I booked the Nieuw Amsterdam on this date as I was part of an Audrey Grant Bridge Group. 93 participants and several helpers were in the group and we had use of a meeting room on deck 3 near the theatre.

The night before the cruise my friend and I stayed in the Villa Europa Hotel which is on Cleveland St. in Hollywood not far from the airport. I found the hotel on Trip Advisor. We chose this hotel as we like small and personal and it was right on the beach in Hollywood. Luis the owner was lovely and really kind... he waited for our late arrival as our plane was delayed by over 2 hours and we did not get to the hotel til almost 10pm. He gave us each a bottle of water and the password for the internet and showed us where the beach chairs were, how to unlock the bikes that were there for the patrons, and where to eat (really closeby a 100 metres or so down the beach "Broadwalk". He also booked our taxi for 11:30 am to get to the port. We had a small room with twin beds, bathroom, frig, table and chairs and our room opened out on the courtyard. Everything was lovely and we went for pizza that night and walked a bit further for breakfast, but it was great and wonderful to be outdoors after the winter we were having in Ottawa, Canada!

Our taxi ride to Port Evergaldes was fine.... $15 each with tip, and the checkin time was relatively fast considering the lengths of the lines.. I think we arrived at the busiest time. Read more