Stayed night before the cruise at the Holiday Inn, 340 Biscayne Blvd, Port of Miami. Little pricey as they all are - but the location is great being right across the street from Bayside. Bayside has tons of places to shop - eat and has entertainment.
This was our 6th cruise. Three with Carnival and three with Royal Caribbean.
Embarkation: Our email received from Carnival said to arrive between 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm. We arrived at 12:55 pm and was on the ship in our room by 1:50 pm. Embarkation was much faster than we expected based on reading past reviews. Less than 1 hour.
Our room had an interconnecting door. You can easily hear just about every word being spoken from the adjoining room! Otherwise - no other issues experienced.
Stayed at the pool at Margaritaville
Took a non-Carnival excursion with Irie Tours 5 hour tour with beach stops
Took non-Carnival excursion to the Occidental Resort. Located 10 minutes from the ship. Beautiful all-inclusive resort - this was an excellent choice and the highlight of our entire cruise.