About us: We are baby-boomer husband/wife from the Midwest who took a first cruise in 2002 on NCL Sun, fell in love with cruising... and keep coming back for more. This was our 9Th cruise with NCL. Prior cruises: 4 on the Sun, 2 on the Jewel, 1 on the Dawn and 1 on the Pearl.

We flew into FLL the day before, shuttled down to the Intercontinental Miami Hotel via SAS Transportation. SAS was on the phone calling my husband to verify pickup the minute the plane landed...very impressive. We'd used them in March and will be repeat customers. Thanks, Steve Sadowsky for your great service! Reasonable rates, prompt service. We upgraded our room at the Intercontinental to a Bay View....and as others have noted, really nice to get a look at the ships, etc. Room was clean and quiet. Bed comfy. People at the front desk were efficient and friendly. We decided to go over to Bayside Marketplace for dinner that night...We asked one of the local security people to recommend a restaurant and ended up at Lombardi's Restaurant and had a very good meal there with fabulous waiter service.

Embarkation was a breeze. We were at the POM early, around 10:45 and on the ship by 11:15 or so. Cabins were ready just before the promised 2 p.m. Luggage delivered without incident. Read more