How did you start cruising?

[Lerin]

My father was in the Navy. I practically grew up on the sea and have always been around boats(rubber rafts, sailboats, to large ferries)

While I've taken many, many day cruises since I was probably still in diapers, I didn't take my first overnight cruise until about 6 years ago. Since then we've taken at least 2 a year. LOVE it. :)

[OCruisers]

While my first cruise was 51 years ago (per earlier post) our first Princess cruise was actually booked as a Sitmar cruise. Sitmar was bought by Princess so it ended up being a Princess cruise.

 

Note: We loved Sitmar. :)

 

LuLu

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[mr green]

We retired, a little early, and after a couple of months we saw a 'Cruise Sampler' advertised. We tried it, and liked it, however the 'Olde Salts' did not, but, the rest is history!!!:)

 

john

[Scrapnana]

My first cruise I was about two or three to visit relatives in Panama of which I remember nothing. The first cruise I remember was a three day trip from Florida to the Bahamas on the Evangeline and I have been hooked ever since. Unfortunately, life intervened and I was not able to cruise for many years. Now that I am retired I plan on making up for those years by taking as many cruises as possible!

Edited November 12, 2013 by Scrapnana

[LandlockedCruiser01]

How and why did you start cruising? Did you "always want to cruise" or did you (like me) get dragged reluctantly onto the ship for your first cruise? Did the first cruise hook you or did it take more than one cruise for it to "take"?

None of the above. I was driven into cruising by my past employer. They had a policy that required all IT technicians, which I was, to be reachable by cell phone 24/7, even on vacations, and people called on average twice a week. I knew I had to go outside the US, where I wouldn't be reachable. I had no one to vacation with, and I didn't want to go to an AI resort by myself, so cruising it was. I got the vacation time, booked my first cruise, and the rest is history. :)

 

I was completely hooked on cruising since the moment I got on the ship. Everybody was very friendly, and me being solo, the structured environment worked wonders in putting me at ease. But what really clinched it for me was the ever-so-soothing rocking and swaying of the ship.

 

I now have a new job, with a more reasonable availability policy. But I still intend to continue cruising. There's nothing like being truly out of reach while I'm on vacation.

Edited November 12, 2013 by LandlockedCruiser01

[mr green]

My first trip was in 1959 on the Homeric from Montreal to Southampton. I met my future husband, who was the Master at Arms on the Empress of Canada, on my return trip. Have done many sailings over the years and celebrated our 50th anniversary 2 years ago on "O"'s Marina.

 

I did not include the Homeric as my 'first cruise', but I had a ball, free wine at lunch and dinner, and most drinks at 10c per.

i rated that 'cruise' better than the one we had on NCL's 'Norway'

The Homeric that replaced her in the early '70's later became HAL's Westerdam in the '80's and '90's. Nice ship, NO balconies, but she had one of the first sliding roofs on her upper deck. Used in the movie, 'Out to Sea' with Jack Lemmon.

 

john

[BRANDEE]

Did my first cruise in 1982 with my husband and 8 single cousins and friends. We were on the Home Lines' Oceanic. Italian food and Italian waiters :) Everyone had a blast but my husband, he felt confined on the ship. For the next 10 years we camped in a pop up trailer for vacation with our kids. After my mom died , I was very "low" and my husband told me to book any vacation I wanted. We took a Carnival cruise to the Caribbean in 1993 and my husband loved it. Sold the camper! We started off every other year, but soon it became a yearly vacation. We cruised Carnival, RCCL and Celebrity. Then we did the Mexican Riviera on the Regal Princess, the original "Love Boat" itinerary in 1998. Once on Princess we found our "escape". When we finish one cruise, it's my husband who says..where next?

[aussielozzie18]

I am going on my first cruise at Christmas. Main reason is my colleague went on her first cruise earlier this year and came back to work talking non-stop about the cruise for weeks. Her sheer pleasure at cruising plus 200+ photos of cruising bliss and I was sold.

[leaveitallbehind]

For us it started in Puerto Rico in 1991, where my wife was accompanying me on a business trip. We were walking near the docks in Old San Juan one night when we saw Royal Caribbean's Sovereign of the Seas docked. She was just three years old then and was the largest and most modern cruise ship afloat at the time. We both were struck by her beauty and how spectacular she looked at the pier. I said to my wife that one day we would be on that ship looking at the pier as we saw people on board looking at us.

 

The next year in August of 1992, I surprised my wife with a cruise on Sovereign for our 10th anniversary. The itinerary included a port stop in Puerto Rico, where, to my promise, we stood on her deck looking at the people on the pier.

 

That was our first cruise 21 years ago and we have never looked back. When we were married, we spent our honeymoon in Bermuda. 30 years (and 20 years of cruising) later, we went back to Bermuda for our 30th anniversary on Explorer of the Seas. We have sailed RCI exclusively - just our preference - and have been on at least one ship (and in some cases several) in every current ship class in service with them since 1992.

 

Started sailing alone, then shortly after started bringing our children, and now this coming summer will be including our first grandchild on a cruise. It gets in your blood!

Edited November 12, 2013 by leaveitallbehind

[ontheweb]

In late 2001, I suggested to my DW that we take a cruise the following summer to celebrate our 25th anniversary. She thought it was a good idea. I suggested Bermuda since we would not have to fly to a port. (Who at that time wanted to fly.) She said, no, how about Alaska. (We have since sailed to both.)

 

I called a company that advertised cruises in our local paper. When I read the list of available cruises, I saw a cruise from Barcelona to Barcelona including stops at ports like Nice, Rome, and Florence. Since DW is the world's most talented elementary school art teacher, I knew that that would be something she would enjoy. On our flight from JFK to Barcelona it seemed that everyone was either on our cruise (RCL Splendour of the Seas) or a Princess cruise also leaving from Barcelona.

 

Our first Princess cruise was a Baltic cruise on the Star Princess 5 years later for our 30th anniversary. On our 35th anniversary, we tried to duplicate our first cruise and were on the NCL Epic from Barcelona to Barcelona.

 

We have now been on 9 cruises (4 in Europe), and our 10th cruise is booked for this summer, a British Isles cruise on the Ocean Princess.

[ducklite]

We had no real interest in cruising until a friend came back from a Disney cruise raving about it.. Then another, and another, so we decided to give them a try and loved it.

 

We next went on RCCL and hated it, worst vacation ever. It turned us off to cruising for a long time.

 

We returned to DCL for a short cruise and enjoyed it, but thought the ship was just too big. Then we booked a b2b on a small ship and had the best vacation ever. We found our niche and have another cruise booked in a small ship, and are looking to any number of cruises moving forward, including an adventure cruise to Antartica, river cruising, and a lot more time in Europe.

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

[NMLady]

I was in my 50's and DH was 60's. We'd never cruised because, based on tv's Love Boat we were too old and didn't have a dressy enough wardrobe.

 

Then in December 1998 I won the online monthly sweepstakes from Frommers guidebooks. The prize that month was a 4 night Caribbean cruise on RCI, including airfare to/from San Juan PR. We took the cruise the following March for my husband's 68th birthday and had a WONderful time.

 

We discovered that, except for formal night dinner, our casual clothes and 'dressy' clothes were fine for cruising. We loved all aspects of cruising. My husband says that free cruise cost us over $100,000 because in the 15 years since then we have gone on 19 more cruises, paid for by us, and most of them longer than ten days. We discovered that we love cruising, especially leisurely sea days.

Edited November 12, 2013 by NMLady

[HeatherC430]

My first cruise was back in 1998 when I was 16. My mom had initially planned the cruise for her & my dad (among a group of other couples of friends/family). My dad hates the beach, so he suggested he take me instead. She did & I had a fabulous vacation. For many years, I always said it was the best vacation I had ever had for many years. Nothing else compared! I still vaguely remember the midnight buffet, drinking underage at the shows (I was with all adults), playing slots (and winning) in the Casino, laying on the beaches in the Caribbean.

Once I was 25, had my “real job” for a while and started to make some money (in 2007), I was convinced I wanted to cruise again, now that I finally had the money to pay for it. I even broke up with a boyfriend who refused to go on a weekend cruise to the Bahamas with me (clearly, it would never work if he wasn’t willing to venture out of the country!) Anyways, I bought my younger sister a cruise for her birthday that year (her first cruise). It was only a 4 night (Key West/Cozumel), but it gave the fuel for my cruising addition.

It wasn’t long before I started dating my current DH, and I surprised him with a 4 night Bahamas cruise (his first). Luckily, he loved the cruise and we’ve taken many more together. We even got married on a ship! Now, I cruise once or twice a year depending and would cruise more if I had more vacation days or others willing to max out vacation days with cruise travel.

[mom says]

I have always wanted to cruise. I blame 'An Affair to Remember' and 'The Love Boat'.:p DH- not so much. In fact he flat out refused. He said that since he spent most of his time flying helicopters off the back end of navy ships, the last thing he wanted to do with his vacations was to go back to sea. And I couldn't fault his logic.

 

But once his sea-going jobs ended, he surprised me for our 25th anniversary: a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Queen Mary 2. It was everything that I had dreamed a cruise might be, and DH (to his amazement) was hooked as much as I was. We've enjoyed several cruises since then on various different lines and ships, and hope to continue finding different, interesting itineraries in the future. I'm pushing for a Polynesian cruise soon.

[michelle1836]

we were looking to plan a vacation and I think we either saw a Carnival billboard or commercial on TV. that's all she wrote! we are now addicted!

[cruising_family]

I grew up in the era of Love Boat and got drawn in. Unfortunately we couldn't afford to do much traveling. My first "cruise," about 1989 or 1990, was called a cruise to nowhere out of Ft. Lauderdale which would go out 3 miles so guest could gamble. Smoking was allowed in the casino so it was way too smoky for me. My date was boring and after the ship turned around and anchored, the seasickness set in. All in all, not a fun time. It didn't deter me though and I still had a desire to cruise.

 

Years later after I married my husband, I would watch any show about cruising and bug my hubby about trying it. For Christmas he gave me card with a home-made gift certificate for a Carnival cruise, though it hadn't been booked. It was for whenever we were able to go. That next Jan I lost my mother and my world fell apart. So for Spring break 2005, we decided to take our first cruise on Carnival's Holiday ship out of Mobile, so I could regroup. I even got to do all the booking and excursions which was fun.

 

However, it never dawned on us about spring break being a big cruise time and we also didn't know Carnival is a party ship. Another thing was we didn't book a hotel and thought we would just find someplace closer to Mobile (we are in ATL). Big mistake, so we had to backtrack to Montgomery for a hotel room.

 

It all worked out in the end, had a great time and will be taking our 4th one in Jan. The last 2 were my hubby's idea so I think I got him hooked too. We would go more if time and money permitted but I still want to do a Mediterranean or transatlantic cruise one day.

[jmf123]

Years ago we moved to the Midwest in late fall, greeted by brutal cold temps and snow! We ran into a travel agency one weekend and said "get us out of here!" A few months later we sailed the southern Caribbean on NCL's Windward. :)

[printingchick]

I'm another poster who grew up watching the Love Boat and thinking how great cruising would be. But it was always just a dream in the back of my head.

 

One night, I was out with some friends, listening to a local band we followed. They announced they were pairing with a local travel agency to do a cruise with fans of the band. It was a 4-day Carnival cruise out of Tampa, Florida. There would be band T-Shirts and band performances and band/fan parties on board. As a group of friends listening to live music and sipping adult beverages is prone to do, we all jumped on the "Let's Cruise" band wagon.

 

Upon researching further, we discovered that this "theme" cruise cost more than a regular cruise. (I guess to cover the cost of the T-shirts and the band member's cruise fare!) We realized we could do a 5-day cruise on the same ship for less than that 4 day cruise. Remember, this was a LOCAL band we could go see any time. It didn't seem worth paying such a premium to cruise with them.

 

In the end, only THREE of us took the cruise - five days visiting Cozumel and Grand Cayman. I was totally hooked and have been cruising ever since!

[ocbeachbums]

My DH surprised me with a cruise as our 10th anniversary present....in 1979...one year after our tenth. We sailed on the Costa

Carla C. All we could afford was a cabin with bunk beds, a port hole, metal "lockers" and the constant smell of diesel fuel because we were in the absolute lowest deck that they had cabins on. With having children, buying a house, working with not much vacation time and then putting same kids through college, we didn't get back to cruising until 2002. But.....it's been cruising since then on Celebrity. We try to do 2 a year...but I personally would spend ALL my children's inheritance and go more than that!!! Carpe Diem for me.....!!!!!

[cruiseapril]

Went on two Caribbean cruises as a young adult. We also went on several land vacations on Caribbean islands - ( St. Thomas, Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic & Haiti.) We totally enjoyed the Caribbean islands' varied cultures, music, food, and beaches.

 

Went on a Transatlantic to Europe- then decided to cruise to the Caribbean every year, if possible, as we liked being on a ship rather than a plane.

 

So now we choose a cruise every year with a Caribbean/Bahamian destination (we do land vacations by train.) So far have visited 21 islands, many several times, and hope to visit as many as possible in the future. Our 2014

cruise is a 4 day to the Bahamas so that we can also spend some time enjoying Florida- after a long Maine winter.

Edited November 12, 2013 by cruiseapril

[wnycruisefam66]

I grew up watching the Love Boat too, but never thought I would actually cruise. Didn't seem like something I would ever be able to afford & didn't even know anyone who had taken a cruise. In 2007 happened to be watching the travel channel with my son on a cold snowy Buffalo day & saw the Samantha Brown Freedom of the Seas show. My son (6 at the time) & I looked at each other & said "we want to do that"! I looked on the internet & saw that we actually could afford to cruise. When my husband & daughter came home later that day I said "guess what we're doing for vacation next year!" We cruised on Freedom in 2008 & summer of 2014 we'll be taking our 6th cruise - Venice to Barcelona for 12 days! The whole family loves to cruise. If only I had more vacation days!

[marco]

It wasn't really a "cruise" but over 50 yrs ago I went TA with my parents.. Quite an adventure for a kid and the crossings were the best part of the trip! I've been hooked on traveling by ship (and have been) ever since.

[Sharon I]

My first cruise was after and long and painful battle with stage four breast cancer. I didn't want to do chemo anymore because it made me sooooooooooooo sick and my younger sister told me she would take me on a cruise if I continued and lived through the cancer.

After two years of fighting and winning she booked a cruise for us. I was scared of flying but my oncologist gave me a prescription for valium and assured me that I would be fine. Off we went on the Monarch of the Seas and when I woke up in St Thomas and looked out the window I said to my sister "oh no I thinked I died when I was sleeping because it looks like I'm in heaven right now".

We've been visiting heaven ever since and it really makes me feel glad I'm alive. I love to cruise.

 

Sharon I

[Sipsey]

I think I had always wanted to try it, but with kids at home just figured it wasn't practical.

After they were out of the house, and the age of the internet had begun, I guess I must have noticed an ad for a cruise out of New Orleans that looked affordable while surfing the net one day. Since we have friends in NOLA, it was a natural. I doubt, without the internet, I would ever have gotten interested. I have seldom ever called a travel agent.

 

Like the OP, I did get tossed about on the first night. So much so that my stomach was demanding something to quell the acids sloshing about. So I got up and found the only food available at 4 AM: cheese pizza. I ate it, felt better, and went back to sleep. I made liberal use of dramamine and still do at the first twinge of seasickness. For me, it works.

[lawblond7]

Our first cruise was one of my twin's Make a Wish trip. he wanted to go on a cruise and he wanted to see the Med. He wanted to go to Rome and Greece and he picked the cruise he wanted and got lucky as MAW partners with Royal Caribbean and that was the cruise he wanted.

 

We had such a great time - we went on a 12 day cruise this summer to the Baltics and are doing 7 days Chistmas time and looking to do something this summer for my mom's 75th birthday.

 

For us it is great and easy to travel with medical supplies, etc.

 

Sharon