Pre-Cruise - Arrived in Ft Lauderdale on Friday and stayed at the Springhill Suites -- Dania. They provide free airport and port shuttles. Check-in was fast, room was clean and there were restaurants and shopping within walking distance. Breakfast is provided but it was not particularly good or organized for the number of guests. The staff however is very courteous and helpful.

Arrival at Port - The cruise check-in was even better than all the reviews I had read. The Springhill Suites Airport shuttle driver explained how everything would work when we arrived at the port (15 minutes later). Porters were there ready to tag your bags to be delivered to your stateroom. Remember to print out the baggage tag page of your sea pass (it displays the deck, cabins and location on the deck). The porter process took the longest because there were a number of people there. After the bags were tagged, we tipped the porter and went into to check-in. We had our passports ready and sailed thru security. All electronics stay in your bags and your shoes stay on your feet. Next stop was the queue for the actual check-in. I forgot we had Gold status (at least 1 cruise on RCCL) -- so I got in the queue which was empty for cruisers (without status). We were done the whole process in less than 5 minutes.

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