In all fairness, cruises have their good points…

I’ve mentioned a lot of the more negative things about cruises, but they aren’t all bad. There are some nice touches, and I think some important factors that will effect how much you enjoy the cruise is 1) who you’re with; 2) what kind of things you and your companion like to do, and 3) it really helps if you don’t get seasick.

Some of the nice touches I can think of:
* Room service – you can get a lot of stuff from room service, and most of it is on the “free” list.
* “Maid” service – actually I’m not sure what the correct term is. We have a team of a man and woman who come in twice a day and clean the room. They make the beds in the morning and put out fresh towels. In the evening they turn down your beds, check if you need any more towels, and generally straighten the place up.
* There’s a little safe in every room to put your valuables, which is handy to put passports, jewelry and such (like I have any expensive jewelry to put in there!).
* There’s a little fridge and coffee maker in every room. Just be aware, the down side is you pay for anything you use out of the fridge. Soft drinks and booze are NOT on the free list!
* There are several different restaurants and buffets that are on the free list with all kinds of different foods, and if you want something fancier, there are several with an additional cover charge.
* Handicap accessible. I’ve seen several people in wheelchairs.
* Friendly and helpful workers. It’s just some times they get totally swamped, so they don’t have a lot of time to spend on individuals.
* If you’re traveling with kids, they have babysitters for $5 an hour.
* Lots of window seats, which are nice for lounging in and watch the shoreline go by without braving the very cold elements (it is, after all, September in ALASKA!). Lots of deck chairs, and they do provide blankets since it’s been rather cold with a wicked wind.

There are lots of things to do, I just don’t happen to be that excited about most of them. I was positively thrilled today when we walked through the woods to get from one place to another during our tour! Give me the woods over shops, casinos and theaters any day!

But if you happen to like these things, here’s some of the stuff available:

* Pool with a big water slide and hot tubs
* Also - bowling alley, tennis, shuffleboard, ping pong and a rock climbing wall.
* Library (we did get a book from there)
* Card room, for people to play whatever kind of card games they enjoy.
* Casino
* Several shops on board, mostly jewelry, clothes & tourist stuff.
* Lectures – a lot on buying jewelry and what to look for, some on the cities we visited.
* Live bands playing at various times in various parts of the ship. These are enjoyable and really quite good.
* Bingo!
* Spas and beauty shops (not free)
* Fitness Center (parts of that not free either)
* Nightly entertainment of some sort – they’ve had a comedy team, The Second City, similar to Saturday Night Live; a magician; “Sea Legs – A Showgirl revue”; a talent show; and more.

There are many things to do. It’s all a matter of if they are things you like to do, and if your companion likes to do any of them.

To me, the ports of call are definitely the best part, with the exception of cruising through Glacier Bay. That was totally incredible. But I’m sure a lot of people would enjoy the activities available on the cruise ship.

Just one thing to keep in mind… do NOT think that once you’ve paid for your cruise, you won’t spend any more money. Your fare pays for your room and most food, but you’ll be amazed how many times you whip out that key card to charge something to your account!

Like everything else in life, a cruise is of various levels of enjoyment to people depending on what they like to do. If you don’t care that much for what’s available, you’re stuck on the ocean with a whole crowd of people. If you like the available activities, you’ll have a great time.

And it really, really helps if you don’t get seasick.