Your first cruise ship

[Hlitner]

Fun thread. My first cruise was on the NCL Sunward II in 1977. That ship had previously been the Cunard Adventuer and she is still cruising as the Louis Rhea for Louis Cruise Lines. The Sunward II was a big 14,100 tons which was considered a normal size ship in those days.

 

Hank

[CrusinElf]

Fun thread indeed. My first cruise was March of 1986. The ship was the Rhapsody and the line was Paquet. We sailed from FLL and made stops in Nassau, San Juan and St. Thomas. A 7 night cruise. My expression in every picture we took on that cruise says one thing - "Cruising, where have you been all my life?" Yep, hooked from the very first. The Rhapsody was a small ship by today's standards, but I don't know the tonnage or number of pax. One perk I recall is that they offered unlimited complimentary wine with dinner. When Paquet went out of business shortly after that, our group of 3 couples wondered if all the free wine we consumed on that cruise helped put the company under. :p

 

Elf

[retafcruiser]

I have no idea the ship's name because it was 50 years ago - an inside passage Alaska cruise. I believe it was a Canadian Pacific ship.

[Suevr]

My first cruise was on the Ryndam in the Med for 7 days last month!

[ROBERTEVANOVER]

The Flavia in 1974!

[alwaysfrantic]

In 1989, the brand new to Princess, Sky Princess. It had been a Sitmar ship, and they were still giving out cards, pens, shirts with the Sitmar logo.

Edited October 15, 2013 by alwaysfrantic

[runnergirl71]

My first overall I was in 6th grade so...1983 I think? We were on the Emerald Seas - not sure which company it was with at the time. It was our spring break trip as we'd moved three years before and were still in a rented house so our parents wanted to do something special. They had a kids sail free, so it worked nicely. We went to Nassau where we stayed docked overnight (pretty sure we stayed docked...I know we had 2 days in Nassau) - first day we did the buggy tour and straw market; second day we went to Paradise Island where I got royally sunburned. We sailed to Freeport, where we got off briefly but quickly got back on the ship as we weren't into casinos and that kind of thing. We enjoyed the vacation, but cruising wasn't really anything I considered again once I was on my own.

 

Until recently.

 

30 years later (this summer), we were back on a ship - the Disney Dream! We were celebrating my parents' 45th anniversary as well as my and my sister's birthdays. Loved every minute, and I rebooked a trip for myself in February.

 

Yeah...now I'm hooked!

[scapel]

In 1975 we were suppose to take a cruise to the Med but a war between broke out and the ‘Stella Oceanus” cancelled the trip. They moved the ship to the Eastern Coast of South America so we went. We had an inside cabin and I can remember we hung our key on a hook in the hall by our cabin number and the steward knew we were not in so he would clean.

The Stella Oceanus was owned by Sun Line cruises that was owned by the Marriott Corp at the time. It just so happened that we met an Investment Banker from Cleveland that said he was a personal friend of JW Marriott. He had been sent a bouquet of flowers and the card did say regards from JW Marriott (not sure if it was Junior or not).

On this cruise the Investment Banker trips over a vacuum cleaner cord when the ship did a slight roll and fell breaking his right humerus “upper arm”. This was only about a 6800 GRT ship, Not much medical help aboard but they did have an x-ray machine and I put a hanging arm cast on him. This could have been satisfactory treatment except he could not raise his wrist meaning his radial nerve was trapped and he would need immediate surgery.

Well we are at sea off the coast of South America and we got into port and he was sent back to the states. Well he missed the rest of the cruise so he blamed the vacuum cleaner cord and asked Sun Line to refund him the balance of the cruise that he was not able to finish. He did not have trip insurance. So, sue your friend Mr. Marriott, maybe. I had a lawyer from Cleveland fly down to Louisiana and was in my office for a statement. I often wonder what ever happened to that situation. That was back in the days when I didn't charge lawyers anything for just talking to them.

[Desotodeals]

In 1960 when I was one we sailed from San Francisco to Japan. As the ship sailed away, I took my first few steps under the Golden Gate Bridge. For the next few weeks the photographer followed me around and filled a whole bulletin board with photos of my new walking skills. When we arrived in Japan, my father told me that I fell flat on my face since the land didn't move under my feet!

[travelsuz]

3 years ago we sailed with 4 of our kids on the Disney Wonder. It was to the Mexican Riviera out of LA. I was hooked. My hubby even enjoyed himself. I think not having to pull his wallet out all the time helped him really relax :) My kids obviously loved it. I love cruising!

[m*u*g*]

SS Norway, May 26, 1990

 

 

 

Formerly SS France

Explosion

 

Leaving Miami

 

Scrapped

Edited November 21, 2013 by m*u*g*

[zackiedawg]

Carnival Mardi Gras, 1982...

 

One of my earliest posts on Cruise Critic, now in the archives, about that first cruise:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/archive/index.php/t-89318.html

 

In the post, I called it 1983, and thought I needed to correct it to 1983, but since discovered it was indeed 1982!

Edited November 21, 2013 by zackiedawg

[Smokeyham]

Copper, 10-8,

 

Thanks so much for starting this incredible, and much loved, thread! Great to hear these memories of ships-gone-by, and to learn more about their histories.

 

My first cruise was above the lovely HAL Rotterdam V. It was July 4, 1993 when we boarded for a southbound Alaskan cruise. She was a classic ship, launched in 1958. She now is serving as a floating hotel in the city of Rotterdam, and I would love to go back and stay in my old cabin. I remember the cabin had an old-style fan in it, and lovely woodwork.

 

Rotterdam V

 

There was a singles group on board, and I went along somewhat reluctantly, but it turned out to be a great decision. It was a really fun group of people, and we would end up dancing in the Sky Lounge till the wee hours of the morning.

 

Two of our group fell in love with each other, and are married and still together twenty years later.

[Rossey]

Our first cruise was in the early 70's on the Leonardo da Vinci (the Italian Line) from New York to the Eastern Caribbean in January. It was built in 1960 and was 33,334 gross tons carrying around 1300 people.

 

Being young without much money to spend on vacations, we had an inside cabin, bunk beds and no porthole. During the first night we hit a terrible storm around Cape Hatteras and I thought we were going to sink. My poor husband was so sea sick I can't believe he ever went on another cruise after that. It took a couple of days to reach calmer waters.

 

My husband did have a bit of a smile on his face when I told him that the ship caught fire in 1980, sank and was sold for scrap.

[SanAntoneRose]

oh wow --my dad was in the army and we said twice one the Gen Rose ...going and coming back to Izmir Turkey in 1959 --I was a child and had the best time - you brought back a plithera of memories

[Copper10-8]

oh wow --my dad was in the army and we said twice one the Gen Rose ...going and coming back to Izmir Turkey in 1959 --I was a child and had the best time - you brought back a plithera of memories

 

 

USNS General Maurice Rose in 1952

 

[happygran]

My parents were avid cruisers (usually Cunard) and paid for our first cruise aboard the Sunwing (Sun Cruises) in 1999. It was to the Canary islands, and February in that part of the Atlantic can be a 'little rough'.

 

We were in inside cabins...........and I absolutely hated every minute. Vowed never to go on another cruise. Found the cabin claustrophobic.................a small ship packed couldn't find a quiet space(except the card room)........the seas rough......and felt sick the whole time.

 

Fast forward to 2011 and my Dad had died and felt bad that Mum still longed to cruise, so booked a RCI cruise round the Med, booked OV cabins. Luckily we were upgraded to a balcony.............what a difference...................we loved it.

 

Since then we've been hooked (but only balconies)........have done 7 cruises with Celebrity, NCL, RCI and P & O.

 

We have been looking at HAL for a while and finally booked our first cruise for next February on the Noordam.

 

I know a lot of people enjoy inside cabins but I couldn't risk it. I found it very claustrophobic. Just love having our own outdoor space where we can relax, have breakfast and get away from people sometimes.

[Copper10-8]

My parents were avid cruisers (usually Cunard) and paid for our first cruise aboard the Sunwing (Sun Cruises) in 1999. It was to the Canary islands, and February in that part of the Atlantic can be a 'little rough'.

 

We were in inside cabins...........and I absolutely hated every minute. Vowed never to go on another cruise. Found the cabin claustrophobic.................a small ship packed couldn't find a quiet space(except the card room)........the seas rough......and felt sick the whole time.

 

Fast forward to 2011 and my Dad had died and felt bad that Mum still longed to cruise, so booked a RCI cruise round the Med, booked OV cabins. Luckily we were upgraded to a balcony.............what a difference...................we loved it.

 

Since then we've been hooked (but only balconies)........have done 7 cruises with Celebrity, NCL, RCI and P & O.

 

We have been looking at HAL for a while and finally booked our first cruise for next February on the Noordam.

 

I know a lot of people enjoy inside cabins but I couldn't risk it. I found it very claustrophobic. Just love having our own outdoor space where we can relax, have breakfast and get away from people sometimes.

 

Did you mean Sun Cruises' former Seawing? She was NCL's Southward in the seventies and eighties and was scrapped last year in Turkey. Sun Cruises also used Sunbird and Sundream

Sun Cruises Seawing

 

 

Norwegian Cruise Line Southward

 

[Copper10-8]

Our first cruise was in the early 70's on the Leonardo da Vinci (the Italian Line) from New York to the Eastern Caribbean in January. It was built in 1960 and was 33,334 gross tons carrying around 1300 people.

 

Being young without much money to spend on vacations, we had an inside cabin, bunk beds and no porthole. During the first night we hit a terrible storm around Cape Hatteras and I thought we were going to sink. My poor husband was so sea sick I can't believe he ever went on another cruise after that. It took a couple of days to reach calmer waters.

 

My husband did have a bit of a smile on his face when I told him that the ship caught fire in 1980, sank and was sold for scrap.

 

Italia di Navigazione S.p.A/Italian Line's Leonardo da Vinci; caught fire at La Spezia, Italy on 04 JUL 1980 and capsized. Scrapped in 1982

 

[sackman]

 

Would have been 1978. The Costa Carla C. Small ship by today's standards, but to a 10-year old, seemed enormous to me. I saw my first James Bond movie "The Spy who Loved Me" in the ship's theater, and I thought it was the coolest movie I had ever seen in my life. The itinerary was supposed to go to a bunch of places, but the officers went on strike while we were docked in Curacao. So we were stuck in Curacao for three days. For me, it was no big deal, but for a lot of the adults, they were very upset. I don't think that got me hooked on cruising, though. It wasn't until several years later, when my parents took me on a couple other cruises, that I caught the bug. Now, not a year goes by without me stepping on a ship somewhere.

[ricki]

Great thread, Copper 10-8.

 

Our second through fifth cruises were also on the Viking Seranade! It was a great weekend getaway from Los Angeles, and cheap enough if you booked an inside cabin as we did in those days. You are correct, she is still sailing as the a Island Escape, I believe.

 

Our first cruise was Sitmar's Fairsea in 1987, with four of us, 2 adults and two children in a tiny cabin with a porthole. The food on that ship was fantastic! We sailed on her once after Princess took over, but it was a disappointment,

 

Copper 10-8, did you say you were going to be on board the April 15 Statendam cruise?

 

Ricki

Edited January 23, 2014 by ricki

[Himself]

John:

Your knowledge of ships new and old continues to amaze me.

 

Himself

[redhot1]

Song Of Norway, 1978,Carribean, and we were hooked for sure. In 2009 we were aboard the Mariener of Seas and met the Captian and in the conversation he told us that he was a deck hand on the Norway in 1978, and now he is the captian of the Mariener, now thats a rags to rich's dream.:):)

[Alphen]

Wow, this is a thread from before we were even thinking about cruising, our first and also most favorable so far, was the Noordam Trans Atlantic in October 2010. We were so hooked, we immediately booked our second cruise while we were on board. The cruise was so much fun, we are going to repeat it this fall.

[Copper10-8]

Wow, this is a thread from before we were even thinking about cruising, our first and also most favorable so far, was the Noordam Trans Atlantic in October 2010. We were so hooked, we immediately booked our second cruise while we were on board. The cruise was so much fun, we are going to repeat it this fall.

 

This:

 

 

 

I'm sure, beats this:

 

 

Right? ;)

Edited January 24, 2014 by Copper10-8