TK,
Come over and do some reading on
Club Sea Ray - Club Sea Ray, it is much like Pelican. Most of my experience is with bow riders and ski boats but Sea Ray and Regal both build fine boats. I have had my Sea Ray for 7 years now and not had one single mechanical or other issue with it other than normal maintenance. The other great thing about it talking to other boaters is mine still looks like new--it is garage kept, but my vinyl is still like new, gel coat has 0 blemishes, everything was built with higher quality materials than some of the budget boats. The other week a Chaparral owner was showing me spider cracks on his 2008, he paid over $100k for it and it had less than 25 hours on it.
The main thing is what is your local dealer network like, having a cruiser you are going to have a relationship with them and you want something convenient for you. I will admit there is nothing better than spending the day at the lake after a hard week of work. Bayliners are not bad, they just are not the greatest boat and built to a price point, much like Cobalt is built to a much higher price point. You should definitely sea trial different boats you are interested in to see how different brands handle--make sure to pick a normal day too, don't go out when it is dead calm you won't learn as much. Enjoy the hunt as it is a buyers market.