We arrived a day ahead of time and stayed at the Lago Mar - which was a very nice hotel. We arrived at the pier around 11AM and did not have a long wait. We sat in chairs for about 10 minutes and then proceeded into the lines for the ship. After we went through the "Picture" station, we asked for the pier coordinator (our TA suggested we do this for upgrade) and happily we were allowed to upgrade to the Penthouse.
As we waited for the paperwork, I noticed a couple next to us and he was wearing orange. As a Cruise Critic member, we had agreed to wear orange to board, and I asked if he was hot. His facial expression was something to see....it turned out that they were indeed "hotters" and we had a good laugh about that. They were also looking for an upgrade, and were able to grab our cabin when we "vacated" it. Two happy families....Already, this cruise is good.
We had to wait for our room, so we went up to the 10th deck and had a lunch. It was good and we enjoyed watching everyone getting on board.