I agree, Christine, Sterling is my number one choice, too.

For those thinking of sailing on the Sterling:

I was on the Sterling Feb. 17th. Usually, if I'm with a date, I'll pull into a Burger King, first, to order a value meal to take on board, but in this case... I decided to do the buffet (which isn't much more than cold cuts, rolls and huge amounts of cold vegetables). Don't attempt to head straight for the buffet after boarding; line is a mile long. Besides, they serve all day.

Anyway, after seeing freshly ripped iceberg and other varieties of lettus, I decided to build a salad along with adding sliced tomatos and everything else in sight. Then I topped it off with ranch dressing; grabbed a few napkins.... and started looking for a fork. None to be had. Nowhere! They don't have plastic forks. Believe me, all the charm in the world would not have producesd a fork. Not to mention what the response was when I asked the hostess "how do I eat my salad without a fork?"

Yep, you guessed it: all that rabbit food was for the cold cut sandwiches not for a salad (as I was told).

Still a very nice ship, though. Fork or no fork.

JB