar if you would like to enjoy a drink along the waterway with plenty of palm trees in view!
This area gets lively in the evenings and when the hotel holds events.
Pool
Lobby Cafe
There is a small cafe counter in the lobby of the Double Tree where you can order a latte if the in-room coffee isn't cutting it for you.
Cafe Menu with prices
Below you can see the menu with prices for some non-coffee beverage options including Julius Meinl teas.
You can also grab a quick breakfast yogurt parfait, fruit cup, piece of fruit or croissant/bagel.
Vue on the Water Restaurant Menu with Prices
If you're wondering what the prices are like at the restaurant and what kind of foods they offer, here is the menu for Vue on the Water.
Smoothies for $10 and beers are $7.50/8.50.
Lobby Bar
If you'd like to enjoy pre-dinner drinks with your friends, there is a bar in the lobby.
Second Floor Views
With some time to kill before check in, we explored the public spaces of the hotel. On the second floor you can enjoy some nice views from these floor-to-ceiling windows!
Checking In at Galleryone Double Tree Ft Lauderdale
It was finally time to check in and if you have allergies you will be happy to know that Double Tree now carries allergy friendly cookies for their guests!
More on the cookies later.. 😉
Room Tour
The GalleryOne Double Tree in Fort Lauderdale offers suites, meaning the rooms are very spacious as you will see!
Kitchen
Upon entering the suite, the kitchen was located to the left. It is well equipped with a dishwasher, microwave, and small refrigerator.
Coffee Station
The in-room coffee setup was a cuisinart double brewer. There were coffee pouches, sugar and sweeteners, creamers and some tea bags.
Dining And Living Areas
A dining table that seats four makes eating a meal or working on a laptop very convenient at this hotel.
Of course there is also a couch to lounge upon as well as an oversized chair in the opposite corner.
A pocket door separates the living/dining space from the bedroom.
bedroom
The spacious bedroom includes a large king size bed, 2 night stands and a dresser, Tv, recliner and closet space.
If you have hanging clothes, you will appreciate that there is a closet.
The hanging height is a bit short as there is an upper shelf in the closet which houses the in-room safe and iron. There is also an ironing board.
The closet doors offer full sized mirrors which is a great and often overlooked detail in accommodations.
Bathoom
A tiled walk-in shower with rainfall shower head await. The DoubleTree also provides shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in the shower.
There is a spacious countertop surrounding the sink and a large mirror.
The View
Being on an upper floor, our suite had nice views!
In the other direction you could see the intercostal waterway and the ocean!
Looking straight down you could see the pool area along the waterway.
The Doubletree Cookie
And this is definitely one of the best backdrops you can get for your Double Tree Cookie!
We opted for the original cookie as we don't have any relevant allergies and my is she a beaut!
Not only is this cookie a looker, but it's actually an absolutely delicious cookie.
As a big chocolate chip cookie girl, I was actually shocked how good this cookie was!
| And I don't mean it was "good for a free cookie". I mean it was legitimately one of the better chocolate chip cookies I've had ever. Hands down better than the one from this French Boulangerie. |  |
PF Changs Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Irrespective of how delicious the double tree cookie was, we were starving and needed to get some real food.
It had been a long day after disembarkation and waiting around for check-in time so we just wanted to get take out and call it a night.
If you're looking for somewhere within walking distance from GalleryOne Doubletree Fort Lauderdale, try PF Changs!
PF Changs Lettuce Wraps Pics
We went for the cult favorite chicken lettuce wraps.
PF Changs Spicy Chicken Pics
PF Changs Spicy Chicken bowl.
Mongolian Beef
PF Changs Mongolian Beef
| The only disappointment was that we could not eat our meal outside as we were shooed away by the restaurant management. We assumed the outdoor tables and chairs were available for hotel guests. The sign was promptly pointed out to us. |  |
Good thing our suites have nice dining tables! :)
Galleryone Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel REview
The GalleryOne by Hilton near Port Everglades can be a great choice before or after a cruise. It's conveniently located, the rooms are spacious, and the access to a kitchen is convenient.
And we can't forget the cookies! ;)
If you have time to kill you can take the water taxi all over creation as a DIY excursion, visit the mall next door, or walk to the beach.
There are also plenty of great restaurants to try near by!
Fort Lauderdale Restaurant Reviews
- Best Hoagies In Fort Lauderdale - Laspadas Hoagie Review
- Manhattan NY Pizza in Ft Lauderdale - Delivery Review
- Primanti's Fort Lauderdale Pizza Review - A Pittsburgh Favorite in Florida - coming soon
- Padrino's Cuban Cuisine Ft Lauderdale Restaurant Review - coming soon
FLorida Hotel Reviews
- Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel Review with Photos
- Holiday Inn Sebring Florida Hotel Review (HGTV Hometown Takeover) - coming soon
- Hyatt Regency Miami Cruise Port Hotel Review with Photos - coming soon
Want to Get a Free Pre-Cruise Hotel Stay?
Check out this post: Hilton Free Night Certificate
All Aboard Symphony of the Seas!
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Embarkation at Port Everglades
Our 8 night Southern Caribbean Cruise departed from Port Everglades, the cruise port in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We arrived 2 nights in advance (free flights - thanks to Chase Ultimate Rewards Points!) and stayed at a nearby cruise port hotel. Uber (actually Lyft) from our hotel to the port only cost $4.17 thanks to a Lyft discount I had.
How long did embarkation take? Not long at all! We were in the terminal at 11:43 and by 12:04 we were onboard!
That Embarkation Day Buzz
Fort Lauderdale blogs:
Exploring Symphony of the seas
Your first time onboard a new cruise ship is so much fun - there is so much to explore! You probably spent months researching and learning about every nook and cranny of the ship (okay, a certain bunch of people do this... I'm assuming you're part of the club since you're here? ☺)
Today is the day to see if you can remember literally anything from all your research. haha!
Symphony of the Seas Pool
Embarkation Day Tip: Lifeguards are posted so have your swimwear handy and you can enjoy the pool during one of the few times that it will totally empty! ;)
Central Park Neighborhood
Above you can see a view of the Central Park Neighborhood - yes, those are real trees! Symphony of the Seas also has 3 water slides and multiple pools including a saltwater pool.
El Loco Fresh Mexican Restaurant on Symphony of the Seas
El Loco Fresh is the popular Mexican casual dining restaurant on Symphony of the Seas where you can get things like grab and go tacos, burritos, and quesadillas. Be sure to load them up with fresh pico de Gallo, salsa, and guacamole! You can also find fresh fruit cups here.
View of Celebrity Apex in Port Everglades from onboard Symphony of the Seas
Celebrity Apex was also in port in Fort Lauderdale!
Embarkation day lunch
We traveled in a group of 8 relatives for this cruise and only 2 people in the group knew we were coming. It was a really fun surprise seeing the reactions of aunts and uncles. We met up in the Solarium Bistro and snagged a large round table for lunch. This smaller buffet area was a nice spot to meet and I was soaking in the novelty that I only managed to get 2 pics of my lunch.
I have to say the Indian food was excellent and I also thoroughly enjoyed this little carrot cake dessert cup! It would make a perfect individual dessert idea for a dinner party and someday I hope to replicate it for Home Cooking Inspired By Travel.
Oceanview Cabin Photos
Around 2pm we had finished eating and were ready to check out our cabin. It was our first time in an ocean view stateroom. You can see all our cabin 3198 photos here:
Dinner in the main dining room
We had traditional dining on Royal Caribbean which means we had a table reserved for our group every night at the same time. Our early dining time was 5:30 PM. Of course we could also dine at another time by walking in and waiting for a table, eating at the buffet or other casual dining venue, or eating at a specialty restaurant.
Embarkation day Welcome Aboard menu
Welcome Aboard Dinner Menu on Symphony of the Seas
Different than our experience on Sun Princess, on Symphony you ordered your meal and dessert at the same time.
What we ordered.
Caesar Salad.
A classic caesar salad is a cruise dinner must.. if you're into that sort of thing. :) Every night your table will be presented with a basket of bread/rolls. The one shown below seemed like an asiago cheese roll and was delicious. You may need to ask for more of these if you like them because each basket will probably only have one of them.
crab cake.
Crispy crab cake fried until golden brown with creamy Old Bay sauce and a tomato-cucumber salad.
Pan Roasted Fish Fillet.
Flaky white fish over sweet peppers, snow peas, corn, creamy potato leek gratin and a saffron butter sauce.
Southern Fried Chicken.
Seasoned, crispy chicken with Tabasco hot honey, buttery mashed potatoes, sweet corn on the cob.
Dessert
Dark Chocolate Custard.
Silky custard infused with rich cocoa, finished with a fresh tart raspberry.
Key Lime Pie.
Silky key lime custard baked in a brown butter graham cracker crust topped with whipped cream.
royal theater: Dare to Dream
After dinner we went straight to The Royal Theater to watch our first production of the cruise - Flight Dare to Dream.
Flight! Dare to Dream
Royal Caribbean Cruise Tip: Reserve your entertainment on the Royal Caribbean App so you can get the best seats.
In the words of Gordon Ramsay "Wow. Wow. Wow."
If you love a hoagie, give Laspada's Original Hoagies in Fort Lauderdale, Florida a try!
If you love a hoagie, give Laspada's Original Hoagies in Fort Lauderdale, Florida a try!
Laspada's Hoagies Fort Lauderdale, Florida
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Located just a half mile (aka a pleasant 10-15 minute stroll) from our cruise port hotel, Laspada's made up for the disappointing pizza we had the night before. Their first hoagie shop opened in 1972 and has expanded to 5 locations in Southern Florida, Laspada's is worth your visit as far as we are concerned! |
Laspadas - A local hoagie shop in south florida
Loved by travelers and locals alike, this is a classic hoagie shop where you are welcome to dine in or take out. Located at 1495-D SE 17th St Fort Lauderdale, FL 33431.
Laspada's Hoagie Menu with prices
In addition to small and large hoagies you can also order deli sandwiches which are smaller and served on a round roll, as well as a variety of side salads and salad platters.
What's on an original hoagie at Laspadas? Tomatoes, lettuce, onions, pickles, sweet peppers, hot peppers, oil and vinegar and seasonings on Italian or wheat bread, and provolone cheese. Sounds perfect, doesn't it?
Laspada's also sells a variety of chips which are an ideal crunchy, salty companion to your delicious hoagie!
what we ordered.
For the two of us, we ordered one large hoagie, a can of pop (soda), and a bag of kettle chips.
Total with tax: $17.50
Dr Brown's Natural Flavor Black Cherry Soda - $1.75
Dr Browns Black Cherry Soda With "Other Natural Flavors" Ingredients: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, cherry and other natural flavors, citric acid, caramel color, sodium benzoate, and red 40. Gah. not red 40...
Dr Browns Black Cherry Soda Ingredients
Dirty Potato Chips Deli Style Salt and Vinegar Kettle style - $1.70
If you want to see the ingredients on these Salt and Vinegar Kettle Chips from Dirty you can see the photo below!
LArge 12" Italian Hoagie - $12.90
Now on to the star of the show! We ordered a Large 12" Italian Special Hoagie - Ham, Genoa, Salami, & Cappicola.
This hoagie was loaded! The cross section is a thing of beauty - carefully constructed, strategically placed layers of freshly sliced Italian meats and toppings.
Laspada's Hoagies Review
A hoagie may seem like a simple thing. Some bread, "lunch meat" and cheese, maybe a bit of iceberg and a tomato? Forget that nonsense. A real hoagie establishment takes pride in every element from the texture at the bottom of the roll to the pillowy bread to the sliced-to-order Italian meats and fresh toppings - Laspada's knocks it out of the park.
Hoagies Made With Love at Laspadas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
I mean just look at the care going into dressing and seasoning this hoagie...
It's been months since I ate this hoagie, but I still think about it from time to time. Laspada's is the kind of place I would actually make a point to return to next time I am in Fort Lauderdale for a cruise. ;)
Fort Lauderdale Blog.
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Arriving a day before your cruise is always the wisest course. Before our Symphony of the Seas cruise we used Chase Points to book a night at the Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel. |
Our room.
The rooms at Hyatt Place are quite spacious and would be great if you're traveling as family or even if you want to split the cost with another couple. Our room had two double beds.
Standard Room Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Free Reward Night | Miles and Points Blog
search pre-cruise and post-cruise hotels near Port Everglades:
living space.
There is a large couch with ottoman which converts to a bed. As you can see the couch cushions were a little worse for wear. The room has a mini fridge, individual cup coffee maker, and a small sink in the area directly across from the couch, as well as a desk area.
bathroom.
The sink is outside the bathroom door where you will also find a large mirror and very long counter top above built in drawers. If you're traveling with the circus :p, it can be nice to have the sink outside the bathroom so that while someone is showering, other members of the family can be brushing their teeth, for instance. In the case of this room, there are 2 sinks outside of the bathroom!
Symphony of the Seas Reviews | Royal Caribbean Cruise Blog.
Breakfast Buffet.
The breakfast buffet is pretty standard for a US hotel in this category. These pictures were taken at the end of the morning shortly before the buffet closed. They served scrambled eggs, sausage patties, hash browns, bacon, pancakes, cereal, fresh cut fruit, bananas, oranges, a variety of bread and bagels for toasting as well as donut holes.
gym.
There was also a small gym at Hyatt Place Ft Lauderdale Cruise Port, in case you want to get a quick workout in before your cruise!
Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel Gym
Manhattan Ny Pizza Fort Lauderdale Review
As one does when arriving to a hotel late after a long travel day, we ordered a pizza. Manhattan NY Pizza was nearby and touted their pizza being made with dough from NYC so we were intrigued.
One ridiculously long wait and $24 later ... and we were a lot less intrigued... Hopefully this subpar pizza was a fluke for this local shop and if you order you'll have a better experience, especially if you dine in and can eat it when it's piping hot. :)
Fort Lauderdale travel blog.
hyatt place cruise port hotel review
We were happy with our experience at Hyatt Place in Fort Lauderdale near Port Everglades. There is nothing particularly exciting about this hotel, but there doesn't need to be - you're going on a cruise! That's the exciting part of staying here.
The hotel is in a good location and offers the amenities you need for a night before a cruise - a place to sleep and free breakfast. Hyatt Place also offers a free airport shuttle and they do have a cruise port shuttle available from the hotel for a fee that you can sign up for on arrival. We opted to use Uber for convenience and it being collectively cheaper for us rathe r than pay a per person rate with the shuttle van coming at a set time. Choice is yours!
Our hotel night was totally free thanks to Chase Ultimate Rewards Points. We used 8,000 points transferred from our Chase Sapphire card. See the Best Chase Sapphire Sign Up Bonus Here so you can get free hotel stays too! ;)
Oh, Hey!
We're Justin and Marissa
We love to travel and eat!
Traveling Through Food is a place to share some of our adventures in travel and food so you can find inspiration for your next big trip whether it's around the world or down the freezer aisle at the grocery store. :p
Check out this recent cruise post:
Check out this recent Restaurant Review:
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