This was my first ever cruise. Family of 4 (kids 2 and 6).

Embarkation: Not too bad, but we were very rushed. Our time to get on the ship was close to 2 pm which I think was the latest group time assigned. That left almost no time to start to get familiar with the ship before the mandatory safety drill at 4 pm.

The safety drill, while necessary, is painful and long. Finally about 5 pm we were "released" to start the cruise, but our dinner seating was 5:45. We rushed to dinner, then rushed to find the theater for the 8:30 show. We were confused and exhausted after the first day. Some folks are able to get on hours earlier and explore the layout and get a plan in place for the day (and get some lunch that we had to skip, but clearly paid for!). Read more