Us oldtimers (DW & I, both mid 50's) favored Celebrity in the 90's (think Zenith), then for a time Holland America (Ryndam) and the past few years were complacent on Carnival. But our two RCL cruises in 2010 were both what we are looking for now in the cruise experience, in so many respects, that I will just declare RCL is our favorite cruise line.

We sailed the Navigator of the Seas in early December from Ft. Lauderdale. The 2 days immediately preceding our cruise set record low temperatures in South Florida and had a Twilight Zone effect on me, a native South Floridian, waking up twice to ice on my windshield. Yikes! That cold snap gave us another first: an actually Not-Hot, 4-day Western Caribbean voyage, if only to Cozumel and back.

What? Cozumel, always a friendly and fun port with plenty to do for everyone, in the low 70's? I'll take it! Read more