What year and what ship was your first cruise?

[navybankerteacher]

1992 USS Acadia AD-42....a nice 6 month journey form San Deigo to the Persian gulf and back. With stops in Hawaii, Guam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Bahrain and Dubai.

 

We did do a few short cruises off the coast of California in 91 while getting ready for our long journey in 92...but never visited any ports. ;p

 

I'm not sure OP was referring to ships of the "USS" line.

[Shmoo here]

2008 - Disney Magic 15 night Panama Canal

 

22 cruises to date, 2 more booked.

[TruckerDave]

I'm not sure OP was referring to ships of the "USS" line.

 

 

Accommodations were certainly not as good as the mass market lines, food not as good, but the casino was much better. :D

[Yukonjake]

1978, USS Ulysses S. Grant, SSBN 631. A leisurely 3-1/2 month cruise from Charleston, SC to Holy Loch, Scotland.

 

I'm not counting the sea trials and re-certification excercises after bringing Grant out of overhaul earlier in the year.

[Kartgv]

Summer of 1977 on the Starward.

[antmaril]

1982 NCL Starward.

[XBGuy]

NCL - M/S Southward - October 1976 - Western Caribbean Itinerary (Honeymoon)

 

Most significant changes I've seen since my first cruise:

• All cabins have a TV
  
• All cabins have a telephone
  
• Ships are a lot bigger. As I recall, there were about 600 passengers on the Southward.
  
• Many more dining options.
  
• I'm sure I can think of some other things.
  

I agree that the dining room was filled every evening. Mostly, of course, that was because there was no other option. I found also, that as the cruise progressed, the dining room fare became less impressive. I remember a soup about four or five days in that was, basically broth with cut up hot dogs in it. That did not seem particularly sophisticated to me. We never saw an "always open" buffet on a ship until our fourth cruise in the 1990s. There was a midnight buffet once per cruise. On that night the dining room was converted after the last dinner seating. Then, it had to be cleared and rearranged for the next breakfast seating.

 

 

As an aside, I see that a number of contributors to this thread had their first cruise on the SS Norway. I wonder if there is anybody out there whose first cruise was on the SS France.

[Stairsonly]

1976 Pacific Princess from Sydney. I was 16 years old cruising with my family celebrating my recovery from a serious accident. I'm now 59 and have loved cruising since.

 

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[Cruseforme]

Christmas Cruise 1974 : Sun Line’s Stella Solaris. I was a teen with my parents. Port hole room was fancy in those days! HaHa!

[sgmn]

Our first cruise was QM2 transatlantic N.Y. to Southampton non stop in 2006. the kids always wanted to go to NYC and hubby and I always wanted to try a cruise. A really good deal came up on QM so it was the perfect opportunity to do both. We loved it - the enrichment programme was amazing and the had a planetarium ! Next cruise was once the kids had left home on carnival but since then we have cruised only on Royal Caribbean.

Actually hubs just reminded me his first cruise was the Saxonia of the Cunard line in 1959 travelling from France to Canada with his family who were in Canadian armed forces

[CharlotteK15]

First cruise had us arrive in NY Harbour 9-9-01. Two days later that skyline forever changed. Since then we've taken over 25 cruises. There seems to be a lot more norovirus incidents thus resulting in the hand sanitizing now a staple on every ship. Suggested tips have gone up a lot too. Dining is more casual. The newer ships are phenomenal with so much detail.

 

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[Chewy94]

The first and only cruise I've set sail on was in August 2017. My bride and I took our honeymoon on the MSC Divina through the Caribbean. We departed on a seven night cruise on Aug. 26th through Sept. 2nd. Since it was our honeymoon we splurged and upgraded to the yacht club. We really enjoyed our time on this vessel, so much that we booked another trip for September of 2019 on the MSC Seaside.

 

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[IDKaren]

1977 Holland America but can’t remember which ship.

Differences than today?

No buffets except wonderful midnight buffet.

People all dressed up for Dining room and there was no sneaking in with shorts and halters.

You HAD to pick a dining time..breakfast AND dinner.

Food was SO good and so many classy items.

There weren’t herds of children running around undisciplined

There was a captains reception with fancy food and free drinks.

It didn’t cost an hours pay for a drink.

People seemed much classier then..there wasn’t the loud boisterous drunk obnoxious people everywhere..not following simple etiquette.

The price then for an inside cabin was about what it is now for a balcony so supply and demand has really helped the cost!

[Dancing Shoes]

1975 Xanadu small ship to Alaska. Operated as Xanadu Cruises. Ship being restored in Calif. New name is MV Aurora.

Edited May 25, 2018 by Dancing Shoes
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[Needz2Cruise]

2010 - Disney Wonder - Port Canaveral, Nassau, Castaway Cay

[XBGuy]

I just remembered another change.

 

When we boarded we were greeted by uniformed personnel (just like on "The Love Boat") as we stepped off the gangway and were given a glass of Champagne (OK, it may not have been Champagne. It was, definitely, Sparkling Wine.)

[frontdesklady]

1990 the Norway. Elegant, classy, totally beautiful. She got us hooked.

[lenquixote66]

uote=fla gang;56135165]How has cruising changed since your first sailing. In the early 80's people dressed up a lot more before going to dinner every night.

The ships were much smaller, some holding under 1000 passengers.

My first cruise was on Carnival Fantasy two. weeks after 911.

I have been on around 30 cruises since.

 

 

My first cruise was on the Cunard Ambassador in 1973.There were no shore excursions .The only ship activities were skeet shooting and shuffleboard .Mandatory dress nights .The meals were wonderful as well as the evening entertainment.

[hancogran]

November, 1957 on the Empress of England from Liverpool to Montreal (8 days crossing). Can't remember a whole about the trip except that my mother and sister were sick all the way over. Back then, I don't think there were patches or meds for sea sickness the way there is nowadays.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Don't remember the exact year, but it was in the 80's -- Cunard Countess -- 14 days out of San Juan. It was a back-to-back cruise.

[leaveitallbehind]

September 1992, RCI Sovereign of the Seas, Eastern Caribbean. Our 10th anniversary.

[Velvetwater]

Carnival Legend 2013 13 day Baltic.

 

It was the best!

[PROCRUISE]

2002 - CCL Paradise (when it was a completely smoke free ship) Western Caribbean.

[pris993]

1982 or 1983 RRCL Song of America.

[Reina del Mar]

1969. Aged 13, Two weeks Med cruise, to and back to Southampton.

 

Union Castle's T.S.S. REINA del MAR

 

(See pen name)