A cruise is my all time favorite vacation. There are many things to consider before booking your cruise. A little thinking ahead of time can make the difference between a good vacation and a great vacation. The only way a cruise can be less than good would be sail into a hurricane or to get high jacked by pirates, neither is very likely.

Passports

Everyone taking a cruise must have a valid passport. This is a legacy of 911. Make sure you have a valid passport and be prepared to provide more information on the cruise application forms.

When to go

I live on the east coast of the United States and this information is relevant for Caribbean cruises. Summer may be a good time for vacations in most places but it is not the best time for a Caribbean cruise. Of course, as you would expect, cruises are cheaper in the summer.

In my experience the western Caribbean and the southern Gulf of Mexico can be stormy in the summer even when there isn’t a hurricane or tropical storm around. Areas around Cozumel, Mexico have frequent storms that make the ocean in the area choppy. If you are not used to cruising I would not choose the Western Caribbean in the summer for my first cruise.

The eastern Caribbean is better than the west in the summer; when there isn’t a tropical disturbance around. The east does not have the land mass to generate as many storms, but it is always a gamble booking the eastern Caribbean in the summer. A storm system can develop after you book your cruise and I’m not sure what the policy is in that case.

The southern Caribbean is amazingly free of storms. Islands like Aruba are actually desert islands; they do not get much rainfall at all. If you can get a cruise just in the southern Caribbean you would be good.

Another time to be aware of is spring break. This can actually take up most of the spring. If you’re young this may be just the time that you want to go. I can tell you that the young people have one heck of a time on spring break cruises. If you’re not so young anymore you may want to be careful in the spring. The spring break crowd seems to vary based on the cruise ship. In my experience they gravitated more to Carnival and Royal Caribbean, and away from Celebrity and Norwegian. That is only a personal observation and not based on any statistics. I would just recommend that you be aware of the spring break action on cruise ships.

Winter is great and, as you might have guessed, the most expensive time. Holidays on a cruise ship are great; they really play them up and do their best to make them fun for everyone. The guessing game in the winter is possible problems with flight delays because of snow. We have flown into the departure city a day ahead to make sure we didn't miss the boat.

Cruise Lines

I have been on four cruise lines that they all were good. They all do their best to make you feel like royalty. Based on my experience; they do seem to have different personalities. Of course the Disney cruise line is totally family oriented. Their ships do not have casinos. I like to waste a bit of money myself. Carnival seems to attract a lot of college age people and young families, but they do a great job of accommodating everyone. Royal Caribbean and Norwegian seem to attract more established families and singles and Celebrity seems to attract older people like myself.

Those are just general observations. I was very comfortable on all of the lines and I really don’t have a preference. The fact is even on Carnival during spring break the ship is big enough that you can avoid the revelers if you want to.

Shore Excursions

The cruise lines offer many great excursions at each port of call. You may also wander off the ship and make your own way. If you’re used to moving around in new places it is definitely cheaper to go out of your own. Many people have told me that they would end up on the same beach or attraction as a fifty dollar excursion for a five dollar taxi ride. I’m a little paranoid for that. The reason is if you are on an official sanctioned excursion the ship will wait for you if your bus breaks down. If you’re on your own the ship will sail on time with or without you. You can scan the excursions on the cruise line web site. The question about booking the excursions ahead of time is another toss up. If you do you won’t have to worry about your favorite excursion getting filled up. My favorite excursions were the submarine ride in Cozumel, the jeep four wheeling tour at Playa Del Carmen, the dauphins at just about every port, snorkeling from a catamaran in any port, and the beach parties of course. Cozumel and Nassau are good places to wander off the boat. There are good things to do in walking distance of the pier.

Where to go

I loved all of my cruises; including the Alaskan cruise that Cathy really wanted to go on. If I had to choose a favorite I would choose the southern Caribbean. The water was calm and the islands were beautiful. In Aruba we snorkeled over a ship wreck and that was really cool.

Where ever you go; get out there and have fun. Blow some money in the casino. Dance until two on the deck. Sing Karaoke at the top of your lungs. Everyone knows the saying for Los Vegas is, “whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”. The saying on a cruise ship is, “go nuts; you’ll never see these people again anyway”.