My wife, our 2 daughters, my new son-in-law and hopefully a soon to be son-in law flew from New Jersey to Fort Lauderdale on the night before the cruise and stayed in the Residence Inn at Dania Beach. The hotel has a complimentary pickup at the airport. Since it was 6 of us we were able to save money by getting a suite which slept 6 instead of 3 separate rooms, a trick the Mrs. picked up on. We had a nice dinner at the Islamorada Fish Company which the hotel van dropped us off at. The van also dropped us off at a local place with a water view deck area for lunch. Very nice drivers.

My wife arranged for us to be picked up at 9:15 by the SAS van service. The driver was right on time and we were in Miami in no time, very reasonable price. Highly recommend.

Embarkation: We are Select members so embarkation was a breeze. We were on the gangway at 11:00. The ship is beautiful as are all the ships in the Solstice class - elegant without going overboard. We have stayed in an inside and a balcony on this class of ships, and both provide plenty of cabin space. There is more than ample closet space with plenty of drawer space especially over the bed. The bathrooms provide a nice sink, drawers space and a very nice walk-in shower with handheld shower head if you need to provide water to particular parts of the body. This shower is not a plastic tube like some cruise ships. You have plenty of room to freely bath without feeling claustrophobic. Read more