The last few years, my vacations have consisted of going to All-Inclusive Resorts instead of cruising. It had been over 15 years since I've been on a cruise. As I had some vacation days I needed to use before the end of the year (Use them or lose them scenario) I decided to mix things up and do another cruise this time instead of going to a resort. Deciding on doing a cruise instead of going to a resort may not have been the best choice. Oh well, live and learn I guess.

As I only had a couple of vacation days available, to squeeze a week's vacation out of it, I decided to book the cruise during the week of Thanksgiving, from November 20th until the 26th, as I already had Thursday and Friday off, which allowed me to do a week-long vacation.

I am from Salt Lake City, Utah. The problem with living so far away from a cruise terminal is that I would basically be paying for TWO vacations; the cruise, PLUS the air fare to and from. Cruiselines (and some resorts as well) expect there to be TWO people going when you book. As I was traveling solo, things got expensive in a hurry. Basically I was paying for TWO PEOPLE even though I was the only one going! This is outrageous, but..... that's the way it works, unfortunately. Read more