December 13, 2014: Travel to Fort Lauderdale

The  cruise vacation started the day before sailing with flights to Fort Lauderdale from San Diego for me and Kansas for the others.

We all flew Southwest Airlines and my first flight wasn't even half full and most of us had a full row to ourselves.  The second flight wasn't as roomy but I had an empty seat next to me which was a great way to start the trip.

I had booked our pre-cruise hotel using Marriott points and found the Marriott Courtyard in Plantation.  They offer a free shuttle from the airport and to the port with advance reservations. 

I didn't know about the advance reservations until my sister, who arrived six hours earlier, called for airport pickup.  They were able to come right over and she gave me the heads up to make a pick-up reservation.

She also arranged for us to be taken to the cruise terminal the next morning.  Our choices were 10:30 am or 1 pm as the other times were already full.

The shuttle driver called me before I even made it to the luggage carousel to let me know he was waiting.  My brother also was as he flew in 30 minutes previously.

We all met up at the hotel and after dropping luggage, were ready to find dinner as it was 7 pm at this point. The hotel is by two shopping centers with lots of casual dining options including Five Guys, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Smokey Bones, Chili's, etc.

We decided to eat at Smokey Bones since none of us had ever tried them previously.  It was pretty busy being a Saturday night and after a 20 minute wait we were seated.

We all enjoyed our meals (and drinks) and would eat at this chain again.  We were tired (clearly as I took no pictures) after a long day of traveling so it was lights out by 10 pm.