Your First Cruise

[MagicNMe]

My first cruise was on Explorer of the Seas in Jan 2004, right before going back to my second semester of college. Mom won a heap of TA change through a cellphone camera contest, decided to take us on a cruise! We did a Western Caribbean 7-day... but that wasn't even the beginning of mom's lucky streak! Before we even set sail, mom played Bingo and won an upgrade to the unbooked Royal Suite :eek: Talk about WOW'd! We had a fantastic time.

 

We keep going back to RCCL because there's something for everybody and we get to see new destinations each time. I enjoy spending time with my sisters and never feeling short on good food or entertainment. We stay loyal to Royal because the service is always great and the ships amaze us.

[calypso73]

Thank you all for sharing. I'm loving your responses :-) As a first time cruiser its both interesting and helpful to read.

[searoses]

Majesty 1996....had been to stt the year before and became addicted to islands....my family has an island in the St Lawrence seaway.....never made me feel like the caribbean did!...my large family started cruising after we told them how much fun it was....a few years later my mother took 19 of us to alaska....the only thing on her bucket list....I loved the window over the back of the bed that had a space we could sort of crawl into and see the new landscape....the dining room took me back to those days of Sunday dinner at the country club with the grandparents ......love getting on the ship and the underlying excitement . ....over the years we have done more land trips in the carib.as my husband loves the fun driving and not having to follow a schedule....but we enjoy any trip to the islands and have aos booked for feb to see a few more!

[novalab]

With so many repeat cruisers on this thread I'm curious about your first cruise.

 

1. What do you remember most about your first cruise? What made it special?

The ship seemed HUGE! (it was Majesty OTS :0) On our first day at sea we saw a waterspout off in the distance & dolphins following our ship. Coming from the desert Southwest, it all seemed so magical!

2. What makes you keep cruising?

I think it is the perfect vacation break from a very stressful career. Sometime after my 3rd cruise everything just 'clicked' & I realized I was hooked (excuse the pun please:p)

 

3 What is it about RCI that makes you return to their ships time and again?

Tried another cruise line while our daughter was small. I found myself coming home from those cruises more wound up & irritated than when I left for vacation! Not good. Tried another RC cruise & realized that I had found what I was missing in the 'other' cruiseline. Loved the ships, the staff, the passengers in general. I came home relaxed, rested & sad that my vacation was over. To me, that was a sign of a good vacation worth waiting all year for!:D

 

Please see above in red:)

 

PS: I would like to add that winning a cover-all Bingo game on Majesty on our last night at sea was a BIG thrill! My share of the pot (had to split it with one other passenger) was $5,000 in cash!LOL I immediately booked our 2nd cruise the moment we got home. This was back in 1998.

Edited May 25, 2015 by novalab

[welshy74]

My first cruise was quite unique. It was on the Navigator of the seas out of Southampton UK on a 12 night cruise to the Canary Islands in 2007. It was special because the reason I was on the ship was because a friend was working on it and got us a very cheap deal staying in a crew cabin! Thankfully an officers cabin with a window.

We hung out with the crew, especially the entertainment crew and got to know the bar staff quite well, which came with big advantages!! ;) it was amazing to see all the behind the scenes of the ship and get to see and experience a part of the cruise other guests could not. I met amazing people who work so hard.

Cruise holidays in the UK had a reputation of being something retired people do.. This cruise proved me so wrong and I have been addicted ever since. I deviated a few times to NCL (awful) and MSC (very good) but RCL keeps tempting me back. In 5 days time I board the Allure out of Barcelona, but this time I'm paying full price and not in a crew cabin!

 

One thing I did find out.. RCL crew don't favour European cruise schedules.. We just don't tip like on the Carribean. I was constantly reminded about this!!

[CruiseMore1]

With so many repeat cruisers on this thread I'm curious about your first cruise.

 

1. What do you remember most about your first cruise? What made it special?

 

2. What makes you keep cruising?

 

3 What is it about RCI that makes you return to their ships time and again?

 

1. How long I waited to get that first cruise! Went on Carnival - the Carnivale. It wasn't our favorite, but we knew we would continue to cruise!

 

2. Love the experience of cruising! Lately taking longer cruises - love the ships, love the ports, love the sea days!

 

3. The ships just seem the best fit for us and entertainment can't be beat. Have also sailed on NCL, Celebrity, Premier and Commodore.

 

We are finally making it to your beautiful city next year for our first transpacific - Sydney to Seattle!

[orville99]

1981 on HAL to Bermuda. Every cabin had a manifest of all the passengers, and there was a contest to find the "secret" couple. Winner got a bottle of champagne. Sort of a week long primeval meet&mingle - but then there were only about 800 passengers on board.

[Paulette3028]

1. What do you remember most about your first cruise? What made it special?

Our first cruise was February 2004 on Navigator. We are returning to the site of the crime on 11/22/15. Such a crime it was, that we have committed the same crime (of cruising) soon to be 17 more times and will continue to do it. It was very special because the year before we had relocated to S. Florida and left all of our friends in NJ. Our friends (who had been cruisers) came up with the idea of this 7 day cruise for the 4 couples. We agreed that we would have dinner together at 6pm, but no one had to feel they had to spend all day and evening together -- choose your own excursions and evening activities....but since we were good friends, a lot of the things we 'independently' decided to do, we were doing together...we knew nothing about cabin choice, so all the plans were made by our friends....we just paid for it.

 

2. What makes you keep cruising? We found something we loved to do, but really could not figure out why we loved it. In November of 2004 we went on Her Majesty of the Seas for 3 days to see if we enjoyed going on Navigator or the concept of cruising. We realized we loved the calmness of a nights sleep on the ship and the fun you can have on board and off in ports. We have never looked back, only AHEAD to our next cruise and the things to do. The people on board make the experience. Even if we have been on a ship before, different cruisers and different staff make every cruise, a 'first cruise' -- and we know that the entertainment staff -- from CD to Activity Manager to staff play a role in the entertainment portion of our fun.

 

3 What is it about RCI that makes you return to their ships time and again? The simple sense of feeling like I am 'at home' and 'comfortable'. I don't look at 'what things have they changed' -- because even restaurants at home change; I look at what 'fun' can I have or where can I simply relax. Then just do it -- as Nike says.

 

Personally, like many, I wish Royal would make pricing easier and go back to combining discounts....but it is not in my power to make their policy. It is in my power to complain to those in corporate positions that need to hear my POV, and I voice that POV. So far, we have always found a cruise for a reasonable fare that we are willing to pay.

[Justmekaren918]

SS Norway very old world cruising. Service and dancing the nights away.

 

Brilliance, the service and ease of traveling Solo

[Familygoboston]

First Royal Cruise: Monarch of the Seas, November 1993- she was brand new and the biggest thing on the seas! It was our inlaws 40 th anniversary, and we arranged a special toast in the Champagne Bar on formal night. It's the only trip I've taken with all my inlaws (save one brotherin law who was working on his PhD)

 

Why we keep cruising: unpack once and be somewhere new almost every day! Oh, that and the ocean, or river, really any water anywhere, we love the water!

 

Why return to RCI: The value, with golden (diamond?) cuffs, it's well worth it for us to take a Royal cruise over any other or stay on land in the Caribbean islands, plus, it's more interesting than being stuck at one Caribbean resort for a week! Every day, there is a new place to explore and a new ship to explore while getting there! As for other places, we go with the best itinerary and service...usually a small ship on another line.

 

Fun thread, enjoyed reading others responses!

[2nsmom]

June 2000 to Bermuda out of NYC on Empress of the Seas...A friend of mine went on this cruise for her honeymoon and spoke so highly of it and how affordable it was, so we gave it a try for our 5th anniversary and LOVED IT!! Now we go for every 5th anniversary...our 20th will be in June and we be on the Independence of the Seas in the Ben and Jerry's Sweet. We have taken our kids on 2 cruises and they love it as well. We love that fact that can visit so many places and not have to pack up and switch hotels....it's like our own floating hotel and it goes wherever we want it to go. Can't wait until we retire so we cruise whenever we want :)

[deliver42]

My first cruise was on the Carnival Fantasy. I liked the idea of cruising, but my BH hated it. She gave it one more try on the Norway, and we were both sold on cruising. Our first RCI cruise was on the Grandeur for 7 day Western, and we both fell in love with RCI at that time. Ship was beautiful, and the crew terrific, especially our waiter and assistant waiter. I believe Shukart was his name. I wouldn't swear to it because it was a long time ago, and I'm sure the spelling is wrong. He was from Eastern Europe. That I remember.

[KellyJean]

My first cruise was with Premier Cruise Line. I was cruising alone and I always felt like I was getting treated extra special because I was doing so. The crew and fellow passengers just made me feel so special. This was before Disney had their own cruise ships so we had Disney characters on board. The little girl came out on this cruise and I just loved getting pictures made with Mickey and Pluto!

 

What do I like about cruising? You unpack once and relax for the whole cruise. You can do everything there is to do or do nothing at all. I like being able to wake up to a different location every morning and have people waiting on me for a change.

 

I keep coming back to Royal for several reasons. The ships - the profile of their ships first attracted me to Royal with the first time I was docked next to the Empress in Nassau. I have always had great service with Royal and their prices have always been attractive.

[PamJack]

Our first cruise was on Celebrity Constellation in 2014. It was only four nights and we said we should enjoy this because it'll probably be our only cruise. WRONG!!! We went on another one this year on Carnival Valor. We chose that one because of the itinerary. We really wanted to see Aruba.

 

There are so many things we like about cruising that I can't pick just one. The whole overall experience has us in its grips.

 

Our first Royal cruise will be on the Navigator in April of next year. I can hardly wait and am spending lots of time reading all about cruises and researching until then.

 

Thanks for posting this thread. I have loved reading everyone's responses.

[lbridgers]

1. My first cruise was on the Enchantment of the Seas with my parents and sister. While I cannot remember one specific thing that I loved about that cruise, I do remember that when my parents decided to take a Christmas cruise in 2003 that it was a unanimous yes. I do remember on that cruise a really great waiter who would always greet us in the MDR with a pot of coffee and a song to get the morning started right.

2. Cruising takes was all of you worries and stress. Even on the typical vacation you have to drive to a restaurant or activities, but with a cruise everything is just a walk away.

3. I am loyal to RCI because we have not had a bad experience with them. Also the only other cruise line I have been on is Carnival and I thought the service was not up to the same standards and we were on an older and smaller boat which limited the activities available on the ship.

Edited May 26, 2015 by lbridgers

[SPacificbound]

With so many repeat cruisers on this thread I'm curious about your first cruise.

 

1. What do you remember most about your first cruise? What made it special?

 

2. What makes you keep cruising?

 

3 What is it about RCI that makes you return to their ships time and again?

 

My long answer to questions one and two...... :)

 

Our very first cruise was Rhapsody, Sydney to Honolulu 4/22/2013. :D

 

I booked it because I didn't want another long flight, so booked as transportation, but by sailaway I was hooked.

 

We had a fantastic stateroom attendant. The Concierge called and/or stopped by every day, he couldn't believe we didn't want/need anything.

 

We never made it the dinner in the dining room, went to the buffet and had room service a couple of times.

 

We didn't venture out in the evening until the 3rd or 4th day, then we were blown away. We went to the theater and then made it back to the Centrium for the rest of the evening. Got back to our cabin and I started laughing, it had been so much fun.

 

We had been introduced to Lemon, Lime and Bitters during our 8 weeks in Australia and were excited the ship bartenders could make them!

 

Answer to question three...we went on three Celebrity cruises earlier this year. We enjoyed them, the food was fine, entertainment was probably better, staff was great, but it didn't feel the same. We ended up cancelling some Celebrity cruises we (umm OK I) had booked for 2016 and booked Royal Caribbean. :)

[Sitzmark]

With so many repeat cruisers on this thread I'm curious about your first cruise.

 

1. What do you remember most about your first cruise? What made it special?

 

2. What makes you keep cruising?

 

3 What is it about RCI that makes you return to their ships time and again?

 

We've been on one cruise, it was the Disney Fantasy. I remember tough steaks, frozen reheated pizza on deck and a pretty simple light buffet. The server in the main dining room was a creepy clingy freak, getting away from her was like escaping from a crazed ex. The ship wide detective agency was fun, the shows were decent, but there was a lot of time spent waiting for something to happen, especially on sea days.

 

I am cruising again because I'm married and marriage involves compromise.

 

RCI is about half the cost of Disney, so that is part of our compromise.

[calypso73]

We've been on one cruise, it was the Disney Fantasy. I remember tough steaks, frozen reheated pizza on deck and a pretty simple light buffet. The server in the main dining room was a creepy clingy freak, getting away from her was like escaping from a crazed ex. The ship wide detective agency was fun, the shows were decent, but there was a lot of time spent waiting for something to happen, especially on sea days.

 

 

 

I am cruising again because I'm married and marriage involves compromise.

 

 

 

RCI is about half the cost of Disney, so that is part of our compromise.

 

 

I really hope you enjoy your RCI cruise more than your Disney one. Which ship are you going on? I have heard that there is so much to do on some of the RCI ships (like Oasis class) that it's difficult to do everything you want to try :-)

[Sitzmark]

I really hope you enjoy your RCI cruise more than your Disney one. Which ship are you going on? I have heard that there is so much to do on some of the RCI ships (like Oasis class) that it's difficult to do everything you want to try :-)

 

We're going on Oasis, we were supposed to go this spring but we cancelled and went to Disney World instead. I fear boredom on the boat.

[capriciousc]

Our first cruise as a family was on Disney Magic in 2009 (I had cruised with friends in college but to be honest those trips are somewhat hazy in my memory). At the time we cruised Disney, our daughter was 5 and so the Disney theme was the prime appeal (e.g., at that point she still believed Cinderella was the real princess, now she knows it's someone whose job it is to pretend). It was a good trip but so much more expensive compared to the same itinerary on other lines. Since then we've tried Norwegian and now Royal. We like waking up in a new place every day, and also being able to sample new places and decide if we want to return. We pretty much only cruise to places we haven't been before, and only about 20% of our vacations are cruises. We enjoy cruising but like to do other types of travel as well.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

With so many repeat cruisers on this thread I'm curious about your first cruise.

 

1. What do you remember most about your first cruise? What made it special?

 

2. What makes you keep cruising?

 

3 What is it about RCI that makes you return to their ships time and again?

 

Nice thread. Thank you posting.

 

What I remember about our first cruise was being able to do this with our adult kids. It was special because it was a 'first' cruise for all of us and we were able to share each other's company and make some wonderful memories as a family unit again as it was the first family vaction together in quite a few years.

 

What keeps me cruising is a difficult question but I think it would have to be the excitement of traveling at sea isitng exotic locations. I enjoy Royal because of the staff. I've never experienced a bad moment with any of the RCL staff or crew members. While some feel the prices have risen, I feel the price/value of a cruise vacation is still very solid. We have learned to navigate through the many cruises offered and enjoy finding a cruise that we can book many months in advance to save money and it's always a pleasure to snag a desried cabin location.

[Bowie MeMe]

Answering for my grandchildren. Each of the 3 have or will take their first cruise at the age of 6 months and 2 days old. They are all Jan. babies and 6 months is the limit to sail. So easy. Take their little folding crib and a pad for changing table. Mommy milk and diapers are all you need. Actually easier than at slightly older . JR will have her first cruise in August and already has her passport. Gonna love Indy though I won' t be on the babies cruise as I am sailing with other grands.

[calypso73]

We're going on Oasis, we were supposed to go this spring but we cancelled and went to Disney World instead. I fear boredom on the boat.

 

 

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - Franklin D. Roosevelt ;-). Plan to make the most of your cruise and you'll have a great time :-)

[Sherri914]

We're going on Oasis, we were supposed to go this spring but we cancelled and went to Disney World instead. I fear boredom on the boat.

 

I can't imagine you'll be bored on Oasis. Beautiful ship, tons of activities.

[Paulette3028]

We're going on Oasis, we were supposed to go this spring but we cancelled and went to Disney World instead. I fear boredom on the boat.

 

No fear needed.....you will not be bored. You will always have plenty to choose from to do, or just choose sitting by the pool.