I planned our cruise over a year in advance and read so many of the reviews here. I hope that mine can help someone else!

We are from Ontario, just east of Toronto. We drove to Buffalo and flew to Orlando from there on Southwest. Our cruise didn't leave until the next day so I had booked us a room at the hotel that is right inside the Orlando airport, the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport. What a great choice that was! We were tired from being up early and driving to Buffalo. It was so nice to grab out luggage and head up to the hotel. Our room was a junior suite to fit myself and my husband plus three teenagers. The pool is outside on the sixth floor. The fitness room is one of the nicest ones I've seen. We were happy to use all the amenities before walking down to the airport to have supper at Chili's. We felt like we were having a great vacation and we hadn't even left on the cruise yet!

The next morning, after a really excellent breakfast included with our room, we got our rental car from Alamo (just an elevator ride downward in the airport) and drove to Port Canaveral. We rode the shuttle from Alamo there to the port. This is only our second cruise but I was so impressed by the embarkation process and how smoothly it ran. We were on the boat in no time. We did some exploring after initiating our beverage package (more on that later!) and grabbed a bite in the Windjammer. Our rooms were ready promptly at one o'clock and we got changed to go to the pool. Read more