This was the first cruise for my 8-year-old daughter and myself. We were also traveling with my parents, who are experienced cruisers.
We booked our airfare through Carnival's Fly Aweigh program. We had very convenient, non-stop flights from Cleveland to Miami. Upon arrival into Miami, around 12:30, we met the Carnival rep at baggage claim and were on a bus for the trip to the port within about 10 minutes of getting our luggage.
We were upgraded from our original cabin assignments, so at the port we waited for the porter to get our correct color tags. We waited standing in the heat while he made sure he got his tips from all the other passengers on our bus. He finally went to get the tags and about 10 minutes later came back with the wrong ones. He went back again and this time it only took a couple of minutes for him to get the right tags.