We (my wife and our two sons---ages 11 and 15---and I) sailed on the MSC Lirica 21 through 28 December 2007. The itinerary included stops at San Juan, Puerto Rico; ST Thomas USVI; Samana, Dominican Republic; and Nassau, Bahamas. As this was our first cruise so we did not have any other cruises with which to compare. However, we have travelled extensively abroad and feel we are somewhat "qualified" to make judgment on the quality of this cruise.
Embarkation: Embarkation went smoothly. Overall, from the time we dropped our bags at the terminal until we were actually on board the Lirica was less than an hour (side note: we drove to Fort Lauderdale and parked our car in the assigned parking garage; parking cost was $15 daily). This "less than an hour" included time required to park my car and take a shuttle bus back to the ship. As we were waiting in line to in process we were offered juice, sodas and water (nice touch) and given the opportunity to purchase ship's drink packages (pre-purchased drink/ice cream packages are the way to go, but more on this later). In processing is somewhat like ticketing for an airline flight, but much more organized. It consisted of verifying tickets, passports, and taking your photo for your "cruise card" that is issued on the spot (this cruise card is a combination boarding pass, room key and credit card for on board purchases---DON'T LOSE IT! MSC takes security very seriously, and the card is your identification while on board, as well as a departure and re-boarding pass during ports of call, as I have mentioned.).
Once on board we were shown to our cabin by a member of staff, as well as being introduced to the housekeeping staff responsible for our cabin. A buffet lunch was available, and all of the coffee/drink bars were open prior to leaving port (not always the case on other cruise lines as we have learned from this website).