Hello,

I took my first cruise a few months ago and I loved it. I do a lot of travelling by air and consider myself well versed in air / hotel / car rental etc..

Please find below a "report" that I emailed to a good friend of mine regarding my first cruise.

Let me know if you need more details....

Travel Guru
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Hello Raed,

Hope all is well.

As promised, here's a report on my first cruise:

It was a roundtrip that went from Ft Lauderdale, FL, to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, to Georgetown, Cayman Islands, to Cozumel, Mexico, to Key West, FL, and back to Ft Lauderdale, FL. For a total of 7 nights.

Well.........I loved it. Heather was unsure if I was going to like cruising for various reasons including expecting a high level of service and the possibility of getting sea sick. For your information, this is the first real vacation that we went on since the Hawaii time share that you gave us back in '99. Needless to say, I was expecting a lot from this vacation.

Although there were over 2,000 people on the ship, you do not feel the crowd because there is so much to do on the ship at any given time, and the people are in small groups all over the ship .

Being on a floating hotel that served both as a means of transportation between the countries and providing plenty of food and entertainment was a welcome change. There were many options for food. From a hamburger joint, to a buffet, to sushi hour, to a formal dinner. All were inclusive.

Breakfast: Some days we chose to have our breakfast delivered to the room, and others, we ate at the breakfast buffet. One day, we went to a breakfast in the formal dining room. They were all good, yet different.

Lunch: When we were at sea, we ate at the buffet, and snacked at the hamburger / hot dog joint on deck. The variety of food was good.

Dinner: Every night we chose to eat in the formal dining room. It was a great opportunity for us to get together with our friends and exchange some of the day's excursion stories, since we were not always together during the day. You can ask for as many appetizers, soup, or main courses, until you're full. As you well know about me, I like to eat. However, due to the abundance of the food I did not overeat.

Excursions: We did not take any organized excursions. However, our friends found two snorkling excursions online in two different islands, and booked them directly with the snorkling companies. It was cheaper that way. Heather went with them on one excursion in the Cayman Islands, while I rented a scooter and drove around the island.

Entertainment: I was very impressed with the quality of the entertainment on the ship. They had a theatre that can hold about 500 people. We saw about 5 shows there, from musicals to an acrobatic show, and even a Jewish comedian. The quality of the shows was excellent.

Accomodations: Although we had an inside room and I am a little claustrophobic, I did not mind having no window and being in a small room. The room was very well ventilated.

Other Activities: These include a Volleyball tournament, Poing Pong Tournament, Battle of The Sexes Trivia Game, lectures, etc.

All in all it was probably one of the best vacations that I have ever taken. I was really disconnected from the outside world (i.e. the cell phone and email). I really felt refreshed when I got back home.

As for the Disney cruise, we were at the same ports with them throughout the voyage. However, I recently heard from a friend of mine who just got back from a Disney cruise with his wife and son. He told me that he'll never go on a Disney cruise again because there were too many children around. Keep in mind that this guy has taken many cruises before.

How's that for a comprehensive report? I'm exhausted............