My wife and 7yr old son took the Jewel out of our home town port N.Y.C on 9/10/11. Getting checked in was a breeze. We arrived at about 11:30am for a 4pm departure. Some might think that's way too early but for us it was perfect! As soon as we stepped on the ship we were on vacation! The were plenty of choices to do while we were waiting for our room and luggage. You can sit by the pool walk around the ship or do as we did and Visit the Garden cafe to eat! This is the Main buffet on the ship. There were more than enough choices of food the choose from and if you cant find anything you like there is truly something wrong with you. If you want to go healthy there are plenty of selections to choose from.

Our rooms were ready a little before 2pm, shortly after the luggage arrived. We stayed in a family balcony mid-ship deck 10. The rooms were more than enough room for 3 if you are traveling with more in room it could get cramped. You can store all of your luggage under the bed trust me the will fit.

First stop was Port Canaveral. We decided to stay on the ship that day. There was plenty to do my 7yr old loves the pool so we walked around a bit then ended up at the pool and jacuzzi. Next stop "GSB" the private island. We had to tender to the island which wasn't a big deal. My suggestion is to get up early that day go by the pool and get a tender ticket. This is a number given to you that dictates the order you leave the ship. Plenty of food bought over from the ship so don't worry about being hungry. Atlantis was awesome we did that aqua venture excursion and loved it. The final two days at sea we attended shows at night and toured the ship. Read more