I wasn't even sure I wanted to take a cruise. I'm an introvert who needs a lot of "alone time" to recharge my batteries, so the thought of being on a big ship with 3,000 other people didn't sound very appealing. Plus, I'm single and would be traveling alone. I figured that I'd feel odd being a solo traveler on a cruise. But when I got an e-mail from a software company that publishes genealogy software that I have used, describing their annual genealogy conference on board the Star Princess' last cruise to Alaska for the 2012 season, I had to sign up. Given the opportunity to see Alaska, try out cruising, and learn some valuable tips to help my genealogy research, I couldn't say no.

I flew from Houston to Seattle the day before the cruise embarked, and arrived to glorious blue skies and mid-70s temperature. I had booked a night at the Hilton Doubletree as part of the cruise package, so I hopped on the complimentary shuttle and was at the hotel by mid-afternoon. The genealogy group had a registration table and Q&A session planned for early evening so, unfortunately, I didn't have time to go into Seattle to see the sights.

The hotel was very attractive and the room was spacious and comfortable. I ate an early dinner at the bar and had a great conversation with the bartender and a Southwest Airlines flight attendant who sat down next to me. It was a fun way to spend the hour or so I had to kill before the Q&A session started. Read more