We booked this cruise at the last minute since my wife and I felt that we needed one vacation before the school year started. I had tried to get a cabin for the 8-14-03 sailing on the Sovereign of the Seas which only had inside cabins left and the Disney Wonder, which was sold out. I like to work on Monday but without any other options I elected to take the four day Western Caribbean cruise that left on a Thursday and returns Monday. This was a very fortunate choice.

We went down to Fort Lauderdale a day early on Wednesday and checked into the Lago Mar Resort. We got a good AAA rate on Expedia for $158 a night for a "Super Deluxe One Bedroom Suite". This is an ocean front resort at the southern end of Fort Lauderdale. Because of the quirky canals and road system, it is hard to get to but this is good because there is no street traffic around the resort. We also like the Hyatt Pier 66 but the suite at Lago Mar was oceanfront, had a giant living room and a full kitchen. The resort decor is pure 1970's style but in excellent condition. Because it was built sometime ago it does have some "standard" rooms that have walkways in front of all windows. We were not there long enough to use the restaurants.

Fort Lauderdale is a fun city. Because no construction is allowed on the ocean side of A1A, it has a great beach feel. We went to "Beach Place" a nice retail and restaurant mall at the ocean and ate at Sloppy Joe's. After we ate the four of us got on two "Ocean Rickshaws" and took a quick $10 tour. These giant tricycles are fun and the kids enjoyed it until it started to pour. The drivers raced us to our car where we dried out. Read more