We arrived at the Miami airport Friday night with no problems, although the baggage claim at the airport (at least for Delta) was poorly marked and difficult to find. Bags in hand, finding a taxi was no problem and our Cuban-American taxi driver, Orlando got us to the hotel in about 15 minutes at a cost of $18.70 + tip. The Holiday Inn Port of Miami is not a 5 star hotel, more like a 3, but it has a great view of the ship as well as being right across the street from the Bayside Market, which is wonderful. Get to Miami early and wander around the market if you can. There are lots of shops, restaurants and live music, all right beside the water. The Holiday Inn seems a bit dated, but has some nice aspects like granite in the bathrooms - and for a better price than some of the other nearby hotels.

Saturday - woke up about 9am to see the NOS out the window. Grabbed a cab and headed approximately a half mile to the terminal, arriving there about 11am. Tipped one of the porters and gladly got rid of our heavy luggage. We then got in line and the fiasco began. Of course the actual arrival time is 2pm. But on our previous cruise, and according to everyone we talked to, getting on board the ship early was no problem. However, for some reason customs decided that this cruise (the one prior to ours) would be the one where they would send everyone through customs. Sort of a random check. Everyone, including the crew and captain all had to go through customs. As a result, we sat on the floor inside the terminal for 3 hours. It was a long wait. Yes, I know - official check-in time was 2pm. So we weren't mad, we had just hoped to get on early.

Finally got aboard to discover that the Navigator is an amazing vessel. It is enormous. But, what is even more amazing is the great arrangement of everything. On our previous cruise aboard the Conquest, we were equally amazed at it's size. But, the NOS is laid out so much better (easier to get around and a more "friendly"/ community feel to its arrangement. We went to our cabin and met Omar our cabin steward. From there up to the Windjammer for a great late lunch. Then off to explore the ship. We did the muster drill, then headed up to the Cosmopolitan club to have meet some of our cruise critic friends early. Everyone seemed really nice and it was good to finally put faces with names after 9 months of talking on line. Read more