This was the 4th cruise for my wife and I- 2 with Carnival and 2 with Royal Caribbean . We were looking for an extended weekend trip to get some end of the year sunshine before winter sets in and thought a 3 night cruise would be perfect.

We flew into Fort Lauderdale vs. Miami due to the significant price difference between the airports about $100/person and there for 4 of us traveling). Here's a tip: Rent a car at the Fort Lauderdale airport from Enterprise Rent-a-car. They have a drop off branch within a mile of the cruise port in Miami and they do not charge a drop off fee for a one-way rental. You will need to take a taxi from the drop off location to the ship, but it's about $10. Total for the car and taxi was $49 vs. $42/person for the shuttle. We found it much cheaper to rent the car for 1 day then to take the cruise-line offered shuttle (as it's a per person price) or a taxi as it is a fairly significant distance from Fort Lauderdale to Miami cruise port (about 30 miles).

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