STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

I've never been but my mom did the 4 day one out of NO to cosumel and really enjoyed it. A family friend of ours just went on one to the eastern carribbean out of san juan and loved it. They did the 7 day one and took over 3000 digital pictures.

I've never been on one but I think if I went on one I'd have to at least have a window in my room so I didn't feel closterphobic (sp?). If you book it through a travel agent they can get you special deals and upgrades you wouldn't normally get if you booked it directly with the cruise line.

I've been on two - One to the Eastern (Bahamas, St. Maarten, St. Thomas) and one that was supposed to be Western but was re-routed 3 times by the hurricanes this year.  We went with Princess both times, and I would not recommend them for a number of reasons (PM me if you have q's about them or want specifics).  From speaking with numerous passengers on our last cruise, Celebrity is far superior in every aspect except for the size of their ships (Princesses ships are the largest ships out there, which may or may not be the best thing).  Their crew to passenger ratio is higher and they offer extremely detail-oriented service (people carry all your luggage to your cabin and even carry your breakfast/lunch tray for the buffet!). 

As for destinations, the shopping is great in St. Thomas, mostly if you're looking for cheap souvenirs and/or island goods or expensive jewelry.

We also liked Nassau - they have cool open-air markets and nice beaches (they charge you an arm and a leg for chairs and umbrellas at the beach though).

Stay as far away as you can from Jamaica!  It was extremely dirty, people shove drugs in your face everywhere you go, and the cabbies are drunk/high most of the time.  They actually advise you not to walk to town or go on any side streets, and to interact with the locals as little as possible.  We were so scared (holding onto our bags/wallets/etc) that it was hard to have fun.

We were really upset we didn't get to go to Mexico on our last cruise due to weather - I hear it's really beautiful and there's tons to do there.

To be honest, my favorite part of both trips was our hotel stay in Ft. Lauderdale before the cruises.  We stayed at the Hyatt, which is across the street from the marina.  It's a beautiful hotel w/a gorgeous pool.  We took the water taxi downtown to Las Olas to eat/shop/site see and it was really fun. 

Let me know if you want any more info.  HTH!

http://www.vacationstogo.com

this site has really cheap cruise fares

from what i've recently discovered in researching my honeymoon, Silversea and Seabourn Cruises are la creme de la creme of cruise lines.  Of course, as you can imagine, they are mucho expensivo...but if you can swing it, I'm sure they're everything you could imagine and more.

A few other tidbits I've gathered...you definitely don't want an interior cabin, a window at least, but a balcony is better.  And bigger ships aren't always better...apparently if the waters are rough bigger ships sometimes can't dock at certain ports...so you spend a few extra days floating around.