We flew from the U.K. to Florida, spent the day with Harry Potter in Orlando then drove to Fort Lauderdale in order to spend 5 nights at sea.
Ports of call were Grand Cayman and Cozumel and we were VERY UNLUCKY with the weather RAIN, RAIN and more RAIN!!! (Hurricane Richard nearby...)
We stayed at the Best Western Hallendale Beach in FLL, booked via Hotwire which gave us an EXCELLENT rate. Hotel was fine for the night, next to I95 (some traffic noise) and 10mins from the Airport/Port.