We spent 3 days in Hollywood following a cruise and planned to spend 4 hours on the water taxis as a way to tour part of the inter coastal waterway in Fort Lauderdale. The water taxi doesn’t post or print a schedule and, unlike trains, planes and ferries, seems incapable of adhering to even an approximate verbal schedule. We spent over 3 hours on this short tour just waiting at the transfer points — connections aren’t co-ordinated. We spent more time waiting on land than travelling in the boat. We were told a boat would arrive every 45 minutes; we waited an hour and a half. We didn’t see anything on the water or at any of the stops to explain such delays.
We got to see some of the inter coastal waterway we otherwise couldn’t have seen without a boat, but the cost of so much wasted vacation time at transfer points where there is nothing to do or see was too high.
The water taxi operators were a turn-off. I was disgusted by their begging for tips for service and commentary. Most of their commentary was a sales job for their affiliated restaurants, pushing their on-board booze at 11 am, and solicitation of tips. Very little help was offered to older passengers getting on and off the boats.
The attendant at the Hollywood/Ft. Lauderdale transfer point really pushed a restaurant near one of the Ft. Lauderdale stops and said the other stops on the taxi route had nothing to offer and we shouldn’t waste our time. When we saw the really expensive menu at the restaurant he was pushing, we wondered if he is getting kick backs rather than giving honest recommendations to tourists. When he told a group of us that our connection would be 45 minutes late, he offered no explanation or apology. He loudly berated another passenger for not taking his restaurant referral, then turned his attention back to his phone. We were stranded under a bridge for over an hour in the rain. The attendant offered no suggestion as to what to do or where to get a coffee while we waited. I was totally put off.
Promises of rain ponchos on open boats were not forthcoming in a downpour. They had run out by 3 pm.