My family and I (husband and daughter 12, son 14) are back from our first cruise aboard the Carnival Triumph. This review is long, but I tried to think of the things that I wondered about before we went. If you are a previous cruiser you may want to skip this!

We flew from Reagan International into Fort Lauderdale ($600 for the four of us including taxes) as the flights were much cheaper. We then took a limo through Holland Limo company ($96 including tip) to the Hyatt Regency (Priceline 2 rooms for 40$ each). The Limo company was a special way to start things off. He stopped at a drug store so we could buy champagne to toast our cruise. The return trip was to be a Limo also, but the driver messed up and brought a town car. The company refunded the difference, but I would probably use a different company due to this mix up.

The Hyatt was beautiful and they gave us adjoining rooms with 1 king and the other with 2 doubles. I would definitely use Priceline and hope for this hotel again. We took a taxi to the Bayside mall for dinner and site seeing ($7.50 plus tip for the taxi). The next day we ate in the Hyatt. It was expensive ($50 for the 4 of us which included a cruise discount) but the service and food was excellent! We made a quick walk to a drug store for last minute items and then off to the Port at 11:30 for embarkment ($8.00 plus tip). Read more