For our kids' first cruise with our boys aged 16 and 11, we chose Carnival's 5-night Bahamas cruise aboard the Elation. This was only the second cruise for myself and DH; our first was 7-nights aboard Celebrity Reflection. So, we've kind of seen both ends of the spectrum.
Because we had booked a Grand Suite for our family of four, we got FTTF as a perk. We were there right at peak boarding time, 12:30 pm, so I was glad for priority boarding, because the non-priority line looked pretty darned long! The priority lounge was absolutely full, but fortunately it moved quickly and we have no complaints. All told embarking probably took 30 minutes from taxi to ship. Our room was ready right away, which was fantastic. Luggage arrived in a timely manner.
Plenty has been said in other reviews about Elation being worn around the edges. I can't disagree, but thanks to those reviews I knew to expect this. We actually were pleasantly surprised at how nice parts of the ship were! We loved the grand atrium space and the Mikado lounge. We found the Imagination dining room to be very comfortable. Really, all of the public spaces were quite nice and well-maintained.