My husband, my father, and I recently returned from the 11-day partial Panama Canal cruise (Dec 5-16) on the Zuiderdam. We had a great time.

We stayed at the Fort Lauderdale Embassy Suites on 17th Street the night before the cruise. They were great. The very accommodating gentleman that checked us in was able to give us a room on the 12th floor with a view of the cruise port. We spent our first night watching the exodus of ships leaving the port. It certainly helped build our excitement. I selected this hotel because I wanted to be within walking distance of a grocery store and a restaurant. The hotel provided a very good breakfast. We took a taxi the next morning leaving at 11 am to the port -- excellent result.

Check-in at the port was quick. There were only 2 cruise ships in port. I didn't pay attention to the time it took to get on board, but we didn't really wait in lines. Everything moved fairly quickly. Our room wasn't quite ready -- but we were free to walk the ship. As the others went to the Lido for a quick snack, I went to register for the behind-the-scenes ships tour. This tour was scheduled for the last sea day. Read more