We traveled from Maryland to New York, arriving around 11 am. Embarkation was very smooth, able to board and be in state room by 12:30 pm.
Since this was our first cruise, we tried to familiarize ourselves with location and destination from the various maps, deck plans we had. Sometimes got stopped because we didn't go far enough forward to get to the place we were going, but saw more things that way also. Had lunch on the Lido deck, food was fine with me and 2 daughters had no complaints.
After going back to the room to settle in and get ready for sailing out of NY, our room steward came by to introduce himself. (all of the stewards on our deck were very friendly and made us feel very comfortable). Our room steward was consistently taking care of our stateroom, and when we left for evening entertainment, had the third bed pulled out and made for my youngest, making towel animals and leaving cookies for the girls.