Cruises: Your dream vacation...On Water!

Cruises always sound so luxurious to me. Think about it, sailing around on a large fancy boat with a swimming pool and fancy dinners, and the tans from lounging around- what sounds better than that?!
If you're tired of the airplane, train and car scene, maybe it's time for a cruise!

I'm going to be basing my research off of the fabulous Royal Caribbean Cruise line for this post.

First off, browse around cruise lines websites. They will tell you all the destinations available, so you can decide on where you want to go.
Royal Caribbean goes to:
Alaska
Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, Nha Trang)
Australia/New Zealand
Bahamas
Bermuda
Canada/New England
Caribbean
Dubai/Emirates
Europe (Great Britain/Ireland, The Mediterranean, Scandinavia)
Hawaii
Mexico
Pacific Northwest (San Fransisco, British Columbia)
Panama Canal
South America (Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Chile)
Transatlantic (Canary Islands, Ireland, France, Portugal)

Once you choose one of the tours, you can decide if the activities on board (and on shore) are right for you.
Royal Caribbean Cruises feature On Board Activities such as:
Ice Skating
Rock Wall
Surf Simulator
Formal Dinners
Teen-Only Clubs
Mini Golf
Bingo Nights
Karaoke
Theme Nights
Parties
Spa Services
Scuba Diving
Running Track
Basketball (Half-Court)
Baseball (Half-Court)
Bars, Lounges and Night Clubs
Casinos
And the list goes on.

Once you've decided if you like that or not, check out other things that would be important on the cruise. For example, most cruises you must have Casual, Smart Casual, and Formal dinner clothing.
Check out this chart I copied from the Royal Caribbean Website, and the definitions of these outfits:

Dinner attire...Meals in the main dining room follow this schedule:
Cruise Length Casual Smart Casual Formal
3-night 2 0 1
4-night 3 0 1
5-night 3 1 1
6-night 3 1 2
7-night 4 1 2
8-night 4 2 2
9-night 5 2 2
10-night 6 2 2
11-night 7 2 2
12-night 6 3 3
13-night 9 2 2
14-night 8 3 3
15-night + Remaining 3 3

Casual: Sport shirts and slacks for men, sundresses or pants for women
Smart Casual: Jackets and ties for men, dresses or pantsuits for women
Formal: Suits and ties or tuxedos for men, cocktail dresses for women

Finally, look at the prices. I won't give an example price for these because I would just be doing the price of one person, not a few. If you choose to book, doing so online is available, as well as over the phone and in person at specific travel agencies.

If you are interested in any of the cruises mentioned above go to the website http://www.royalcaribbean.com/

Happy Travels!