Spudd

Do you know if the menus on the 2nd leg are the same as they were on the first leg?

They charge you in USD on board, so it wouldn't undergo any conversion.

English. All announcements are in English and all meetings and presentations are conducted in English. Some of the waiters on our cruise lacked fluency but all spoke English.

I feel like the standard balcony is the way to go. That's what we had. We could pop out onto the balcony when there was something to see. With the horizon balcony, if you want to take a photo you need to open the window, which will then cool down your whole room.

I took some photos of the drink menu.

It's a lot of time commitment but I swear by the book "Pain Free" by Egoscue.

You should go to your cabin unless you feel like the ship is actively sinking. You need warm clothes, any essential meds, and your lifejacket.

I'm on a similar cruise right now and we did the Princess pre-cruise hotel in LA. The pickup from the airport was just the hotel shuttle but we were met by Princess reps and escorted. The hotel was nice (airport Marriott). The next morning was a bit of a hassle as we had to put our suitcases out to be picked up by 8, and then we had to lurk around in the lobby for around an hour waiting for the transfer. But all in all I was happy with it. In FLL, the airport is so near the cruise port I wouldn't bother doing the Princess package. Also, you probably don't need a post-cruise hotel unless you want to enjoy Fort Lauderdale on your own after the cruise.

You might like to look at Atlas Ocean Voyages. Very generous bathrooms, great food, smaller ships. Drinks and gratuities are included. You get 1gb per person for wifi for free. There is a free sauna (coed) and 2 hot tubs but not a full thermal suite.

We did not change terminals so I'm not sure if my answer is helpful but we did not have to retrieve and recheck luggage. It just stayed on the plane which we reboarded.

Depending where OP is based. In North America usually the deposit is refundable.

Check the cancellation schedule on your confirmation documents. You may still be able to cancel with no penalty.

I never drank wine so I'm not sure, sorry! I did order champagne and Prosecco but didn't specify a brand, and was served something bubbly. Lol. I'm not even sure if the champagne I ordered was really champagne or sparkling wine. Hopefully you can report back after you go!

Here are some bar menus I took pictures of. Sorry I don't have the wines or champagnes. I found the bar menus odd, the selection of free liquors is extremely limited (only one bourbon!). But what they do have is good stuff.

I think it was per person, so that's something!