What mistake did you make on your first cruise

[Appalachian Mountain Mama]

Biggest mistake... first cruise 1992 on the Big Red Boat, 2nd cruise 2017 on NA. I will never make that stupid mistake again because I am already planning my next 3 cruises!!!

 

 

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[serendipity1499]

This was not on my first cruise but on my first world cruise. I thought it was wonderful that we had a self-service laundry - I could save so much money doing the wash myself. I did this for about 8 weeks. Go to the laundry - wait for a washer (could be as much as an hour) - wait for washer to finish - wait for dryer (again maybe an hour wait) - wait for dryer to finish - oops, clothes still wet, add a few minutes to dryer - press the couple of things that need it - lug it back to cabin - hang or fold everything and put it away. All of this took 3-4 hours of my time.

 

Then I saw the light. If I really want to wash clothes, I can do it at home - as much as I want, whenever I want. Can I watch the see, smell the salt air, swim in the pool, play trivia, go to a lecture, etc. every day at home? NO! So now I pay a few dollars and my clothes are collected, washed, ironed, put on hangars and delivered to my cabin and I have not wasted my precious cruising time.

 

I did this for a long time too.. Now we send it all out! Like you I learned to play & have fun instead of doing laundry..

 

Back to my first cruise-I was single & with a Friend from my office.. We had an inside cabin on a small ship doing the Greek Islands in 1970...I enjoyed that cruise so much that I was finally able to convince DH & our best Friends to book a cruise together.. In 1983 we all booked a 7 day on Norwegian.. Our Friends booked an outside cabin & we booked an inside cabin..

 

Ist mistake was booking for 7 days, & the 2nd mistake was booking an inside cabin..

 

Never again.. Now we take the longer cruises & always have either an outside or a balcony cabin..

 

P.S. And HAL always does my laundry!:D:D

Edited January 24, 2017 by serendipity1499

[TheCruisingAccountant]

Cruising Acct wrote: "My grandmother used to babysit me as a child, and we would watch the The Love Boat together. I wish I could have thanked her for that, the time together, and the seed that she planted"

 

We actually sailed on the sister ship and stand in for the Love Boat - the old Island Princess which had become the Voyages of Discovery ship. After spending time on her we re-watched the Love Boat episodes to see how we too formed our ideas about "cruising". It was a kick to see how many departures and artistic license the show took from the actual state of a real cruise ship at that time, mainly in size and layout.

 

In the show, the hallways were huge allowing at least three people to walk abreast talking to each other. In the dining room, it was always long gown formal night, with two tiers of generously spaced tables and a bar in the same room. The cabins were multiple room suites. The pool was a grand deck space. People would come and go with one small suitcase in hand. And of course the staff all worked together constantly to fix individual affairs of the heart for each grateful passenger.

 

Real ship: cabins were very cramped - 130 feet, very little closet space. Halls were narrow. Dining room was at the water line level with closely packed tables. The pool was a circular pit that was extremely hard to get out of, more like a shark tank.

 

But the staff was great and oh the places we got to see on that wonderful old ship. I think both she and her sister the real Love Boat - the Pacific Princess - are doing short hauls and charters in Europe these days.

 

Oddly enough, this was one of the things I thought about before we boarded the first time. As a kid, I did not really grasp the whole "studio, set and location" mix of the show.

 

Now, of course, when I catch a re-run, there is a lot of eye rolling over what is portrayed right, and what is not. I still have not seen a plethora of super fit, attractive and half naked men and women in their early 20's doing morning aerobics by the pool, for example

 

I love the entertainment lounge on the show the most. That place must seat about 50, tops. No proper audio, mixing boards, stage, room, etc.

 

I would like to do more of the smaller ship cruising, to be honest; smallest so far was the Statendam prior to its retirement to Australia.

 

Its between a Eurodam or an Amsterdam trip late summer/early fall for us this year, and I am hoping that the Amsterdam is where we end up. We love the Vista ships, but after a few of those in a row and a trip on one of RCL's mega ships, I would like to shed 20,000 odd tonnes next time out

[OlsSalt]

Oddly enough, this was one of the things I thought about before we boarded the first time. As a kid, I did not really grasp the whole "studio, set and location" mix of the show.

 

Now, of course, when I catch a re-run, there is a lot of eye rolling over what is portrayed right, and what is not. I still have not seen a plethora of super fit, attractive and half naked men and women in their early 20's doing morning aerobics by the pool, for example

 

I love the entertainment lounge on the show the most. That place must seat about 50, tops. No proper audio, mixing boards, stage, room, etc.

 

I would like to do more of the smaller ship cruising, to be honest; smallest so far was the Statendam prior to its retirement to Australia.

 

Its between a Eurodam or an Amsterdam trip late summer/early fall for us this year, and I am hoping that the Amsterdam is where we end up. We love the Vista ships, but after a few of those in a row and a trip on one of RCL's mega ships, I would like to shed 20,000 odd tonnes next time out

 

Here is a video tour of the real Love Boat sister ship 'Island Princess", after she became the MV Discovery but before was finally scrapped in India in 2015 - never more to be a stand-in star for any TV show:

Edited January 24, 2017 by OlsSalt

[Boytjie]

None actually. My 1st cruise on the Lewis R French was one of the best.

 

DON

 

Been on it too! and a month later I was on the QM2. Quite different. :D

[Boytjie]

Thanks to Cruise Critic we did not make many mistakes on our first cruise; the one we did make was trying to see and do everything on a gay charter. Big mistake! There is too much going on and you end up rushing from one thing to the next.

[TheCalicoCat]

I have not made this mistake personally, but I know someone who got stuck on a cruise with a "political group" - She was miserable to whole cruise. (She considered quitting the whole cruise & flying home.)

[baja mama]

Getting on the ship and taking one of the drinks the waiters are carrying around and thinking they were free. Silly us!

[14 months and counting]

....was with friends who had taken three other cruises before us. We just went along with everything they recommended. We left Boston the day of embarkation.

 

Our flight , booked through the cruise line, was a charter air company with three planes. The first flight was Boston to Miami. It departed Boston at 8:00 AM. When we arrived at Miami, we were told our plane to Puerto Rico would be delayed because of mechanical issues. The charter company could not repair the problem so we had to wait for their second plane to fly back from Puerto Rico and fly us to San Juan to meet the ship. We arrived at the airport at midnight and actually walked into our cabin at 2:00 AM.

 

The luggage arrived at 3:00 AM. As newbies we didn't know enough to pack even a tooth brush in our carryon. After only a few hours sleep, we had to attend the muster drill. Then it was off to guest relations to book our shore excursions which were almost sold out.

 

Lesson learned - never fly on the cruise line's charter flight,always fly in at least a day ahead, pack an overnight case with the basics, and if you are booking shore excursions through the cruise line do it in advance.

 

We still had a fabulous vacation and have cruised about thirty times since then.

[jabcruiser]

May I ask what type of art is offered at these auctions?

Ugly "art". Quotations because personally, I wouldn't allow any that I have seen to be in my house and don't consider it "art" at all. Just another revenue enhancement scheme by cruise lines. I can't believe how many people go to them and actually buy stuff, and really get excited about it. Wow. Their taste is certainly different than mine. Each to there own I guess.

First cruise can't say made any mistakes. Really enjoyed the old smallish ship out of New Orleans. But 2nd cruise, mistake was going on NCL. Never again, and from what I read even worse now.