We decided with the weather in the Midwest to fly in to Ft. Lauderdale a day early. Stayed at the Fairfled Inn Dania Beach. I booked late so hotels on 17th were full. The hotel was great. We had dinner at the Rustic Inn. A 10 minute walk or the hotel has a free shuttle. Fantastic dinner. My husband ate crab for an hour.

Note - We met up with my in-laws for a non for profit fundraiser from their retirement village. Ages ranged from 48-80 with no young kids;

They do have a shuttle to the pier. We were on the 10am and arrived at 10:45. M advice is to get the first shuttle. They will run behind up to an hour after that. We were on the ship by 11:15. I was very impressed by the organization of the terminal. Rooms on board were open as promised by 1pm. Made a quick run to Park Cafe. Met our party about an hour later who wanted to go to the Windjammer. What a zoo! Only went there once the rest of the trip and there were plenty of tables then. The waiters were seating everyone as you entered. My husband ate at Izumu 3 times and loved it. We did appetizers twice ant the Mexican place on the BoardWalk which were ok but not anything special. No other specialty dining. Read more