Tell us your story....Why did you start cruising?

[Vict0riann]

Sleeping in barns would definitely turn me to cruising!:)

[Copper10-8]

Sleeping in barns would definitely turn me to cruising!:)

 

We went to a friend's wedding in Switzerland once; the reception was at a barn, nicely outfitted mind ya, and the sleeping arrangements were in the hay of that bad boy! :eek:

[geocruiser]

The TV series Love Boat gave me the cruise bug!! My first cruise was around 1977 and have not stopped!

[Juanita462]

We started our travelling with bus tours - all we could afford at the time - went all over North America and then Europe - but a relative invited us to go on a cruise with them and we thought "why not" and booked a Panama one.

Well, I could have danced down the halls - it was amazing and we were

hooked on cruising and Holland America. No cooking, cleaning or chores - someone else to do all that - perfect. Lots to see and do every day. Never looked back and now have over 500 days of cruising and hope for many more.

[Sow There]

We started our travelling with bus tours - all we could afford at the time - went all over North America and then Europe - but a relative invited us to go on a cruise with them and we thought "why not" and booked a Panama one.

Well, I could have danced down the halls - it was amazing and we were

hooked on cruising and Holland America. No cooking, cleaning or chores - someone else to do all that - perfect. Lots to see and do every day. Never looked back and now have over 500 days of cruising and hope for many more.

And the best part, no unpacking and packing every day and, unlike on a bus, lots to do besides sitting and sleeping.

[Shmoo here]

Back in the day (when I was young) I always thought my ultimate vacation would be to take a cruise around the world. I had no experience with cruising, and I knew no one who cruised, so it was just a dream.

 

Finally, in early 2007 my husband came home one night and said, "Disney is going to do a Panama Canal cruise, do you want to go?"

 

I said, "Sure."

 

The rest is history. 1 cruise in 2008, 1 cruise in 2009, 2 cruises each year in 2010, 11 & 12. 1 cruise in 2013, 4 cruises in 2014, at this time, 2 cruises scheduled for 2015.

[GiGi06]

Our first cruise was when friends invited us to join them on the Star to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary. It happened to be the week of our 25th wedding anniversary, so we agreed as a cruise was something we had always wanted to do but never thought we could afford. After talking with the local TA, we got a great deal and found it to be less expensive than other vacations we had taken.

 

It is so wonderful to be able to visit many places yet only unpack once and return "home" every night. We've been hooked ever since and try to go whenever possible.

 

Looking forward to celebrating our 35th on the Eurodam in March 2015. :)

[ger_77]

In 1989 a local radio station held a contest where you had to predict when the pelicans would return in spring from their winter away. I was closest to the actual minute they landed on the river, and won first prize which was airfare & a cruise for 2 to the Caribbean. We upgraded to a larger cabin to accommodate our 6 year old and went on a great holiday. DS and I were hooked at once; DH took a few cruises to feel the same way.

 

We knew we wanted to cruise some time in the future, so we planned to welcome in the new millennium on a cruise. With all the dire Y2K predictions going on, we thought if the world was going to go to hell in a hand basket, we were going to go out in style on a cruise ship.

 

Since then we've celebrated our 25th, 30th, and 35th anniversaries, our DD & DSIL's marriage, DS &DDIL's marriage, my retirement, and more. We have our 13th cruise coming up in February and I'm as excited for this one as I was for our first.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[RuthC]

Kazu, I've enjoyed reading so many of these stories tonight. Thanks for giving everyone the opportunity to tell their story.

We should have more of these getting to know you type stories on this forum. :)

[iflyrc5]

Our first cruise was in 1996 on the Rotterdam V. My DW is a math teacher (now retired) and a group of teachers from her school were doing an Alaska cruise. We weren't sure if we would like it but would give it a try. I was born and raised in New Jersey and spent the summers at the Jersey shore on a cabin cruiser and my DW spent summers at her grandmother's lake cottage so we both liked the water. As they say - the rest is history. We will be leaving in 5 weeks for our 18th and 19th cruise (45 day B2B on the Statendam) and are booked for the Voyage of the Vikings in 2015. Already looking for what is available in 2016 - yes we have come to love cruising :D

 

Forgot - needed to add that when I was little my grandparent's did several crossing when they did trips to Europe. That was back when they would let visitors come aboard - I have pictures of my Grandmother and me on the deck of the USS United States at the pier in New York City.

Edited December 22, 2014 by iflyrc5
added information

[notjaded]

We went to a friend's wedding in Switzerland once; the reception was at a barn, nicely outfitted mind ya, and the sleeping arrangements were in the hay of that bad boy! :eek:

 

I was always trying to make hay with my wife. Perhaps I took it too literally..:):)

[Davidson Duo]

Our first cruise was two weeks in July 1977 on our postponed honeymoon. I was 6 months pregnant by then, but there were no issues with flying (18 hours) or cruising in those days. We started our marriage with 3 little boys under ten, and minuscule funds to be able to splurge on traveling. We knew our honeymoon would be our only opportunity for MANY years to go big and pamper ourselves. At a bridal fair, a nice fellow at one of the booths was offering dirt cheap prices on a cruise in the Mediterranean. We both loved the water (born and raised on the West Coast of BC, with many ferry rides, living in isolation in communities only accessible by float plane or fishing boat, and avid fishermen). Sounded like the perfect fit.

 

Our cruise ship was the Ithaca. The ship was part of the Ulysses Line, chartered by Strand Cruises. It was Greek crew, and we were in heaven! We embarked in Palermo Sicily, with stops in Malta, Rhodes, Athens, Mykonos, 2 days in Piraeus Israel (overnight), Kusadasi Turkey, Crete, and disembarking back in Palermo.

 

The food was amazing. We had 4 couples at a table, then our steward brought a huge platter for each course (7-8 every night!), and served us all with his two spoons in one hand. There was always a bit left over, and he kept trying to give it to me "cause I was eating for two"!!!! Boy did I have to be strong so as not to become a blimp.

 

Looking back on our pictures, our cabin was very small and basic with a tiny porthole, but we remember it as the height of luxury.

 

And yes, we were hooked on cruising from the moment we set foot on board. We were pampered and treated like Royalty. A very special experience for two newlyweds.

 

Afterwards we went home and spent the next 17 years raising our 5 kids. Camping trips was the vacation mode during that time frame, but we always knew we would return to cruising as soon as we could afford the time and cost.

 

We kept telling our (large) families that they needed to try it. We finally convinced my folks, and they tried HAL through the Panama Canal and fell hard and heavy. So the next year, they took all my siblings and our spouses (16 of us total!) to Alaska on the Volendam. HAL met every one of our expectations that we had harped about to our family over the years, and we made immediate converts of all my family. Since then, we have travelled to Alaska as a family group 2 more times, we have cruised with my (86 year old) parents many times on trips up to 30 days long, and have done numerous trips just the 2 of us. We tried other lines, but keep coming back to HAL. They are just the right fit for us. We are off for another jaunt the beginning of the year - and just can't book anything less than 14 days now. The longer the cruise, the better.

 

Needless to say, we still cruise as often as we can.

[TylerRose]

Our first cruise (1987) was our honeymoon on Premier's Royale. We had small twin beds and had to climb over them to get to the bathroom. The door could only open part way & we shimmied in sideways. If we stood on our tip toes on top of one of the beds- we could even peep out our very own porthole!

We could not have been any happier... it might just as well have been the penthouse! For us, it was a dream. :D

[pris993]

My DH, who is 82 and 15 years older than I, had cruised before I met him. So he is the one who got us cruising, we did a 7 day on the Song of America, in l982 or so, when the ship was new. I remember leaving St Thomas, thinking how wonderful the cruise had been, never dreaming we would go again and again... we have gone so many times we have lost count. Well over 50+ on 9 different lines, all over the Mediterranean, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, TAs, TPs, it has been a wonderful addiction. We are book for the QM2 next September to do the east coast up to Quebec City and back to New York. :D

[RMLincoln]

We'd been working on getting a house ready to sell for more months than I care to admit. The tile guy made a mess working on a bathroom floor, munging up the wallpaper to the extent where I had to take the wallpaper off and re-do the wall.

 

I used some sort of gooey wallpaper removal gel. It worked pretty well. After I let the gel soak I was able to use a putty knife to strip the paper off the wall. But the paper strips fell back onto me... my hair, my face, it curled behind my glasses...yuck. At that very moment I told myself "A cruise! yes, a cruise would be nice!! My exact, vivid thought burned into my memory:D

 

As we drove home from the closing where we sold that house I told DH I had a stop to make, a business called "cruise something or other...." and we booked our first cruise. It was the last sailing to Alaska that season and left in 3 weeks from the day we booked it. 2003.

 

Had no idea what we were doing. We took our 5th wheel RV to Washington state, visited some family, left the trailer there with them, borrowed some rolling duffle bags (which collapse and make storing them in the trailer easier) and packed a brand new digital camera (our first ever) my wedding dress for formal night (it was silver gray floor length from 10 years before) and DH's suit and off we went with our passports to a Vancouver departure.

 

Had a fabulous time experiencing everything new, agog at the ship, the scenery, the FOOD, the music, the shows... even thought the inside room assigned to us on a guarantee was cute! We paid way too much for that room but we had a blast!

 

Embarkation took us 2 and a half hours waiting, during which time we ate our sandwiches that we'd made in the trailer that morning... everybody else was complaining that they wanted their lunch. We didn't know we might get a lunch.

 

The rest is history. m--

 

PS Didn't discover cruise critic until late 2007. That changed history and cruising for me:D

[serendipity1499]

My First Cruise, before marriage was on Hellenic Cruises (AKA Kavounides Shipping Co.) "Orion" 1970 in the Greek Islands.. Worked for a European Airline & was able to get a 7 day cruise at a good interline rate.. It hooked me for life.. I still have the mimeographed daily programs & the Capt's dinner Menu. .LOL

 

First Cruise after Marriage, was 1983 on Norwegian Caribbean Cruise Line's "Southward".. They've since had a name change to NCL.

 

Still worked for the same airline & had to convince DH & our Dear Friends (who also were airline employees) that a cruise is something they would enjoy & never forget.. They could not understand why I would want to pay for a cruise, when we all got free Airline travel..

 

Took me a long time to convince them all & believe they only did it just to get me get off their backs.. We all still talk about that first cruise & our fantastic Waiter & Assistant Waiter.. Of course, we're all hooked now! LOL None of us have ever had a bad cruise!

 

After retiring DH & I bought a sailboat & sailed to Fla.. We joined a local Sailing Club & did quite a bit of sailing with them and with another couple in particular.. In 1996 our club’s Vice Commodore decided to book a group on NCL’s 7 day “Dreamward” cruise to the Eastern Caribbean & we joined them.. We all had such a good time together & again booked another 10 day cruise in 1998 with the Sailing club on HAL’s “Ryndam” to the Southern Caribbean..

 

Since then we’ve had 12 more HAL cruises.. Our Airline Friends who we cruised with on the “Southward” joined us & our Fla. Sailing friends several years ago on the “Noordam” when DH & I had a ROV.. That cruise was very special to us.. We all still talk about our first cruises together..

 

No cruise last year, but hope to have one sometime next year..

Edited December 22, 2014 by serendipity1499

[MekesMom]

I started cruising with Mom after Dad died.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Bescotti]

Like most young Australians of my era, I rushed off to London for a working holiday and touring all around Europe. By the time I was ready to return home I had too much luggage to fly (and unaccompanied luggage was prohibitively expensive) so I sailed home on the old SS Australis in the mid 70's around the Cape of Good Hope as the Suez was closed.

 

The voyage took over 4 weeks with stops only at Cherbourg (I think), Tenerife, Cape Town, Fremantle, Melbourne and finally Sydney. Just as well I don't mind sea days!

 

I was in a shared inside 6 berth cabin with a communal shower room down the corridor - all for the princely sum of 13 times my weekly gross salary in London!

[world~citizen]

We were living in Tokyo at the time and went off to Yokohama on a Sunday to a favourite restaurant and there in the harbour was the QE2.

 

It looked magnificent and we decided to figure out how to sail her. On our return home (to Canada), we booked a complicated itinerary that put us in Southampton for a transatlantic to NYC. We booked two months in advance and got more and more anxious about our journey home, very much looking forward to our time onboard the Queen.

 

One week before sailing we turned on CNN and my wife said: "Look, there is the QE2." Sure enough, there it was, and it had just run aground.

 

Our crossing was cancelled, but they gave us a discount on a TA if we booked that year. We booked a flight out to London for later that year to catch the last TA to NYC before Christmas. The ship didn't run aground this time and we loved the experience - force 10 gale and all.

 

We never looked back.

[kazu]

what a great way to start the day!

 

Reading more of everyone's wonderful stories :D

[take us away]

A long time ago, decided that I wanted to do something different when I turned 30. Found a great package deal for a cruise + airfare that sailed from Puerto Rico that was 7 islands in 7 days. My SO at the time was more than happy to go if I paid. We went home totally exhausted and totally addicted! Lived in MN at the time, hated winter, so took off for a few weeks each winter. Have sailed with friends and family, and alone when friends were either buying their 1st house or having babies, and have done the single share program with great success. Went 1 year without a cruise (ok, got married instead) and had sea withdrawal symptoms. Thankfully my husband (not the past SO) has gone from pacing the deck after a few days to absolutely loving the whole cruise experience. Now that we are retired, we can go on even longer cruises so we are off to see the world!

 

p.s. - still use the same travel agent from that 1st cruise!

Edited December 22, 2014 by take us away

[luvteaching]

My parents had cruised several times and were always saying what a great time they'd had. About ten years ago they sold the family home and downsized to a condo. We three daughters were given some of our inheritance early. My DH and I didn't need the money for bills or anything so wondered what we could do that would be different and fun. We thought of trying a cruise so went to our local travel agent and booked a Concierge tour on the Oosterdam out of Seattle. We had a great time and haven't looked back. Due to DH's mobility and oxygen issues and my work schedule sailing out of Seattle works for us so we've stayed with the Alaska runs. We did one trip on Princess and liked it but HAL felt like "home" and there we've stayed. The two week itinerary on the Amsterdam is our flat out favorite.

 

Karen

Edited December 22, 2014 by luvteaching

[AZNative2000]

Great question Jacqui!

 

Despite the fact that our first cruise was in the early 80s, we are real cruise newbies. That 3-day cruise (LA-Catalina-Ensenada) was a "prize" at work and it was horrible! The tiny "ship", the tiny cabin (porthole), the weather, the bad food, the sea sickness, all made for our vow to NEVER cruise again.

 

Fast forward to 2010 when we have reached "see Alaska" on our bucket list.:)

 

At DW's request, I must select a ship "bigger than Titanic" for our (one and only) cruise to Alaska. After much searching and getting advice from friends, I selected Zuiderdam. (And, after that I found Cruise Critic.)

 

Well, I don't have to tell you all how fantastic it was. We booked the Zuiderdam for the Panama Canal right after that (I didn't know about onboard booking at that time.) and cruised again six months later. We've been trying to keep up the pace ever since. We've now sailed on all four Vistas including a TA on Noordam last year, something we never thought we would do. And, we will return to Alaska for the third time next fall.

 

Our "bucket list" has expanded to the point where we are now booked going to Antarctica in 2017. If not for discovering REAL cruising, we'd still be flying and riding busses as we see the world. Cruising is wayyyy better!!

 

Cheers!

Edited December 22, 2014 by AZNative2000

[KirkNC]

Our first cruise was our honeymoon in 1987. While we enjoyed it, we did not get back to cruising until the late 90's and now try and do one or two per year.

[serendipity1499]

Interesting question kazu. I've been trying to figure out my answer.

 

Here's the short version: It was fate.

 

Here's a longer but still incomplete version, which I debated posting. It might seem somewhat "Debbie Downer" but from my perspective, it isn't. It is about hope and renewal.

 

After my husband died, I spent every day working, and every month-end making payments on the mountain of bills we'd incurred when he was ill.

 

One day a marketing piece arrived in the mail, with an invitation to a Holland America presentation on cruises to Alaska. It was being held nearby. I went. For years, I had wanted to cruise to Alaska. Signed up the next day. The agent tried to convince me to go on "some other" line, but I held firm. I wanted a quiet, sedate experience. I wanted to rest and restore, after about 2 1/2 years of not having any opportunity to rest. I wanted to do something, anything that would affirm that I was going to "make it". That I would still be able to find enjoyment in life.

 

Could only afford a single-share interior cabin so that's what I did (and truly couldn't afford that, given the "mountain of bills" I still had ;) ). The cabin goddesses smiled on me, and I got assigned a solo cabin with a porthole!

 

Except for the weather, the cruise met every need that I had at that exact moment in time. Having done something so outside my comfort zone, and having actually succeeded, I felt I could safely re-engage in life.

 

Now when I need restoration, I always head for the ocean, whether on a ship or land vacation. :)

 

What an up-lifting post!

 

Thanks Kazu for starting this thread.. Have read every story & realize that this board & the many Friends I've made, have meant so much to me.. Sometimes when I''m tired & upset, just sitting here & reading the many posts have helped me cope.. In addition, some of you have sent me wonderful & helpful e-mails.. Thank you all for your patience (sp?) & concern!:):)

 

Wishing everyone a wonderful Holiday Season & a Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Year..

Edited December 22, 2014 by serendipity1499