Arrival  My wife and I traveled on the Carnival Breeze on an 8-day Southern Caribbean cruise on Feb. 14, 2015. This was our 2nd Carnival cruise and 7th overall. We’re in our 50’s, married 28 years with no kids.

We flew from Cincinnati to Miami on Friday evening ahead of our Saturday embarkation. We stayed at the Runway Inn near the Miami airport. It had been listed in a USA Today article as a local hotel that offered shuttles from the airport and to the cruise terminal. I looked at their reviews on Trip Advisor, and while not glowing, they looked okay. Our total was $145 with taxes. The Miami International Boat show was in town so rates were high everywhere.

Some people on TA had complained about a long wait for the shuttle. We lucked out and it was waiting right there when we exited baggage claim. It was about a 10 minute ride to the hotel. The hotel is located just across the street from the airport but it wasn’t noisy at all. Check in was smooth and we got our key right away. One downside; there isn’t an elevator and we had to lug our stuff to the 2nd floor. Read more