It's taken a little time to get this together, but it's finally done. We had a great 8 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Radiance. It was a long-planned cruise for us (50 something couple) and was designed to allow us to have an intimate vacation while visiting some islands to look for spots for future land-based trips.

Pre-Cruise: We flew from Seattle to Ft Lauderdale on American Airlines on Friday, Feb 2nd, arriving at about 6:26 pm. I was able to upgrade our seats to first class for the entire trip which made things much more pleasant. We rented a car and headed to our hotel in Delray Beach, which is 33 miles north. We stayed at Wright by the Sea, a small family owned resort where we have stayed before. It is a great little place—right on a private beach. It was 82 degrees, so we had dinner outside at a small restaurant in town, Boheme Bistro, which was very good. It stayed warm enough for a walk on the beach and through the surf at 11:00 that evening.

Embarkation: We checked out of the hotel around 11:00 and headed to Ft Lauderdale. After turning in the rental car at the Rental Car Center, we got on the shuttle and headed to the port. It was an easy process. We had our set-sail passes printed and our passports ready and there was literally no line. We boarded, made dinner reservations, bought a wine package and were having lunch in Windjammer by 12:45. I don't see how this could have been easier. Read more