Fort Lauderdale water taxi and restaurants

[mom2mybugs]

Hi,

  So we are flying in 2 days ahead of our cruise and are planning on getting a one-day water taxi ticket and getting dinner somewhere right off the boat.  Is there anyplace to buy the ticket at a discounted price (with AAA or anything else) other than the water taxi site? Is there more than one?

  We are staying at the Hilton Marina.  I don't remember any eating distance restaurants so day 2 I was thinking we would water taxi somewhere.  Anyone have any recommendations for a low-to-mid cost restaurant we can get to off the water taxi without ubering?  We don't want high end because we are already going to spend a fortune at the pool bar and restaurant the day before and also don't want to dress up.  Jane

[tonyfsu21]

15 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

Hi,

  So we are flying in 2 days ahead of our cruise and are planning on getting a one-day water taxi ticket and getting dinner somewhere right off the boat.  Is there anyplace to buy the ticket at a discounted price (with AAA or anything else) other than the water taxi site? Is there more than one?

  We are staying at the Hilton Marina.  I don't remember any eating distance restaurants so day 2 I was thinking we would water taxi somewhere.  Anyone have any recommendations for a low-to-mid cost restaurant we can get to off the water taxi without ubering?  We don't want high end because we are already going to spend a fortune at the pool bar and restaurant the day before and also don't want to dress up.  Jane

Take the north route at the Hilton Marina water taxi stop and get off at the Margaritaville stop (it’s 5 o’ clock somewhere bar), have a drink and then walk across the street to the hotel. If you pass through the lobby out the back (to the east) you will end up on the Hollywood beach boardwalk with plenty of small spots to dine by the water. For the most part it’s mid tier pricing and very beach casual. 

[tonyfsu21]

As for discounts on the water taxi, I am unaware of any. I do know that some of them have bar service though! 

[FionaMG]

Loved the water taxi when we did it pre-covid.

For dinner, we got off at the Las Olas stop. There are loads of restaurants along that stretch. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory, which I guess is not very exciting for most of you reading this but we don't have that chain over here in Custard Tart Land so it was a novelty for us. We liked it.

[mom2mybugs]

5 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Take the north route at the Hilton Marina water taxi stop and get off at the Margaritaville stop (it’s 5 o’ clock somewhere bar), have a drink and then walk across the street to the hotel. If you pass through the lobby out the back (to the east) you will end up on the Hollywood beach boardwalk with plenty of small spots to dine by the water. For the most part it’s mid tier pricing and very beach casual. 

Thank you so much!  That is absolutely perfect for what we want to do Jane

[Carlyn3]

I researched this exact thing for a trip this June.  Since we wont have a rental car and wanted to do the water taxi, I looked at what was available at each stop.  We plan to take the water taxi to stop #10.  It lets off at Bokampers Sports Bar and Grill- It looks like a good menu and a low key place. 

[mom2mybugs]

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

Loved the water taxi when we did it pre-covid.

For dinner, we got off at the Las Olas stop. There are loads of restaurants along that stretch. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory, which I guess is not very exciting for most of you reading this but we don't have that chain over here in Custard Tart Land so it was a novelty for us. We liked it.

lol---what's funny is that the last time we cruised out of fort lauderdale, we DID eat at Cheesecake Factory.  We ubered over so I didn't realize that the water taxi had a stop there.  Personally, i think the food, while overpriced, is good and the cheesecake is awesome for breakfast the next day!!!  Jane

[mom2mybugs]

13 minutes ago, Carlyn3 said:

I researched this exact thing for a trip this June.  Since we wont have a rental car and wanted to do the water taxi, I looked at what was available at each stop.  We plan to take the water taxi to stop #10.  It lets off at Bokampers Sports Bar and Grill- It looks like a good menu and a low key place. 

Thanks We will definitely look at this!  @tonyfsu21, how is this place?   Jane

[Diesel]

We loved the Southport Raw Bar when we were in Fort Lauderdale prior to our cruise.  It's actually just a little walk from you hotel.  It's at the west end of the canal north of your hotel.  Very low key and no need to dress up.  I would still recommend getting the water taxi pass.  Great way to get to different parts of the city.

[mom2mybugs]

6 hours ago, Diesel said:

We loved the Southport Raw Bar when we were in Fort Lauderdale prior to our cruise.  It's actually just a little walk from you hotel.  It's at the west end of the canal north of your hotel.  Very low key and no need to dress up.  I would still recommend getting the water taxi pass.  Great way to get to different parts of the city.

Thanks for the recommendation!!!  Loving all these options!  Jane

[foxrunner]

On 12/12/2022 at 5:57 PM, FionaMG said:

we don't have that chain over here in Custard Tart Land so it was a novelty for us. We liked it.

As a Yank I've never had a egg custard tart. I'm curious if you hail from Portugal or the U.K. Your response has me curious and I watched this podcast.

 

[FionaMG]

3 hours ago, foxrunner said:

As a Yank I've never had a egg custard tart. I'm curious if you hail from Portugal or the U.K. Your response has me curious and I watched this podcast.

Born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, but I came to Portugal to work a summer season away back in 1986, met DH, who is Portuguese, and never went back.

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the custard tarts myself, but I do usually suggest visitors to Portugal try them, as they're so traditional. You can actually find them in many places outside of Portugal too; the Portuguese are a nation of emigrants and the diaspora numbers around 5 million. Anywhere that there is a sizeable Portuguese community, you're sure to find a store or a cafe that sells them.

I've only had time to listen to a few minutes of the podcast you linked but it sounds very interesting so I'm going to set some time aside over the weekend to listen to it.

[mom2mybugs]

@tonyfsu21 directing this here because I can't figure out directly messaging on my phone vs computer lol!  We are at the Hilton fort Lauderdale marina and heading to the port for Harmony tomorrow (terminal 18)  To get to an 11 am check in, is a 1030 uber pick up early enough? It gives us 30 mins to get there, get through the port and get through checking luggage with the Porter's.  It says it's like a 10 min drive but that's today with no traffic right now I'm assuming.  Does that give us time or should be do 1015.  Can we check baggage that early and just wait for us to get into the terminal at 11?  

PS... Still haven't even left the pool but do have the water taxi booked and will find dinner at some point! Jane