I am by no means a seasoned cruiser (although I am doing all I can to become one) and this is my third cruise with RC and seventh overall. I traveled with my DH and three children (6, 10 and 12). This is the third cruise for my kids (2nd on RC).

We flew down to Miami from DC the day prior and stayed at the Sofitel Hotel. I booked directly through their website and for $100 the room was unbelievable. The bedding was very nice, hotel and room decor was sophisticated, and the pool was large- although the water was cool. The hotel does charge for daily parking (I think $10 a day). We rented a car from Dollar since they provide both airport and port transfers. I had read reviews on the hotel's restaurant being pricey and to upscale for me to want to traipse my kids into for a pre-cruise dinner. The car worked out nicely since there is nothing around the hotel in walking distance. We ended up driving around for quite a while before we found a chain restaurant to eat- so in hindsight I would have asked for directions!!!!!!

The morning of the cruise we returned the rental car and Dollar had a shuttle waiting to take people to the port. We were at the port within 15 minutes and boarding the ship within 30 minutes upon arrival. There were no lines and we breezed right through. The only "wait" was just prior to boarding when they hand out the group number cards but that was maybe 10 minutes. Read more