How did you catch the "cruising bug"

It seems that many of those who have cruised more than once have been "bitten" by the bug!

We have done some land based vacations here and there since our first cruise, but I never feel like I've been on vacation until I have my cruise! I'm known at work as "the cruise lady", and people ask when and where we're cruising next:D.

Our first 3 night cruise did it for us! It was for our 10th wedding anniversary. DH had a friend who suggested a TA who suggested the cruise. After that we said we wanted to try a 7 night cruise, so we figured out child care with grandparents and took off! Those were the days of inside cabins ( those will be coming back more as we inch into retirement), and traditional dining. When our oldest was in college, she "supervised" the other 3 kids over spring break, and we made cruising a pretty regular thing. We took our 4 kids a few times, and they all loved it. Looking forward to# 20 and 21 next year. Anyone else care to share their story? What's your cruising style? Most memorable or favorite cruise?

After spending many years living out of 1 suitcase per person for at least 3 weeks at a time, flying there and here, trains, buses, cars, I got sick of it and talked DH into going on a cruise. He loved the idea that we unpacked and didn't have to worry about where we would eat.

Our first cruise was a back-to-back cruise -- 14 days out of San Juan.

Since that first cruise we have done over 140 cruises and seen so many wonderful places. Sadly health issues have slowed us down.

Back in 2001 my bride of 30 years made the comment that she would like to see the ocean so we made plans to spend a week in Florida. Then her father had health problems and was in and out of the hospital for nearly a year. The vacation was put on hold. He passed away the next spring. That fall I found a 5 night cruise on Carnival out of Galveston and booked it for the DW's birthday. To make a long story short, we have number 16 booked for November 28th.

Guess what? Her birthday is the 30th.:D

My first marriage was not a great one. It produced two great kids but my ex didn't spend much leisure time with us. After the big "D", I stayed single for many years but I met the perfect guy for me. He loves to travel and he loves cruises. Maybe even more than I do. When we met, he had been on one before but I hadn't. He convinced me to go and the rest is history in the making. The one we are going on in a few days will be his tenth and my ninth...our first balcony. I can't wait!

Our 1st cruise hooked us.....it wasn't long enough, so we decided to do more!!! The 1st couple cruises were a study in elegance....unfortunately, that has changed in recent years.....

As a kid I used to love those old "Motor Boat" rides at Disneyland...:D

No seriously, my parents started us off very young and I've done the same with my children and now grandchildren.

I was fortunate to go on several cruises as a child growing up in the early 80's.

Fast forward to 2004, my parents invited my husband and I on a cruise with them (my DH"s first) and we were both bitten, bad! We love being on the ocean, visiting multiple places in a single trip and being able to be as active or relaxed as we want. Since that first one together we have been on 16 more with number 17 on the books!

In late 2011, I said to my DW that our 25th anniversary was coming up next summer, and I suggested that we celebrate by taking a cruise. She thought that was a great idea.

I suggested Bermuda since at that point in time who wanted to fly. She said no, and suggested Alaska. (We have since cruised to both.) Meanwhile, I had sent away to a no longer in business travel agency I had seen advertised that had Bermuda in its title. When I got their list of cruises, one was from Barcelona to Barcelona including Rome, Florence, and Nice. Since DW is an art teacher, I knew she would find that very interesting.

I called various agencies, and got price quotes, and we took that cruise, though we actually took it the week after out anniversary. And we were hooked.

To answer the second question--what was our best cruise--it was a Baltic cruise for our 30th anniversary. On that one we were actually onboard during our anniversary.

Our Daughter bought us a cruise for an anniversary. We were ambivalent and I thought it could be boring. It was an RCL cruise out of Miami. Year 2000. This November will be our 14th:)

My husband and I went on our first cruise last January, 4 nights on Carnival Ecstacy. We had such a great time that about a week after returning, we booked a 7 day cruise for November on Carnival Splendor. However the wait was too long so in April the same year, we booked a last minute Royal Caribbean 4 night cruise and drove down to Port Canaveral from Virginia. We were still waiting for our November cruise so we booked this year's cruise last October. Once the November cruise FINALLY came, we had an amazing time and decided to make this year's cruise a back to back. 57 more days to go!!! We are already looking at ideas for next year. Planning a land vacation is just so unappealing now lol!

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My first cruise was on the SS Bahama Star in '61 when I was sweet 16 on our HS Senior Class trip.

Loved it! Said I was going to marry someone who would take me on LOTS of cruises. Happily, I did! :D

LuLu

Love these stories! We love the ocean too :). Our oldest son proposed to his wife on a cruise. It was just before Christmas and the ship was already decorated. He asked one of their dining companions to snap a picture when he got on one knee in front of the Christmas tree. It was wonderful to be able to see that since we were not there at the time. Surprisingly his wife doesn't like to cruise :confused:

My first cruise was when I was a toddler so I don't remember it. The first one I recall was when I was a ten. It was a three day cruise to Nassau and I was hooked. A few more cruises before I married and then a number of years passed before cruising again. Since I retired, I have been on four cruises and have three more booked (one next week). All of my cruises have been wonderful but my 2014 World Voyage was especially amazing (love being on a ship for four months).

In 1998 we won a cruise on RCI, including airfare, from Frommers guidebooks. It was from San Juan PR and was only 4 nights but we were hooked. I loved just unpacking once, visiting a different port each day, and having free entertainment each night to choose from.

We had stayed, at our expense, two post-cruise nights so our flight home was at the end of spring break. Lots of overbooked flights. We were voluntarily bumped three times so came home with $1500 worth of airfare vouchers each. We used them to fly to ports for more cruises. :) We have now visited six continents, thanks to cruising.

We had decided that 4 days was definitely too short for a cruise. Even 7 days was too short. So, now that we are retired, we book longer cruises, especially b2b. We love sea days so next April will be our seventh transatlantic.

My first cruise was at the age of 12 and I loved it.

When we were married I tried to convince my wife that we should do a cruise early on.

It took us close to 15 years before we took our first cruise together and with our children but once we did there was no turning back and we have cruised more and more with each succeeding year.

It's the best way we know how to travel.

Keith

The cruising bug hit me pre-cruise from watching The Love Boat. After my first cruise on the Rotterdam in 1980, I was definitely hooked.

In 1958 we had a neighbor who suggested the cruise for 4 couples. A 10 day Caribbean cruise on one of the old Cunard ocean liners just converted to cruising. It was our 15th wedding anniversary and all 8 of us had a great time.

Our next cruise was not until 1982 when my husband was working in Saudi Arabia and he had finished his term and we decided to take 6 weeks and explore Greece. We ended the 6 weeks with a week long cruise in the Med on a Greek cruise ship.

Then we retired to Florida and did a few short cruises out of local ports. I guess that was when the bug bit us. After that, we cruised and toured the world for the next 25 years. Now health issues prohibit far away cruises, so local ports are all we can handle.

I still wish we could do more land based trips but since that isn't possible, we will continue to cruise. Now it is mostly Caribbean with the ship as our destination.

I sailed on the Princess Marguerite as a kid between Seattle and Victoria in addition to a variety of Washington State ferries. I always liked being on these boats even it if was only for a vary short crossing of Puget Sound.

Many years later a video (remember videos?) showed up in the mail from Disney at our house describing their new cruise line. Well, the family watched the video and everyone thought it looked like a good idea. We booked and the rest is history.

I got hooked on traveling on a ship years ago when I was a kid and we'd go visit my grandparents in Italy every other summer. We always went by ship. The "cruise" part of it is secondary, for me it's just the thrill of traveling on a ship.

How did we get hooked on cruising? Took the first one! That's all it took! :D

Our first cruise was planned by the person who planned the High School Reunion for my wife's class.

The idea was to do something different besides dinner and dancing at the local Country Club.

My Wife jumped on the idea then had to jump on me because at that time I was not interested in being "locked up" on a ship.

The cruise was 7 day out of San Pedro down the coast of Mexico. My wife booked a Suite because she wanted to impress me as much as she could.

It worked. We are now looking at number 17 for the first of Summer next year.

Bob

In 1991, there was a solar eclipse that passed across Hawaii and Mexico. I wanted to see that, so I started looking into hotels. My husband said that if we were going to see it, he'd like to go on a cruise and see it that way. I checked, and the Carnival Jubilee was going to be right spang in the middle of the eclipse path. I booked us on it. I'd never thought about going on a cruise and really couldn't have cared less about doing that. I just wanted to see the eclipse. We saw the eclipse and loved cruising!

The cruising bug hit me pre-cruise from watching The Love Boat. After my first cruise on the Rotterdam in 1980, I was definitely hooked.

That's so funny... DH and I used to watch Love Boat all the time when we were dating , and now I wonder if that contributed to our "susceptibility" to the cruise bug!:)

I was 10 yrs old when my mother started packing cocktail dresses in her old heavy luggage with her initials on it....she and my dad had been given an anniversary cruise by my grandparents to bermuda out of nyc....the oldest of 6,I really wanted to go too!.....mom hated getting dressed up and primping...my grandfather brought my brother and me to the bon voyage sailaway at the Cunard docks in manhattan....the band,streamers,the works....it was awesome.....we were even allowed to stroll the ship and check out the fancy cabins.....the horn blaring,the bustling people was all so exciting......promised I would do it one day and we did 35 yrs after they did....while cruising is not my first choice there are times when it is the right choice for the right price and itinerary.....a great way to spend time with extended family...😊

I had an aunt and uncle who loved cruising. It wasn't until we retired that my husband and I followed in their footsteps and took our first cruise in 2014. He said to me, "We should try to really enjoy ourselves because this might be our only cruise." WRONG! By the second day we were hooked and found that we especially enjoyed the sea day (a four day cruise). This year we did an 8 day and have another of the same length booked in April. One cruise a year is really not enough, but it's way better than no cruises!