Traveled down to Ft Lauderdale the night before my 4 night cruise. Used hotel points and stayed at the Renaissance Hotel directly across from the port entrance. Very nice hotel with both a bar and a restaurant available. $12 taxi ride from the airport...no shuttle available. Walking distance to many restaurants (all price ranges) and a Publix supermarket and drug store across the street for last minute items you forgot. Outdoor pool to start the tan early. Took a cab to the ship for a 5 minute $6 ride.
Arrived at the ship around 11:45 and our luggage went from the cabbie's hand to the luggage handler at the dock. From that point until we were on the ship was a total of 15 minutes... cant ask for more.
Enchantment: nice ship... the centrum was beautiful and tastefully done. All public areas were roomy and classy. Deck number 9 which is the pool deck had plenty of room most days since the addition of the 78 feet last year. Deck 10 had plenty of additional space but was windy when the ship was moving. Last cruise on the Majesty, I paid extra for a ocean view and never even moved the curtain, so this time we cheaped out and took a interior room in the section that was just added. Room was clean and seemed larger then the stateroom aboard our last cruise. New bedding had me sleeping like a baby. Bring a alarm clock. In the interior room it can be 3am or 9am and without a clock, you can't tell. Mr Cunningham was our room steward and he knew us by name immediately and had the room looking good at all times.