Background: Myself 50, Husband 54, Son 21 and roommate 21. We booked this cruise over a year out and decided to take my son and his friend along as a treat for excelling in their college studies.

We flew AirTran direct from Indianapolis into FLL and arrived at 5pm on a Friday, a day prior to our cruise. Needless to say, this airport was a madhouse. We found our way to baggage claim and then to the hotel shuttle pick-up area where we placed a call to our hotel, Sleep Inn & Suites FLL airport. Their shuttle arrived within 10 minutes and a very courteous driver loaded our bags and drove us the short 10 min drive to the hotel.

The hotel itself is a 4 story, indoor corridor hotel which is located next to a 24 hr Walgreens and across the street from a shopping center that has a grocery store and 3 restaurants. Having shopping and a restaurant made it very convenient to purchase our pop and wine plus have dinner without having to worry about hiring a taxi cab. We booked two side-by-side rooms and received parking lot views on the third floor. This was a great location as we were at the end of the hallway and facing the back of the hotel. It turned out to be a very quiet location. The hotel has a nice pool and hot tub with clean, well maintained pool furniture and pool towels. A nice touch was a handicap lift-chair for both the pool and the hot tub. Kudos to the hotel for this. The next morning, the hotel offered a very nice hot breakfast that was included in our room rate. The hotel is nothing fancy but is convenient to shopping and dining and worked out perfect for a one night's pre-cruise stay. Read more