My husband and I booked our cruise pretty last minute on a whim. I'd never been on a cruise so we did lot of research ahead of time to ensure we were well prepared and had realistic expectations. We went in with reasonable expectations and a flexible attitude and had a great time!
Embarkation:
We chose one of the latest boarding times. We reserved a space at Port Parking and they got us on a shuttle to the port very quickly. The porters were prompt to get luggage loaded up, and the check in and security lines moved super fast. We were onboard around 1pm, so we explored the ship briefly and ate lunch (no lines at Guy's burgers) before staterooms were available at 1:30.