twangster

IT'S CRUISE DAY!!!!!
I've arrived in Florida, in Fort Lauderdale using the 'FLL' airport.  This was several hundred cheaper than the Miami airport for my days of travel.
Our approach to the airport was from the West and took us over the Everglades with I-75 in the distance, also known as The Everglades Parkway, also known as Alligator Alley.
The Everglades don't look like much in this picture but that's because the whole area is shallow water with I-75 marking a distinct line across the Everglades.   It's very swampy but a very unique eco-system that is part of the larger Florida water system that starts much farther North in the state.

I didn't check any bags so upon deplaning I made my way to the baggage claim area where I knew the Royal Caribbean ship transfer kiosk would be found.  Carnival had their kiosk setup near one exit at one end of the baggage claim area and RCCL had their joint Royal/Celebrity kiosk at the other end.  In Terminal two that Delta uses this was directly across from baggage carousel three.

 First bus to Miami is around 10:45am.  Having landed at 8:46am I've got some time to kill.  Fortunately the FLL airport has free wifi.
Since I'm here at the tail of morning rush hour I thought I'd look to see what prices are like for two popular ride sharing services, Uber and Lyft:


 
It looks like Uber has a slight edge today.  It's always best to check both because often this is reversed with Lyft being slightly cheaper.  It's morning rush hour so I'd expect these to be lower at other times of the day.
Since I'm solo a regular Lyft or UberX would suffice.  The Royal transfer at $60 round trip is still the best deal for me as a solo but it does mean waiting here in the airport and likely not being at the port when boarding (hopefully) begins.
For larger groups with more luggage an UberXL or LyftXL would be a better choice.  For two people the Royal transfer still looks like it's the cheapest way to go but if there are more people in your party this quickly changes.  
For example, with a party of four, Royal would cost 4 x $60 or $240 round trip.  The ride sharing services above are one way but even with 2 x $72 that's $144, nearly $100 less.  Squeezing 4 people with baggage into a standard Uber/Lyft can be a challenge so I used the XL version for this price comparison.
Traveling solo I'm saving around $14 by using the Royal transfer at the expense of convenience and just being able to jump into the next available car.
This has killed the first hour,  only 60 minutes to go until my bus should depart.  

It depends.  I have a couple and a new back pack that I like.  
On this 5 night cruise I'm not checking bags so I needed a bigger pack for all my lens and a few things that overflowed from my bag went into my backpack.

Full mirrorless camera kit including 5 lens.  I missed my 'real' camera on Adventure.  A phone camera is fine outdoors in the day, but not so much in low light.  I had too many "if I had my real camera that would be a really great shot"  on Adventure.  I won't make that mistake again.   
New lens for this cruise, a 500mm f6.3  mirror lens (1000mm with a 2x teleconverter).  I'm not expecting great things from this lens, it was $99 new including the 2x converter, but a short and light 500mm lens for a full frame camera may be fun to play around with.  The Sony A7 III has good low light performance so I can push the ISO and use dark glass more.  With the in-body sensor stabilization a lens like this can be used handheld under the right conditions.
    

With Cuba on my mind and with a goal of sailing some of the older and smaller ships in the fleet I booked Empress.  With the current fleet it's hard to get any smaller.  I'm supposed to get a glass block based on my current Crown and Anchor points accumulation so as I thought which ship to 'block' on, getting a glass block from Empress seemed like a really cool idea so I booked this cruise with that other goal in mind.
It's a 5 night cruise:
Day 1 - Embark Miami
Day 2 - Key West
Day 3 - Havana
Day 4 - Sea Day
Day 5 - CocoCay
Day 6 - Debark Miami
It's been a few years since I've visited Key West but I need to get some work done so I'm not sure how far I'll venture off the ship. 
For Havana I've a booked a full day excursion through Royal.  I have an overnight cruise to Havana booked in September so I'm using this trip and excursion to discover and plan my next visit there for maximum cultural enrichment.
I have many Canadian friends who have visited Cuba.  They've been able to fly direct since, well forever.   They've given me some ideas so this full day excursion should check all the boxes for an initial Cuba experience and allow me to better plan my next visit.
I've missed a few calls on CocoCay this year so fingers crossed.
Flights were booked through Air2Sea and I'm taking a dreaded red eye flight with airport transfers to the ship by Royal.  I usually just take a ride-share but as a solo traveler the transfer isn't that bad from a cost perspective and it's for research so I know how well it works getting from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) airport to the Port of Miami and back.  I had to work this weekend so the all night flight is an "efficient" use of my time, or so I keep telling myself to justify it. 
Not sure when I might sail Empress again especially since she does mostly Cuba runs at the moment so I've splurged and booked a junior suite.  My first solo JS experience.  At the time I booked it was a reasonable price difference.
My red-eye departs at 1am local time and I haven't started packing yet.  It's only 5 nights so not a hard cruise to pack for. However I better step away from the keyboard and get started.

Billy Ocean is alive?  Awesome news!  I heard a rumor somewhere...

Oh come on now, we all now @Matt has ALL the answers!
I cruise solo often.  I am also a frequent solo business traveler.  When you travel for business sooner or later you have to eat.  I'm not going to eat fast food so you reach a point as a business traveler that you get over any hang ups or issues about eating alone in something other fast food restaurants.  Sometimes this means eating at the bar within a restaurant but sometimes I just want a table.  In fact, if someone else is paying the bill, why not try a reasonable sit down restaurant?  
Cruising solo and eating dinner alone come naturally because I have traveled solo for business.  We all have to eat sometime and in the case of a cruise, we all paid for our included meals.  Since I paid for it, why not try a reasonable sit down experience?
For solo dining I choose My Time Dining.  I am always seated at a table for two by myself.  Service is typically fast and the wait staff always treat me well.  I have never noticed if any one is looking at me because quite honesty I don't care if they are, much like when I travel for business.  I wear a sports coat on formal night.   It's easy to do and it respects the dining room process.  i don't pay a lot of attention to what other people are wearing and it doesn't bother me if others don't dress up.  I wouldn't even notice if someone wore white after Labor day, I've probably done it myself.
I tend not to do specialty dining very often.  I do sometimes, but rarely.  The MDR for me is generally ideal .  I take pictures of menus for the blog (flash off) and if I remember pictures of my meals.  I often think what I might blog about or reflect on the day and before I know it my meal has arrived.  
I paid for the MDR, so I have no qualms about using something I paid for.  

I've made it into the Delta Sky Club waiting for my 1am red eye.  They hold the club open here in Denver until the last flight has boarded.  On nights like this that works out well.  A few extra drinks will ensure I sleep like a baby (or as well as can be expected on a plane).
I couldn't find my phone headset with caterpillar wind screen.  So I grabbed the headset from my business phone and one of the spare wind screen covers I bought from Amazon in a 5 pack and made myself another 'caterpillar wind screen ready for periscope wired Apple headset' as I sat here waiting.   MacGyver would approve.  
Checking my 'Hurricane Tracker' app and there are still no active systems.    
My inbound plane is ahead of schedule.  
I don't recommend flying the day of the cruise but since I booked with Air2Sea and my the next port is Key West that risk was acceptable.  With only carry on bags and traveling solo I can deal with last minute changes.
So far so good.

The Royal ship transfer was $60 round trip, per person. 
That's from FLL.  MIA (Miami) airport was slightly cheaper for the ship transfer but I almost always find FLL cheaper for airfare so overall it was cheaper flying into FLL.  
Half packed, still have 8 hours.  No problem mon! 

Oh come on now, we all now @Matt has ALL the answers!
I cruise solo often.  I am also a frequent solo business traveler.  When you travel for business sooner or later you have to eat.  I'm not going to eat fast food so you reach a point as a business traveler that you get over any hang ups or issues about eating alone in something other fast food restaurants.  Sometimes this means eating at the bar within a restaurant but sometimes I just want a table.  In fact, if someone else is paying the bill, why not try a reasonable sit down restaurant?  
Cruising solo and eating dinner alone come naturally because I have traveled solo for business.  We all have to eat sometime and in the case of a cruise, we all paid for our included meals.  Since I paid for it, why not try a reasonable sit down experience?
For solo dining I choose My Time Dining.  I am always seated at a table for two by myself.  Service is typically fast and the wait staff always treat me well.  I have never noticed if any one is looking at me because quite honesty I don't care if they are, much like when I travel for business.  I wear a sports coat on formal night.   It's easy to do and it respects the dining room process.  i don't pay a lot of attention to what other people are wearing and it doesn't bother me if others don't dress up.  I wouldn't even notice if someone wore white after Labor day, I've probably done it myself.
I tend not to do specialty dining very often.  I do sometimes, but rarely.  The MDR for me is generally ideal .  I take pictures of menus for the blog (flash off) and if I remember pictures of my meals.  I often think what I might blog about or reflect on the day and before I know it my meal has arrived.  
I paid for the MDR, so I have no qualms about using something I paid for.  

Any MEI travel agent can book a Royal Caribbean Blog group cruise.
Annette may do all the work on an actual GC (in case you thought Matt did anything),  but she doesn't have to manage your booking to qualify.
 

Any MEI travel agent can book a Royal Caribbean Blog group cruise.
Annette may do all the work on an actual GC (in case you thought Matt did anything),  but she doesn't have to manage your booking to qualify.
 

With Cuba on my mind and with a goal of sailing some of the older and smaller ships in the fleet I booked Empress.  With the current fleet it's hard to get any smaller.  I'm supposed to get a glass block based on my current Crown and Anchor points accumulation so as I thought which ship to 'block' on, getting a glass block from Empress seemed like a really cool idea so I booked this cruise with that other goal in mind.
It's a 5 night cruise:
Day 1 - Embark Miami
Day 2 - Key West
Day 3 - Havana
Day 4 - Sea Day
Day 5 - CocoCay
Day 6 - Debark Miami
It's been a few years since I've visited Key West but I need to get some work done so I'm not sure how far I'll venture off the ship. 
For Havana I've a booked a full day excursion through Royal.  I have an overnight cruise to Havana booked in September so I'm using this trip and excursion to discover and plan my next visit there for maximum cultural enrichment.
I have many Canadian friends who have visited Cuba.  They've been able to fly direct since, well forever.   They've given me some ideas so this full day excursion should check all the boxes for an initial Cuba experience and allow me to better plan my next visit.
I've missed a few calls on CocoCay this year so fingers crossed.
Flights were booked through Air2Sea and I'm taking a dreaded red eye flight with airport transfers to the ship by Royal.  I usually just take a ride-share but as a solo traveler the transfer isn't that bad from a cost perspective and it's for research so I know how well it works getting from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) airport to the Port of Miami and back.  I had to work this weekend so the all night flight is an "efficient" use of my time, or so I keep telling myself to justify it. 
Not sure when I might sail Empress again especially since she does mostly Cuba runs at the moment so I've splurged and booked a junior suite.  My first solo JS experience.  At the time I booked it was a reasonable price difference.
My red-eye departs at 1am local time and I haven't started packing yet.  It's only 5 nights so not a hard cruise to pack for. However I better step away from the keyboard and get started.

I've made it into the Delta Sky Club waiting for my 1am red eye.  They hold the club open here in Denver until the last flight has boarded.  On nights like this that works out well.  A few extra drinks will ensure I sleep like a baby (or as well as can be expected on a plane).
I couldn't find my phone headset with caterpillar wind screen.  So I grabbed the headset from my business phone and one of the spare wind screen covers I bought from Amazon in a 5 pack and made myself another 'caterpillar wind screen ready for periscope wired Apple headset' as I sat here waiting.   MacGyver would approve.  
Checking my 'Hurricane Tracker' app and there are still no active systems.    
My inbound plane is ahead of schedule.  
I don't recommend flying the day of the cruise but since I booked with Air2Sea and my the next port is Key West that risk was acceptable.  With only carry on bags and traveling solo I can deal with last minute changes.
So far so good.

It depends.  I have a couple and a new back pack that I like.  
On this 5 night cruise I'm not checking bags so I needed a bigger pack for all my lens and a few things that overflowed from my bag went into my backpack.

Full mirrorless camera kit including 5 lens.  I missed my 'real' camera on Adventure.  A phone camera is fine outdoors in the day, but not so much in low light.  I had too many "if I had my real camera that would be a really great shot"  on Adventure.  I won't make that mistake again.   
New lens for this cruise, a 500mm f6.3  mirror lens (1000mm with a 2x teleconverter).  I'm not expecting great things from this lens, it was $99 new including the 2x converter, but a short and light 500mm lens for a full frame camera may be fun to play around with.  The Sony A7 III has good low light performance so I can push the ISO and use dark glass more.  With the in-body sensor stabilization a lens like this can be used handheld under the right conditions.
    

Wow... I wouldn't have thought this could be true.
According to Royal Caribbean's beverage package info (I've highlighted this new info):
  I found out about this from this tweet where Royal Caribbean specifically said, "I can confirm that milkshakes are included in the Deluxe and Beverage Packages. Rest assured, we'll get our website updated ASAP." A friend found out that they had specifically done that.
They didn't add it to the Refreshment Package, though. I guess that this is the only non-alcoholic part of the Deluxe Beverage Package that isn't in the Refreshment Package.
Wow.

Have fun with it.  
"I'm a really mean person and no one likes me"
"They went overboard at the first opportunity"
"It was a last minute deal and the cruise only cost me $60.  How much did you pay?"
"I'm doing research for a blog" - then turn the table and ask them all sorts of questions.
Seriously though, I just explain I have a flexible travel schedule and my friends and family do not, which is the truth.  

Oh come on now, we all now @Matt has ALL the answers!
I cruise solo often.  I am also a frequent solo business traveler.  When you travel for business sooner or later you have to eat.  I'm not going to eat fast food so you reach a point as a business traveler that you get over any hang ups or issues about eating alone in something other fast food restaurants.  Sometimes this means eating at the bar within a restaurant but sometimes I just want a table.  In fact, if someone else is paying the bill, why not try a reasonable sit down restaurant?  
Cruising solo and eating dinner alone come naturally because I have traveled solo for business.  We all have to eat sometime and in the case of a cruise, we all paid for our included meals.  Since I paid for it, why not try a reasonable sit down experience?
For solo dining I choose My Time Dining.  I am always seated at a table for two by myself.  Service is typically fast and the wait staff always treat me well.  I have never noticed if any one is looking at me because quite honesty I don't care if they are, much like when I travel for business.  I wear a sports coat on formal night.   It's easy to do and it respects the dining room process.  i don't pay a lot of attention to what other people are wearing and it doesn't bother me if others don't dress up.  I wouldn't even notice if someone wore white after Labor day, I've probably done it myself.
I tend not to do specialty dining very often.  I do sometimes, but rarely.  The MDR for me is generally ideal .  I take pictures of menus for the blog (flash off) and if I remember pictures of my meals.  I often think what I might blog about or reflect on the day and before I know it my meal has arrived.  
I paid for the MDR, so I have no qualms about using something I paid for.  

Billy Ocean is alive?  Awesome news!  I heard a rumor somewhere...

With Cuba on my mind and with a goal of sailing some of the older and smaller ships in the fleet I booked Empress.  With the current fleet it's hard to get any smaller.  I'm supposed to get a glass block based on my current Crown and Anchor points accumulation so as I thought which ship to 'block' on, getting a glass block from Empress seemed like a really cool idea so I booked this cruise with that other goal in mind.
It's a 5 night cruise:
Day 1 - Embark Miami
Day 2 - Key West
Day 3 - Havana
Day 4 - Sea Day
Day 5 - CocoCay
Day 6 - Debark Miami
It's been a few years since I've visited Key West but I need to get some work done so I'm not sure how far I'll venture off the ship. 
For Havana I've a booked a full day excursion through Royal.  I have an overnight cruise to Havana booked in September so I'm using this trip and excursion to discover and plan my next visit there for maximum cultural enrichment.
I have many Canadian friends who have visited Cuba.  They've been able to fly direct since, well forever.   They've given me some ideas so this full day excursion should check all the boxes for an initial Cuba experience and allow me to better plan my next visit.
I've missed a few calls on CocoCay this year so fingers crossed.
Flights were booked through Air2Sea and I'm taking a dreaded red eye flight with airport transfers to the ship by Royal.  I usually just take a ride-share but as a solo traveler the transfer isn't that bad from a cost perspective and it's for research so I know how well it works getting from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) airport to the Port of Miami and back.  I had to work this weekend so the all night flight is an "efficient" use of my time, or so I keep telling myself to justify it. 
Not sure when I might sail Empress again especially since she does mostly Cuba runs at the moment so I've splurged and booked a junior suite.  My first solo JS experience.  At the time I booked it was a reasonable price difference.
My red-eye departs at 1am local time and I haven't started packing yet.  It's only 5 nights so not a hard cruise to pack for. However I better step away from the keyboard and get started.

Now I see it.  For the life of me I couldn't figure it out, I kept seeing a face with wicked eyebrows.  I gotta stop staying up all night working...

Any MEI travel agent can book a Royal Caribbean Blog group cruise.
Annette may do all the work on an actual GC (in case you thought Matt did anything),  but she doesn't have to manage your booking to qualify.
 

I'll be there next week, assuming tenders can operate, so I'll update my Empress blog in the live blog section if we make it. 

Symphony of the Seas - Day One ~ Barcelona, Spain
By golly we are on the beautiful Symphony of the Seas! Today was embarkation day, and boy was it fun!
Embarkation and the Beginning Steps
Embarkation was quick and painless, only taking about 20 minutes from door to ship. We arrived at 12:15pm, and we were on the ship and already with a drink and food in hand by 12:45pm. We first decided to hit the room, and while it wasn't open yet, we could at least drop off our carry-on baggage. Then, it was to the Suite Lounge to book some more things and get some food from the little buffet that was there for lunch. Got some chicken, and it was good! Also got some mashed potatoes with it (is always good on Royal!).

Also got some Costal Kitchen reservations booked for some nights, and learned more about the concierge team and what their background is. Also said some naughty stories (shh... sorry Raj and Jennie). Also got on the top of the naughty list for blogging this experience, but apparently it's a good thing! Maybe ill get some better service ?! Already can tell they are a great team and that everyone working up there on deck 17 is going to be fantastic to dine and lounge with.
The Room
Now... I have done a room tour, but not on here! It's on my periscope @CraftyCat05. May also do a video tour of it while i'm on board, or at least take some pictures. 
The room is great, but different than the Grand Suite I stayed in on Allure. It has a wall in the middle of the room now! This makes the space feel smaller, but gives more privacy, gives us two televisions, and also offers more cabinet space than no wall would. The bathroom is also nicer, and even feels more spacious! There is a tub/shower combo, and two sinks.  The room also has two twin beds, two side lamps, two windows, and best of all two closet spaces! It's a two for one deal in the Grand Suite, only thing is... you have to pay more!
The Ultimate Abyss
Now for the   s u p e r   s c a r y   part of the blog. If you can't take the drop (10 decks!), then don't read this section!
...
....
Ok, have we weeded out the wimps, err... scaredy cats... ah! The "definitely not scared, not a cat, not a wimp, but just simply... non-thrill seekers!" Have we got them out? Good.
It's really fun, but shorter than I thought. Only rode it once, but plan on going back on it again! But only after my shoulder won't talk me out of it, because a fell on my shoulder in it part way through! While I was able to get back straight, really didn't make it as enjoyable as it could have been. My parents did enjoy it though! Was a shock to be able to get her on it, she would fall the category of "definitely not scared, not a cat, not a wimp, but just simply... non-thrill seekers!" usually. They didn't get banged up like me luckily. Hopefully they will ride it again with me!

__________________________________________________
Symphony Dunes
Now, a family tradition is to always play some Royal mini golf on sail-away day... So, we went to the putt putt course! Father of course won (he is pretty good at his short game at the home golf course), but I at least came into second with my mother finishing close behind. I even got a hole-in-one! (Didn't get a picture this time, was having too much fun!) So far 1-0-0 for the mini golf.
Sail Away!
We have never gone to sail away parties, but do spend it outside on our balcony. We saw the Norwegian Epic sail by to turn around right as our pilot to guide us out of Barcelona's Port was getting onboard. 

(Photo is from driving to port but it works.. shh, don't tell anyon... wait...)
_________________________________________________
Next, it was our turn! We sailed away at 6:20, but we were about to get ready for Chops Grille, our dinner for the night. So we got to see some of sail away, but had to quickly rush to Central Park after.

While getting on the ship, I got a picture of the bow of Symphony!
_______________________________________________
Chops Grille
We have eaten at chops, and always love a good steak at home, and on a cruise! Food was great as usual, I got a Filet and a starter of the Glazed Bacon. Always a good meal! Parents both got the NY Strip, and my Mother's was much smaller than Dad's! All worked out though, as my mother wasn't very hungry anyway.
(Forgot to get any food pictures of steak or bacon... Sorry!)
Then it was time for dessert! We ordered two cheesecakes and one key-lime pie as per the waiter's recommendation. Unfortunately, he came with a red velvet cake instead of one of the cheesecakes, because of my Mom's unfortunate Tree Nut allergy! Crust apparently had some nuts, but I didn't taste them. All three were good, but the velvet wasn't as good as the cheesecake would have been as per my mother.

Hairspray
After dinner it was time for Hairspray! Show was good, and I had never seen the full movie or show fully though, so was nice to finally see that. Unfortunately, my father couldn't get to his seat on time, so he would have had to get people to move while the show had already started. Instead, he just opted to go to the casino! He lost $150, and mother was not happy. Isn't sleeping on the couch though, that's where I am!

Welcome Party, Featuring Firecracker Balloons!
(@twangster: the sub title is for you!)
There was a welcome party on the Royal Promenade, and it included a balloon drop at midnight. You can see what I was talking about on my Periscope (@CraftyCat05).
CraftyCat05's Cacophonous Yet Coherent Celebrations for Miscellaneous Text that Could Include Some Observations
WOO! THIS IS THE LOUD CELEBRATION FOR THE MISCELLANEOUS TEXT! THANKS FOR THE IDEA @JLMoran. HOPE THIS IS WHAT YOU HAD IN MIND.
CraftyCat05's Coherent Text that Talks about his Observations
My titling system needs some work, exhibit A and B above. No peep shows today.. Yay! The ship still looks brand new, and looks amazing! The Cruise Director is Michele and Activities Manager is Margot. For a full list of CDs and AMs, check out @Joe01's awesome thread. The lines for the water slides were already long today. Didn't get to ride those today though... ? Voom seems to be slower than it was on Allure, maybe throttling has gotten to a lower limit since 2016? Our Stateroom Attendant seems to be great! Her name is Isha! The signage and other things around the ship are in Royal's new modern colors and typography. Lots of Sea Blue and Baby Blue! Safety Drill video is still Mission Impossible: Try to Get Everyone to Pay Attention to Me (A.K.A the secret agent safety video) Documentation
Scanned Documents 5.pdf - Cruise Compass
Scanned Documents.pdf - Boarding Day Quick Guide
Scanned Documents 2.pdf - Shows at a Glance
Scanned Documents 4.pdf - Teen Club Compass (thanks Guess Services!)
Scanned Documents 3.pdf - Sky Class Amenities
Chao Chao for now!

The Royal ship transfer was $60 round trip, per person. 
That's from FLL.  MIA (Miami) airport was slightly cheaper for the ship transfer but I almost always find FLL cheaper for airfare so overall it was cheaper flying into FLL.  
Half packed, still have 8 hours.  No problem mon! 

The Royal ship transfer was $60 round trip, per person. 
That's from FLL.  MIA (Miami) airport was slightly cheaper for the ship transfer but I almost always find FLL cheaper for airfare so overall it was cheaper flying into FLL.  
Half packed, still have 8 hours.  No problem mon! 

With Cuba on my mind and with a goal of sailing some of the older and smaller ships in the fleet I booked Empress.  With the current fleet it's hard to get any smaller.  I'm supposed to get a glass block based on my current Crown and Anchor points accumulation so as I thought which ship to 'block' on, getting a glass block from Empress seemed like a really cool idea so I booked this cruise with that other goal in mind.
It's a 5 night cruise:
Day 1 - Embark Miami
Day 2 - Key West
Day 3 - Havana
Day 4 - Sea Day
Day 5 - CocoCay
Day 6 - Debark Miami
It's been a few years since I've visited Key West but I need to get some work done so I'm not sure how far I'll venture off the ship. 
For Havana I've a booked a full day excursion through Royal.  I have an overnight cruise to Havana booked in September so I'm using this trip and excursion to discover and plan my next visit there for maximum cultural enrichment.
I have many Canadian friends who have visited Cuba.  They've been able to fly direct since, well forever.   They've given me some ideas so this full day excursion should check all the boxes for an initial Cuba experience and allow me to better plan my next visit.
I've missed a few calls on CocoCay this year so fingers crossed.
Flights were booked through Air2Sea and I'm taking a dreaded red eye flight with airport transfers to the ship by Royal.  I usually just take a ride-share but as a solo traveler the transfer isn't that bad from a cost perspective and it's for research so I know how well it works getting from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) airport to the Port of Miami and back.  I had to work this weekend so the all night flight is an "efficient" use of my time, or so I keep telling myself to justify it. 
Not sure when I might sail Empress again especially since she does mostly Cuba runs at the moment so I've splurged and booked a junior suite.  My first solo JS experience.  At the time I booked it was a reasonable price difference.
My red-eye departs at 1am local time and I haven't started packing yet.  It's only 5 nights so not a hard cruise to pack for. However I better step away from the keyboard and get started.