My husband and I booked a 6 night Western Caribbean cruise directly with Royal Caribbean. After last's years lost luggage, we went a day ahead this time. I highly recommend doing this- less stressful and no rush to the ship. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Ft. Lauderdale, very close to the airport and the port. This hotel however does not offer shuttle service from neither the airport nor Port Everglades. The taxi was about $12.00 from the airport to the hotel and the hotel van to the port was $12.00. The hotel is very nice, full breakfast each morning, all suites, and had a great pool area. We arrived at the port and breezed through the embarkation process- on board by 12:30. Our luggage arrived in the room about 5:30 which made it tough to unpack before dinner. We had the early seating at 6:00 and found that was a bit too early. However, we had great tablemates- from Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and North Carolina. The food was very similar to the menu on our Alaskan cruise on the sister ship of the Radiance, the Serenade. Our waiter was good, not great. The bar service was a bit slow. We had dinner in the main dining room every night but one- we enjoyed the Portofino's for dinner one night. It is well worth the extra $- superb service and excellent food. Our cabin was adequate- the furniture is looking a little worn, as are the draperies. This ship really needs some maintenance in some areas- many of the railings are worn and there is peeling paint on the deck railings but overall was ok. Our balcony was great for sunsets and sunrises. We did not sign up for any ship-sponsored excursions, as my husband was not sure if he would be able to do much. Rather than book ahead, we waited to see what was available. In Key West, we wandered around town, took the Conch Train Tour (cheaper if you do it on your own) and had a piece of frozen key lime pie on a stick- covered with chocolate! Do not miss this gustatory delight! The ship docked right in town and was convenient to everything. Only complaint- not enough time here. Our second port was Cozumel, where we found a great little tour- Island Tours- with a very good driver. He took the 8 of us to El Cedro, the very old little town with a lot of history. We also were driven around the far side of the island to see the ocean views- spectacular. We even had time to shop before heading back to the ship. The next port was Grand Cayman but my better half needed a day off so we enjoyed the nearly empty ship while everyone was in port. The final stop was Montego Bay, Jamaica. While Jamaica is beautiful it is also very poor and you are constantly hassled. The ship's shopping guru said that City Centre would be the best place to go and not be accosted by overeager merchants. We found that not to be very accurate- a lot of "come in my shop, mon" going on. Our dinner table friends reported their taxi drivers offered them marijuana. We went on a Hot Spot Shuttle so were not offered any substances. In fact the driver informed us he and other drivers are all armed and not to worry! We did buy some coffee and a very cool Bob Marley t-shirt. Too soon the cruise was over. I applaud the "adult-only" solarium pool- love kids but also love not hearing them screeching in the pool! In leaving the ship, there was some sort of delay- docked at 7:00 but departures did not start until nearly 8:30. No rush for us- spent another 2 days in Ft. Lauderdale before heading back to the frozen north. In Ft. Lauderdale, check out Las Olas Boulevard and take one of the Intercostal boat tours.