Why did you cruise the first time?

[Nunu]

We're related??? :eek:

 

Auntie Mir:confused: :eek::eek:

[bean-si]

first cruise? My daughter and her friends from work had planned a "girls" only 5 day cruise--and they asked her to ask me to join them, since they liked my company. My daughter wanted me to be her roomie. We both left our husbands home. I was hooked before we even hit the ocean... the balcony... the fun..my first cruise, but her 4 th.... it was so relaxing and I loved the sea day and hitting the ports. I'd sworn I'd never cruise, but it was hard to refuse precious mother/daughter time..and and I WAS HOOKED.

[cherbear4000]

When i was in high school, my older sister and her boyfriend took a cruise. My sister kept talking about how great it is. My parents then decided the next year to take the whole family ( my parents, and the 5 of us 'kids') on a Carnival cruise. It was supposed to be a 1 time deal. Eveyone loved it so much, we have taken a cruise every year since. It has been year tradition for 15 yrs. My parents now include our spouse and my nieces/nephews.

[Swann5]

My husband's work holds an annual convention aboard a ship as part of its reward and recognition program for its executives and top performers. 700 of us banker's sailed Celebrity Mellenium in 2004 and despite all the corporate team building, seminars, speakers, break out sessions, trade shows, etc., etc. everyday, we were still able to enjoy enough of the ship's activites & atmosphere that we were bitten by the bug badly... 5 cruises later with four currently booked, we are not looking for a cure, we are happy to live with this addiction. :D Unfortunately we've had to pay for all of rest of our cruises by ourselves! :eek:

[grandmato4]

We'd talked about trying a cruise but just hadn't found the time or money to do so. Christmas was fast approaching and I hadn't found the time to do the Christmas shopping yet so went to the TA's office and told her what I was looking for and booked our cruise for the four of us that same day. Took home brochures and put them in boxes and wrapped them and put them under the Christmas tree. We loved our 1995 cruise on the Celebration !:)

[PictureChris]

My folks took us all in 2002 for their 50th. Eight years later, been on 10 with 2 booked. LOVE CRUISING!

[bsp]

I can answer that question in one word - LOVEBOAT

I used to watch these episodes and that put the desire in me.

 

Same here - when I was a young girl I use to watch the show and never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever be able to afford it. Well, on our 10th anniversary and my mom and dad's 40th in 1994, we went on our very first cruise. It well surpassed my expectations (and they were high) and we have been hooked ever since. :D

[kujobie]

In early 2001, I won a call-in radio contest. The prize was a dinner for two at a restaurant. The restaurant was in the area now known as Channelside at the Port of Tampa. I took a girl who I had just started dating. I knew nothing about cruising at the time, or that cruises even left from Tampa. Our table was next to a window and 30 feet from that window was the windows of passenger cabins on the Carnival Jubilee. You could see the "Bon Voyage" and "Happy Anniversary" banners in the cabins. We sat and ate and watched as the ship sailed away. The next day, we booked a cruise on that ship and I found this web site. I fell in love with that girl on that cruise. A couple years later, I proposed to her on the Sensation, and a few years after that, we got married on the Miracle and brought our family with us, and now we're cruise buddies for life..

[tampabrat22]

For me.....The Love Boat!!!

 

So cool to know other's obsession started the same way as mine! When I was a little girl (about 4 yrs old) I would insist on watching The Love Boat while eating my breakfast...every single day! Drove my mom crazy, and we could never afford a cruise back then.

 

Fast forward 20+ yrs later and I managed to talk my mom, sister and 2 cousins into taking our families on our first cruise. We all loved it but me & one one of my cousins really got hooked, the whole family thinks were crazy, but we are determined to try as many cruise lines as we can and earn platinum status with Carnival asap!

[mek]

My first cruise was after college with a girlfriend - we took a 3 nighter to Nassau and then spent 4 days on Miami Beach. Ten years later, my husband and I took our first cruise together a year after we were married as a delayed honeymoon.

[habby]

First cruise was on the Holiday in 1986. It was a polka cruise. DH played in a polka band and because the band got enough other people to go too, they got free berths. Booked into my parents cabin to get the reduced rate, but ended up staying in the cabin with DH along with three other band members. Most memorable time on that cruise - going to Orient Beach on St. Marten, and I was 5-1/2 months pregnant.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I had never really been interested in going on a cruise. Then one day a TA walked into our bowling alley trying to set up a 'cruise league'. That cruise was going to Key West (AND sailing out of Baltimore, so no flying involved!) Well, being a devoted parrothead I had always wanted to go to Margaritaville! So I agreed to go. A group of us went on that first cruise and I believe I was addicted as soon as I got on the ship! Six cruises later(and it would be lots more if $$$ allowed) my only regret is that I didn't discover cruising sooner!! Why did you go on your first cruise? Any good stories out there?

 

The port was about 5 miles from my house in Philly and the price seemed reasonable.

 

It was a 7 day cruise to Bermuda which was $1600 total for an inside on the Celebrity Meridian.

 

How times have changed. At sailaway streamers were flying everywhere, bingo was cheap.

 

Now Bingo is expensive and the cruises are cheap.:D

 

Bill

[cruisinitaliano]

Mom and Dad sent my Bride and I for Honeymoon on Carnival out of L.A. 15 years ago. My parents had done lots of cruises, and my opinion then was that it was VERY EXPENSIVE and something we could never afford.

 

The Honeymoon trip sealed the deal for us..and we tried a cruise about every 3 years, then 2 years...now up to 2 cruises per year. Just off Spirit, Doing Solstice in Jan., then Splendor next April...LOVE IT..LOVE IT...LOVE IT!!!!

[Wags67]

My first cruise was April 1997...the company that I worked for at the time had given me a $2000 travel voucher for being with the company for 5 years...Since I didn't receive my voucher until after a few others had received theirs, I was able to see what others were doing...I really had no clue where or what I wanted to do...Believe it or not, a majority of the employees were going on Carnival Cruises!

I don't remember why I chose the particular cruise I did, but we went on Carnival Inspiration that went to St.Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St. Maarten, and Martinique.

Over the years...dealing with this crazy thing called Life...I always dreamed of cruising again but it wasn't in our cards...I decided that for our 20th wedding anniversary we would cruise Again...regardless of our situation! We took our second cruise, for our 20th Anniversary, in October 2007! Such a wonderful way to 'reconnect' and have fun! We save so we can cruise every October to celebrate!

[Vanessa L]

First cruise was in July 1984 on the Carnival Carnivale for my honeymoon. Now 2 husbands and 30 years later...I've done 30+ cruises and FINALLY found the dream man. Life, as they say, is good :)

[h_blond2]

My first cruise was a college graduation present from my mom and dad! It was the best gift ever!!! :D

[WishIwasOutThereNOW]

my parents booked their first cruise in 04 on Glory. we were talking about it one night and my dad asked me if i wanted to go with them. i said sure, why not........

[mamalicious]

My parents went on one, came back, showed us photos, and we were hooked.

 

Also, when we did the math (driving down to wdw, hotel, park tickets, food, etc)- cruising was easier and cheaper!!

 

Interesting thread....thanks!

[cruiselover 43]

first cruise went for a wedding for a work friend - couldn't pass up the group rate price .

Sailed on the Imagination - DH loved it too.

- been hooked on cruising since 2004:p

I also watched the Love boat growing up & always dreamed of going on a cruise some day.

[karenvaca]

My husband and I were making plans to see family in Florida also scouting out places for possible retirement in about 10 or so years.

 

Good friends were going on a cruise, they had asked us before and my husband said " he doesn't like cruises ", how did he even know without being on one? So this time, seeing that we were going to be in Florida and near the port he said " let's go "!, a 5 day cruise and we both got sea-sick the very first night! :o

 

...that was last November, when the cruise ended he asked when the next one would be! We cruised again this year in April, a 7 day on Carnival.

 

We have a cruise booked in early August with a large group of friends & late August ( my daughter & I ) while planning another for November...

 

By the way, we're using the money for that possible retirement/vacation home, that home is getting smaller & smaller with each cruise! :eek:

 

Can you say hooked? :) ;)

[cruisedawgg]

DW was hired as an entertainer in the Disney Wonder stage performances. She lived ON the ship, so our time spent together was limited to port days, and we all know ships are only in port for several hours per week. So my first cruise was with DCL, staying in her crew cabin! talk about SMALL!!! Made an inside cabin look like a suite. Good thing we were married ;)

[Chief Cruiser]

At the time of my first cruise, I was working for the fire department and we hired a new fireman who began to talk about an upcoming cruise he and his wife were taking in a few months. Come to find out, his wife was running a start-up homebased travel business and the more he talked about it, the more interested I became.

 

After relentlessly researching every brochure and magazine I could find on cruising, I convinced my wife to take a cruise for our 10th anniversary. It took some doing since she can't swim a lick and was worried about the ship sinking, but she eventually (and reluctantly) gave in and I booked the cruise with my fellow fireman's wife.

 

In actually, the cruise was not what it had been built up to be and we were not blown away as most folks are the first time. The service was anything but attentive, both in the dining room and elsewhere (it was just one of those "off" cruises that crews have from time to time). There were several other things that didn't turn out right, but there was enough good things that happened that we decided to give it another try, knowing that things aren't always perfect and we are not ones to throw the baby out with the bath water over one time of things floating in the bath water. There was just something about sitting out on the back of that ship early in the morning while eating breakfast and looking at the beautiful, deep blue ocean slowly ease by. It was intoxicating and freeing and is one of my favorite things to do while crusing.

 

That was 8 years ago and we are coming up on our 14th cruise in September. Not all of those cruises have been perfect either, but we have learned: to make our expectations more realistic; some cruising tricks to avoid headaches; how to dodge the occassionaly curveball; roll with the flow; and learned how to pace ourselves and choose activities/excursions that maximize our enjoyment and time cruising. We decided early on that crewmembers are human and not robots and they have bad days too.

 

But, that first time was all it took and we are now admitted addicts and are trapped in the never-ending world of dreaming of cruises between them. My motto is much like other cruise addicts.... a bad day on a cruise ship is far better than a good day at work!

 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it! :)

[marshhawk]

A friend of ours had invited us to her wedding that was to have been on board the Sensation cruising to Nassau. I had the money, so we went. The wedding turned out to be on shore before we left, and the reception was on the ship, and I had a balcony room, and the food was good, and there were towel animals, and the beautiful sea, and the staff spoiled us and I was hooked! :eek::):)

[MamaParrotHead]

People had tried to talk me into taking a cruise for our honeymoon and I couldn't be LESS interested. Did the Keys instead.

 

Then some friends of ours mentioned that they'd go away with us, and I should just pick where I wanted to go. Well, I started looking into how best to "cover the most ground" and see as many places as I could, and stumbled on cruising. Some coworkers of DH's were big cruisers and encouraged us to go. Then I discovered Carnival and military rates. I was sold.

[manmtnmike]

We bagan cruising with an overdo honeymoon, after raising 4 wonderful children -our 25 th Anniver.

 

 

 

CHECK OUT THE LINK BELOW

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=531030&highlight=

 

My wife almost died...That's why we cruise every year!

 

 

Why do you cruise?

 

We had a wake up call about how precious life and our relationship is.

It was a MIRACLE she survived, thought we plan a group cruise the MIRACLE...

Next up our CC Group cruise 2/27/08 "It's a Miracle" 8 Days>>

Never really took vacations as our kids were growing up...Now we do what it takes to sail away together instead of taking everything for granted.

 

So, why do you cruise?

 

MMMike