First time Cruise - Advise?

We went on our first cruise a couple of years ago on Carnival and had a blast only problem is it didn't last long enough! Left from Miami, cruised to Key West and took a tour of the Keys cruised on to Cozumel, Mexico. We could have gotten off the ship and went into town but didn't want to go thru the hassel of the customs lines getting off and on the ship. We just hung out around the pool and enjoyed mass consumables (alcoholic beverages). I'm not sure about other cruise lines but Carnival takes ocean water and "filters" it into and I use the term loosly "drinking water" It tastes terrible! and they make the tea, coffee, and orange juice out of it.
The sodas cost almost as much as the booze so my wife and I opted for the booze. The food is included in the price of the cruise and you can eat as much or as often as you want, and the food is good. All in all we had a blast the only drawback was the water...but who needs it when you have booze. Go and have a great time and ENJOY!!!!