I always recommend flying in the day before a cruise. You never know what might happen with flight delays. I know this requires a hotel stay the night before. Thanks to points and miles, I booked the Hyatt Place Dania Beach the night before my MSC Cruise for free on Hyatt points. You can learn how I booked the cruise with free flights here.

When I cruise out of Miami or Ft Lauderdale, I book whatever airport is cheaper. They are very close. On my last cruise, I was meeting a friend in Florida for the cruise. The Ft. Lauderdale airport is much easier to navigate than Miami, so I had her meet me there.

The Hyatt Place Dania Beach has a free shuttle from the airport. You have to call them when you arrive and they will tell you where to meet them at the airport. When you check in at the hotel, they have an iPad in the lobby you can use to request a shuttle to pick you up. The shuttle goes to Ft. Lauderdale and Miami cruise port. The shuttle to Ft. Lauderdale port is $16 per person. The Miami shuttle was $160 for 1-4 people. It was much cheaper for us to use a Uber/Lyft to get to the Miami cruise terminal.

I did not schedule or lyft in advance. We just booked it as we were heading down to the hotel lobby and we only had to wait a few minutes.

They Hyatt Place Dania Beach is located near many restaurants and shops. There is a panda express in the parking lot. We walked to sprouts to pick up the few items we forgot for our trip.

The night we arrived, we had friends meet us for dinner in Ft. Lauderdale. We went to the Wine Garden near the Conrad. They have happy hour from 4 to 6. We all ate and drank wine for less than $100 for all us, including tip.

The Hyatt Place Dania Beach is a great place to stay pre or post-cruise. I have stayed there a few times, and it is always clean. The staff is helpful. The hotel offers a free breakfast in the morning.

Pre-cruise stay in Ft. Lauderdale

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