My friend and I chose Celebrity because my travel agent said it was the only large-ship cruise line she would recommend. It was my eighth cruise, my 4th on a large ship, but the only one for which I can give a decent rating. I had switched to Windstar for last 3 cruises and before that, took a barge cruise with only 7 other guests through French wine country. I had sworn off large ships until I tried Celebrity.

I was looking for something more affordable this time as I was traveling not with my husband, but with my close friend. We are two middle-aged women and the only thing I would do differently next time is lie and tell folks onboard that we are sisters. Once or twice the waitstaff mistook us for a couple, and other guests gave us chilly receptions sometimes until I casually mentioned my husband back home. Yes, I'm sorry to report that homophobia does exist on cruise ships, as we experienced some firsthand even though my friend and I are happily heterosexual. I think folks would have been friendlier to us if they thought we were sisters.

Our ports were St. Croix, Martinique, Dominica, St. Kitts, and St. Thomas. Best excursions were in St. Croix (beach day at The Palms resort) and St. Thomas (beach day at state park). The worst one was on Martinique and involved "seeing" turtles through foggy glass, below deck in very cramped space, in the middle of a harbor, with a captain who did not know how to handle the boat well enough for us to get more than a fleeting glimpse. Save your $100 per person, folks, and wait til you get to St. Thomas. Go to the state park and let Kareem, your host, fill you with rum punch and set you free with a mask and snorkel. We hung out with three friendly turtles, several fish, and discovered a crab living inside a large conch shell. Doesn't get any better than that. Read more