We were the first car in the port parking lot -- thus, we were the first car in line to drop off our luggage curbside at the terminal -- while my husband re-parked the car in the lot and paid (in advance) -- the boys (DS8 DS5) and I entered the terminal -- we literally were the first people in there -- it was great! We made it in before ANY of the shuttles arrived -- I would do this again in a heartbeat -- We were let into the terminal well before 10:30 -- we checked in VERY quickly got our KTTW cards and we were set to go -- they had kids club sign-up in the terminal so we did that and I stood in line to board while my husband and boys explored the terminal.
There were very few VIPs or concierge passengers to board first so, again, we were amongst the first 4 or 5 groups to get on the ship -- I'm sure it was around 11:30 -- this was awesome and we had the whole day ahead of us on the ship -- it seems most everything is up and running by then -- pools were open, everything was clean and tidy -- had a great lunch --- I would HIGHLY recommend getting the terminal as early as you can, within reason -- some of our first magical moment occured during our first few hours on the ship ---
That's my arrival and embarktion story -- hope it helps!