My husband and I are planning our 1st cruise in January. We're in our mid forties without kids. We enjoy fishing, exercise, fine dining, cooking, crafts, comedy, most music, theater. We don't want to be around a lot of kids or have to dress up all of the time. Can anyone recommnend a good cruise line? Oceania has a good deal going, but I'd consider any line. We'll be going for a balcony suite room. Thanks for any and all advice. Any suggestions on cruise lines to avoid would be good also.

Sounds like Oceania would be just the ticket. No formal dress code or formal seating times, lots of port time, pretty good food, good service. There are similar lines (Crystal et al) but not at Oceania's price point.

The entertainment offerings are so-so, mainly because of the relatively small size of the ships. No room for giant productions or the requisite staff.

Tilly527: for your same reasons we booked our first cruise on Oceania in Jan. (Miami2LA) since we couldn't find another line with the same specs. I hope you get a good response to your post; but you might also want to try "cruise critic dot com" select the cruise line and review the messages for the ships (Regatta). I think the Jan'07 cruises are still 2 for 1 in price.

My wife and I are retired, 50s, and just booked a Mediterranean Cruise on the Oceania Insignia for just the reasons you outlined. Few kids, no formal dress code, great food (so I've heard)and affordable luxury. We like to travel to popular places "off season" because we don't like crowds.

We sailed Oceania in Mar/Apr '05 from Miami to Lisbon with stops in the Azores, Madeira and Cadiz and got the 2 for 1 deal with free air fare, which seems to be standard with them.

The ship is nicely appointed and furnished but the food and dining room service left a lot to be desired. Cold food, waiting 20 mins for toast, etc.

Getting the passengers off the ship at ports was a fiasco - they tried a couple of different methods of having pax go to different areas of the ship depending on the excursion they were taking but nothing went smoothly. It was a lot of hurry up and wait.

These problems may have been ironed out by now. I would say that we received good value for the price we paid, though.

I think the intinerary and date of sailing determines the number of kids you will see. We have never had any problem and we have used several different carriers, however we avoid the Carribbean and did Alaska before school was out. We also find that they all seem to offer "alternative" dining, which means that you can eat in the "cafeteria line" restaurant pretty much any time you want and not have to follow the given dress code for the evening. The food is nearly always the same as served in the main dining room and if weather is cooperative you can dine under the stars which is very nice. That said, I wouldn't get too worried about the dress code thing. There are many sporty casual outfits that will pass muster, a comfortable pair of black slacks and a black top and sandals and you are good to go. Men will need a dark suit and tie for formal nights, but other than that a white golf shirt, casual slacks and even a cardigan will pass muster.

Based upon what you are looking for the Insignia should be just the thing. We just returned from her repositioning cruise from Barbados to France and are looking at booking another one next year.

Dining rooms are open from 6:30 to 8:30 show up and ask for a table for two or with somebody else, your choice.

Dress is "country club" casual, which means most nights I wore a sport coat with open collar. A couple of nights I just wore slacks and dress shirt, never a tie. I did see a few people in suits and ties, but not many.

The two RSVP places are the Polo Grill and Toscina. Menu is always the same where the dinning room changes.

Depending on how booked the ship is you will have to make reservations a day or two in advance for the Polo or Toscina.

We have done 16 cruises and the food on the Insignia was the best. It was like the old days back in the 1970's when we first started sailing.

The staff is excellent and the ship is awsome. As mentioned the place she is maybe lacking would be the after dinner shows. They do a fair job, but these are small ships with limited space to put on Vegas style shows.

Regent (formerly Radisson) is also a terrific cruise line. Some of their cruises are country-club casual throughout (e.g., Alaska and Tahiti on the Paul Gauguin). We especially love the large cabins and open seating for meals. Two of their ships are all balcony, all suite and only carry 700 passengers. We have a terrific cruise agent, who does discount their cruises. Their pricing is not that different that Oceania if you consider comparable cabins and the fact the Regent is practically all inclusive. We've been on Radisson/Regent in Tahiti, Alaska, Australia/New Zealand, and are planning on the Far East in 2007. Feel free to contact me at [email protected].

2nd the Regent (Radisson) just rturned from Tahiti with them and will probably do Alaksa next on them. Great ship and no waiting in lines. ALso you might want to look into the Windsurf. It is a sailing ship (300 passengers) (not much sailing however) small, elegant, no dress up, like yaughting. We sailed with them last year LIsbon to Malaga with a few stops in between.

We did 2 cruises before trying Oceania (to Med, and then Panama Canal). Now my husband won't try anything else, so we just booked on another one....we both love it. Nice size ship (not too many people), great food, active itineraries, nice cruisers (although at mid-40's you'll be a bit younger than most). Enjoy - you'll love it!