I'm forty-one years old and my wife is thirty-six. The Valor was our first cruise. We live in New Brunswick, Canada and we found that it was cheaper to fly to Miami from Bangor, Maine. The flight was with American Airlines via LaGuardia. It was a smooth flight and we got to see NYC from above. Really cool.
Miami Airport seemed to be in a state of disrepair, but we managed to get our luggage and found the transfer van to the La Quinta Inn for the overnight (travel agent suggested going a day before the cruise). La Quinta Inn is in the Cuban/Spanish section of town. There is a McDonalds, a Wendy's and a shopping plaza right next to the motel, so if you want to buy a couple bottles of wine or booze for the cruise you don't have far to go (just make sure its not a Sunday as the liquor store will be closed). The hotel was clean, fairly quiet and cheap...about all you can ask of an 'overnight' hotel. The transfer from the airport was free, but the transfer to the cruiseport the next morning was about $25 per person. There were two departures to the pier, one at 10:30 and another at 12:00pm. In the interests of smooth embarkation we chose the early departure. The transfer took about a half-hour or so.
Embarkation: I've heard so many nightmare stories about this that I was prepared for the worst. But for us early risers, embarkation was a cake-walk. We got off the shuttle, the porters took our luggage ($5.00 tip), and we were ushered into the terminal. For the Eastern Caribbean cruise you have to fill in a Bahama's immigration form. There are staff all over who hand these out. The line was very short (maybe 20 people or so at any given moment when we were there) and it moved very quickly. They ask for your passport and cruise docs, give you a sail and sign card which has your dinner seating, table number and cabin number on it, and then usher you through some corridors and onto the gangway. When you enter the ship, you go through security similar to what you go through at an airline terminal...empty your pockets into the tray blah blah blah... They also take a picture of you that shows up on their computer screen whenever you use your sail and sign card to get on/get off the ship (so someone else can't use your card). Once past these formalities, you are basically on vacation and the ship is yours to explore/exploit at your leisure.