Pre-cruise we stayed at the Embassy Suites in FLL. Rooms are ok but I wouldn't pay the rate they asked for if it were based solely on the room). What is great about this hotel is the location. If you need something prior to your cruise you should be able to find it within several blocks of the hotel. Their atrium is beautiful and as I mentioned before, free breakfast and a free cocktail hour (5:30 - 7:30 pm). The overnight desk employees left a lot to be desired, but the day shift was awesome!

We left the hotel about 10 am for the port and arrived several minutes later. Believe it or not, there was already a line! We made it through pretty quickly and took our seats to wait for boarding. People going on a cruise are always in great moods, so the wait was a fun one. I will say the terminal in FLL is not nearly as nice as Miami, but then again, I was going on an 8 day cruise - I didn't really care what the terminal looked like! Boarding began right around 11:30 with zones being called. Our group was in zone 4 and 5 so we were on board within a few minutes.

The Freedom is a beautiful ship. Of all the ships I've been on, the Victory was my favorite color scheme, but you just can't beat a ship that is as new as the Freedom! The lights weren't what I would call the most attractive, but again, just being new made it beautiful. Read more