This was our 20th cruise, but the first in which I have written a review. My wife and I cruised the Western Caribbean with our two grandsons, ages 9 and 5. We hit ports in Cozumel, Mexico; Grand Cayman; and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We flew into Fort Lauderdale a day early and stayed at an EconoLodge in Fort Lauderdale. It wasn't much but had a nice pool where the children could enjoy themselves.
We booked the cruise six months earlier getting a "guaranteed" balcony and were upgraded two categories to 8C (which simply meant we were higher on the ship). By checking the prices as the time for the cruise got closer, we estimated we saved $550 by booking early and accepting a guaranteed category. The ship's passenger capacity was listed at 2758, but this was assuming two people per room. Since there were over 500 children on board sharing the rooms with their parents, the actual number on board was well over 3000. I would not have wanted to be on this cruise without children. As it was, we really didn't have to worry about our grandsons being too loud or obnoxious because there were lots of others in the same category.
We left the EconoLodge at 11:00 AM on a Miami Port shuttle which I had found on the internet. We discovered that we could have taken a shuttle arranged by the motel significantly cheaper, but didn't realize this was an option. We arrived at the ship about 11:45 AM even though the cruise literature stated boarding time was 1:30 PM. We had no trouble boarding early.