Background  We booked our cruise over a year in advance by utilizing Royal Caribbean International (RCI) certificate. (This provides for a discount on a future cruise; ship credit; and only a $100 deposit.) We asked our friends, Bill and Marsha to join us. Unbeknown to us at the time, they would be celebrating their 40th Wedding Anniversary at the end of the cruise. (How can I possible be old enough to have friends married this long??)

Later in the year, a good family friend, named Annie mentioned she loves to travel, but has a difficult time finding people to go with. We gave her our itinerary for upcoming vacations and welcomed her to join us on any of them. She jumped at the chance to go on the Med Cruise. We just made RCI Diamond Tier level on our last cruise. (Thanks mostly to some dear friends who are RCI cruise-aholics.) They told us about Cruise Critic,Roll Call, and Meet and Mingle. I must say, that this added to our experience. We got some great tips (See below); interesting information from previous cruisers; and got to interface with lots of fellow cruisers prior to the trip.

Tips: Tom's Port Guide. This guy has gathered tons of information about most of the port stops on this cruise (and others.) You'll find maps, train schedules, walking guides, and references to other useful sites. http://www.tomsportguides.com/portguides Read more