We flew out the day before and stayed at the Comfort Inn cruise port Fort Lauderdale. It was a good idea as there was a day of downtime after the early morning flight. The free transfers and breakfast made this a recommended place to stay. We also booked their transport from ship to airport for $8 pp and that was a great idea.

We got the first hotel shuttle at 10am and were on the ship shortly after 11. We all considered this a great bonus day and we had the ship to ourselves until mid afternoon. The rooms were ready at 2pm and our luggage was outside the door.

It took about an hour to explore the ship; it is really beautiful and obviously new. We had promenade view interior rooms that the children loved. They could watch the parades and shows from their rooms. It's not a good idea to choose these rooms if you retire early, most parades were at 10:30 or 11pm and involved music. They were a bit lame but we had a laugh watching them. We also had balcony rooms and enjoyed the peace of sitting and staring at the sea. Port side is good so that you can watch arrival and departure in port. Read more