Definitely do your research to make the best choice for you. Cruise lines vary widely. Some are more of a party, casual atmosphere with a younger crowd. Others are more elegant, and cater to an older or more subdued crowd. You will have more fun on a cruise that meets your needs.

Even though the cruises may sound the same, for instance a Carribean cruise or an Alaskan cruise, they can differ quite a bit. They may not all leave from the same city. They may stop in different ports. Even if they stop in the same ports, one ship may stay at that port for 12 hours while another is only going to be there for 6 hours. Again, do your research.

Prices vary a lot!! Shop around to find a good deal, don't just assume that if you go to your local travel agency that you will pay the going price.

I went on a 4 day cruise recently and while I never tell what I paid for our cruise to other passengers, they were quick to offer up that info to me. Some of them paid double what I had paid! Of course I booked late, only about a month out. The best deals are usually had when it's getting close to sailing time and they need to fill up the ship.

It's usually cheaper to book your own airfare rather than have the cruise line do it for you. It's easier to have them make the arrangements, so it's a matter of what you're comfortable with. You have no choice of flights if you allow the cruise line to book it, they just book you a flight and tell you what time it leaves.

It's also usually cheaper to book your own excursions than to purchase the ones offered on the ship. Again, it's a matter of your comfort zone. The cruise line will tell you that if you are booked through them and something happens to make you late back to the ship, they will wait for you. If you are on a private tour and you don't make it back in time, they will not wait. Tour companies are not in business to make you miss your ship, so they will do their best to make sure you're back. I have never had a problem with booking my own tours. If you don't make any arrangements prior to arriving in a port, you can just get off the ship and chances are there will be tour operators on the dock waiting to take you on an excursion. Just allow yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship and you should be fine.

I have never had a cabin with a balcony--(but will next week when we leave for Alaska!!). I have had inside rooms and outside rooms with a window. While the outside with windows are nice to be able to look outside, I will take an inside any day if the prices are quite a bit less. You typically don't spend that much time in your room gazing out the window anyway. There is too much to do on the ship to spend it in your room. The exception to this, I think, is Alaska. I have cruised there twice in an inside room because the price has been so much less. This time we decided to splurge and go for a mini suite with a balcony. The scenery is so beautiful here and you are almost always in view of land that I think a balcony is worth the money if you can afford it. On our last Alaskan cruises we spent the majority of our time on deck with binoculars every day. I'm looking forward to having our own balcony to be able to enjoy the scenery.

I think Cruise Critic is one of the best places to find cruise information. There are lots of knowledgeable people there who have answered many questions for me over the years.