We flew Southwest to Fort Lauderdale from Nashville on Thursday evening (Feb. 16). Stayed at the Hyatt Pier 66. Booked via Priceline bidding. Won it for $70. Very happy with the hotel. We were given two beds as requested. Also we were upgraded to the Tower and an ocean view. Very large balcony. Sixth-floor room overlooked a rooftop but also the tennis courts, intercoastal waterway and the ocean.

Made arrangements to leave at 11:45 a.m. Used my usual guy, Ricky Aguero, who I have posted about before for transportation to and from Fort Lauderdale to Miami. I highly recommend him. Made a stop at a convenience store to purchase some Diet Cokes for the trip. Had no problem carrying these on but they were loose in a bag and at the initial security stop, they wanted to inspect. Checked our carry-ons as we were carrying six bottles of wine.

We previously sailed on the Sky Labor Day weekend 2010. This trip was meant to push us over the Platinum level in Latitudes. After the revamping of Latitudes were had 75 points and Gold Status. We were one point away. We were not expecting any Latitudes perks since no perks are given on shorter cruises. Was quite surprised to get two plates of chocolate-covered strawberries delivered to the cabin early evening on Embarkation Day. This was our eighth NCL cruise. Read more