<deleted>

I don't think any cruise ships allow for bridge tours anymore....unfortunately.

Check out www.cruisecritic.com for info on cruising. They have a very active forum, and I'm sure you'll find tons of useful info. Enjoy the cruise!

I believe that some of the small, luxury cruise ships still permit visits to the Bridge: e.g. SeaDream, Seabourn,Silversea. These ships typically carry less than 300 pax. On a cruise with nearly 2000 pax, highly unlikely that you could visit the bridge. The bright side is that you will be on a repositioning cruise which is always a great deal and you'll have more days at sea (Very nice, indeed).

Can't speak to the ship or line, as all my experience is with RCI. That said, Mrs BamaVol and I have had great workouts at sea: best aerobics class ever and a line dance class than was great fun. Haven't used the spa, but was told it was excellent, if pricey.

Our cruises have also featured art auctions (make sure you know what you're doing) and activities organized by the cruise directors staff (bingo, trivia, sexy legs contests, etc). There is enough offered that we usually find we don't have time to participate in everything we'd like.

Or, if you're inclined the other way, a cruise can be the most relaxed vacation ever - especially with a balcony. I can lean on a rail with a beer in my hand and stare at the sea for hours.

A cruise is also a very romantic vacation. But, remember what you do on the balcony can be seen and heard by others.

There'll be no engine room tours, either - this is for safety reasons.

The best thing about cruises is that you can do what you want, not what other people expect of you or what other people would do if they were in your shoes. If you want to just "cruise" through your sea day doing nothing, that's perfectly fine.

I'm very active on cruises. I will spend a lot of time in the gym, and get stuck into activities like trivia and silly pool games etc. It's very sociable if you do participate - I think that I get out of a cruise in proportion to what I put in. But that's not everyone's cup of tea, and a two night cruise is not long enough to get to know anyone well.

If, however, you do want to go the active, sociable route, one hint: Identify the cruise staff and use them as your framework. This is the department that is headed by the cruise director and is basically the front line of the entertainments/activities department on board. The cruise staff will be the people running the activities, meeting/greeting at receptions and cocktail parties and at the shows etc. They have to be outgoing people to do that job; they usually love it when pax go and talk to them, as most pax are actually too reserved, shy or snobby to do so. They also know where everything happens, and when.

There are not a lot of public bridge tours, but some lines still do them on an invitation basis. To get an invitation, you ask at the purser's desk, they are usually held on the day the ship is in port (never while it's at sea on a large ship) and conducted in small groups of 10 or 15 people.

You will get a little agenda every morning placed under your door - and I found it was a good idea to take a peek through it with your AM coffee and check off the things that interest you.

I HIGHLY recommend bingo...some of those jackpots get pretty high - and on my last 3 day cruise I won enough to pay for the cruise 8 times over! Also - this is usually the assistant cruise directors job - and you do get quite a bit of entertainment for your buck - these guys are pretty amusing people. (I say this as a former cruise staff member with RCI - and I always find myself amusing!)

<deleted>

At least on a shorter cruise you should meet some couples your own age, the longer cruises are usually filled with old folks, and while they can be fun during the first 2 or 3 days they really do get annoying eventually... Don't expect the cuisine to be five star, it'll be good, but nothing more than that. As for the engine room, good luck on that, I seriously doubt it'll happen nowadays

One of the keys to an enjoyable cruise is to correctly set your expectations. I'm in agreement with with ScottC. The food will rate favorably with a decent hotel banquet back on land. Don't expect the chef to lovingly prepare your entree as if he were eating it himself. He and his staff are feeding a couple thousand folks all at once. Do not expect embarkation and debarkation to be hassle free - this is still travel - it should not be as unpleasant as air travel often is but issues can arise. We were delayed for a couple hours this summer when an ill or injured person was evacuated. I have had to stand in line at the Pursers desk for an hour to get keys remade and we once discovered we had not been assigned a table in the dining room when we got there for dinner. These small things could ruin a cruise for some (we've all read those sort of posts here) and some people know how to roll with the flow. Best of luck with the bridge or engine room tour. My FIL was hoping for one on his first cruise last month, but was too shy to inquire. We somewhat satisfied his techie side by walking around the ship while it was docked in Nassau and finding a great vantage point when the ship pulled out of the harbour. He also plans to bring a scanner and a gps on his next cruise.

The real key to enjoyiing life is flexibility and openness. By all means skip the line dancing if you're not comfortable with being on stage. I would never engage in karaoke myself so I do understand. But, look in on activities if you're at all unsure. I'm glad someone talked me into the Bingo - I didn't win the big $$, but I did win an art print that was worth way more than the price of the Bingo cards.

A word on the art auctions. Most are from Park West Gallery. Remember that there are alot of extra charges above your bid for the total purchase. Also take their buildups for each piece with a grain of salt. Buy something that you like and not for an investment. And for a last word do a search on Park West on the ripoffreport.com to see what happens to other customers on cruises.
I have 6 nice pieces that I am happy with, but not as an investment.

Also for bingo, I needed 1 number to win a 1 week balcony cruise on carnival think it was 42 and when they called (Slowly) 4 4 I was dying and everyone could hear it!!!

Have a great time, we have been on over 20 cruises good and bad and if you take the time to find your own special spots on the ship, it can seem like you are all alone.......
JudyJFLA

<deleted>

<deleted>

Didn't mean to imply geekiness on your part. My FIL definitely has issues, however.

And, if it's no more fun than a long-haul Amtrak ride, ask for your money back. Seriously, the biggest complaints I read here (and on Cruisecritic.com) come from people who were expecting way more than the typical cruise delivers. I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people enjoy their first cruise.

Didn't mean to imply geekiness on your part. My FIL definitely has issues, however.

And, if it's no more fun than a long-haul Amtrak ride, ask for your money back. Seriously, the biggest complaints I read here (and on Cruisecritic.com) come from people who were expecting way more than the typical cruise delivers. I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people enjoy their first cruise.

Have fun and let us hear about it when you get back.