Background: To give you some insight into our perspective, my BF and I are 24 and 25, and this was the first cruise for both of us.

Pre-Cruise: We flew in the day before embarkation, which I highly recommend. I can't imagine the panic of flying in the morning of and then having a delay. We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel - won with a bid of $70 on Priceline. The bellhop told us the rooms were going for over $400 each that night. The hotel was very pretty, conveniently located, and quiet.

Port Everglades: A friend from Miami dropped us off at Port Everglades at 3:00pm. It was an excellent decision to go later rather than earlier, as we didn't wait in a single line and the lunch buffet onboard was not crowded at all. However, Port Everglades was the worst part of our entire trip. There was absolutely no signage directing us where to get dropped off. We circled twice and even then ended up getting out of the car at the wrong spot. The baggage handler asked us for a tip (an appalling thing to do in any situation) even though the signs everywhere clearly say that the handlers are salaried and not to tip them. We gave him $2.00, considering that our luggage would in his possession without us being present, but I was still a bit upset. The facilities at Port Everglades were filthy (NOT post-hurricane related), and we did not encounter one polite staff member until we boarded the ship. Needless to say, I had expected the boarding experience to be MUCH better than it was. Read more