THE best cruise I have been on was on the Royal Caribbeans' Brilliance of the Seas and it was a 12 day cruise out of Barcelona, Spain to the Mediterranean. The port stops included Nice (including Villefranche, Monaco and Monte Carlo); Florence/Pisa, Italy; Rome, Italy; Naples, Italy; Athens, Greece,and the Greek Isles of Santorini and Mykonos. And then also Ephesus, Turkey. This cruise had a lot of history and must see sights, like the Vatican and the Colosseum in Rome, Pompeii near Naples, the Leaning Tower in Pisa, the biblical city in Ephesus and the Acropolis in Athens. It has spectacular scenery in the Greek isles and other places.

The Brilliance of the Seas is my favorite ship of all of the more than 15 cruises I have been on. It is pretty new and has the latest conveniences and amenities, like the new pillow top beds. I like best the layout of the ship and the fact that the casual dining area has provision for eating outside on the back of the ship. Many of the new ships don't have this feature. RC has 4 ships with these identical feature and I have also been on one other of them, the Jewel of the Seas

We went to the Med at the beginning of October and the weather was just perfect. I even sat out on the balcony at night and it was pleasant.

If something does happen, it all depends on how you handle it, just relax and roll with any punches. But don't expect it to happen either.

ready for a vacation that we never experience

Semi formal when you have dinner with the captain at dinner.
You could wear a tie if you like, with or without a jacket.
If you want to attend the dinner that is.
You do not have to attend this dinner, but won't get the works like you would there.
Other wise just casual dress is just fine.

In my experience as a long time cruiser, the best aspect of cruise travel is the all-inclusive nature of it. You pay one price for everything, except drinks and tips, and then you don't have to worry about anything else. You just sit back and let the ship's crew serve you. Also, when you do the math, even a fairly expensive cruise is cheaper than a regular vacation if you figure in transportation, hotels, food, etc. In other words, when trying to convince your folks to go on a cruise, emphasize the value for your money. You get a lot of vacation for relatively little cash.

If they're still skeptical, suggest taking a short three day cruise as your first experience. There are great little three day Bahamas cruises from Miami or Port Canaveral on various cruise lines. The per person price can be as little as $199 depending on the time of year.

Good luck!

Southeast Aalska (most folks refer to it as the Inside Passage) is a very different and unique part of Alaska, and with your plans to go into Alaska's interior; you are paring with a great opportunity.

The Alaska trips tend to be geared more for the older crowd, once the younger set sees all that Alaska is, and they realize their cell phones really do work in the North, well things work themselves out. The cruise demographics are changing, and visitor profiles are changing with them.

Holland America is geared more toward the traditional cruising client. Princes is another good choice for cruising up North.

The difference is really in the size of the ship and number of passengers. Holland sails with three class of ships with passenger loads equating to: 1200, 1400, and 1800 for the largest ship. Princess steps up to 2800 passengers.

Each gives you a very high quality product.

For the Interior, especially Denali, make sure you look at going to the deepest part of the park, Kantishna. It is the end of the park road, offering great views of the mountain (weather permitting), and of course critters!

I am including the web site for my company which offers all of the above. We also offer a very inclusive program; meals, attractions, and much more. We also host travel seminars innearly all parts of the United States, and offer a free DVD for the asking showing what, and how we do things.

As an Alaska travel proffessional, I can assure you, you are headed in the right direction. Feel free to call our "800" number, and they will forward my personal cell number should you have any specific questions. We also provide references on request from previous travellers.

Thanks for thinking of Alaska!

Camai!

and it was cheaper per day then Disney

if you sign up online they will give you a "personal vacation planner" never book on-line use the planner

http://www.carnival.com

it is the best wat to go, I tryed to fined a better price outside them and it is not there.

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