This was our 4th Cruise, 2nd with Carnival. It was my husband and I, and our 3 children.
We stayed at the Comfort Suites Miami Airport North the night before. It was very nice, recently built and many restaurants within walking distance. It includes your transportation from the airport and to the cruise terminal, as well as breakfast. You can also set up your transportation after the cruise there for a decent price.
Embarkation was easy; once the hotel dropped us off we were on the ship within an hour, around 11:30 AM. We went to the Lido deck and had lunch, and room was ready by 1:00 and luggage arrived before the Muster drill.
Balcony room on the port side. It was nice to sit on the balcony and watch as we came into ports. You can hear the noise of chairs moving above you. Our neighbor down the hall had the complaint of water leaking on his balcony from the hot tubs and it was flowing into his room.