Your bag will go in the fwd closet. Only one Captain has wanted his bag there. Usually the Capt has a computer/food/ancillary bag. Putting yours int he closet gives him the extra half a bag room they want up front.

The 737 VNAV works fine. It allows speed to get off by 10 knots before calling the throttles into play and like the 757 can have pitch variations as it looks for what holds speed on a gusty day in a climb. The only time I see it unable to do what you ask is if you tell it to slow down from a fast (300 KT+) descent to 280 or 250 and just like the 757, you will be high when it finishes its calculations; or if the atmospheric pressure is very low and the transition level throws it a curve you did not tell it to anticipate.

Again, the speed is no big deal. The airplane does not have near the power the 757/767 has, so it takes larger power inputs a longer period of time to get the job done, which probably accentuates the "difference" between the types.

You will learn to love Altitude Intervene. Use Altitude and Speed intervene in the climb (or MCP in the climb) to make changes to the VNAV. Use the FMC in the descent to make changes. Reason being is that you want to get higher ASAP and want to delay descent as much as you can. I try to always use this method since this is the way they teach it, but in truth the airplane is clean enough that FLT LVL CH works about as good but using VNAV will help keep you out of trouble.

You'll sure miss being able to select abeam waypoints, RTE2, and entry of winds at different flight levels. You'll also be bumping your head, shoulder and knees. The flight deck on a CRJ is spacious in comparison.

Brakes in the 737 are useless compared to the 757/767. Half as effective. You'll learn to use autobrakes 3 and Max. About the same as 1/2 and 3 on the bigger Boeings. Also the speeds are a little higher and power a lot less. On takeoff you will be seeing the same ends of the runway you saw on a CRJ20, but without the brakes. The brakes work fine, just takes more effort to stop than the 757.

Unlike the 757, if the box says 39,000 is the max altitude, then probably 370 is about all you want. The airplane struggles a little. The 700 is more like what you are used to. MMO is lower, so when you are trying to beat the curfew at Santa Ana and dispatched at CI of 400, you will have a nerve racking ride to the West Coast on redline and while I have not seen it bust, the guys I fly with say it will and of course ACARS/DFDR sends the limitation bust immediately so the Company/FAA knows as quickly as you do.

The 737 is no where near the plane the 757 is and was a lot cheaper to build. But, you have hydraulic flight controls (not as effective as the bigger Boeings bust WORLDS better than the 88), the systems are reliable and the airplane is nicely coordinated. The 737 is a good airplane to make a living on. It does what you want it to do without a great deal of effort. VERY safe VERY easy VERY reliable VERY efficient. Everything its competition was not.

I'm not "scared" of the MD88. I am convinced the FAA should not have certified it. The airplane getting older and people ignoring its problems does not help either.