The idea of cruising had always appealed to me. Well, to be honest, the idea of unlimited free food and a chance to see a quick snap shot of a foreign place probably appealed more than the idea of formal wear and games of "shuffle board".
I had sent for a few cruise brochures from all the major lines and quickly whittled them down to a short list of 3: P&O, Royal Caribbean and Princess. In fact P&O were pretty much off the list as soon as I read a review about the formal evenings - I believe the line that stuck in my head was something like "formal wear wasn't just limited to the restaurants, so if we fancied sticking around after dinner we were going to have to sit there trussed up like guests at wedding just to get a Gin and Tonic". So that was them straight off the lists. I don't like being told what to wear and from the day I left school no-one has ever tried, so it sure wasn't going to start while I was on holiday.
Royal Caribbean seemed good. The brochures spoke of these massive ships with everything you could imagine. It sounded great. But the prices simply weren't very keen and the itineraries, although nice, were a tad predictable. Also I couldn't shake the feeling that their ships were perhaps a bit too showy and well, a bit brash. And probably would attract the kind of people that are equally so.