We're first time cruisers and this ship really wowed us!!
We stayed in Ft. Lauderdale at the Renaissance on Friday night. It was a lovely hotel and within minutes of the airport/port and they have shuttle to the port. The great feature of the hotel was the trolley that stopped out front. For $2.00 dollars a day per person you can get a pass to ride down to the beach. There's tons of shopping and dining options.
Check-in took at the ship took minutes and we were on the ship by 11:30. The ship is very clean and the staff is extremely friendly. We purchased the premium alcohol package/soda package for the kids and the 4 specialty restaurants for $70 pp.
Very clean, nice balcony, quiet room on deck nine. Great room attendant. We had a broken drawer and it was fixed promptly. Room was tight for four people but we didn't spend much time there.