http://www.cruisecritic.com/
We were able to research information about different cruise lines, different ships, and various itineraries and ports before finally picking the best one for us and booking it.Once we picked the Celebrity Millennium, we then spent a lot of time in this forum learning more about the ship; http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=28
Based on comments/observations in the Celebrity forum we singled out a cabin that had a larger deck than others in the same class; http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=267209&highlight=8045 In this picture our cabin is the one at the top (with the angled deck) just left of center. We understand that if ask our room attendant he/she will get a lounge chair for us to put on the deck (it wouldn't fit on the smaller decks).
To learn more about the ports we were going to be visiting we used this forum; http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=234
Once we booked the cruise we then set a 'Roll Call' for our specific cruise so we could get to know in advance people we would be sailing with; http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=334171
Another great resource is; http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g187870-Venice_Veneto-Hotels.html This was invaluable in finding hotels in Venice, Rome (one night) and Barcelona.
Steve
