The price was too good to pass up so we booked a 4 night cruise to Key West and Cozumel from Miami. I heard mostly negative things about Carnival so we weren't sure what to expect. We've only sailed on one Royal Caribbean cruise in the past so you can say we are still new to cruising. We thought, why not give it a chance? We are sure glad we did.
We arrived in Miami the day before our cruise and spent a night in South Beach at the Park Central Hotel, a historic boutique hotel right on Ocean Drive. It was inexpensive, right across the street from the beach, and near all the action. It wasn't anything too fancy but appropriate for our short stay in Miami. We LOVED Miami. If you love shopping definitely walk over Lincoln Road Mall (a little far but doable) or along Collins Ave.
We took a short cab ride to the port. Embarkation was very easy and organized. We used Kiosks to enter our passport information and credit card. Not to painful. We waited about 15 minutes then were called to board.