This was our first cruise. We got attracted by recent initiatives by HAL to attract younger cruisers with children. While rates were pretty attractive at the low end, you simply could not book those because of the maximum capacity restrictions. So we had no other choice but to upgrade to more expensive categories at the booking stage, which were not bigger, but just had 'drop-down' bunk beds and extra life jackets. What a 'clever' way to attract families and have them pay for more expensive rooms in a category with "3rd/4th free guests. We traveled to Ft.Lauderdale a day before our cruise, which was always suggested by other more experienced cruisers on this website.

Stayed at Hilton close to the port - very nice hotel, very convenient.

Embarkation was fairly smooth, again have nothing to compare to, but seems like it was fairly organized. Read more