We live north of Tampa and drove the 5 hours to Ft Lauderdale on the 5th of January for the 6th departure out of Port Everglades.

On our September Caribbean Princess Cruise we stayed in the Embassy Suites near the port for something just under $150 per night for two. This time of the year this hotel wanted close to $340 for a night so we opted for the Embassy Suites in Boca Raton right on I-95 about 30 miles north of the port for a nightly rate of $136. We like the Embassy suites because of the two room suite floor plan and the fully cooked to order breakfast for two.

We drove to the Port and discovered that, because the departure date was on a Sunday that the Coral Princess was leaving from Terminal 19 instead of Terminal 2. We parked the car in the mid-port garage instead of the north garage near Terminal 2. That was a bit of an error because, since the Coral Princess came into Port Everglades on a Wednesday, and since there was nothing docked at Terminal 2, they docked at Terminal 2. In retrospect I would have dropped the wife and bags off at Terminal 19 and driven back to Terminal 2 to park, then taken taxi back to Terminal 19, recovered the wife and carry-on bags and boarded the ship. More later. Read more