what made you take your first cruise?

[Host Walt]

This thread has been copied from the P&O Australia board to the new Australia & New Zealand Cruisers board.

[kate59]

After 4wd around Australia for 20 years we saw a cruise advertised last year that we thought was worth trying - P&O Pacific Jewel and the cruise included Pentecost Island - home of the original bungy jump - actually a fertility ceremony for their crops. We went with hesitations but loved it enough that we are booked on the Sun Princess for 46 nights in May and I can't wait.

 

But we will still continue 4wd - our winter trip will be to check out some of our inland rivers that now have water in them.

[Bescotti]

I did the usual working holday in the UK in the 70s and then had to sail home because I had too much luggage to fly home. It was the voyage from hell, a wild trip around the Cape of Good Hope resulting in one death, a burial at sea, the ship's crew going on strike in the middle of the Indian Ocean, only 4 ports of call during the month long trip, etc .... Despite that trip, the smell of salt air will send me scouring through cruise brochures and the internet looking for my next cruise!

[whimsy7]

two reasons.....

my husband mentioned that our next holiday should be 'at a resort with visits to some interesting places' so i quickly nudged him to a cruise. the other reason was to see the south island of new zealand and especially the fiordland region (without having to drive long stretches of winding roads).

we did our first cruise in february 2011 and it was fantastic!!

now addicted to cruising and looking forward to many more cruises in the future.

[MountainLakesDrive]

Mine was it was I had to go or my brother did not go and he really wanted to go.

 

Since then I have been addicted

 

In September 1986 I was booked on a three-week tour of Greece alone. At the last minute (the day before departure) the TA called me to tell me she was dropping off a new set of documents because the tour operator I had been booked with "changed direction." I never did figure out what that meant, and I didn't look at anything other than the plane ticket from New York to Athens. While in flight, I looked at the rest of the documents and learned I was booked on a seven-day cruise around the Greek Isles. When I arrived at the baggage claim area in Athens, I met a mother and daughter who had had the same tour booked as I did; the mother was a very sophistiscated world traveller who assured me I would "love the cruise." Well, I did--with my newfound friends (who are still friends 25 years later--but I wasn't able to cruise again until 2001 when I went up and down the coast of Norway during the time of the "midnight sun." Since then, I have made cruising a top priority, but I haven't been able to since 2009 when we sailed "around the Horn;" I've had health problems which I've just been able to say I'm "getting a grip on," and I'm looking forward to the repositioning cruise of the Carnival Spirit from Vancouver to Sydney in the fall of 2012!!!

[mandyjl]

First was a cruise with the girls in 2008.

 

Was talked into it by my besty, (haha, trying to get quad pricing)...

I mentioned another friend, so then we had to recruit 3 more to make up 2 cabins.

Wasn't hard really, when you mention sun lounges and cheap coktails to a bunch of mums!

 

Just wish I could afford it more often!

[silverwillow]

I grew up watching the Love Boat. It was just a matter of time really :D lol.

 

My dh wasn't keen but he wanted to go home to NZ to see all our relatives so I talked him into cruising there on the Diamond Princess. He loved it. Yay!

[sandandsea lovers]

We took our first cruise last August and wanted it to be very special as it was our 25th anniversary. We did the tahitian islands on the Paul Gauguin, and were absolutely spoilt. Were told by many avid cruisers "We raised the bar too high". Now we are looking for a lovely cruise in or out of Australia. Cruising does seem to get a hold on you. Where to and who with next??????????Help??????????????:eek:

[Scurvy Dog]

My new then but ex-wife now insisted because it was our honeymoon lol

She also told me there would be pole dancers on the Boat :(..that was one of the many lies I believed lol :D

[Sandielle]

I had no choice - too young - however, my dad was in the Navy and I had a couple of master mariner ancestors, so I guess the sea is in my blood. I loved it from the start and always feel great when I'm near the sea. Hated living inland.

[scouser7]

Fairstar the fun ship Don't know who wrote that ad but they told lies but loved it ever since

Bob