This is my second cruise, the first with Carnival. We sailed on October 16th with a group of six. We flew into Ft. Lauderdale on Friday and drove to Miami to stay at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. If you are expecting luxury, this is not the place for you. However, I recommend that you join their preferred guest program in advance - otherwise, you might not get a room overlooking Biscayne Bay and the cruise ship port. Also, the hotel is across the street from the Bayside Market place which is an open air mall. They have some great restaurants, including Bubba Gump Shrimp.

Embarkation - We did the smart thing on Saturday and drove over to the port to see where exactly the ship would dock. If you do this, do it late in the afternoon, otherwise, it's pretty crazy there on embarkation days!

On Sunday, my husband dropped everyone off at the terminal and took our rental car back to the airport. He then took a shuttle back to the terminal. Two things to note - There is NO rental car drop-off at the port! Also, the earlier you get there, the faster you get your check-in taken care of and get on the ship. Everyone in my party was on board by 11:30 - 12:00 and we were on board by 12:30 or so. Also - don't take pictures or use your cell phone in the port!!! That's a big no-no! We were yelled at AND they stopped the embarkation process because people wouldn't stop doing it! But overall, it was pretty painless. Read more