pambo

According to Google Maps, Key Largo is 1 hour/23 minutes from the Miami Airport. I agree that would be a great place to spend a couple of days.

I am thoroughly enjoying your review. We are sailing on the Getaway in April. Your comments are most helpful and certainly add to the anticipation of this cruise. Keep up the good work!

I can share my opinion on the hotel itself, but not on the transportation to the Ft. Lauderdale port.

We stayed at the Homewood Suites this past December pre-cruise. It was very nice, clean, and the staff was extremely courteous. We had no problems at all. We sailed out of the Port of Miami and it was very easy to get a shuttle there, so I imagine there would be no problem to the port in Ft. Lauderdale. I'm not sure how far it is though.

We have it booked again for later this spring.

Enjoy!

We had an experience last year as our cruise arrived back in Miami on the day of the marathon...what a mess. Roads were closed and no vehicles could get in or out of the port area for over an hour. However, I am not sure if they change the marathon route every year or not. Also, the new tunnel is open to the port area now and therefore it might not be affected. I would suggest checking to see the route they are using this year and then plan accordingly.

My personal favorite is Le Bistro.....the cream of mushroom soup and coq au vin are so good!

I was actually wondering the same thing about the i-concierge app for our upcoming Panama Canal cruise on the Star.

There was a very nice park area at the port and one of the shore excursions, Mexican Cooking Class, took place right there. To be honest I can’t believe they charge $99.00 for this excursion.

http://i521.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps1919ca56.jpg

So is this the class that is one of the ship's excursions? I signed up for this for our January cruise. It stated that it is at a resort within walking distance of the port. Do you know anyone who took it?

Thanks - I appreciate your wonderful review...the photos and comments are all so helpful.

Pam

Great photos...thank you so much for sharing them. We are looking forward to our cruise on the Star in January.

I fill them out, fold them, then "laminate" them with clear packing tape. I then punch a hole in the corner and secure with ribbon or twine....easy and cheap!

Yes it is in a downtown location-about a 4 block walk off the main shopping street....yet a world away.....quieter and not as hectic. There is plenty of time to walk around town for a while. Josefina is a real sweetheart...enjoy!

Yes....we have done this twice....wonderful experience! You get to choose what you would like to cook, go to the market to purchase the ingredients, and of course enjoy the delicious food afterwards....not to mention learning to make the perfect margarita. You won't regret it!

Hi Don...great review!!!

I am on the same cruise with Lynn and CruzinMel....also trying to make a decision about getting the Posh pass...looking forward to your thoughts on that.

What a great site....thank you!

Hi Faith413,

Thank you for the wonderful review!

We sailed on the Serenade of the Seas during Thanksgiving week. Based on your recommendation, we attended the Pasta Making Demonstration in Portofino's. We thoroughly enjoyed it...very informative and of course the food is delicious!

Thanks for the recommendation....by the way, the Serenade is now my new favorite ship! We loved it!

We will be on the Serenade during Thanksgiving week. Thank you for taking the time to write and include the photos. This is a wonderful review...looking forward to more. Thank you for the beach recommendations as well.

We did a photo scavenger hunt on our Girls' Getaway Cruise last year.

We had teams of three and each team received a list of photo "opportunities"...some examples - posing with the ship's godmother, photo with someone from a specific country - this had them checking out the name tags of the crew members and striking up many fun conversations (by the way, they all loved being part of our contest), photo of one of your team members with someone wearing a t-shirt or hat depicting a sports team from your home town...you get the idea. Some of the photos required photos with you and your own team members - some were with your team and another team. This way we mixed it up and we didn't have all photos with the same three people in each!

Beisded photo opportunities on the ship, some were opportunities in port...example - photo of your team on Coco Cay with the ship in the background. This is where one team got very creative. Unfortunately we missed Coco Cay due to rough water. They solved their problem by placing a map of Coco Cay on the pier and each put her toes on the map....with the ship in the background...most innovative, I must say!

We had some first time cruisers as well as some seasoned veterans and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.

They all really got into the fun of the "hunt" and at the end we had a terrific assortment of fun photos to add to our albums when we returned.

I have to agree with Vicki - The Caribbean Pirates Extravaganza was a blast! We also learned that the Brig Unicorn was featured in the mini-series "Roots". I highly recommend it for the kids - and those that are kids at heart!