Our last and most recent cruise with Celebrity was on the Equinox a couple years ago and it was one of our great vacations, so our expectations were pretty high going in.

We drove to Florida from Northern Michigan this time and spent nearly two weeks in Naples and Key West, arriving in Ft. Lauderdale a couple days ahead of our sailing date. In Ft. Lauderdale we stayed at a small, beach front motor hotel called Snooze. It was inexpensive for the area, offered free parking and the location is perfect for a beach vacation. It's directly across the street. There is shopping, food and nightlife within easy walking distance. On the downside, Snooze is a bare-bones facility and not exactly as squeaky-clean as we like. We drive a large SUV and it was just too big for the small parking lot, which is really only practical for sub-compact rentals. There was about one spot that could barely accommodate our vehicle. Fortunately it was open. Folks with large vehicles who arrived after us were directed to a pay-lot a couple blocks away. Our air conditioner wasn't working, but they replaced the unit in minutes with one that got us through the stay. The staff consists of the General Manager and a couple housekeepers. If you want something cheap and very bare-bones, it will probably work for you, if you're not too fussy.

Our hotel was about 15 minutes from the cruise terminal. Get good directions, signs are scarce and our GPS was inaccurate. Parking options are to park at a nearby airport parking lot and shuttle service, or use the slightly more expensive Terminal parking lot, which we decided to do. We arrived at the terminal at about 10:30, dropped our luggage with a porter and drove a couple hundred yards back to the parking lot. The price for parking for the seven-day cruise was $102. which is actually cheaper than the airport parking where we live. The Terminal lot has a shuttle that will run you between the lot and the terminal entrance, but we had been advised that it was slow picking you up, crowded and tough to catch. We walked, both ways. it wasn't bad at all with our wheeled luggage, but if we were carrying much stuff it would have been a tough haul. Read more