Our trip started on the Friday before we were scheduled to leave. We live in the Tampa, FL area and drove down to Fort Lauderdale and stayed at the Holiday Inn. I was skeptical, at first, but the hotel appears to be new and not one that they have purchased and remodeled. The rate was $185 and included tax and the following: parking for the duration of the cruise, transportation to and from the port and a full breakfast buffet for 2 adults (my son ate free because he was under 12). We will definitely stay with them again with this same package.

We had scheduled our departure on the shuttle for 11am on Saturday morning. We left at 11am, straight up! Excellent. The driver was a bit fast and erratic, but other than that we arrived safely at around 11:20 am. We had upgraded to a suite and were shown to the "VIP" area. Not impressed. Seemed like the regular line was moving as fast or faster and we were told to take a number and be seated. Needless to say, it did go smoothly, but no perks here. We were on the ship and eating by 11:45 am. The room was not ready until 1:30 pm so I made my way to the shore excursion desk to book the Behind the Scenes tour of the ship. It was $95 per person and was conducted on the last sea day. It is a 3 1/2 hour tour, in depth, with all of the heads of the departments. Very interesting and educational. Now that I have done it, will not do it again. There are other perks along with this so I do recommend it if you have an interest in seeing the bridge an interacting with the Captain and coming away with some memorable photos that THEY take as cameras are not permitted due to the sensitive nature of all that they are sharing with the small group of 16 that are permitted on the tour. Go right when you board or you will not get a spot. It fills up fast.

Our suite was great. I am writing on another thread about it as well, but it was the first cabin, starboard, right above the bridge. We LOVED the cabin, but I can see where others may not. There is a window that overlooks a front deck area where other passengers gather when coming into port, but we were not bothered by it. We just kept the curtains closed. The balcony is not the larger balcony that comes with other suites, but again, we were not disappointed. Only the three of us so it was big enough. Storage space was abundant- we didn't use it all. Bathroom was great with two sinks and a full size bathtub. There were notes of having trouble with hot water in some other reviews of this cabin, but we did not experience this. We are a family that goes to bed around 9:30-10:30 and are out of the cabin by 8:30 am. Noise, for us, was not an issue. If one was to sleep in, however, it could potentially be an issue with housekeeping, but I think that goes for any cabin. We would definitely choose this cabin again. Read more