Arrived the night before and stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn Cruise-port (recommended) We arrived approx. 1100 am at the fort Lauderdale cruise port. We arrived by paid hotel shuttle ($8/person). Our luggage was taken right from the taxi by the porters. We entered the cruise terminal and had our ID and boarding passes checked no less than four different times, at four different locations.
NOTE - there is only 1 bottle of wine allowed per person over the age of 21. NO EXCEPTIONS. Many passengers experienced seizure of alcohol, beer, wine and cases of water. We thought with an 8 night cruise two bottles a person was ok. NO IT WAS NOT!
Total processing time was approx. 1.5 hrs. We were constantly in motion from one area to another. Despite the time it took, it was not a big deal.
great cabin, quiet location!