I have been on several cruises, including a Southampton to Southampton Transatlantic 26 night voyage to the Caribbean. My all time favourite though for scenery and beautiful friendly People was to Cruise the Norwegian Fiords and visit the Land of the Midnight Sun.
Not every port is a nice place to be, some are industrial gateways to a large Country and Safaga on the Red Sea Cruise was like being berthed at the side of a working Cement factory, with the noise and Dust to go with it. Many destinations are miles away from the Port and require an organised tour to make the most of the tourist attractions, and to keep in touch with the ship should any delays happen such as heavy traffic preventing arrival back in time for the departure. The Ship is often dependent on the state of the tides and cannot wait for any latecomers to board before it has to set sail. However, it does keep in contact with the tour guides, and can inform and update them regarding local conditions and ensure that the party returns to the ship on time.
Size wise, we always preferred a Small to Medium sized ship, and tried to choose a upper deck midship cabin. One cruise we joined developed a problem with its onboard Sewerage plant, resulting in the lower cabin toilets overflowing, and becoming unusable. The upper decks were fine, gravity kept them working well, but not much fun for those on lower decks who had to use the upper deck bar toilets until the problem could be fixed.
The larger the ship, the longer the hike to get from one destination to the other, and the longer the ques of people waiting to be served and seated at the restaurants and food service areas. If you book a cabin at the front of the ship where the Showlounge may be situated, and the main Dining room is at the very rear, you can have a very long walk before and after your meal to attend the nightly show, or return to your cabin, especially when you are tired from a days exploring on land, or have swollen feet from the hot weather.
Communal Dining is often a bit of a love hate scenario, if dinning on a shared table with strangers is not your thing, then a more formal cruise may not be for you. We once had the misfortune to be seated on a table with 3 other couples where one of the men was openly abusive and racist towards a couple with a Strong Accent confirming that they were not from England, but a different part of the U.K. it was a very embarrassing and uncomfortable experience indeed, and l felt very sorry for the victims on the receiving end of this mans rudeness to a point that we asked to be moved to a Table for two, of which are very few onboard, but luckily they found us one in another area of the restaurant.
If there is any other questions you may have regards cruises, then l will be happy to try and help whilst l can.