We spent the night in Ft. Lauderdale at Quality Inn & Suites Airport & CruisePort South on Stirling Rd. Waited at the airport for 45 minutes to be picked up by the shuttle driver. Decent place and definitely in need of updates and repairs. Pool area was great. They even have a pool side bar. The hotel is also located next to a shopping center with lots of great shopping and some restaurants including Taco Bell and McDonalds. However, if you do stay here, do not use the hotel shuttle take you to the port for the cruise. It was complete chaos. In addition, they will not take you to the port til later. Their words to me were, “they (the cruise line terminals) don’t accept passengers til after 11:30 a.m.” Take a cab…..you can get on the ship much earlier and without all the hassles at the hotel as they try to decide which people are going to what cruiseline. We have sailed many times with Princess, Carnival, Disney and NCL, we know what time we can get to the pier.

My husband and I are both Carnival Gold members and have found that Carnival really does have the check in process down to a science. Quick and flawless for us and on the boat within thirty minutes after arriving to the port even though there was a LONG line.

I will say that I believe that Carnival has definitely made some cuts and not good ones in my opinion. However, I am not sure if the cuts were just on this ship, or if they are fleetwide. Read more