We flew into FLL on Wednesday January 12, 2011. We spent two nights at the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas and found it to be near ideal for our purposes. Unique "old Florida" feel, spacious and clean. Taxi meter read $19.00 upon our arrival from airport(this was at rush hour and we were stuck in tunnel for several minutes). There is a CVS superstore within easy walking distance where we were able to buy pop, wine, beer, bottled water , sunscreen, etc for our cruise. Just about any type of cuisine you could possibly imagine is also available within walking distance of the Riverside. If you look real hard---even reasonably priced fare can be found. The Riverside is also very near a water taxi stop and the Route 11 bus stops right out front. This is a scenic beach route that runs along the coast all the way to Pompano Beach and back. We got the Riverside for a reasonable Priceline bid and upgraded to a King Tower room for $20/night. We were very pleased with the hotel. Weather during our stay in Ft Lauderdale unfortunately was cold and blustery.

On Friday morning we took a cab to the Port at 10:30 AM (meter read $16.20). This proved to be a little early, as we had to wait in the waiting room for close to an hour before boarding. On the plus side we were in boarding group #1 and among the very first on the ship and to the Lido for lunch. The Lido is gorgeous and seemed much larger and more formal than our remembrances of the equivalent upper deck RCL buffet (Windjammer?).

We enjoyed our cruise on the Westerdam, I would say about equally as we have our previous cruises. Read more