Your first cruise ship

[Copper10-8]

Our first was a 14 day Alaskan Explorer on the Amsterdam in 2012. It came as near to perfect an experience as we have ever had. Saying we were "hooked" doesn't really convey the depth of the obsession we now have for cruising!

 

 

Holland America Line's Amsterdam, one of two co-flagships

[gigianne]

Our first cruise was from Helsinki, Finland on the Constantine Siminoff - a 400 passenger "cruise" ship that was built in Poland. After that experience it's a wonder that we still wanted to cruise.

[Copper10-8]

Our first cruise was from Helsinki, Finland on the Constantine Siminoff - a 400 passenger "cruise" ship that was built in Poland. After that experience it's a wonder that we still wanted to cruise.

 

 

Konstantin Simonov; built in 1982 as Konstantin Simonov, a

Dmitriy Shostakovich-class ferry/passenger/cruise ship by Stocznia Szczecinska Porta Holding S.A./Szczecin Shipyard at Szczecin, Poland. She was put in service on a regular Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) Riga (Latvia) Helsinki (Finland) service and operated for the Soviet Baltic Shipping Company and, after the fall of the Soviet Union, for the Baltic Line. In 1996, she became 'Francesca' for Cyprus-based Pakartin Shipping Co, Ltd. but was laid up until 2001. From 2001 until 2010 she sailed as 'The Iris' for Israel-based Mano Cruises.

 

In 2010 she was purchased by Finland's Katarina Cruises who renamed her 'Kristina Katarina'. Since early 2014 she has been sailing as expedition ship 'Ocean Endeavour' for Adventure Canada.

[gigianne]

Thanks Copper - I didn't make your research any easier by misspelling the name of the ship.

[Copper10-8]

Thanks Copper - I didn't make your research any easier by misspelling the name of the ship.

Not a problem Ma'am, although it did have me stumped for a while ;)

[Copper10-8]

Explorer of the Seas! Still love her (:

 

 

RCI's Explorer of the Seas

[Copper10-8]

Our first cruise was on the Mississippi Queen in August 1992 to celebrate our 10th anniversary. It cruised from New Orleans to Natchez and back. We didn't realize that the lower Mississippi River is mostly Levees so we couldn't see anything. Also at night our veranda was overwhelmed with mosquitos. Returning to New Orleans we stopped at Baton Rouge and were bused to the airport to catch the last flight out before Hurricane Andrew hit. The cruise was wonderful. No phones. No newspapers. Lots of wonderful table mates.

 

We took our second cruise as a cruise tour to Alaska to celebrate our 15th anniversary in 1997. We boarded the Veendam at Vancouver and sailed to Skagway where we began our tour through White Horse, Fairbanks, Denali, to Anchorage. This one hooked us on cruising and we now have 156 cruise days on HAL. LOVE IT

 

 

Mississippi Queen; delivered in 1976 by Jeffboat Manufacturing, in Jeffersonville, Indiana as paddle wheel driven river steamboat Mississippi Queen to the Delta Queen Steamboat Company for river cruising.

 

In 2006 Majestic America Line became the new operator however, in 2008 that company went belly-up and Mississippi Queen was laid up in New Orleans, La. In May 2009 she was sold for scrap and two years later towed to Morgan City, La where she was broken up in 2011

[Copper10-8]

Empress of France. June 3 1953. Liverpool to Montreal. Lots of "woops daisies"

 

 

Canadian Pacific Steamship Company's Empress of France; delivered in 1928 to CPSC as 'Duchess of Bedford' after having been built at John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. She traded on the England (Liverpool) to Canada (Halifax/Montreal) trans-Atlantic route. During World War II, she was operated as a troopship and saw duty in Asia, North Africa and Europe. In October 1947, after a refit, she was renamed 'Empress of France' and started working the Liverpool to Montreal route exclussively. She ended her service for CP in 1960, was sold for scrap, and broken up at Newport, Wales later that year

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise for me and my wife was aboard the Carnival Conquest, 7 Dec 2008, which was out of Galveston, Texas. Some friends persuaded us to go, and I was critical at first. But, I liked the service, and best of all there was no movment from hotel to hotel, it was all there. I was hooked, and have been on 6 cruises since. My job, was a problem, butnow that I am retired, I am ready to go. Did 1 on Royal Caribbean, 5 Carnival. Trying out Holland America Oosterday out of San Diego on 2 December 2017 for Hawaii.

 

 

Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Conquest

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was a transatlantic from Cherburg to NY on the Q E I. This was the second to the last transatlantic crossing prior to her final run to Hong Kong. I was returning to the

USA from a job in France and Switzerland (banking) and was out of money. My bank sprung for a second class cabin. I had a fantastic time.

 

But being the jerk that I am, from 1968 I did not sail on another cruise until 2000 when I took a 10 Mexican Riviera cruise on the Statendam. I have been making up for lost time at the rate of 3 or 4 cruises per year since then.

 

 

Cunard Line's RMS Queen Elizabeth; delivered during World War II in 1940 to Cunard Line as RMS (Royal Mail Ship) 'Queen Elizabeth' after having been built at John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland.She had been launched in September 1938 in a ceremony led by HRH Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. During WWII she was converted into a troop transport including the installing of anti-aircraft guns, and saw duty in Asia, North Africa and Europe. After the war she was refitted as an ocean liner and began Cunard White Star's two ship weekly trans-Atlantic service to New York. Queen Elizabeth was retired by Cunard in 1969 and replaced by QE2.

 

In 1970 she was purchased at an auction by Chinese shipping tycoon C.Y. Tung who brought her to Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong to be converted to a floating school under the new name 'Seawise University.' On the morning of Sunday, January, 9, 1972, while at anchor, a series of fires, later suspected to be arson, broke out aboard the ship. Local fire boats tried to extinguish the fire for the next 24 hours but they could not prevent QE from capsizing. She remained in Victoria Harbor for nearly two years before she was partially dismantled as scrap between 1974 and 1975 with 40-50% of her remains covered over on a Hong Kong harbor seabed.

[DocJohnB]

 

My first civilian cruise was on =X='s Zenith in 1993. Actually ran into her last fall in either Colon, Panama or Cartagena, Columbia (CRS syndrome).

 

My first cruise ever (well actually sea experience) was on the USNS Upshur in 1961 from Brooklyn to Guantanamo Bay.

Edited August 24, 2016 by DocJohnB

[Himself]

Your knowledge of ships is amazing.

[Copper10-8]

My first civilian cruise was on =X='s Zenith in 1993. Actually ran into her last fall in either Colon, Panama or Cartagena, Columbia (CRS syndrome).

 

My first cruise ever (well actually sea experience) was on the USNS Upshur in 1961 from Brooklyn to Guantanamo Bay.

 

Thanks for serving Doc! :)

 

 

USNS Upshur (T-AP-198); she was laid down in 1949 at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, NJ as President Hayes, a passenger-cargo ship for American President Lines. The Korean War however, intervened and she was delivered to the U.S. Navy as USNS Upshur, a Barrett Class troop and dependent transport, named in honor of Major General William P. Upshur, USMC, in which role she served from 1952 until 1973. One of her special missions involved the emergency evacuation of military families from Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis.

 

From 1973 until 1995 she was renamed 'State of Maine' and assigned to the Maine Maritime Academy as a merchant marine training ship. In 1995 she was transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard and relocated to Mobile, Ala as a platform for testing maritime firefighting technology. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina broke the former USNS Upshur free of her moorings and settled her 500 feet across the Mobile River on the bank of a coal terminal. In 2008 she suffered further damage when Hurricane Ike hit the area, and the vessel bottomed out and sat at a ten‐degree list. She was removed from Little Sand Island between May 2010 and July 2011 and eventually scrapped at Brownsville, Tx.

 

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise ship was the old Noordam in 2002. Of course, at the time, we just called it the Noordam :D

 

Mom and I went with a very small group and when the TA putting it together found out it was my first trip, she put us in a "secret" cabin, the location of which I can't begin to tell you. It was a large square cabin, partially obstructed view, with tons of space.

 

The trip was to the Baltic - what a way to start cruising! To this day I remember one dinner I had, a hash brown potato encrusted piece of salmon. Unbelievable, and I've been looking for it on the HAL menu, in vain, ever since.

 

 

Holland America Line's Noordam III; delivered to HAL in 1984 after having been built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France. She was one of the two ships of the "N"-class, the other being her olders sister Nieuw Amsterdam III. Her maiden voyage under the command of Captain Hans 'Eul' Eulderink took her from Le Havre, France to Tampa, Fl. Prior to this voyage, she was named in Le Havre by Mrs. van der Vorm-van der Wall Bake, daughter of former HAL president and CEO Nico van der Wall. She started of sailing cruises to Alaska in the summer season and to the Mexican Riviera in the winter season. She eventually founder her way to the Caribbean for seasonal cruising

 

Noordam III was a very popular ship for the guests of Holland America Line and had a large following. She made her final cruise for HAL from Barcelona, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal where she arrived on 12 November 2004. She then sailed to Falmouth, England, where she received a five-month refit and repainting at the A&P Shipyard. On 30 November 2004, Noordam III, as 'Thomson Celebration', was placed on a long-term bareboat charter to British travel operator Thomson Holidays, managed by their subsidiary Thomson Cruises.

 

Currently, Thomson Celebration sails mostly on low-price cruises around Europe, ranging from Norway to Greece, Turkey and Croatia. She has also operated 7-day Red Sea cruises from Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt with a port call at Aqaba, Jordan. Thomson Celebration remains the property of HAL Antillen N.V. and their subsidiary, Holland America Line.

[Copper10-8]

Our first cruise was in 2005 on the Zuiderdam, the ship that we shall be cruising the western Caribbean next week. I had resisted cruising and was talked into it by our cruising friends. My wife and I loved it the moment we boarded. It felt like that music they played when they were boarding the Titianic in the recent movie.

 

And HA is our preferred line.;)

 

 

Holland America Line's Zuiderdam

Edited August 25, 2016 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

SS Arcadia- I was 19 and so jazzed that I could drink beer :)

 

 

P&O's Arcadia; delivered in 1952 to P&O (Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company) as 'Arcadia', after having been built at John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. Her maiden voyage took her all the way from Tilbury, England to Fremantle, Australia. She would soon start sailing cruises interspersed with duty as an ocean liner until full-time cruising only in 1970. She turned out to be a one-company vessel serving her entire career with P&O until scrapped in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in April 1979.

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was a very long time ago on P&O's Himalaya to Rabaul, Suva and Noumea. I was single then and went with girlfriends (although now DH was on the scene). I found a pic of the ship the other day and how cruise ships have changed - no balconies and a lot of inside cabins.

 

My next voyage was from Sydney to Rotterdam with DH who is Dutch by birth and that was on the ss Australis, then owned by Chandris Lines. It was quite an old ship and day after day it belched black smoke from its funnels and was hardly ever on time. That wasn't a cruise, strictly speaking, but we did see a lot of places along the way, including passing through the Panama Canal. The Australis passed through a number of owners, but now it lies almost submerged near the Canary Islands since 1994 when it ran aground being towed to HK, I believe.

 

Our first cruise in recent times was to Alaska on the Zaandam in 2007 and we were hooked. We will be embarking on our fifth HAL cruise in April to the Mediterranean. Not many cruises by some standards, but most of our cruises have been a long way from home and they become something major.

 

Ozcruizer

 

 

P&O's ss Himalaya; Delivered in 1948 to P&O (Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company) as 'Himalaya' after having been built at Vickers-Armstrongs Limited, Barrow-in-Furness, England. She operated mostly on the long Tilbury, England to Sydney, Australia route via Gibraltar, Marseilles, Naples, Port Said, Aden, Bombay, Colombo, Singapore, Fremantle, Adelaide and Melbourne.Her last voyage for P&O Lines was in 1974 after she was sold for scrap to Taiwanese interests. 1975 founder her at Kaoshiung, Taiwan where she was broken up

Edited August 25, 2016 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was on the SS Stephan Batory in 1978, from Montreal to England (I forget where we landed). It was old world classic cruising and I loved every minute of it. Dinners were a very formal affair, with ice sculptures and dressing up. Yes, I was hooked but it took me many, many years before setting foot on a cruise ship again. Now, we are totally hooked and a year is not complete without a cruise...with many more to come in the future!

 

 

Polski Linje Oceaniczne / Polish Ocean Line Stefan Batory; Delivered in 1952 to Holland America Line as 'Maasdam' (IV) after having been built at N.V. Maatschappij Wilton Feijenoord, Schiedam, the Netherlands. She was placed on the trans-Atlantic route to NYC including a stop at Montreal. Maasdam was sold in 1968 to Poland's Polski Linje Oceaniczne who renamed her 'Stefan Batory' (named after Polish King Stefan Batory) for cruising in the Med and trans-Atlantic service from Gdynia/Gdansk to Montreal and a return ride via Southampton, England. She sailed for the Poles until 1988

 

After periods of lay-up (Vlissingen, Piraeus, and Chalkis), sales that fell through, and use as accommodation ship 'Stefan' in Gothenburg, Sweden (1989), she wound up under the ownership of Regency Cruises in 1993 (but never sailed for them). Regency Cruises went belly-up in 1995 and 'Stefan' was laid up once again. In 1999 she was sold for scrap to Turkish interests and broken up at Aliaga, Turkey in 2000.

[scapel]

 

My first civilian cruise was on =X='s Zenith in 1993. Actually ran into her last fall in either Colon, Panama or Cartagena, Columbia (CRS syndrome).

 

My first cruise ever (well actually sea experience) was on the USNS Upshur in 1961 from Brooklyn to Guantanamo Bay.

 

 

 

Doc John

Like your beliefs and attitude. Thanks

Dr.Joe

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise (actually a crossing) was on the original Queen Mary from Southampton to NYC in 1958 (June). Did not sail again until 1970 when we flew to Bermuda (on old Eastern Airlines!) went aboard the P&O "Orsova" for a cruise from there to San Francisco - part of a regular P & O route from Southampton to Sydney.

It has been non-stop since then. Over 60 cruises to date and still going.

Went to Long Beach to tour the Old Queen M, but my old cabin (D121) had long since been gutted....!

 

 

Cunard Line's Queen Mary; delivered in 1936 to Cunard-White Star Line as RMS (Royal Mail Ship) 'Queen Mary', after having been built at John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. During WWII she was converted into a troop transport. After the War she returned to trans-Atlantic duty (Southampton-Cherbourg-NYC) side-by-side with her sister Queen Elizabeth. Cunard retired her in 1967 and sold her to the city of Long Beach in southern California, located just south, and across from, the port of Los Angeles (San Pedro).

 

In October 1967. she sailed from Southampton around Cape Horn to her final destination in So Cal where, since May 1971, she can be found, permanently moored as a tourist attraction, hotel, museum, and event facility.

Edited August 27, 2016 by Copper10-8

[trseattle]

Very nice info on the Noordam - however you stated the name Van Der Wall when in fact it was Van Der VORM. Nico Van Der Vorm was the Chairman of HAL, and he was the one who was approached by CCL Chairman Ted Arison about selling the company (The Van Der Vorm kids were grown with careers of their own, and had no interest in the cruise industry, and he needed to sell as he was ready to retire). As we all know, he did sell to Carnival, in 1989. Mr. Van Der Vorm was a real patron of the arts, and this is why the art and antiques were so prominently displayed onboard. The Noordam was certainly no exception - as was her sister the Nieuw Amsterdam (it cost a small fortune to outfit these ships, by the way!). It's nice that this tradition continues, but with the new CCL-era ships, more than half of what you see is reproduction/fake, whereas on the "N" ships everything was 100% genuine, museum quality art and antiques!

 

 

Holland America Line's Noordam III; delivered to HAL in 1984 after having been built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France. She was one of the two ships of the "N"-class, the other being her olders sister Nieuw Amsterdam III. Her maiden voyage under the command of Captain Hans 'Eul' Eulderink took her from Le Havre, France to Tampa, Fl. Prior to this voyage, she was named in Le Havre by Mrs. van der Vorm-van der Wall Bake, daughter of former HAL president and CEO Nico van der Wall. She started of sailing cruises to Alaska in the summer season and to the Mexican Riviera in the winter season. She eventually founder her way to the Caribbean for seasonal cruising

 

Noordam III was a very popular ship for the guests of Holland America Line and had a large following. She made her final cruise for HAL from Barcelona, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal where she arrived on 12 November 2004. She then sailed to Falmouth, England, where she received a five-month refit and repainting at the A&P Shipyard. On 30 November 2004, Noordam III, as 'Thomson Celebration', was placed on a long-term bareboat charter to British travel operator Thomson Holidays, managed by their subsidiary Thomson Cruises.

 

Currently, Thomson Celebration sails mostly on low-price cruises around Europe, ranging from Norway to Greece, Turkey and Croatia. She has also operated 7-day Red Sea cruises from Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt with a port call at Aqaba, Jordan. Thomson Celebration remains the property of HAL Antillen N.V. and their subsidiary, Holland America Line.

[Snooksi]

My first cruise was on NCL's MS Seaward way back in July, 1992. We took our honeymoon cruise from Miami to NCL's private island to Jamaica to Grand Cayman and to Cozumel. We loved it, but then had kids and all of our vacations were via a mini-van.

 

However, when I cruised the second time on the Disney Dream, then I was really hooked. Just wish I would win the lottery and my youngest wasn't still in high school, so I could cruise a lot more often and times other than Christmas, Spring Break and Summer.

[Copper10-8]

Very nice info on the Noordam - however you stated the name Van Der Wall when in fact it was Van Der VORM. Nico Van Der Vorm was the Chairman of HAL, and he was the one who was approached by CCL Chairman Ted Arison about selling the company (The Van Der Vorm kids were grown with careers of their own, and had no interest in the cruise industry, and he needed to sell as he was ready to retire). As we all know, he did sell to Carnival, in 1989. Mr. Van Der Vorm was a real patron of the arts, and this is why the art and antiques were so prominently displayed onboard. The Noordam was certainly no exception - as was her sister the Nieuw Amsterdam (it cost a small fortune to outfit these ships, by the way!). It's nice that this tradition continues, but with the new CCL-era ships, more than half of what you see is reproduction/fake, whereas on the "N" ships everything was 100% genuine, museum quality art and antiques!

 

You are correct of course, I got my "van der's/van den's" mixed up, and thanks for bringing it to my attention and also for the background on HAL's former chairman! Let's see if I got this right ;) Meneer Nico van der Vorm became HAL's chairman on January 1, 1967 and left when A. Kirk Lanterman took over in January 1989. Nico's daughter, Beatrice (Beatrix?) van der Vorm-van den Wall-Bake, was Noordam III's godmother, while Mr. Nico's wife, Clara van der Vorm, was Westerdam II's (the former Homeric) godmother. Mevrouw Clara also named Wind Spirit, then a part of HAL, in 1988

 

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was on NCL's MS Seaward way back in July, 1992. We took our honeymoon cruise from Miami to NCL's private island to Jamaica to Grand Cayman and to Cozumel. We loved it, but then had kids and all of our vacations were via a mini-van.

 

However, when I cruised the second time on the Disney Dream, then I was really hooked. Just wish I would win the lottery and my youngest wasn't still in high school, so I could cruise a lot more often and times other than Christmas, Spring Break and Summer.

 

 

NCL's Seaward; delivered to Norwegian Cruise Line in 1988 as 'Seaward' after having been built at the Wärtsilä Meriteollisuus yard, Turku, Finland. She was christened in New York City by Norwegian Marathon champion and Olympic medalist Grete Waitz. Upon her arrival at Miami, Fl, she began operating weekly Caribbean cruises to the Bahamas, Jamaica, Grand Cayman Island, and Cozumel, Mexico. NCL renamed her 'Norwegian Sea' in 1997 and continued sailing her until 2005 when she received an internal transfer to Malaysia-based Star Cruises, part parent of NCL, who renamed her 'SuperStar Libra' and sailed her from various and numerous home ports in Asia. Since November 2015, she is short cruises from Haikou, PRC to Halong Bay, and to Hue and Danang, Vietnam

Edited August 29, 2016 by Copper10-8

[Snooksi]

Copper, that is so cool and I love the picture you found. I still have the stock photo that came with the scrapbook we bought way back when, but I haven't seen any other good photos of her since she was in her glory. Wow, that picture brought back memories. I'm shocked that she is still sailing, all these years later.

 

This thread is so much fun and I've enjoyed reading about all of the older ships!! Thank you for taking the time to do a bit of research!

Edited August 29, 2016 by Snooksi