What an amazing first cruise experience! I traveled with 5 other friends. We had great cabins on the 9th deck. Since there were no inside rooms, there were not many people in our hallway which was nice.
We went to Miami a couple of days prior to the cruise and stayed at the Wave Hotel in South Beach. DO NOT stay here.... the a/c only worked when it felt like it, our window would not close, our bath tub would not drain - even after the repair man came to fix it. If you look the hotel up on-line --- remember, looks are deceiving!
Embarkation to the ship was a breeze. Just a quick check-in and we were on board and eating lunch within 30 min. The windjammer had good food each day.