You may be disappointed: I don’t know the mainline cruise lines very well, and am reluctant to say too much about them. My later posts–as you may have guessed, this series of posts was all created before May 31 and post-dated–note some of the lines we have liked. We just got back from a Crystal Harmony cruise to Alaska…and I’ll have some other comments to add over the next few days, as energy allows.

I think the real advantage of cruising, for us at least, is the freedom to relax. Not having to think about accommodations and transportation is quite liberating. And a bare minimum of scheduling (dinner times, excursions) means your time can be largely unscripted, which makes the whole trip seem so much longer. Our cruise was one of the most relaxing experiences I’ve ever known. We’d do it again in a heartbeat.