I’m a lurker and this is my first review. I figured that since this is a new ship that’s only been sailing a few months, there aren’t already a lot of reviews on it and I might be able to contribute something back.

I went on the cruise with my wife and 6-year old daughter, along with friends and their 13-year old daughter and 11-year old son. We decided to fly down on Friday and stay overnight. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Miami. It’s about 1 ½ miles from the Port of Miami, and 7 ½ miles from Miami International Airport. The taxi that took us from Airport to hotel cost about $24.00, and from hotel to Port we took a shuttle for $7 per person because it was there and big enough to take all of us. The hotel was perfect for the overnight stay. At $110 per room it was reasonably priced. It had nice rooms, a decent pool, and a great lobby. It’s next to the convention center so if you decide to stay there, check the convention center calendar and make sure nothing major is going on. The only complaint I had about the hotel was that the pool area was a little noisy due to being close to a major roadway.

One of the surprising events of the over night was the great food we had for dinner. We walked to a hole in the wall BBQ place called Sparky’s Roadside BBQ. The restaurant itself looks like it belonged in a bungalow on beach boardwalk, but the food was awesome! The catfish was so good it actually made me sad that I would probably never eat there again. Everyone enjoyed their various meals. Read more