Pre-Cruise: This was our 5th cruise, 3rd on Princess. Our family of four (Dad, Mom, and two adult daughters) arrived in Ft. Lauderdale on Southwest from Providence on Saturday afternoon and spent the pre-cruise day at the Best Western Oceanside. We utilized the Sun Trolley (free on Saturday) to shop for wine, soda and a stop for lunch. The hotel itself is old, and the rooms are small but clean. The dEcor is probably the same as the day it opened under its previous owner back in the 60's or 70's, or whenever it was. The rooms could use a serious makeover. The pool and breakfast room areas, however, are clean and modern, and the staff was very pleasant. The big reason for booking this hotel were location (just a short walk to the beach) and price (Hotwire). Would I book it again? Sure, but only at a Hotwire or Priceline rate, and never with four people to a room.

Embarkation: After waking in the wee early hours to watch the arrival of the Emerald from Ft. Lauderdale beach, we went to breakfast and met up with Olga & Pavel, our new Cruise Critic friends from Russia, who were to be married on the first Emerald sea day. How romantic is that! We then packed up and used the shuttle that was outside waiting for passengers who were willing to pay the $7/pp for transportation to the pier. A taxi would have been cheaper, but we had a lot of luggage, so this was easier than trying to cram all our stuff into a cab. We arrived at the port at about 11:30 a.m. and were in our room by 12:15, a very quick and efficient process on the part of Princess.

Stateroom: After reading about those much-talked-about Aft cabins, we decided to go for one and booked C752. The good: the ever-so-slight rocking of the ship and the sound of the wake was very calming, the view is awesome, and the privacy from cabins above was a definite plus. The not-so-great: (1) the hike. While we appreciated the benefit of exercise, the long walk to the cabin was a pain after a long day in port. (2) lack of a real breeze on the balcony; we missed the ocean breeze felt on the port & starboard side cabins. Also, due to the lack of moving air, the tobacco smoke coming from our neighbors was a little annoying at times. For those wondering about balcony odors some have mentioned, there were some food odors, usually late in the day around meal times, but nothing foul or bothersome. Having said that, there was one day early in the cruise, where several cabins in our area were having some plumbing issues (toilets wouldn't flush), and as a result there was a pretty awful sewage smell in the hallway. However, to the credit of the crew, this was taken care of right away, and by that evening, all the odors were gone and all plumbing once again in good order. Read more