[awildermode]

NCL - 3-4 stars.

"free style cruising" basically means you eat when you want. no reserved dinner time and table. most other cruise lines will give you an assigned time/table for dinner at the main dinning area.

ships/activities are geared towards younger demographic. average age 25-30

Celebrity - 5 stars. one of the better cruise lines out there. more 'mature' cruisers, average of 30-50. their new ships (Equinox Class) are AWESOME! they have a glass blowing demo station on the ship with the people from Corning Glass Company

Royal Carribean - 4 stars. parent company of Celebrity. like NCL, this is a younger crowd. most ships go to Carribean, obviously. there are tons of activities on these ships, including: ice skating, rock climbing, bowling, gold simulator, wave simulator. their new ships (Oasis Class) are the biggest of the seas and include a zip line above deck, and out door water theater.

Holland America - 5 stars. must older crowd, 45-70. this is the most 'relaxing' of the bunch. not as much to do on the ship as the NCL or Royal.

i have only been on cruises with these four companies. I hear the Princess (3 stars) is not so good. Carnival (3 Stars) is also not that great.

as for places to go, it depends on a lot of things. Price, destination, duration.

Price- rule of thumb, anything that is about $100 a day is a good deal. you can usually find some company/ship that has what/where you want for that price. sometimes you get what you pay for but the companies i have mentioned, $100 a day is about average.

Destination- last year around aug/sept, i went to the Mediterranean (Italy, Turkey, Israel, Egypt) i think the Carribean is in season as well.

Duration - you can find cruises that last for 3-180+ days. 7-10 days is average. i think anything less than 6-7 days is a waste, i generally go for 10-14 days.

actually looking for a cruise for my vacation.

hope that info helps. have fun!