My girlfriend and I recently took a short, five day, "resting" cruise to Key West and Cozumel on the Celebrity Constellation, without our husbands. We stayed overnight at the Ft Lauderdale Hilton Marina before the cruise and it was easy and cheap to get from airport to hotel to cruise port and back to airport. We booked the Hilton's preferred transportation service to get to the hotel and had a bit of confusion because we arrived on different flights in different terminals, but that eventually worked out fine. The Hilton was filled with cruisers, which initially overcrowded the elevators on our departure day, but we weren't in hurry so that was not a problem for us. More troublesome for the Mom and Dad with lots of bags and a fussy baby.... The Hilton's sit down breakfast restaurant was also crowded with a 20 minute wait for breakfast - we took a walk through the marina and checked out the yachts and when we got back our table was ready. The drug store a few blocks walk from the hotel was perfect for last minute sunscreen and other purchases.

Embarkation a breeze and we had a cocktail by the pool while we waited for our cabin to be ready. Love the Constellation. It has most of the amenities of the Solstice class ships, with a more cozy, intimate feel. Our Concierge Class cabin, 8110, was convenient to the elevators and had the added bonus of hearts on the door (courtesy of a previous cruiser whose decals stained the door), so it was always easy to find. Beds, pillows and linens were extremely comfortable. We travel light (carry on only) and had plenty of room for everything.

We were disappointed that the specialty restaurants were completely booked except for 9:30 pm, and our main dining room experience was AWESOME!!! Great selection, servers and food. We attended a wine and food pairing seminar we throughly enjoyed. The buffet is a bit smaller than on the Celebrity Reflection, but we had no trouble finding something delicious whenever we were hungry. I am a latte person for morning coffee and love, love, love the Cafe al Bacio. Read more