We flew down to Florida the day before the cruise to ensure we would be onboard with no flight issues. I think this is critical to do, especially during the winter. We actually flew into West Palm Beach due to frequent flyer miles and took a bus from the airport to the Tri Rail which took us to Ft. Lauderdale. We saved a lot of money this way and then took a taxi from the Tri Rail station in Ft. Lauderdale to our hotel.
Embarkation: We arrived at the port at around 11:00 AM and were on the boat by 12:15. Unlike previous posters, we felt the process went pretty smoothly. But, we did make sure we got there early to avoid the rush.
Cabin: We stayed on the Verandah deck, room 8430 at the back of the ship in an interior room. We found it to be rather noisy as we were below the lido deck and several mornings hear chairs being scooted around and one night there was a party around the aft pool and it was a bit noisy as well. Also, we felt tremendous vibration anytime we were docking at a port as the back really vibrates when they put the boat in reverse. Other than the noise, we were happy with out cabin though.