In 2005 my wife, kids and I reluctantly went on our first cruise…the inside passage of Alaska. We were reticent since my wife’s favorite cousin, husband and girls *love* cruising and have been all over the world doing so — at this point over 20 cruises have been experienced by them — but we’re not keen on being captive when we travel nor doing anything with huge throngs of people (especially dining with people clamoring for the free food). These family members were pretty certain that if they could convince us to do one cruise and we had a great time, we’d be ongoing cruise buddies and be on all sorts of adventures with them.

They know ships; cruise lines; have connected with many other cruisers; and have this whole network of contacts from cruising that ensure they get the best accomodations, the newest ships, the best crews, the atypical entertainment offered on specific cruises and more.

How did they get so adept?

Just going on these cruises they learned, but the real empowerment and knowledge acceleration came from hanging out at Cruise Critic and being fully immersed in this affinity network.

Five million visitors strong, Cruise Critic is a critically acclaimed interactive community comprised of avid and first-time cruisers who enjoy the fun of planning, researching and sharing their passion for cruising. No other single resource covers the world of cruising as thoroughly as CruiseCritic.com. Cruise Critic’s world-renowned editorial staff offers objective cruise reviews, features, ports of call profiles and destination stories. The Cruise Critic message boards are the most active in the world.

So how did Cruise Critic become such a cruising magnet for those with an affinity for cruising?

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