We flew from ORD to FLL on American and had a good flight. We stayed two nights at the Hyatt Pier 66 and found the hotel very nice. Service was good except for one night at the marina casual restaurant (Pelican Landing). We (and many others) left without getting our food because they were overwhelmed and very very slow. It was truly the worst service we have ever seen. The hotel has a very nice pool area. There aren't many restaurants within close walking distance but you can take a short taxi, trolley or bus to many choices. The view from the top floor room is amazing.

We took the city bus (40) up the beach and to Bonnet House and the Galleria Mall. It was neat to see the beach on spring break. It was REALLY busy. We walked over the 17Th St. bridge several times. There is a great view of the ships in port. We went to a little diner caller "Harbor Cafe" and liked the "local" feel. HAL allows you to take on wine so we bought some wine near the cafe for the cruise. It is good of HAL to have this policy.

We grabbed a taxi for the short trip to the ship around 11:30. Embarkation was very fast. We found no lines. It was very well organized. We went to the Mariner (previous passenger) lunch in the dining room. It was a set menu Indonesian lunch and VERY good. It was really relaxing versus the typical Lido embarkation lunch experience. This a very good thing for HAL to do. Read more