We are in our early 50’s, aren’t married and have no kids, we have been on more than 50 previous cruises on 6 different cruise lines, most of which to the Caribbean.

We flew to Fort Lauderdale the day before the cruise. For most cruises, especially in the winter, we arrive at the port of departure at least one day prior. This provides a cushion in case of delays during travel and provides a more relaxed and less stressful boarding day.

This time we stayed at the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas Blvd. I booked this hotel for a reasonable price via HotWire. This was the first time we have stayed at this hotel. We usually stay on 17th Street or by the beach, although we like to visit Las Olas. It was nice to stay in that location there are a lot of dining options and shops to browse and there was a CVS about three blocks from the hotel for any forgotten incidentals. The Riverside Hotel is an old hotel, but is well maintained. Being older there are some quirks such as small elevators, winding hallways and in room heating and cool units rather than central, but these proved to be a non-issue. The worst thing was the beds weren’t plush, but were fine for one night. Read more