Background Information- We are a couple in our 40's. We do not have children of our own, but we did sail with my parents, brother, sister-in-law and 5 year old niece. We are from South Carolina. We broke our trip into several short segments for arrival to the port. We drove to Brunswick, Georgia on the evening of April 16th and met with my parents for the rest of the drive down. On the morning of the 17th, we drove to Jacksonville, Florida and left our car at the airport in the economy parking lot. We booked a flight back from Fort Lauderdale to Jacksonville with Southwest Air for a $59 one way rate. We had hoped to save time not and not be so worn out from driving, but the flight was a much more arduous procedure. Well, you get what you pay for. That's all I will say about it. But enough about that, on to the cruise. It was one of the best we have ever had.

Hotel Info- I have no advice on hotels in Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. We stopped in West Palm Beach on the 17th. We stayed in the Hampton Inn off South Australian Avenue. It was supposed to be near an airport or in a flight path, but we never saw or heard any airline traffic. It was a great value and a beautiful hotel. I highly recommend Il Bellagio restaurant in City Center. We had a fabulous family meal there the night before the cruise.

Ship Info The ship was absolutely breathtaking. A mix of modern and contemporary mixed with classic elements of dark wood and classic patterns. Our stateroom was on Deck 7. We were just beside the "Team Earth" set up. The focus of Team Earth is on conservation activities and making our Earth a cleaner and better place to live- from what I was able to gather. The library on the ship spans two levels and is really comprehensive. I took a look around but did not make use of the library as I had brought several books to read. I didn't have time to read them all. There was so much to do and see. The specialty restaurants are tucked into a lovely area of the ship on Deck 5. My favorite was Murano- located just off the Ensemble Lounge. Murano is not to be missed. If you can choose only one specialty restaurant, make this the one you choose. The Ensemble Lounge was a dark wood, classic lounge. They had either a string quartet or jazz/easy listening trio playing each night. Most of the entertainment on the ship was second to none. Read more