My DD has been in FDC since she was 5 months old. She's now 16months old and LOVE it!
She has made lots of new friends and has formed a really close bond with her daycare mum. I love it because she has the same person everyday. Our routines were continued from home (as much as possible anyway), although she stills gets sick- i can imagine it would be more in a bigger centre, her daycare mum stills does all the same things that would happen in a centre eg, craft, water play, etc, they have an excursion each week to a bigger playgroup to interact in a bigger group.
I couldn't recommend it highly enough!

BTW - CONGRATS on UNI!