When was your first cruise?

[Mrs.C05]

I love reading all of these! Very interesting to read other people's stories. Mine and my DH first cruise was in 2005 as a Christmas gift from my Dad. No one had been on a cruise before (I don't think) so it was an experience for all of us. Short cruise from Port Canaveral to Nassau, small 3 dayer on Carnival Sensation. The month after that my husband and I had our honeymoon cruise, 7 days on Princess Star to the Southern Caribbean. Since then, we've had one booked each year, sometimes two!

 

And we don't plan to stop.:p

[RBCL]

Last year in March.

[MszKitty]

1983 - Azure Seas - LA - Ensenada.

 

We planned to go to Hawaii with the sizeable tax refund we were expecting. HA! Well..the IRS fooled us! Next option was the short cruise.

 

Not only hooked us on cruising in general, but hooked us on the short weekend getaways. We live close to port, so its more convenient and cheaper than going to Vegas when we want a short getaway.

[Terre]

My first was in 1990 on the Emerald Seas out of Miami. It was owned by Admiral Cruises and was an old WWII trooper carrier converted into a cruise ship. The cruise terminal has come along way since then, as have cruise ships!:D

[DaddySteve]

Wow, this is going to "age" me for sure. It was a 14 night Eastern Med. trip on the T.S.S. Fiesta in 1966 (just out of college). The ship belonged to Chandris Lines, later became Celebrity.....that's where the "X" comes from on the sides of the new Celebrity ships. I am 70 y/o and it's going to be 46 days cruising this year. I'm hooked :D

[ferfoodle]

First was on the Carnival Destiny in November 1997, an Eastern route out of POM to San Juan, St. Croix and St. Thomas. At that time she was the largest cruise ship in the world. I remember looking at the other "dinky" ships at the ports we went to and thinking how big she was. Today - she is almost pretty "dinky" herself in comparision to some of the biguns out there.

[gone_cruisin]

Our first cruise was in 1993 on Celbrity Zenith...that was when it was not owned by Royal Caribbean, so it was very, very service oriented. We thought the ship was huge when we arrived at the dock. Later on it seemed so small, but we had a great time and we have been hooked on cruising ever since!

 

She is (was) small! We tried her out after a few Carnival cruises and I got sea sick because she rocked too much!

[Naomi John]

1958 queen of bermuda nyc to bermuda age 5

 

Cool.

 

My first cruise was with my Mom in 1947....I was 20 months old. We left San Francisco, stopped in Honolulu and arrived on Guam about 10 days later.

My Dad was in the U.S. Navy. We lived there a year.

 

On the trip over....we were hit by a typhoon and had to be tied down in our bunks...!!

 

Talk about history.

 

Mine is boring, 2007 Fantasy out of NOLA. Had a great time, but nothing like those before me.

[beachbum6264]

Not my first time on a cruise ship, but the first one I have a picture of!

This was taken from the deck of (I think) the Bahama Star in Nassau. The date on the picture is July, 1959 That's my uncle and his girlfriend waving good-bye - we were headed to Miami to see family and do some shopping - got the film developed there, too. (I was living in Nassau at the time, we used to go back and forth often by ship). The port in Nassau has changed, just a little!

 

[Border Granny]

1967, senior trip on the Bahama Star to Nassau, Bahamas. Four to a cabin in bunk beds, bathroom down the hall, and no stabilizers :eek:. We sailed from Miami during a storm and they literally put up ropes in the hallways to hold onto, and would not let you go out on the decks as the waves were crashing over the rails. I remember eating in the dining room that night (that's when I figured out that not only do I NOT get seasick but can eat no matter what the seas are like, even though we were literally holding things on the tables to keep them from sliding off), and looking out the window, we would see sky, then water, then sky, as we rode up and down in the swells. I was 17 and that was the most fun I had ever had.

[Border Granny]

Not my first time on a cruise ship, but the first one I have a picture of!

This was taken from the deck of (I think) the Bahama Star in Nassau. The date on the picture is July, 1959 That's my uncle and his girlfriend waving good-bye - we were headed to Miami to see family and do some shopping - got the film developed there, too. (I was living in Nassau at the time, we used to go back and forth often by ship). The port in Nassau has changed, just a little!

 

Did the little boys dive off the docks (and I am thinking they even let them on the ship and some dove off the rails) into the water for coins that people threw off the ship? They would pop back up with their cheeks all puffed out full of coins. I haven't thought about that for years until I saw your post and you talked about how the port has changed. I go back in a month for the first time to Nassau, and I can only imagine how it has changed. We went to Paradise Island and literally all that was there was the beach, but what a beautiful beach it was. I had never seen water that clear and sand that white.

[sungirl10]

My first was in Feburuaryand now I 2 more booked for this year. I think I am hooked :D

[Alwaysundecided]

1996 on the Carnival Imagination. I remember boarding that ship and thinking it was the biggest thing I had ever seen. My second thought was that I had never seen so much neon in one place!

 

I have had some cruise lapses since then, vacationing on land in various places, but I have come back to the sea!

[luvscruising2007]

My first was on a troop transport ship in 1953 from Alaska to Seattle. My dad was in the Air Force and being transferred back to the states.

My first more more modern cruise was in October 1977 on Homelines Doric from New York to Bermuda. Very different experience than what the cruise lines offer now.

[LRene]

1993 onboard the Enchanted Isle or one of the Enchanted Commodore ships out of New Orleans. It held 800+ passengers and it seemed like the largest thing on the seas. There were almost as many crew as passengers and service was excellent.

 

Then one day we docked next to the Carnival Holiday which towered over us and I knew I had to give that HUGE ship and Carnival a try. 30 cruises later, we still sail Carnival most of the time.

[beachbum6264]

Did the little boys dive off the docks (and I am thinking they even let them on the ship and some dove off the rails) into the water for coins that people threw off the ship? They would pop back up with their cheeks all puffed out full of coins. I haven't thought about that for years until I saw your post and you talked about how the port has changed. I go back in a month for the first time to Nassau, and I can only imagine how it has changed. We went to Paradise Island and literally all that was there was the beach, but what a beautiful beach it was. I had never seen water that clear and sand that white.

 

 

Yes, they used to dive for coins - and people would throw streamers and confetti when you left port.

There was a water-side market down by the port, too. Boats would tie up and sell produce and fist - they would come from other islands.

This was before there was a bridge to Paradise Island - we used to take our boat and go around to about where Atlantis stands now for picnics.

[Pee-ah]

My first cruise was when i was 3... back in 69 :D

 

We left England for Canada...

 

Me at the children's talent show on board I sang "Baa Baa Black Sheep"

 

Im the smallest one and my brother the only boy:D

[flyawayca]

My first cruise was just last year. 5 day western Caribbean on the Carnival Triumph.

 

It was mine and my husbands delayed honeymoon. My aunt had talked us into trying out a cruise and I am so happy now that she did. We already have our fourth one booked and are debating what to do for our 5th :D

[DZNYROX]

My first was a barely remembered 5 day to Mexico on RCCL back in 1999. Way to much drinking I guess:D. Must have been a good time I think....:eek:

[Cruiseboy06]

MY first cruise was on Paradise in January 2006.. I loved it!!!!!!! I'm going on her again for 3rd time in 2 WEEKS I will be in the exact cabin as my first cruise ha ha

[Starlight Durban Cruising]

First cruise was when I was a child with parents on the RMS Windsor Castle around South African coast - December 1976. Tourist class, and I remember we were invited to join the first class children for lunch one day. Nothing particularly memorable about that event though :p.

 

Did get to watch Jaws in the cinema at sea - scary for a 10 year old - mmm, what if the shark attacked the ship. LOL.

 

The following year they ended the RMS UK/SA service when air travel/freight became more economical than shipping. The end of an era.

[ddloml]

As a small child in the late 60's, our family took the Milwaukee WI -Ludington MI car ferry, the SS Badger. It was an 8 hour trip, and I thought it seemed like forever! I remember running all over the ship, playing with the vending machines, pulling all the levers, and getting a free Mounds candy bar out of one of them!;)

 

BTW, the SS Badger still operates to this day! It's one of the last remaining coal-fired ships in operation.

[Philly Steve]

SS Norway in 1994. ...Skeet shooting, "horse races" by the pool

and a huge midnight buffet on the promenade deck. :cool:

[Creole Girl]

December 30, 2001 on the Inspiration out of New Orleans. It was our honeymoon cruise. It was that first cruise I discovered that I preferred more port days than sea days.

[pafam4]

My first cruise was in 1983 on the Costa Carla C. My best friend and I had a blast! We were in our early 20's and they sat us at a table in the MDR with 8 other girls around the same age as us. So much fun to have such a large group to hang out with! We sailed from San Juan to Grenada, St. Thomas, Curacao, Caracas. One of the best vacations ever!