Just to give you background..this was our first cruise. We're 27 and 28 with no children and traveled with a group of 12 all similiar ages.
I'll start with embarking. We flew from RI to Ft Lauderdale (much cheaper air fare). We then took a shuttle to the Holiday Inn at the Port of Miami.
We left the Holiday Inn and took a taxi to the port. I thought getting on this ship would be a disaster! However, we gave our luggage to a porter, walked right in the terminal. We had a short line at security to scan our carry on and then stood in a line to get our ideas checked and also our tickets. We were on the ship within 35 minutes of walking through the terminal. We got there around 10:30 and there was some traffic from people disembarking, so if I had to do it again, I'd wait until 11 to let that clear up. We were on the ship shortly after 11- not allowed in our rooms, but exploring and eating lunch.