This was only our 2nd Cruise, the first being on The Carnival Spirit. We loved Carnival, but it just doesn't rate when compared The Solstice!
Embarkation quite good, about 40 minutes after arriving at the terminal just after midday.
Our Balcony cabin 6241 was great, my one learning though is to check where the smoking areas are first, as we were right above the deck 5 smoking area. It wasn't a huge problem, but did become noticeable when docked.