I think maybe your friend is right. Without discussing each of your concerns in detail I’m concerned you wouldn’t have a good time. There are a few of your concerns that I might comment on:

1. No one is really going to force you to socialize with other passengers. You can be very interactive or just stay to yourself, your choice.

2. No sure I’d recommend a first cruise, and for that matter any cruise, to a destination you have little interest in seeing. Certainly you don’t go on vacation to a destination you’re not interested in now so why do it for a cruise just to see if you like cruising. Sounds a bit like planned failure that might unfairly reflect on the cruise experience itself.

3. Only you can judge your seasickness. If you get seasick on a typical Puget Sound ferry or motion sick in a car or airplane then indeed you might be too sensitive. I don’t get seasick and modern ships being what they are I rarely feel any motion. There are remedies that are readily available but again your experience is what matters.

4. Short of changing your eating and bed times there’s not much that can be done about the restaurant times. You could skip dinner by eating breakfast and a late lunch but you do miss out on one if the main attractions of cruising.

5. Not sure how you travel upscale(ish) but the cruise is way more expensive. I’ve gone through the whole cost analysis of all-inclusive resorts or nicer 4-star hotels then paying our own way for dinners and cruising virtually is always less expensive. Oceania and Regent are darn close, though granted not quite, Four Seasons or Ritz-Carlton level and the food is included. Certainly if you were looking at one of really big suites on either Oceania or Regent then indeed you can get into the almost outrageous range. We’ve pretty well settled on an upper level verandah suite and since we’re out of the room most the time except for sleeping.

6. Not sure about the bus comment. We’ve been on a number of cruises and never ridden a bus. Ship land tours often use buses and we have taken some of those but prefer either private or sometimes self guided tours.

7. Lines? I’d agree if you were on one of the 5,000 to 6,000 passenger ships but not on Oceania or Regent.

That’s a very good “2 cents” worth! My other thought for David55 is he/she might be over thinking their decision.

Well that certainly is a problem that needs to be addressed. 😳😀 My wife is more like “Can we go tomorrow?” when I mention a cruise. 👍😀 We have an 11-day booked for next January when she has a break in her graduate studies and she wishes it was sooner, much sooner.

This probably at least semi qualifies as thread drift though the OP is talking about getting to go on their first cruise so I’ll just go with it. For our honeymoon my bride to be said “plan something and surprise me”. Good by me. So I worked with my TA and we came up with a 10-day Caribbean cruise. Turned out the ship that was doing that itinerary was the same one I’d been on three years earlier with my ex. No problem for me and I made sure we were in the same category cabin but a different cabin. Gave her the packing requirements, checked her passport, etc., etc. I didn’t spill the beans until a few weeks before our wedding and she was excited as she’d never been to the Caribbean much less on a cruise. Wedding comes off beautifully and a couple days later we fly to Fort Lauderdale and board the ship. Later that evening we’re ready for dinner but have time for a pre-dinner cocktail so I take her to my favorite lounge on the ship. Now I’m figuring all this time it’s been three years and a couple of months since I was on the ship with the ex and and staff change pretty frequently in a year and certainly over three years. So we walk into the lounge and pick a comfortable couch with a view of the sun setting on the ocean. So here comes Ronald, my server from three years earlier, and he blurts out with a bit of glee “Doctor Randy! So good to see you again and....and...and not same wife.......”. My wife of two days burst into laughter and 21 years later it is one of her favorite memories and stories. And Ronald waited on us every night with equal glee and humor. Near the end of the cruise I was sitting in the lounge waiting for my wife to join me and Ronald came over and said “I like this one better.” My response “Me too.” And by the way Ronald remembered my martini and how I liked it. We cruised with him one more time a couple of years later and he never forgot.