After care-giving for my elderly parents for the last three years, it was time for a well deserved short cruise to get away from everything. I chose to go alone so that I would be responsible for nobody but myself and if I chose to do nothing at all there would be nobody to complain.

When booking my cruise, my cruise consultant from NCL, Gina Morales, was very helpful , but once I was booked and they had my money, I never heard from her again, even when I wrote to her to let her know my father had passed away and I was looking to upgrade to a suite. While NCL doesn't recognize SWF as an airport they can book with, she was able to get me a relatively inexpensive hotel room ($89/night) at the Sofitel which is about a 5 minute ride from the Miami airport and about a 10 minute ride from the Port of Miami. The price included a free transfer in the morning from the hotel to the port.

The Sofitel Miami airport hotel is a lovely 4-star hotel overlooking a very blue lagoon (clichE, I know, but it was a lovely and blue lagoon!). The room was comfortable and clean with a flat screen television and a very soft bed with four very soft pillows. Read more