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We are planning on driving down to the port the day before sailing and want to guarantee that we get a room at one of the hotels that is close to the port/convention center on 17th Street. I believe the Extended Stay and Renaissance are listed with different * ratings on Priceline and have stayed at both before. What is the best way to make sure we get either one at the best price.

I've always used Priceline on BetterBidding to get our rooms and because I'm getting frustrated getting a successful bid this time I decided to try Hotwire. When I plug in the dates and location in your link above, it takes me to the choices for the different zones in Ft. Lauderdale but I don't see where there is a place to bid on a star level and location. Maybe I'm tired, but I do know I need your help.

OK, I navigated to the the right page on Priceline and entered in the date for the day before our reservation date and the response was that they would not be able to accept my request. It wouldn't let me try again a couple of days later either (just seeing if something might have opened up). My option was to add the second day for $240 for that night on top of the $90 I have for the bidding night. I did pay up front for the insurance. I have since found another hotel close by that had space for the two nights for about $89 a night. Granted it's not a 4 Star but it's a hotel for the two nights instead of keeping the original reservation at the W and finding another hotel and schlepping in between. My question is, with insurance is it possible to cancel the Priceline reservation and then pick up the other hotel for the two nights using their "chopped" price? Will they let me do this or am I stuck with the first one. I have read through the insurance page and it doesn't look promising.....

Thanks for the response. I went to the site and saw that they offer to "extend your stay", but before I try that do you know if this works for attempting to add day(s) before the confirmation date? Our situation is to add the day before our reservation date.

Not sure that this question was answered here or anywhere else but I need an answer to this question..... We have successfully bid on and received a win thru this site on PRICELINE for a room in Ft. Lauderdale at the W prior to our ship leaving for a New Year's cruise this year. We now find ourselves with an opportunity to get down to FL a day earlier and need to see if we can get the same rate at the W for an extra night prior to our bid successful night. Is there a way to make that happen? If so, how do we do that?

We successfully bid on a 4* hotel near Port Everglades for the date above. The technique used was to go after the Downtown area first hoping to get the Renaissance again this year. We started at just this area - 4*- at $80 because we got the Renaissance last winter for that amount using Priceline. This didn't work so we added the Beach area at $85 and that didn't work. Next was to add Coral Gables knowing there wasn't a 4* there and upped the amount to $90 and was successful. We got the W Fort Lauderdale and here are the totals including cancellation insurance. Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $90.00 (USD) Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Travel Insurance: $5.00 (USD) Room Subtotal: $95.00 (USD) Taxes and Fees: $18.61 (USD) Total Room Cost: $113.61 (USD) These rooms go for over $300 booking online or about $109 using Hotwire (we think) so we got a real good deal. The W must have problems filling rooms to get this kind of a price. I'll post the success on the calendar and we did go through the link above to get to PRICELINE.

I went ahead and tried Downtown only 4* at $75 and not successful. Then I added Beach area and 3 1/2* and bumped it to $80 and won the Renaissance!!! Success.

Need some advice on effective bidding for the following: February 27, 2010 - one night Downtown area of Ft. Lauderdale 4* - looking to get either the Hiton Marina or Renaissance because of location - or Beach area - 4* Have tried Downtown only 4* at $55 with no luck - added Mirimar again with 4* and still no luck. Next tried Downtown at 4* at $60 - nothing. Added Beach at 4* and $60 nothing. Thinking of trying to up the price for 4* Downtown at $75 then adding Beach at 3 1/2* since there aren't any and maybe bumping to $80. Is this a good strategy or am I still aiming to low with the price for a 4*? Please help. Thanks.

Sorry. I thought because he was asking for dates around the same time I was that the information you could provide would be relevant in light of the timing. Is it possible that the $80 - $90 is the correct amount for that category hotel in that area around that time?

We are also looking for a room either in the Ft. Lauderdale Downtown or Beach area. I have tried the last two days for a 4* for the date of February 27, 2010 - one night. The first bid was at $50, then added the Miramar area again at 4* and raised it to $55. Today I tried the same process even starting at 3 1/2* and $60 with no luck. We really want to score eith the Renaissance or the Hilton but will take any of the 4* in the Beach area. Any suggestions other than the obvious of raising the amount? If that is the right thing to do, how high should I now start?

Thanks. That's what I thought. Study, pick and choose and plan our own tour.

Thanks again for your help. It was fun. If you could provide a couple of suggestions as to how to "attack" our one day opportunity to see NY we would appreciate it. We know we should take PATH to the city, but is it better to belly up to one of the HOHO tours or pick out a few areas and use the public transportation. My guess is that all those living in or near the NY area have opportunites from time to time to entertain family or guests and have to do a one-day crash tour and we are wondering how you might do that.

Success!! Went back to PRICELINE using the link on this site and quoted Jersey City only, 4* hotel, at a price of $85.00 and got it. It ended up being the Westin on Washington Blvd. Again this was for October 15 and 16 of 2009. The strange thing is that I did this within hours of the first negotiation and the only thing I changed was the bid price by $10. I was thinking that this would be rejected and I would go back and add West Orange which doesn't have 4*, but I didn't have to change the zone to re-bid. I thought that odd. Thanks to your advice and support.

Were you successful with using Priceline and what did you bid?

Initial bid on Priceline for a 4* for those dates at $70 was not accepted. (Yes, I used the link on this site for PRICELINE) I guess I have to wait 24hrs unless I change an option, which isn't an option, or try HOTWIRE. Any other suggestions besides raising the price and then to what?

Thanks for combining the two treads. I thought the first one was never really entered so I had started another topic. The nights of stay are October 15 and October 16 checking out the 17th. Do you have a suggestion as to where to start the bid for these 4*?

We are driving to New York (Brooklyn) from Detroit to catch a Princess - New England/Canada cruise which leaves on the 17th of October. Our plan is to arrive a couple of days early on the 15th and stay in a hotel for two nights before driving over to Red Hook with the day before left to tour New York City. Advice given to us is to stay in New Jersey since we are driving and leave the car there and use public transportation to see the city. As a back-up, I have a cancellable reservation at the Candlewood in Jersey City for $139/nt and was also told to now go on priceline and bid on a 4* hotel for the same amount. I have seen lower prices for both of the 4* hotels in Jersey City and would think that I should start a lot lower than $139. We originally looked at the Hyatt and liked that because it was next door to PATH and had great views of NY. Now I see that Westin is also listed as a 4* with Priceline and appears to have close access to another PATH station and good views as well. I guess it would be nice to know if when we bid on Priceline and got a hotel that we wouldn't be disappointed with either one - any comments on that? Secondly, what would be your suggestions for the bidding process? We want the Jersey City location, so that part is easy, but what price should we start at? Is it reasonable to start around $70 since we have time before we leave, or what would you recommend? Thirdly, after we get this room are there any suggestions on how to approach seeing NY in one day given that we might want to end up some near MT for dinner that evening (Friday)? Thanks in advance, Greg

We need help in getting us on the right strategy for our upcoming trip in October. Our plan is to drive to NJ and stay in the Jersey City area for two nights before driving over to Red Hook to board the cruise ship. Currently we have made reservations at the Candlewood Suites in Jersey City for about $139 per night and were told on the Cruise Critic web site that now we should use Priceline to capture a 4* hotel. We really like the Hyatt hotel there because of it's proximity to PATH and it would appear that it's the only 4* hotel in that area with Priceline. Would we be certain that if we put in a bid for a 4* in Jersey City and have it accepted, that it would definately be the Hyatt? If so, what would be the bidding strategy for this hotel? I've seen some very low prices on this site at different times of the year so should I start at that level and keep rebidding? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Greg

Since this site is new to me and so is the planned trip into NY before we board the ship in Red Hook this October. Anyway, thanks for all the information on this hotel. We have a reservation at the Candlewood Suites for about 150 a night and were told by others on the Cruise Critic site that we should now try Priceline and bid on a 4* at a lower price and we might end up at the Hyatt. So, I guess we'll try that using whatever suggestions for bidding I can get from this site. I might add that the reason we are looking in Jersey City for a hotel is that we are driving in from MI and we don't want the bother of trying to park on the island or even driving there, otherwise we would be searching for hotels there. Anyway, thanks for the informative reviews.