DH and I sailed out of Miami on Aug. 14, 2005. We are frequent travellers; however, this was his first cruise and my second. I have previously cruised with Royal Caribbean and enjoyed it immensely. We had pretty high expectations for this cruise, and for the most part we were not disappointed.
We spent two nights in Miami prior to the cruise at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. This was a terrific choice, with a location close to the port and directly across from Bayside Marketplace.
Embarkation on Sunday was difficult. We arrived early, about 11:00, and got through the first line about 11:45. Then we went through security and lined up to get on the ship. We waited in this line for over an hour with no movement whatsoever. We learned later that it took immigration longer than usual to clear the boat for passengers to board. One recommendation: TELL passengers this!! There were lots of Carnival representatives sitting around. Why wasn't this information communicated to the passengers? Once cleared however, we passed through the lines for id and souvenir photos quickly.