We (a retired couple) age 56 & 66 had great anticipation about this cruise as my lady partner had traveled Princess before and I had not. She said I would be pleasantly surprised and boy...was I ever. The Emerald Princess is a gorgeous ship only matched by the incredible service we received.
We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale the night before and stayed at the Hampton Inn on Sterling near the airport, where we not only could park our car for free during the 10 days, but also got a free shuttle transport to the ship the next morning at 10:30am. If you want to park at the dock...there is a parking garage directly across from the ship,and we heard that the daily rate was around $16..but check first.
We arrived for embarkation around 11:15 and the process went very smoothly and we were boarded on the ship and in our mini-stateroom D215 around noon. Had a great lunch in the Horizon Court and toured the ship and relaxed most of the afternoon.
Our cabin was a "mini-suite", which had a large bath with tub, and a separate living room and balcony which was quite adequate. It was worth the extra cost.