My wife and I (early 60's) were so much looking forward to this cruise. After being in the deep freeze of the "Polar Vortex", we were especially ready for some warmth and sun on our 7 day cruise to the southern caribbean region (Jan. 11-18).

We flew out the day before from Milwaukee on a direct flight with Southwest Airlines to Ft. Lauderdale. You never want to take a chance with bad weather in Wisconsin. We booked a room at the Hampton Inn & Suites by the airport in Hollywood, Florida. We were pleased with our choice of hotel. They provided free shuttle service to and from the airport. They also had shuttle service to the cruise terminal the next morning at a cost of $10.00 per person which we took. The hotel is located in a good area next to the Oakdale Plaza. There are several hotels in this location, including the Comfort Inn & Suites next door. Across the road is a Springhill Suites, Hilton Garden Inn and the Hyatt Place & Hyatt House Hotels. Several fast food restaurants are within a block or two. We ended up having one of the best fish fries ever at the Hollywood Alehouse. It's located just around the corner from the Home Depot in the plaza. Our hotel even had 10% discount coupons for the place. If ever staying in this area, I highly recommend you check it out.

The next day we were able to board the 10:00 AM shuttle to Port Everglades. We made our shuttle reservations with the hotel the day before when checking in. It's best to book it early to get the time you want. We first had to drop off some folks at the Royal Caribbean cruise terminal, then it was on to our terminal for the Crown Princess. We arrived around 10:30 and went straight to the preferred boarding entrance for platinum & elite passengers. Their were only a few people in front of us and we were up to the counter and ready to be checked in when all of a sudden the computers went down to process the cruise cards. Well, this took about a half hour to correct while we waited. The time went fast as we chatted with other passengers, then we were on our way upstairs to the Elite Lounge area to wait some more. We were the first people to walk into the lounge, but less than 30 minutes later we were walking across the plankway to board the Crown. By this time it was 11:30 AM and we thought the whole process went quite well. Read more