My wife and I (early 60's) boarded the beautiful Regal Princess on Sunday November 9th. We flew in the day before on a direct flight with Southwest Airlines from Milwaukee. I booked a hotel reservation at the Holiday Inn in Hollywood, Florida which is near the airport. We have stayed here several times and never had any problems. It's clean, good service and has a great outdoor pool. They also provide shuttle service to the cruise terminal for a reasonable price and free service from the airport to the hotel. That afternoon we caught a taxi with my sister and brother in law who traveled with us to the Ft. Lauderdale Beach area. We wandered around there and had a few drinks, the area and beach were quite crowded which made it lively and fun. Later in the evening we headed over to the Las Olas Shop & Restaurant district. We had dinner at the Tuscan Grill which was very good and walked around. This area is lively at night and beautiful with all the lite palm trees up and down the boulevard.

Finally, embarkation day on the Regal Princess. After having breakfast at a Denny's Restaurant across the street from the Holiday Inn, we gathered up our baggage and headed off on the shuttle to Port Everglades. We arrived around noon and were onboard in less than 30 minutes. Being elite with Princess and using the elite & platinum entrance really helped.

We cruised on the Royal Princess last November, so we wanted to try it's sister ship the Regal. We are happy we did as this ship and the Royal are marvels. When you see the piazza for the first time you are in awe of it's beauty. It's the hub of the ship with constant activities in and around this area. Read more