We flew into Newark the night before the cruise and stayed at a hotel where the planes flew right over to land on the runway. You would think this would be a problem, but it wasn't. They had a nice little restaurant, with great food. The seats were split and worn, but the food was worth it.
The next day we took a limo to the ship and boarded with the greatest of ease. (Hint) I'm handicapped. We go to the front of the line. If you are also physically challenged, please use this service. Check-in took ten minutes and all we needed was our booking info and our passports.
Then we got on the ship and checked it out floor to floor. Found out where all the food and booze places were. Fire drill was right before we sailed and afterwards we went up to the bar in front of the ship and watched as we sailed past the Statue of Liberty.