We booked a hotel room the night before so we would be well rested for the cruise. We arrived around noon and waited for over an hour to board, due to the number of people. We found a seat and waited patiently.
Once on board, we found our room and unpacked our carry-on items and our luggage arrived soon after, all but one. The last showed up around 5:00. Our room was clean but I did ask the steward to clean the bathroom again when he had time, due to the smell of urine. I hate to mention that, but it did smell.
We brought our own memory foam mattress topper, so we placed that on the bed ourselves and went out to explore this gorgeous ship.
We stayed in cabin 8516. It was the first cabin balcony and we loved it. It had the curved glass so we could see the front of the ship, helicopter pad and where we were going. Great balcony. Bring a mattress pad if your body is sensitive to lesser quality beds. We brought a memory foam pad and we were so glad we did. You can also order a mattress pad with Royal Caribbean to be placed on your bed upon arrival. We did this as well but it's very very thin.
Overall, nice cabin. Plenty of room for 2 away from elevator, hallway noise.