We landed in Miami on Saturday and proceeded to our hotel (Intercontinental Hotel) This was a great central place to stay prior to our cruise. It is located within walking distance to bayside market place, this market is like a little mall, tons of stores and restaurants. Can't say enough good things about the hotel and it's surrounding area. The Intercontinental is also a couple of blocks from CVS and Walgreen's for those last minute needs.
Embarkation: Went very smooth, we arrived at the port about 11:15a and was on the ship by noon, and to the windjammer by 12:30p. (The windjammer was very crowded but the wait staff made everything go so smoothly.) The food was good in the windjammer, lots of choices.
The ship: Beautiful, well maintained,very clean and friendly crew. Loved the promenade.
As I previously mentioned we were in a nice balcony which was an automatic upgrade. Room # 7244 forward. We were located just outside the stairways and elevators, once in the room never heard any noises. The room had ample space, bathroom was large enough, great closets, nice TV, we did have a problem with our sliding glass door knob, but maintenance came right up and fixed it on the second day of the cruise..