I haven't done as many cruises as some, but I've been cruising for a long time, starting with the SS Raffaello. We've cruised HAL, Carnival and RCL but keep coming back to NCL because of its friendly and service-oriented crews.

Our cruise was a back-to-back in early January to the Western Caribbean. We've been to most of these ports and rarely get off the ship. This trip was a little different as we were joined in Week 1 by our mid-twenties daughter and her boyfriend.

We flew into Tampa a day early and stayed at the Holiday Inn Rocky Point. The hotel is a clean, no-frills property that provides transportation between the airport, hotel and port, as needed. Getting to the pier was very efficient and we boarded the hotel van right on schedule. Coming back, the port to airport leg was more of a mixed bag. The kids waited over 45 minutes for the van; a week later, we waited less than five. Read more