I booked this cruise almost a year ago. It was our family vacation with our 3 children, all in their 20's. We were celebrating our youngest daughter's college graduation. My nephew and his girlfriend and her sister also went. We drove down from North Carolina the day before our cruise. I had read good reviews about the Hampton Inn Plantation. I booked that hotel with stay123 and we were able to park our cars there free during our 8 night cruise. They also have free shuttle service to the port and free shuttle back to the hotel after the cruise. When we arrived at the hotel that night, the earliest shuttle we could get to the port the next day was 1:00. We were disappointed because we like to arrive at the port by 10:30 or 11:00. It all worked out great though because I had forgotten to pack a few things and we had time to go shopping at the mall right behind the hotel and Target next door. The free breakfast was good. It can get a little crowded at breakfast, depending on what time you go down to eat. The hotel was very nice with comfortable beds. We will definitely stay there again if we take a cruise out of Port Everglades.

The shuttle arrived about 12:45 and we went straight to the port. It was raining on the way to the port but by the time we got there, the rain had stopped. It didn't take too long to get on the ship since we were later arriving and we also got to take our luggage straight to our rooms. We booked 3 inside rooms on the Panorama deck. I prefer having a window but will take any room to be on a cruise.

We had the safety drill around 4:00. I was very surprised to hear a few passengers talking the whole time. It was very distracting and hard to concentrate on what was being said. I know the people close to them had trouble even hearing the directions. Read more