First time dream of a cruise

Being older and having trouble lifting suitcases, we decided on a first time cruise. Regal Princess was less than 1 year old and the preview pictures attracted us to this boat, besides the recommendation of our booking agent, John Spain of United.com. Our expectations were surpassed with what was offered. Everything is clean and sparkling, very well organized and functional. Food is superb whether you eat in the various restaurants with waiters attending your table and people in more formal clothing or eat in the Bistro or Buffet-style setting. Great variety of food is offered for everyone's taste and of different countries, you just have to watch your eyes dishing up more than you can eat. There is plenty of daily entertainment on board that you can select from the daily Princess Patter delivered to your room box the night before. Many excursions and activities are offered when docking in a Port for extra payment. Book them at the time when you book the cruise as they sell out fast. Our extra excursions on land in open buses where in Princess Cays, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. You will get a better understanding of the islands when you attend these narrated tours. The best guided tour was in Ft. Lauderdale after embarkation, when the bus picked us up along with the luggage sorted by airlines, and drove us to see the important structures and neighborhoods. Included in this tour was a boat cruise through the expensive neighborhoods located in the prior Everglade areas that were copied and constructed like Venice. You see so many big mansions of famous people and movie stars with their yachts parked in front. It makes quite an impression of Ft. Lauderdale that you otherwise would not have. To finish it off, you go back on the bus and they drop you off at the Airport Terminal with your luggage. This saved a big headache for us due to the heavy luggage. We had to wait a couple of hours to check the luggage with the airline, then we enjoyed a late lunch in the Terminal before boarding our plane home. We had a lot of fun, took several hundreds of pictures and will share this enjoyment with our family and friends. We are probably taking another tour in another part of the world soon. Another important part I want to mention is that we paid with accumulated United Mileage points, only the excursions, gratuities and other extras and purchases were paid with cash or credit card. What a wonderful life experience.