My wife and I just returned from the Celebrity Solstice. We were on the March 1-8 sailing. It was an excellent cruise. This was our first time on Celebrity - we are in our late 30's. We sailed on the Caribbean Princess in 2007.
We flew into Ft. Lauderdale the day of embarkation and were at the pier around 11:30ish. We only had to wait about 15 minutes before we were allowed to board. The whole check in process was very quick and easy. We did use the Celebrity website to pre-register and check in. Once we were onboard, we went to the Oceanview Cafe for lunch (the rooms weren't quite ready).
As far as the food, here is my take: