Background - Our family of five (me, DH, and three kids ages 10, 12, 16) were on this wonderful ship the week of Aug 19 (aka the 9-day cruise). Our previous cruises were on Royal Caribbean (Oasis, Freedom, and Voyager class), Princess, Celebrity, Carnival, and Disney. In 18 cruises, this is the first time we've ever been on the same ship twice (which tells you how much we like this class of ship). Since this was our first time repeating a cruise ship, we tried to make this cruise unique by doing something new and different every day. Little did we know how memorable and unusual this cruise would turn out to be.

This was supposed to be a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise, but due to Tropical Storm Isaac, it was changed to a Western Caribbean itinerary on day 3 (Tuesday). We swapped St. Thomas and St. Maarten for Jamaica and Cozumel. Between Jamaica and Cozumel, we rescued a boatload of 58 Haitians. The Captain reported that they had been at sea for 22 days and had run out of food and water. Then, as we were heading back to port on day 7 (Saturday), the Captain informed us that Port Everglades was going to close that night due to the Tropical Storm, so we would be extending the cruise for two days while we waited for the storm to pass. We returned to Port safely on day 10 (Tuesday).

Pre-cruise hotel - We flew down to FLL the night before and stayed at Holiday Inn Express Ft. Lauderdale Airport/Cruise Port. They used to offer a free shuttle to the port, but now they charge $8 per person. (We paid it, but realized later a taxi probably would have cost half as much.) The room was nice and accommodated five using two beds and a sofa bed. The complimentary breakfast was ok - not the best we've ever seen, but not the worst, either. Read more