Precruise: We (husband 42, wife 45 & son 16) flew in the night before like normal to be well rested to enjoy the first day on the ship. The flight down had multiple delays due to storms in the upper midwest but we got into FLL around 12:30am Saturday. We got out our bags and called Crowne Plaza for a shuttle. Within minutes, our shuttle was there and shortly after checked in without any problems and off to our room to try and get some rest. The hotel couldn't of been any closer to the port, great location and will stay there whenever sailing out of Fort Lauderdale.

Embark: I agree with everything on these boards about the process. We arrived shortly after 11:00 and were eating lunch in Giavanni's Table by noon.

Cruise: The cruise, all in all, was a great vacation. There are some minor items we noticed and disliked but in no way did it stop us from having another great trip on Royal Caribbean. There is so much to do on this ship that it's impossible to squeeze it all in within a 7 day cruise. By the second day, we seldom saw our son except for dinner, ports or first thing in the morning due to all the fun he was having with the teen program, friends he made on the ship, etc. MDR food was ok, had some real good courses and some not so good. The service was great and we enjoyed meeting the people we sat with. We ended up all meeting before each dinner just so we could enjoy another meal together. On Tuesday, we ate at Chops since in port with an excursion we knew it would be a late dinner so made reservations ahead of the cruise. It was well worth it, the food and service was great. We also ate lunch at Giavanni's Table the first day and enjoyed so much we went back on the last day just to do it again. Read more