This was my second cruise, the previous one being last year when I went to Alaska on NCL. My vacation plans changed several times before I booked this trip, and even then, I ended up having to go alone as my travel companion had to cancel at the last minute, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from having a good time.

And I do need to say; there are way too many people that complain way too much in these reviews. I'm sure that a few people will have some bad luck, but after being on this cruise, I doubt many of the negative reviews.

Pre-cruise: Left a day early just in case something happened. Flew on Southwest Airlines for an excellent price (I did book about 3 months in advance,) to Fort Lauderdale. Boy was it hot in Florida, talk about a shock to the system! Took a shared van ride (GO Shuttle) from the airport to my hotel, decent rate. (I had a feeling I was going to be the last one dropped off and I was, minor inconvenience.) I stayed at the Days Inn Miami Airport (it had many bad ratings, but the price was great, and it had a complimentary shuttle to the cruise port.) Many of the guests and staff primarily spoke spanish; I could see some people being uncomfortable but it was fine by me. Read more