Embarkation was a breeze. We booked our airfare separately, which I had a few sleepless nights over. What if the plane got cancelled, etc. There were no problems. Arrived at the airport a little after 10 in Ft. Lauderdale. Baggage arrived quickly there (too much BTW, but we always seem to do that!)and caught a cab. A quick ride to the port and checked our luggage right where the cab dropped us off. The porter pointed out the direction and off we went.

There were personnel all over to help direct traffic and answer questions. I guess because we were Concierge Class we were directed up the escalators to a relatively small check in area. There were 5 check in stations. At the time we didn't realize this was the Concierge check in and wondered how they could handle the whole embarkation for everyone with only 5 stations. We were maybe 10 in line and within 10 minutes we were checked in (helped by our pre check in on line make sure you do that to speed the process along). We were directed to rows of chairs and told we would board soon. We waited maybe 30 minutes and by 11:30 we were getting our picture taken for our cards and boarding. Champagne awaited us and after finishing that, we headed for our cabin. It was still being set up but Natasha (she was great) so she told us to leave our carry on and explore.

We asked if there was a place to get food and were told to head to deck 10. Unfortunately, we hit the outside cafe first (Seaside Grill). It was the only food on board I was a little disappointed in. There were burgers, tacos, fries, fruit, etc. In fairness, we were among the first group on board and maybe they were not set up yet. The burgers were ok, the fries not so much. We discovered the Seaside Cafe after eating and it is a great buffet with wonderful food. I ate there for breakfast and lunch every day after that and it was great. So that first day the only disappointment was the Seaside Grill. Read more