My wife and I flew into Fort Lauderdale the day prior and stayed at the Hyatt Regency Pier 66. We flew from Nebraska where it was a wonderful (haha) 11 degrees and we must admit, 75 degrees in Fort Lauderdale sure felt amazing! It was very breezy but we had a great time wandering around the grounds of the hotel, marvelling at the larger than life private yachts that surround the property. Seeing those yachts really put into perspective how large the cruise ships were. From our balcony at the Hyatt Regency, we had an amazing view of Port Everglades, the Atlantic Ocean, and Fort Lauderdale. You could even make out the cityscape of downtown Miami. It was interesting to the nerd in me to watch HAL Noordam, and Carnival cruise ship leave port. It only enhanced my level of excitement for out cruise ship. The next time (and there will certainly be a next time) we take a cruise from Fort Lauderdale/Miami, we will be staying at the Hyatt again. The only negative about the hotel was breakfast was very pricey especially when you consider what you got. My wife and I spent $24 on a bagel with cream cheese, 4 turkey sausage links, an orange juice and water! We expected it to be pricey but that felt ridiculous. Other than that, the hotel was excellent in every aspect.

We used NCL's transfer service from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International to the Port of Miami at a cost of $25 per person. It was very simple, the lady spotted my wife's luggage tags, asked if we needed a lift and in 10 minutes were leaving for the Port of Miami. The process was quick and painless thanks to the military-like precision of the driver who also put your luggage on the bus and took it off at the terminal.

At the terminal, towering above the building was our home for the next 7 days. It was one of those holy crap moments. Seeing the couple of ships take off the night before in Fort Lauderdale did little to prepare me for the size of the ship. After pausing for a quick photo we made way for the building. Embarkation was very smooth. I think we arrived at the terminal at 11:45 AM and by 12:15 PM we were being welcomed onto the ship by singing crew members. Read more