We sailed on the Sun out of New Orleans on Christmas Eve.
Embarkation was a breeze. We drove to New Orleans the day before and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn. The room was okay, inexpensive but they charged to park the car overnight. We got to the ship fairly early on Sunday, parked in the port garage. That was very easy, dropped of the lugged on the way up to the parking and then took the elevator to floor for processing. When we arrive they had not yet started boarding the ship, so we checked in got pictures and key card and were given a color card that indicated what order we would be allowed to board. We were on board before noon and our room was ready. We dropped off our carry on luggage, met out room steward and went off to explore, eat and make reservations.
Our balcony stateroom was great. Clean, quiet and I love the balcony, so nice to sit on the balcony after a port day, trading stories with neighbors (up down and across) and coffee in the mornings.