My wife and I chose this cruise for my 50th birthday. This was my ninth cruise and her 11th - all in six years. We've cruised Celebrity, Royal, Carnival and Norwegian and loved them all. The best vacation we have ever taken was on the Freedom of the Seas in 2013. Consequently, we had high expectations for this trip. Many of them were met but I'm starting to think the class of ship you sail does indeed make a big difference.

Ultimately, we had a fantastic experience but Enchantment is showing her age and for whatever reason, there seemed to be a lot of smoking areas on board which was very different than on any of the other ships we've sailed.

Cruising during hurricane season is definitely cheaper (worth it) but if you think the ship is going to be empty given the season and the fact that kids are back in school, think again. I learned this firsthand. Read more