This was our second cruise (previously with Royal Caribbean) and friends first cruise.
Flew into Sanford in Orlando and stayed there for the first night. We then drove down to Miami using the Florida Turnpike - took us approx 3 1/2 hours at a steady pace. Dropped off bags at terminal and husband parked the car. Felt that price of parking was extremely high. In hindsight we should have given Dollar the car back for a week and then re-hired!
We did all the paperwork online before we went so embarkation was very straightforward and we were on board within 40 minutes.