Do your homework before booking a cruise

Taking a cruise can be an easy vacation. You pick a ship, an itinerary, pay and go. But as cruise lines offer an increasingly long list of amenities and accouterments, some at an extra charge, and target specific audiences, you need to do some homework to land a cruise that meets your wants and offers the best bang for the buck.

Here are 10 mistakes a savvy cruiser can avoid:

- Ignoring the sun when booking a cabin. If you've booked a cabin with a balcony and want to enjoy sitting in the sunshine, you will want to know where Old Sol is going to be. If you are taking a voyage north-south, one side of the ship gets morning sun, the other the afternoon sun. If you are crossing the North Atlantic in fall or spring, the sun will rise and set on the south side of the ship, so if you want sun from early morning to late afternoon, book a cabin facing south, choosing the port (left) side going east to west and the starboard (right) side west to east. If you prefer shadows, book the opposite side.

- Expecting fresh fish at dinner. Unless you see sailors trolling off the stern for today's catch, you can assume that most ships were provisioned at the home port. After a couple of days, you can expect that most perishable food...
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