We arrived in Miami on Friday around 1:45 p.m. and after getting our luggage, grabbed a cab and headed to the Holiday Inn Downtown Miami. (If you have a lot of luggage, be prepared to wait for a minivan, which were in short supply and high demand.) The taxi ride cost $27. We were able to check into the hotel and were given a port view room on the 9th floor. We've stayed at this Holiday Inn before and it's clean and convenient, but not quiet as the street noises can be heard clearly through the windows. Having a port view was terrific, though, as we could watch the ships sail out of port at 5:15 p.m.

The main reason we stay at the Holiday Inn is its location directly across from the Bayside Marketplace, which contains several chain restaurants and many shops. It is also located directly across the street from the bridge to the port, making it a quick ride to get to our ship. After unloading our luggage in the room and getting settled in, we headed across the street to Bubba Gump's for a late lunch/early dinner and then walked about four blocks to Walgreen's to pick up some water to take onboard. (I later learned there is a supermarket in the vicinity that offers a wider selection of water.) We stopped in a liquor store to check out the offerings, since our cruise documents indicated we could bring two bottles of wine onboard for consumption in our stateroom (if we brought it to a dining room there would be a $25 corkage fee), but we didn't find anything of interest.

After an hour or so spent wandering around Bayside looking in the shops and stands and listening to a local band, we hit the sack to make sure we were well prepared for embarkation day. Read more