We sailed from December 17-December 24 on the Enchantment of the Sea. My husband and I are 43 and our son is 17 and our daughter is 13. This is a rather lengthy review so be prepared to sit here for a while! This was our first cruise and I would like to thank everyone who posted information, questions and reviews on all the message boards because this is where I learned all about cruising.

Pre Cruise - I booked our cruise directly from RCCL. I started out with a TA but found that I got a much lower price when I called RCCL myself. In July, I booked 2 cabins, one inside (for the kids) and one outside. We were given our cabins which were on Level 2 (B deck) and in the front of the ship (bow). At first I wasn't to keen on being so low in the ship but as we hit quite a lot of high seas, I was really grateful later! Towards final payment time I tried to get 2 outside rooms together but the price had almost doubled so we didn't bother. So IMHO I think it's best to book early to get a better rate plus get a cabin where you want to be.

Night Before - We drove to Ft. Lauderdale from Cape Cod, MA because my husband doesn't like to fly and he likes to take 2 weeks off so he can really enjoy a long vacation. We arrived on Saturday and I had booked the AmeriSuites several months earlier after reading all the good things about this hotel on Cruise Critic's message boards. It's a beautiful hotel about 1/2 mile from Port Everglades and your nights' stay includes a free breakfast, free shuttle to your cruise ship and free parking in their lot, if you drove. I had gotten a price online at their website but found I got a lower rate when I called them direct. Read more