This was my first cruise ever & I was travelling alone as a single woman. So, even though I had done lots of research & had read many reviews both on CruiseCritic.com & other websites, I didn't really know what my experience would be like compared to all the information out there.

I booked 2 days pre-cruise in Venice, our port of embarkation & 2 days post-cruise in our disembarkation port, Lisbon. All hotel & flight arrangements were booked using Royal Caribbean's packages and I used a local travel agency to make my travel reservations.

Travel to Venice went pretty smoothly...didn't realize that Custom Air arrangements were available so one could use their airline of choice until after my flight arrangements had been made. Neither my travel agent nor Royal Caribbean mentioned this option during my numerous calls & e-mails to them both throughout the reservation process. I had 2 different airlines that were used...Delta flying to Venice & British Airways flying home from Lisbon. Would have preferred to accumulate all my miles with one carrier's frequent mileage program. Read more