My wife and I were on the May 22, 2010 sailing of the Jewel from NYC to Port Canaveral, Great Stirrup Cay, and Nassau. This was our first cruise and our first vacation without our two children since they were born. Our goal on the ship was to relax relax relax and, as far as that was concerned, mission accomplished. We got an upsell the Wednesday before we left and moved from a BA balcony cabin on deck 9 to an AC Penthouse Suite on Deck 10 Forward. We quickly discovered that the suite perks can make a big difference in the cruise experience, as will be noted below, and don't intend on cruising again unless its in a suite. We were just too spoiled.

Embarkation: We live in Hartford, Connecticut, so it was a fairly short drive into NYC. We had family drop us off so we didn't have to park (which was nice as it is almost $300 for the week). We arrived at the terminal at about 1:00 to find a HUGE line to get in. I have no idea how fast it moved, but it looked like more than half the ship was waiting to check in. Luckily, there was another lane for suite guests. We walked down this lane, and were checked in within 10 minutes. We were then escorted to the VIP lounge to meet Adrian, the concierge. He gave us our room keys and told us to contact him with whatever we needed - dinner reservations, shore excursions, anything. A member of the concierge staff then escorted us to our stateroom (Suite 10000) which was ready and waiting for us.

Stateroom: We were in suite 10000. It is a penthouse suite at the very front of the ship. This was good and bad. On the upside, the balcony was awesome. Big enough for two chaise lounges and two regular chairs and a small table. When the seas were calm, it was great sitting out there listening to music or having a snack. On the down side, when the seas were rough, we really felt it on the front of the ship. Luckily, we had gotten some prescription motion sickness patches before we left, and that took care of any problems we had with motion. I should also note that Suite 10000 and (I think) the room next door, have slightly smaller balconies than the end rooms. The room has a small seating area that juts out into the balcony. The balcony is still plenty big, but not as large as the suites on the ends of the row. The room itself had plenty of storage and a nice bathroom with full tub. The room also had a king size bed that was exceptionally comfortable. Best night's sleep I've had in a long time. Read more