Best if you repost this question on the "Cruise Forum" - use the "Change Forum" link at the top of this page. Also go to Cruisecritic.com - it's a very active forum that will tell you everything you could ever want to know about cruising.

Cruisecritic is a good place to find information from many experienced cruisers. Though the typical style of travel there isn't necessarily family oriented.

If I had to pick one cruise, it would be a 7 night out of San Diego that sails to Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, and Ixtapa. December is a great month to sail this route, the seas and weather are reliably nice.

If that's out. I'd probably pick a Carribean route, about the same 7 nights, same time of year (hurricane season is June 1 to November 1), starting out of Florida or a gulf port. There are a ton of choices, so you have to check out the itineraries to see which one interests you most.

I also need advice on this topic.

The best time to go depends on the itinerary.

I would not care for a cruise to the Med or Europe in Jan/Feb when days are short and weather cold. At the same time, I wouldn't like it in July when it is hot walking around some place like Pompeii. Spring, all of Fall - fine.

The Caribbean is great in winter: Feb & Mar. I'd be more cautious about fall because of storms.

I don't like any cruise where the things you want to see are pretty far inland or so big that you don't have time to properly see anything. Example is Rome - far from port and better visited by land with several days rather than from a ship.

Cruises which have port times that are too short to enjoy the port are also not good. All day stops are great. 3/4 hours hardly give you enough time to get off and return to the ship.

An easy web site to see and study a lot of cruise possibilites is vacationstogo. Look first at their 90 day sticker. Then fill in the form to get more results.

Cruise critic is great, but there are a dozen or so people on Fodors who are super knowledgeable about cruising, so ask them.