My husband and our three children, ages 12, 8, and 6, sailed on the Aug 24 Eastern Caribbean itinerary. This was the 11th cruise for the hubby and I, with past cruises on Carnival (4), Princess (2), Celebrity (1), Disney (1), and Royal Caribbean (2). We always get at least a balcony room and book the cruise way in advance (we booked this one in June 2007). On this cruise, we had adjoining Cat E1 balcony rooms. We looked into the getting the royal family suite (cat FS), but that was about $4000 more than getting the adjoining rooms, We booked this ship because we love the variety of activities available on Royal Caribbean ships, and when we heard about this class we just had to try the FlowRider.

We flew down the night before the cruise. For us, there was a choice of only two flights the day of the cruise: the one where we have to get up before the sun and the one that may not get us there on time if there's delays. It's much nicer to wake up in the port city, have a leisurely breakfast, then head to the ship on our own schedule. I will gladly pay for one night in a hotel just so I don't have to deal with kids who are cranky because they have been up since 4am. Plus it's always better to cushion your schedule during hurricane season; you never know when schedules might change.

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale airport (was cheaper than Miami airport), then took the Go shuttle to our hotel in Miami for $21 a person. We probably could have saved some money by taking a taxi, but it was the first thing we saw and we were tired so we grabbed it. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Bayside. A nice hotel with rooms that comfortably hold five (two beds plus sofa bed). Our window faced the port, but I forgot to request a room on an upper floor so we could only see the top portions of the ship on Sunday morning. Read more