Background: This was a Spring family trip for my wife and I along with our daughter(7) and son(3). We have sailed with Royal Caribbean before on the Sovereign of the Seas in Spring 2006. We have also sailed on the Disney Magic twice and have a Transatlantic cruise on the QM2 booked for this summer for just my wife and I for our 10th anniversary.

Transportation: We booked our own flights from Charlotte to Ft. Lauderdale. We were a bit nervous given this was the first time we have ever flown down the same day as embarkation. This turned out not to be a problem given there were no delays or problems with the flight. We used Bradley Executive Limousine to get to the port using one of their SUVs. No problem with the transportation, but their prices were on the very high side and I wouldn't recommend them based upon that alone.

Embarkation: This was a very smooth process. We arrived at about 11:00am so we had a little bit of waiting time before the process began. I wanted to give a big thumbs-up for the porter staff at the port. They were efficient, professional and very friendly. The boarding and check-in process was smooth and quick. The rooms were not ready when we boarded so we headed up to Windjammer for some lunch and then walked around the ship. Read more