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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- Port Everglades Cruise Port Hotel Review: Gallery One Doubletree by Hilton Fort Lauderdale
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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
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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.
Oh, Hey!
We're Justin and Marissa
We love to travel + eat!
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