Yes - many people do not realize that Tim Rubacky, SVP os Public Relations at Oceania got a career boost from CruiseMates as being our consumers affairs reporter for years - just before he joined Oceania as their Public Relations guy.
I soebt in the night in the BEAUTIFUL Intercontinental Hotel near the pier. I never knew this hotel was here. Now granted, it is a very big building, I have not had time to explore the grounds (nor will I get it), but it is certainly convenient to the pier, and it appears that Oceania plans to use this hotel as a staging area for cruises out of Miami.
The line has a guest relations desk here and a service to pick up your luggage at the hotel and take it to the ship (but they arrived at 7:00 a.m. - a bit too early for me),so I won't be using that. They also have shuttles going to the ship at 11:00 and 11:30.