This was my sixth cruise, but first on MSC, and it was Mark's first ever cruise. We flew from Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale the day of the cruise, and arrived about 2:30. We took a cab to Port Everglades and were there in about 10 minutes.
Embarkation:
Embarkation was very quick. There was no line by then, and after a quick picture, we were on the ship. We dropped our carry-ons in our cabin and headed to the buffet for lunch.
Our cabin was an inside on deck 12, forward. It was a very quiet location, but we felt a lot of motion from the ship. It wasn't bad, just more motion than I was used to on other cruises. The bed was comfortable. We both have back problems, and we were fine. The only problem we had was that one of us would sometimes wake up in the gap in the middle of the bed where the mattresses were pushed together. The closets were spacious, and the size of the bathroom was good for a cruise ship. There was plenty of room for 2 people, just put your suitcases under the bed.