Pre-Cruise: Capital One Lounge and The Dalmar Hotel in Fort Lauderdale
Our Rotterdam cruise begins today with a flight from DFW to Ft. Lauderdale on American Airlines. We arrived at DFW Airport early enough to check out the new Capital One Lounge in Terminal D.
Check-in desk at Capital One lounge
Even though Rickee and I have access to the American Airlines Admirals Club, which is one of the benefits of my Citibank American Airlines Platinum Executive credit card, Rickee recently signed up for the Capital One Venture X card that offers complimentary access to the Capital One lounges. We felt like a comparison of the Admirals Club amenities to the Capital One lounge was in order.
Our initial impression of the lounge was that is was spotlessly clean, very bright and fresh. The atmosphere is relaxed and there was a lot of seating available. The receptionist told us that everything was complimentary except for top-shelf liquor.
Coffee and water station
We arrived here at around 9:30am, so breakfast items were being offered on the buffet, which is extensive. They offer a wide variety of pastries and hot dishes at three different buffet serving lines.
A variety of pastries are on offer
Rickee’s favorite was the Gouda and Bacon Grits which are served in cute little individual pots.
Gouda and Bacon Grits
If you need to get some work done before your next flight, there are plenty of workstations with AC and USB power provided for charging.
There is a full bar with complimentary cocktails. We tried the Bloody Mary which, unfortunately, was not to our liking. Next time, we will try something else.
There is a REFUEL station where you can grab sandwiches, salads and other snacks to take with you on your flight. This is a huge benefit that you won’t find at the Admiral’s Club. Rickee and I grabbed a couple of chicken salad sandwiches to enjoy on the flight to Ft. Lauderdale. In the airport, you would pay $9 or more for each of these. By the way, they were delicious!
Complimentary sandwiches
It is unfortunate that we had so little time to enjoy the amenities offered here, but we have to get to the gate for our 10:54 departure to FLL. We boarded the flight and American Airlines did their job getting us to Fort Lauderdale on time.
As we were waiting for our luggage at baggage claim, I decided to call Element Hotel to check on our reservation, which was made by Holland America. The phone number online put me through to the Marriott main reservations office. I asked the gentleman if he could check on our reservation and, after a couple of minutes, he told me that he could not find a reservation in my name! Uh Oh. He offered to make me a new reservation for $430/night! I told him that we would just go to the hotel and deal with them directly. Turns out, that was the right choice.
First, Element Hotel is located within The Dalmar Hotel building. In fact, Element Hotel does not even show up as a destination on the Lyft app! So, we had the Lyft driver take us to The Dalmar, which does show up as a destination. Once we arrived, one of the porters at the hotel informed us that check-in for Element was on the third floor. My evil plan was to plead my case with reception. I was thinking that perhaps they have some special arrangement with Holland America and their reservations don’t show up on the Marriott system. I was really going on faith that this was going to work out.
The Dalmar and Element Hotel
Rickee at The Dalmar
Cheeseburger at The Dalmar
We arrived at reception for Element and the guest services rep looked up my name, she asked if we were with Holland America and I said “yes”. She then said we needed to check-in at The Dalmar on the 6th floor, that our reservation had been moved to The Dalmar. Bonus! My patience paid off.
We went to the 6th floor, checked in and were even presented with complimentary glasses of champagne while we waited! We met with the ground representative for Holland America and she gave us all the information we needed for getting to Rotterdam the following day.
Our room at The Dalmar was very nice and modern with all of the amenities you could want. The beds were comfortable. There is a nice sized desk with USB ports for charging, large flat screen television with great programming, plenty of closet space, even a coffee/espresso machine. They also provide two bottles of complimentary water. The only thing missing was USB ports next to the bed.
Our only complaint with the room is that the air conditioner, which was very cold, would blow right on our heads when we were in bed. The bathroom was modern with all of the amenities you could want.
Bathroom at The Dalmar
The Dalmar/Element hotels are located within easy driving distance of Port Everglades. A 10-minute drive will have you at your ship. It is also an easy one-block walk to a CVS in case you need some last minute sundries for your cruise. There are also several restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. However, we decided to have dinner at the Lobby Bar on the 6th floor of The Dalmar. My cheeseburger was $24 but was one of the best cheeseburgers I have had in a long time and it was served with delicious truffle fries.
Tomorrow morning we will get a Lyft to take us to Rotterdam. We are excited to board Holland America’s newest Pinnacle-class ship!
