We left a day early to enjoy the sun in Ft. Lauderdale. We wished we had packed much differently when we arrived on Saturday prior to our Sunday departure as the air was very brisk - temps in the 40's. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn near the airport which was new a new hotel and adequate for our one night. They offer a morning shuttle to the pier as well as a shuttle to different restaurants in the area but we rented a car from Hertz for the day. This worked out well as when we returned the car, the gentleman from Hertz hopped in and drove us to the pier, did not have to unload luggage and wait for free bus from rental area. We checked in our luggage with the porters at the pier and went through the embarking process in a matter of minutes by using the "diamond" desk, then proceeded upstairs to a waiting room. We were on the ship by noon, rooms were not quite ready but we headed to Windjammer for lunch. Although this ship is quite large, we found it was easier to get around and find things better than we had on some of the smaller ones. Our cruise included 2 days at sea but with the weather remaining quite cool the time we spent outside was limited, with all the other activities like the climbing wall, flowrider, etc., no one was lacking things to do on this ship. We loved the promenade area, it was a great place to meet, grab a quick snack or drink, as well as serving as a stage at night for entertainment. The ship is relatively new and certainly is in wonderful shape, I hate to see it go to Europe for two years as we really found it fit what everyone wanted to do. Our first port was Belize where we had booked privately a zip line/cave tubing excursion through Jaguar Paw Resort. Be aware that there is a 25 min. tender to port as well as a 1 hr 20 minute trip to the mountains, most took the directions from the resort and arrived on the first of the ship's tenders however there are always a few who were late so we did get a late start. We loved the excursion, well run, very safe, and all worked out - we were the last tender going back to the ship but that tender was packed as one of the ship's tours had a bus that broke down on the way back. In Costa Maya we booked the ship's tour "catamaran cruise and snorkeling" again the wind was strong and we wondered if we had made the right decision but the guide was great and those who snorkeled saw more fish and marine life than they could have imagined. Costa Maya had experienced a hurricane a few years back and is just recovering. Cozumel was as always a great place to shop which we did but the children did the "Dolphin Push, Pull, Swim" and we all enjoyed watching them interact with the dolphins, this was very well run and I would recommend it. My daughter and I took pictures as "observers" and felt ours were as good as those offered by the tour. The last day at sea again was cool and cloudy, played cards, mini golf, everything to stay out of the open deck. Visited "Johnny Rockets" which is a great value for the charge. I can't say enough about the staff on the ship they were unfailing patient and cheerful. We loved our waiter and asst. waiter - we did not try any of the speciality restaurants but the food in the MDR was more than adequate. We all looked forward to dinner. There were 1021 children on board and you would have not known it - it seemed that they were all having fun. We had a great time on the Indy and we think you will too!