We flew into Fort Lauderdale the day prior to the cruise and stayed at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites. The hotel was okay but a little pricey for the location. We ate dinner at Bravo's Italian Restaurant that night with Joe and Debbie (JoeDebNH) from our roll call. It was great company. They are fabulous folks.
Day 1: (Embarkation)
We returned our rental car and took a shuttle to Port Everglades at about 10:30am. It was a bit early but there was nothing better to do. As it turned out, it was a good idea because we met some Cruise Critic friends who arrived at about the same time. Boarding began a little late because of computer problems but we were onboard at noon. We went directly to the Pinnacle Grill to make our reservation. (If you book the grill on-line, you must still go by to reserve a specific date and time.) We then wandered around the ship and ordered our favorite cruise drink ... mango pina colada's. THIS SHIP IS BEAUTIFUL AND VERY WELL MAINTAINED!!! At precisely 1:30pm, the announcement was made that all cabins were ready. We were thoroughly impressed with our cabin. It was SY category 6111. At 4:15, we had our lifeboat drill. It was quickly done and the crew was very efficient!!!