First, some general comments. My husband and I are in our late twenties, and we cruised with our 14 month old son and my mother and her husband, who were on their honeymoon. This was our fourth Celebrity cruise and our first experience cruising with a baby.

My husband had business in Orlando ending 2 days before the cruise, so the rest of us flew to Orlando the day before the cruise to pick him up. We stayed at the Orlando Marriott Airport hotel that night (the restaurant food is excellent) and rented a car from Avis to drive to Fort Lauderdale the next day. In hindsight, I think coming in 2 days early would have been a better decision because there was a huge accident on the Florida turnpike going the other way, and given the length of time required to make the drive I would not want to be worried about missing the ship.

Embarkation: Very quick! We arrived at the ship at 12:30pm and the Concierge Class check in line was nearly nonexistent. We were onboard by 1pm and enjoying lunch. Read more