I've cruised before but my husband hasn't so we decided to get his feet wet on the Eclipse. All in all it was a terrific experience. Although it turns out cruising may not be his favorite travel pastime, that was no fault of Celebrity, and I'll definitely be back with other relatives and friends.

A note on us: We may not be the typical cruisers, or at least the typical Cruise Critic members. We aren't interested in eating in fancy restaurants or drinking fancy cocktails. We don't like gambling or high-end shopping. We like to sit and look at the water, read and nap. So our likes and dislikes onboard have to be filtered through those lenses. What you like and don't like in a cruise may be entirely different.

We're Floridians so we drove to Miami Beach and spent the night with a friend; she dropped us off at the ship shortly after 11 a.m. There was no wait at all; we simply checked in with a very nice agent and walked right onto the ship. My husband was intrigued with the idea of the buffet (and put off, I have to admit, by the spectre of being charged extra for this and that), so we passed up Bistro on 5 for lunch and headed for the Oceanview Cafe. With a plate of good Indian food for each of us and a nice table outdoors, we were happy there until we went to our room around 1. Read more