We were on the Valor 2/20 - 2/27, a group of eight adults traveling together. It was the Western itinerary.
Embarkation -- We arrived at the pier around 11:30 because our hotel kicked us out at 11 a.m. They ran us straight through the lines and we never sat in chairs, but we were standing in lines, especially waiting to get onto the ship for quite a while. It was about 12:45 by the time we were on board. Once on the ship, the crowd was being herded to the right, but we veered left since we were willing to climb the stairs. We went straight to our cabin, which was ready, dropped our stuff and headed for the Lido deck. We found out from the others that they had been told not to go to the cabins until 1:30 but I guess we missed that message since we broke left!
Getting around the ship -- We were on the Conquest last year and so were familiar with the deck plan and layout of the ship. We learned last year that the best trick for getting around was to head to the end of the ship you wanted to be at FIRST, on your cabin's deck, before trying to go up or down. Several people complain that the decks don't go all the way through on many of the decks and this is because of the dining rooms, but we knew that our cabin's deck (8, Verandah on the Valor, 2, Main on the Conquest) went all the way through, so we used that. You can also always use the Promenade to get from one end to the other.