We do enjoy our holidays and are well travelled however this was by far the most relaxing holiday yet. The review below is totally my own opinion and contains advice for first time cruisers, specially any flying in from long haul destinations.

I booked this holiday through a travel agent, we normally arrange our trips ourselves, however, having never cruised before we thought we would rely on the experts. We were due to fly Dublin - Newark - Fort Lauderdale on 8th November however with less than 12 hours to go our flight was cancelled. Sheer panic ensued before we were finally rerouted through Atlanta but also gained an extra day's holiday at the end, more about this later. My advice would be to fly in at least 2 days early, the day before doesn't allow for any last minute problems, lost luggage nor jet lag and indeed I spent the first couple of days on board in a jet lag fog.

We stayed in the Crowne Plaza Cruise Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. This hotel was fine and suited our needs. We arrived late in the evening and took the water taxi to Las Olas Blvd where we strolled and ate. The following morning we were booked on the shuttle to the port, I also prepaid to be collected upon disembarkation. I am so thankful to Cruise Critic forum for picking up this tip, it saved much queuing but more about that at disembarkation. Read more