I'll try to go from start to finish:

Pre-Cruise: We arrived in Fort Lauderdale a few days early. We were flying on points so this was the best date we could get. We stayed at Embassy Suites and when we arrived to drop our bags at 12 our room was ready! Bonus. Great place to stay, near lots of restaurants, shopping and the port. We took the water taxi and enjoyed hopping on and off. We ended up taking the shuttle to the port because it was there. It would have been cheaper to take a taxi.

Embarkation: If you were concierge class and above, then embarkation would have been a quick and smooth experience. If you were in steerage, then embarkation took over an hour for some. We arrived at 11:15 and were in line for one hour. Some people were in much longer. Read more