This was my first cruise and it was a wonderful experience. I tend to ramble, so bare with me. I'll try to put the most important part of my tips in the first sentence or two.
Tip #1 STATE ROOM I highly recommend an outside, ocean view state room! It was so nice to stand out in the breeze at night watching lightning storms in the distance, it was so peaceful. I can imagine that having a cabin overlooking Central Park or the Boardwalk can be very noisy and get old very fast and the interior cabins are really small. If you are thinking that you are going to go cheaper and get an interior stateroom because you're never going to be there, you are wrong. Get the ocean side balcony room, it's all part of the experience and worth the extra cost.
Tip#2 KEEPING IN TOUCH The last couple of days we were there I noticed that some people had little magnetic white boards on their stateroom doors to leave messages for each other..... I wish I had thought of that! My family spent so much time just looking for each other.
Outside balcony stateroom is the way to go. Don't cheap out on interior room, that's where the kids go.