This was our first cruise with Celebrity. We have cruised Carnival three times during the past 15 years. We got a starboard side, verandah cabin (the verandah was about 50 percent bigger than advertised) on the vista deck. This was a new experience for us, as we had previously only cruised with inside, lower deck cabins. Thank you, Mom.

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale three days early, which happened to coincide with the expiration of a frequent flyer award from Southwest Airline, and saved nearly $700 in airfare as a result. The all day flight from Portland, Oregon, left us drained and happy that we had arrived a few days early. We spent our first day in Fort Lauderdale cruising the Intracoastal Waterway, only $11 via water bus, and must say it was a most enjoyable way to navigate a portion of the city from Oakland Park to the bridge near Port Everglades and back. That evening the rest of our family (nine of us in all) arrived and began preparing to board the ship in a couple of days. We visited the beach, picked up supplies (champagne and soda pop) and enjoyed the Sweet 16 weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament. The Ducks got to the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion, Florida.

Boarding the Infinity, based upon earlier reviews, was pretty normal. We all arrived at the pier by 11:30 a.m. only to discover that the Coast Guard was inspecting the ship, which meant about a two hour delay in boarding. All was not lost, as we were housed in one room, then moved to another, where we met with a number of our Cruise Critic friends before actually boarding the ship. When I say met, I mean I stood up in front of the entire group of people, introduced myself, and asked if there were any other Cruise Critic people in the room. There were and we took the opportunity to get acquainted. The ship was finally cleared and we all boarded the ship where I began a fruitless search for a television showing the Florida/Oregon basketball game. The Ducks lost, and I didn't get to see a minute of it, but we were on the ship, and eager to begin our cruise to the Panama Canal. Unfortunately, the earlier delays also meant a delay in sailing, so we we're nearly three hours late leaving Port Everglades. Read more