I still remember my first cruise as the best one. Not because it was a super-duper ship with a glass elevator rising three stories above a grand atrium or because it had a skating rink or climbing wall. It had none of those things--there was not even a TV in the cabin. We got the news from a teletype machine outside the pursers office!! Bells and dignified announcements let us know when it was time for a meal or a show. And no....it wasn't too awfully long ago. Cruising, like everything else, has developed rapidly in recent years. What that ship (Cunard) had and what all cruises still have is that sense of adventure you get when you sail the world's oceans -- the limitless span of stars at night, the peaceful sunsets, the feeling of being in the world and yet apart in a truly special way. Do I sound like a cruise junkie or what? Hope your first cruise is equally special and that you'll join the gang of cruise addicts out here.