pamw

I managed to get a balcony stateroom at the back of the ship a couple of years ago when we cruised from New Orleans to Barcelona. Brilliant! Maybe not recommended for anyone with walking difficulties as it was a fair walk from the lifts. You are right - they are very hard to get and I just couldn't believe my luck.

You dock at San Juan. It has some great historical sites including a couple of fortresses.

Our all time favorite was on the Freedom.  We had a balcony looking out the back of the boat.  The room and balcony was bigger.  These are hard to get.  For just the ocean view, on the Allure we got a room that looked out the front of the boat.  It was right under the bridge so it was quiet.  Only problem was at night we had to close the curtains if we had the lights on because it would cause a glare to the bridge.

Pam;
In a nutshell, flying UK to US is done during the day. Flying from US to UK is done overnight.  There appears to be many flights leaving LHR to MIA throughout the day.  BA has 07:25, 9:45, 10:40, 11:00, 11:15, 11:35, 12:25, 14:05. None of these would get you to Miami in time to catch your ship.  You would have to fly the day before and stay overnight in Miami/Fort Lauderdale.  No problems there; an extra night of the fine south Florida weather, and get up fresh for your cruise the next morning.
Hope you enjoy your holiday.