Well, we did it and we loved our experience.
We arrived in Miami the day before and stayed at the Holiday Inn Downtown Miami. Great location near the port and across the street from the Bayside Mall where you find good restaurants, small shops and good music. While in Miami, we took the bus (across the street from the hotel) to South Beach and spend the day visiting the area.
At 11:30 the next day, we took a taxi right in front of the hotel to get to the ship. A 5-minute ride took us there. My first impression was that the ship was huge. We left our bags with an NCL attendant and proceeded to go on board. Everything went very smoothly.
Quiet location, great balcony, lots of storage space, great view.