My husband and I flew out on the red-eye to avoid having to get a hotel room once in Florida. We left from Portland, Oregon Sunday night, going through Chicago and arriving in Fort Lauderdale at 10am Monday morning (flights are much cheaper to Ft Lauderdale than to Miami airport and it is only about 10 more minutes away from the port) We were so exhausted after this since we didn't sleep at all on the flight, making our first day aboard a day of recovery. When we landed in Ft. Lauderdale, we got a shared ride van to the port (we did not have previous arrangements and only had to wait 15 mins before the van picked us up...$18/each person)

EMBARKATION was easy as there were not that many people there at 11:30am. They had ice water and super sweet lemonade to drink while you waited. We boarded the ship and went straight to the WindJammer for lunch. Food was good, lots of variety. We purchased a soda card (only one between the two of us. Also, you can use any container, not just the one they provide...we brought a huge water bottle and had them fill that) There is always oj, lemonade, and iced tea available plus you can get tropical fruit punch from room service. Our room was to be ready at 1pm so at that time we headed down and quickly fell asleep. The beds were so comfortable! We could have slept the whole week if it wasn't for all the fun activities and things to do and see! We were woken up around 4:30pm for the Muster Drill in which we stumbled up to our muster station still in a sleep daze (which we didn't shake till the next morning!).

Tuesday morning, we arrived in NASSAU. When you get off the ship and go up the pier to the Festival Place, there are a quite a few people asking if you would like to take a tour or a cab ride or rent scooters. So it is easy to find something to do for less $$ than booking an excursion though the cruise line. If you are not interested, a simple "no thank you" works well as they did not seem pushy at all. We spent the morning walking around the town, seeing the spots on the "walking tour" though we didn't make it up to the Queen's staircase or Fort Finacle. The Straw Market is a definite must see…even if you are not a shopper, you will appreciate the amount of crafts piled under that tent! Read more