We took our first cruise ever from Nov 11 to Nov 18 Eastern Caribbean (Zuiderdam).

Arrival: We arrived at Ft. Lauderdale airport on embarkation day and had purchased in advance airport to ship vouchers via HAL. This was one of the view very negative experiences. There was no one from HAL at the arrival terminal. After looking for 30 minutes at both international and domestic terminals and asking several people finally found three of them sitting behind a wall drinking coffee. Everyone is entitled to a break, but should leave at least one person at the terminal to assist arriving passengers. Finally one of them was willing to help us, however it was her first week and she did not know where the transfer bus was. We were strolling up and down outside the airport for a good 10 minutes until she located the bus. Unfortunately the bus was ready to leave (only three people on board) and the driver was yelling and screaming at us what took us so long, while the HAL lady insisted we write our airline number first on the vouchers. Not very pleasant. Advise: Take a taxi faster, easier and cheaper

Upon arrival at the terminal (Pier 26) (10 minutes from the airport) our bags were taken immediately and we proceeded to check-in. Took only 15 minutes. Then we went through security (another 15 minutes) and we were on board. We decided to go first to the Neptune lounge. We were very impressed with this facility. Had some snacks there, but then it started to get really crowded and we went to the Lido buffet. This was the first and last time we went there. It was extremely crowded, we could not find a seat and I was disappointed with the food choices and quality. Read more