On 5/9, my wife and I flew to Miami, stayed one night at the Hotel Intercontinental, and then boarded the BREEZE the next day for an 8nt cruise to Grand Turk, La Romana, Curacao and Aruba. When that cruise was over, we took Carnival’s shuttle to the Ft. Lauderdale airport to pick up our son and his friend, and then all four of us went on the CARNIVAL FREEDOM’s 6nt cruise to Key West, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. When the cruise on the FREEDOM was over, we picked up a car at the Ft. Lauderdale airport and drove home to Indiana, staying one night in Perry, Georgia.

For those who want just the general low-down, I’m happy to report that we had an excellent time on both cruises. I’ll go into more detail below, but, for the most part, everything went well. It wasn’t perfect, but that’s life.

First off, the Hotel Intercontinental is a fantastic hotel. It’s right on the bay, about a ten minute walk to Bayside, in a safe area, and just a ten minute taxi ride to the port – highly recommended. We had a bay view, and could see the ships berthed at Dodge Island. That first day, MAJESTY OF THE SEAS, CARNIVAL ECSTASY, and NORWEGIAN SKY were in port. We woke up early the next morning and watched MSC’s DIVINA and NCL’s new GETAWAY pull in. CARNIVAL BREEZE was the last to show up – much to our relief. Read more