Good input in these posts! We've cruised a fair amount (kinda late getting into it but are making up for lost time) and the advice from the more veteran cruisers was much appreciated.
A couple of quick points...cruise lines (and certain cruises) become known for various things that you may or may not especially enjoy. For instance we enjoy cruises that have few or no young children, so we don't cruise with Disney. Carnival rightly or wrongly has the reputation of offering cruises on the cheap to twenty- and thirty-somethings (i.e. "booze cruises"), with the accompanying party atmosphere and noisy atmosphere, so if that isn't your cup of tea it is something that you might also want to consider. In fairness both of these points are hearsay so if you consider either of these two cruise lines you'd probably want to talk to someone who has cruised with them.
Along those lines you might want to avoid the four- and five-day cruises. As another poster has already mentioned, the first and last day of any cruise is very much hassle and very little cruising: you leave port at 5:00 PM or so the first day, and arrive at dawn the last day. Also these short cruises are usually on older (and smaller) ships with service and amenities not up to the quality of the larger ships that have the longer cruises, and are favored by the "party" crowd.
I agree with others who state that an eight- or nine-day cruise is about right to get a good feel for cruising. RCCL offers a nine-day cruise to the "ABC" (Aruba-Bonaire-Curacao) islands of the coast of Venezuela, with a couple of other stops along the way that was a fun, relaxing cruise. I don't know if they still offer it or not, but you might want to check it out.
Enjoy!
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