First off let me say this was our third cruise (second with Carnival) and we had a great time. As you may read in other reviews the Embarkation procedure in Miami was unreal. Unfortunately, we live in Las Vegas so we had to take a red-eye out that got into Miami at like 7:30am. We grabbed a Super Shuttle to the Terminal, just a hint if you use a Super Shuttle to get to the port, ask them for the number to make a reservation for the return when you disembark. Those with a reservation have more priority than walk ups.

Anyway, we got to the terminal a wee bit early, like say 8:45am. There is NO FOOD of any kind there, but a "Roach Coach". Eat at the airport if you can and use the restrooms as well or use the porta potty on the side of the building. No one is allowed into the terminal even for the bathroom until it has been cleared by customs.

We met a fellow couple from Cruise Critic at the terminal BroncoBoxer (aka Billy & Crystal), great to meet them. Anyway about 9:30 or so they began the process, we first checked in, and then we were shuffled to a line where we sat for about 45-50 min. We then went into a huge room and waited for about 30-45 more minutes. Then they let us go upstairs where we thought we were going to board, this was around 11am by now. Nope we were shuffled into chairs and sat down in rows. This lasted about 15 min or so, then we were put into a line, had our picture taken and onto the gangway. Read more