Originally Posted by piper28

Heh, I actually use vacationstogo myself, but I've been working with a specific travel agent there for quite a while. I could find a different one if I wanted to take the effort, but I'm satisfied, even knowing I'm probably leaving some money on the table. That said, I do generally end up with some onboard credit from them on my cruises.

Originally Posted by pinniped

I'm beginning to think I should spend more time figuring out which islands in the Caribbean interest us most, and then just find the best deal that covers the majority of those. We've been to Belize and Mexico already...so probably something farther east would be our target. St. Maarten, etc.

I did talk to one friend who said they always book a basic cabin because they rarely spend much time in it anyway. Sort of like a Vegas hotel room...

We always book a balcony cabin for the added views. Going through the Panama Canal, we only had to step out on our balcony, sit down and soak it all up. No need to leave the cabin and go to another deck with lots of other people competing for the view. Also, if you feel like celebrating a special occasion, you can have brunch or dinner served to you on your balcony.

And yes, I'm diligently reading and digesting Cruise Critic. And I've now read and heard enough to know that we will book third-party as opposed to direct with the cruise line. Taking some notes, reading some FAQs and long threads for n00bs. Lots of great stuff there, although it's still quite overwhelming.