This is NOT a happy face review. We had a good enough time, overall -- but it was in spite of the issues -- remember, this is my opinion - I have tried to be thoughtful and evenhanded but everything wasn't just great -- your mileage may vary. -- So - with that said:
We were a group of 3 - Mom (me), 17-year-old son and Aunt. Mom and Son (who wanted another cruise vacation) have cruised several times before on Dolphin, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, NCL, Princess and Celebrity; Aunt, my sister, only once before on NCL. We were departing from different areas, but planned to meet up at DFW and fly into Miami together. Our plan was to arrive in Miami early enough (a day ahead of cruise date) to take an airboat ride in the Everglades. We had sufficient notice before our August 11 flights that I was able to repack to comply with the new TSA "no liquid" rules - so our flights were uneventful - actually, easy!
We did not arrive in Miami with enough time to take a side trip to the Everglades - but we got the rental car (from Enterprise - who offered the opportunity to return the car downtown with a shuttle to the Port) and drove ourselves, through Miami rush hour traffic and construction, to the Bayside Holiday Inn. I had made earlier reservations requesting a room on a higher floor facing the port. The hotel, while older, was clean and our room was very spacious - on the top floor, facing Bayside Mall and the Port! We were fortunate that a RCL ship was still in Port on our arrival at the hotel. We spent a very pleasant evening at Bayside Mall and had a wonderful dinner at Bubba Gumps.