who has been to a cruise??

I have been on about 20 cruises on 4 different cruise lines. Here's what its like and what I recommend.

Royal Caribbean cruise line has some of the best on board activities on various ships, ice skating, roller blading, mini-golf, table tennis, rock climbing wall, basketball court and on the new Freedom class ships, Liberty, Freedom and Independence of the Seas the flowrider where you can body surf right on ship. These ships also have a special water park area just for kids called the H2O Zone which has a mini lazy river, a small pool, water cannons and lots of fun stuff just for kids.

All cruise ships always have pools and hot tubs and many ship have a Solarium (a cover area) with a pool and hot tubs for adults only. This is in addition to the regular pool and hot tubs for everyone. Some ships have water slides.

Ships have great gymnasiums with a variety of equipment. The RC's Freedom and Liberty have THE best gyms I have ever seen on ships.

The cruise director on the ship will organize games and activities around the pool, especially on "at sea" days when there is no port stop. They may also have a midnight party on the pool deck with a buffet, music and dancing one night. Each night there will be a show and it is usually run twice so that no matter what time you go to dinner you can see the show. If you go on the Royal Caribbean ships with the ice skating rink they will have a free ice show that is fabulous.

If you are a gambler there will be a casino, except on Disney ships. Each day you will receive a "newsletter" type flier in your cabin that details the time and location of all of the activities on ship the next day. So you will know what is happening and where. Also, most ships will have a channel on the TV in the room that recaps activities for the current and next day. If there is a port stop the next day most ships will have a presentation in the show room or a lounge that talks about where to shop; then this is repeated on TV.

Most ships these day have 2,000 to 4,000 passengers so things on ship are very well organized and in most cases the ship does not even feel crowded.

When you select a cruise consider that those going to the Caribbean will feature a lot of beach time and water sports related activities like snorkel, jet ski, para-sailing, or just swimming and relaxing on a beach. If you go to Cozumel there is the opportunity to buy a tour to see Mayan ruins, if that's your interest. If you go to Jamaica the two main attractions are a river raft float trip (not rapids) and the Dunn's River Falls climb. If you want to do a lot of shopping then pick a cruise with St Thomas as one of the port stops. Most Caribbean cruises have a private island stop where the ship takes food ashore for an all day beach party with games and entertainment. Royal Caribbean has THE best private island I have ever been to at Labadee, Haiti. Its a huge place that has multiple beaches and many activities. RC's ships the Freedom and The Liberty which do both the Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries both have stops at Labadee.

I recommend going first and foremost on a Royal Caribbean ship because RC's ships have the most on-board activities. But, you will also have a great time and a fabulous cruise on Celebrity, Princess, Holland America, Norwegian or Carnival, pretty much in that order. Celebrity, Princess and Holland America are top notch classy cruise lines. HA has the older passengers. Norwegian has the most informal cruises. Carnival is the budget cruise line that has the most young people and first time cruisers.

You'd have a wonderful time on a cruise. We've always gone Royal Caribbean and have been quite satisfied with the cruises. Maybe you should just go on a short one (maybe a weekend from Friday to Monday) just in case it's not what you expected. Maybe to Nassau The Eastern Caribbean or Western Caribbean are a bit longer. St. Thomas and St. Maarten are nice but that's a longer cruise too. Just go online and look at the cruises, prices, arrangements, etc.

If you do decide to cruise, have fun!

Pablo Cruise did the song Love will find a way. I remember the album cover is blue. I still like that song. Beats Tom Cruise by a mile. But a Mediterranean cruise would be really nice right now.

I've been on one cruise and had the best time and I want to take another one. There was so much to do such as going to exhibits and demonstrations during the day or laying out on the deck or going swimming. At night you can go to a real nice dinner then later to a show or dancing. When the ship stops at its destination ports you can get out and spend the day sight seeing or shopping. I was on a Carnival cruise line which was real nice and I've heard that Royal Carribean and Disney cruise lines are good also.

I'm glad you decided to take a cruise. You will feel like a Princess on the ship for the whole time you are on a cruise. I think for my first cruise, I would go to the Caribbean or Mexican Rivera. Either one would give you the time of your life. By the way, I love Princess cruises, great food, great cabins, great entertainment. I have been on 8 Princess cruises.

I strongly recommend the Royal Caribbean line. The ship left out of Puerto Rico to Barbados and back stopping at four other islands on the way.

You can laze around on the ship, shopping, seeing shows, swimming, going to the spa or the beauty salon. Or you can schedule island visits. We swam with giant sea turtles, we snorkeled, we swam with sting rays. We had a wonderful vacation.

There were three generations in our party. There was something for everyone.

I've posted the link to their web site below. It's also reasonably priced.

my husband surprised me one year for our anniversary with a 3 day cruise, it was way too short!!! and very addicting we have gone every year since. We use Carnival and we do take the family too it is the best way to go on vacation, the food is 5 star and the service is awesome, there is so much to do and place to do nothing at all

I love it, and so do my kids. We have been to: San Juan, St Thomas, St Maarteen, Cozumel, Belize, Key West, Grand Caymen, Costa Maya. and next week leave for Puerta Vallarta, Cabo san Luca and Matzallan. You and your family will have an awesome tine. Go and Enjoy

Me! It was good. Royal Caribbean. Bahamas.

yah its really fun it was in seattle washington