We didn't miss Ft. Lauderdale airport!

[Cruz4Sun]

This was our 1^st cruise since moving to central Florida.  We drove down the morning of the cruise and parked at Park ‘n’ Go near the port.  We had prepaid for the parking and we were quickly bused to the terminal.  We had loaded the Medallion app at home and uploaded all info including photos of ourselves.  Our medallions were scanned, we received a map of the ship and were in our stateroom in record time.  I made my way to Slice Pizzeria on the Lido deck and in 10 minutes we were on the balcony enjoying the delicious pepperoni pizza with the Dos Equis from the Elite mini-bar in our fridge.  What a great start to our cruise!

 

We loved our stateroom D424.  The extended angled balcony was so much roomier than a normal balcony and the mid-ship location was quiet and convenient. 

 

Due to the limited walking ability of my DH we stayed on board during this 7 day cruise.  While we were docked at the ports it was a perfect time to chill at the mid-ship pools with an outdoor lunch from the World Fresh Marketplace.

 

We loved most of the changes from the Royal.  Eliminating the Lido deck fountains to add a pool was a big plus, however the retreat pool area now has very limited seating.  The aft pool is lovely and not crowded.  A big disappointment for my DH was that there are no stairs to enter the pools, only ladders.  This is not very senior friendly in our opinion.  The new layouts and furnishings in Princess Live, the Vista Lounge and Take Five were very nice.  One of our favorite times was enjoying the Platinum lounge most evenings for a pre-dinner drink and snacks at the Vista Lounge.

 

We enjoyed specialty dining at the Crown Grill on embarkation night with our friends Paul and Judy.  The meal was delicious and it was so nice to share it with good company.  Later in the cruise we took advantage of Steamers, a specialty dining opportunity in the Marketplace.  The steamer pot was wonderful and the side and dessert also.  The setting was very pretty with special china and table cloths and we thought it was well worth the $12 per person charge.

 

I purchased a coffee card to enjoy unlimited brewed coffee, after dinner cappuccinos, frozen coffee fusions, and my evening chamomile tea. This is so easy now that it is loaded on the medallion and there is no paper card to worry about losing.

 

Cruise director Corey was everywhere and always upbeat and fun.  This cruise had so many activity and entertainment opportunities it was hard to decide where to go in the evening.  I participated in Zumba and Line Dancing and my DH and I enjoyed the 5 Skies production show, comedy and magic acts, silly game shows, and more. 

 

Thank goodness we somehow managed to pack for this trip in a single suitcase and carry on.  I was able to handle the luggage and we made our way down to the deck 5 dining room at 6:15 a.m. on disembarkation morning to await clearance from the authorities.  Shortly after 6:30 we exited the ship.  We were told to have our passports in our hand, we looked into the face recognition screen and we left the terminal.  It was amazing!  We walked to the shuttle area and boarded the waiting Park ‘n’ Go bus.  By 7:30 a.m. we were in our car with an estimated arrival time to our home of 11:30.   We didn’t miss going to the Ft. Lauderdale airport one bit!

[AF-1]

Thanks for sharing.  I bet it is nice knowing you don't have to rush off the ship to get to the airport for your flight.  That's awesome.  Some of us still have to fly into ports since we live in the middle of the USA