I'll start by saying my DH and I are in our early 60's and this was our sixth cruise with HAL. Now, before I begin, I will say we love to have a good time so we are not your typical "older" passengers.

We flew to Ft. Lauderdale the day before our cruise and stayed at the La Quinta Inn Airport. I booked the hotel through Priceline and, frankly, was none too happy with this selection. I read some really bad reviews about this property, therefore, I was not looking forward to our stay there. But to my pleasant surprise, the property was clean, the grounds were beautiful and well manicured, they offered a continental breakfast and they provided complimentary shuttle service. The shuttle service from the airport was free as well as the shuttle to Port Everglades. There were restaurants close by, but a little too far for us to walk. I asked the front desk person if the shuttle would take us to the restaurant and pick us up and was told yes. That was great and all we had to do was tip the driver.

On the day of the cruise, the shuttle took us to Terminal 26 where the Westerdam was berthed. Because we were staying in a deluxe suite, we were escorted directly to the check-in desk and whisked away to our suite. We were very pleased to know that we could go directly to our suite and drop off our carry-on luggage, which we did. We went straight to the Neptune Lounge to get a little snack to tie us over before we went to the Lido for lunch. I guess because it was the first day, there were white linens on the tables and I thought that was a nice touch. Of course the servers were serving all food and drinks, but we're OK with that if it helps to eliminate the possibility of the norovirus. We had a nice, relaxing lunch and then back to our suite. Surprisingly, we received our luggage by 3 p.m., so that gave us a chance to get unpacked and settle in. Then we went to the bar for the first cocktail of the day. Yummy! We walked around the ship until it was time for the muster drill. It is so nice that we don't have to dawn the life jackets anymore. The drill was a breeze and lasted only a few minutes. Then it was time for another drink and to attend the sailaway party. Read more