My new husband and I (we got married in St. Thomas on this cruise!) sailed on the Solstice at the beginning of May. It was a wonderful trip. We travelled with my parents who are normally Carnival cruisers and I've sailed with various cruise lines prior to this trip.

We stayed at the Il Lugano hotel in Fort Lauderdale pre cruise - about 30USD taxi fare from the airport. Beautiful hotel with wonderful staff! In order to get to the ship we used the free shuttle within 5 miles to meet my parents at the Best Western Oakland Park just a few mins away and got a shuttle for 20USD along with them. The Best Western came with free shuttle service from the airport and back to the ship for guests and full breakfast! We did see the pool and it was quite large! Definitely a great value for pre-cruisers.

Embarkation at the dock was smooth and easy. Read more