My two daughters and I drove to Miami and stayed at the Hampton Inn in Coconut Grove. We had reserved the stay and cruise package which was great. We were able to leave our car at the hotel while we cruised and it only cost about $20 more than the base rate for a room for the night. They provided transfers to the port for two, so I just had to pay for one. You had to get your own transportation back to the hotel. We used a taxi and the cost was about $25.00 for all of us. It saved us some money by not parking at the port. The hotel was nice and included breakfast. It was located in a nice area and was only about 15 minutes from the port.

We arrived at the port around 11:30 and it was crowded, but the lines were moving smoothly. My only complaint about the embarkment process is that no one could give you a straight answer. No one told us that we needed a boarding number to be able to get on the ship. Once we got through security and went upstairs, we checked in and I asked about the number and was told oh if you do not have one you have to wait for general boarding. After talking to many people, I found out that when you come up the stairs there is usually someone right there handing out the numbers. So we ended up waiting longer than necessary to get on the ship.

Once on the ship, we headed to Rosies on Lido deck for lunch. The food was good and we were able to find a table rather easily. We walked around to familiarize ourselves with the layout and then headed to our stateroom. Read more