Flying as much as I do with work (100,000+ miles per year) I've heard horror story after horror story of people having delayed flights and missing their cruise. So living in Florida and having to fly out to California, we left a day early and stayed at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel LAX. Great deal for the money and takes all the stress out. On the day of the cruise, we took the free hotel shuttle back to the airport and boarded Super Shuttle (huge discount if booked in advance for 2 or more people.) Super Shuttle takes about 45 minutes in LA traffic to go from LAX to the port, not too bad.
Once we got to the port, embarkation was a breeze. We had this really rude embarkation staffer (Dawn) bark at us, but I let it slide and we proceeded on. The lines were short and moved quickly. We were on the boat within about 20 minutes. (The photo line held up the entire process though.)
Once we got on, we threw our bags in our room and headed up to the Windjammer Cafe for lunch. They were already selling drinks in souvenir mugs. I heard one passenger ask "Oh these are free?" Obviously she was a first time cruiser. At $5.95 plus 15% gratuity added, those drinks can add up over a weeklong cruise.