Travelling from Montreal Canada, we flew in the day before to Fort Lauderdale (usually cheaper than Miami).
The new Carnival terminal is great, much better than the one they had before. We went by everything in a breeze. We were there at 11:30am, and in the ship by 12:15.
We travelled 7 adults in 3 different rooms (all on the main deck). We were in the back of the ship, which was good before less people go by that area.