My husband and I flew to Fort Lauderdale on 4/9 and stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn Express on 17th Avenue. The hotel provided shuttle service from the airport and picked us up within 20 minutes of calling them. The hotel is nice- small, no pool, but the staff is helpful and friendly, free continental breakfast and the city shuttle (.50 per person/ride) picks up right out front every half hour. We took the shuttle to the beach for the afternoon and it was very nice - lots of restaurants, shops, nice sidewalks for strolling and we watched several departing cruise ships leave the harbor around 5:00. Very clear view from the beach of the ships. We ate two meals on Friday; both of them in the Publix grocery eat-in deli! We spent nearly nothing for what we ate and it was delicious, there was a secluded seating area and it was so fun. The Publix is in a Harbor Shop area within a short walking distance from Holiday Inn. There is also a huge wine store next to Publix and I purchased a 3 liter box of wine for $8.99. I was able to pack this box in my carry on with no concern over breakage and I used this wine the whole cruise and had leftover which I left on the ship.

The Holiday Inn does not provide transportation to the port. They allow a service to come in and sign people up for $18 per person. We did sign up for a ride along with seven other couples going on assorted cruise ships. This worked out ok - it was fun waiting with everyone and discussing different cruises. There were 8 ships in port on this day and we were the first one out - the Oasis of the Seas was right behind us and what a sight that is!

We did not have to wait to register at the terminal - no lines. Checked in quickly and boarded the ship. Since we are Mariners, we went right to the dining room for the Mariner Lunch. We had one carry on which the waiter placed discreetly out of the way and seated us with two other couples. We had a very nice lunch - I much preferred this to jostling with folks in the Lido. We had to give our room number to the door man but I think anyone could have participated. We finished lunch and toured around a bit as the rooms had not yet been opened. We have sailed on the Zuiderdam before it underwent the changes so were anxious to look around. Read more