We flew to Fort Lauderdale the afternoon before our cruise. Flights in and out of Detroit with Delta were on time. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott as they had an included airport and cruiseport shuttle in their stay and sail package. Our only hiccup occured when we couldn't get on the first shuttle of the day at 10am. We arrived at the hotel at 3pm the day before. That's usually lots of time to pick a transfer time. However, one group of 86 people had prebooked all of the transfer times from 10am to 12pm. Some of these people had not yet arrived at the hotel. The hotel staff wouldn't add us to the 10am to 12pm time slots. We compromised. They were willing to transfer us at 9:30am instead. We were very early to the pier and had to stand there.

Once embarkation began, we were quickly processed and aboard the ship. We are regular Royal Caribbean users so we acclimatized in no time at all. Our bags were delivered before dinner time, we enjoyed the Windjammer and the pools, the kids used the Flowrider, and we met our wonderful stateroom attendant, Melvin.

My son was injured on the FlowRider the first afternoon. For those who have used it, you know that water pressure pushes you to the top again after you have wiped out. When my son got to the top, his foot went under the padding at the back and cut up his foot quite substantially. There was quite a bit a blood. We went to the medical facility when first aid was quickly provided. It seemed obvious that my son's injury was "another FlowRider injury". It wasn't a serious one and it healed very quickly. But cuts shouldn't happen on a ride like this. You take your chances with awkward falls, sprains, etc. But cuts? I don't think so. Read more