I have to admit that the first time I considered taking a cruise, I was apprehensive.  I am not a person that is a big fan of being in a crowd.  I imagined a cruise ship as a place where several thousand people are crowded together for seven days, with no potential for escape.  I am glad to say that I tried it anyway and found that a lot of my preconceived notions were wrong.  The idea for this post came from discussions I had with friends, describing my experience with cruising.