LONG in-depth review

We're newbies - never have been cruising, and wanted to go on a high end Alaskan cruise next year before retirement - problem is, we've never been on a cruise ship. We had a friend do the Alaskan cruise with no experience and on the 2nd stop his wife got off and flew home - she couldn't deal with the confined space, the food or being on the open ocean - we thought we'd try it once for a short hop - and this IS a very short hop.

We stayed in Jupiter Florida at the Jupiter Resort and Spa (We do NOT recommend - see my TripAdvisor review) and were a little disappointed that we were told we "had' to get our boarding stuff in Fort Lauderdale - not a quick hop (I now doubt that and think each 'welcome station' gets points for those processed). We were hit up for the "Timeshare vacation thing presentation" - We agreed and went with an open mind to get the additional shipboard perks, it might have been a decent thing if were were younger, had kids that travelled and we travelled a lot - we're retiring out of country so it wasn't a deal for us - but we 'earned' 50 "ship dollars" - be wary - they're only good for photos (3), spa, excursions or the ship store. We also 'earned' a 2 night/3 day "getaway" in Kissimmee - we'll see how the upsell on that one goes. The vacation plan might be for you, or might not, go with a firm resolve - these can be tough hard sellers. Read more