How much did you pay for your FIRST cruise and when?

[Copper10-8]

On 10/12/2019 at 11:47 AM, Homosassa said:

1976 - seven night Caribbean cruise on the Chandris Britanis, fare, including roundtrip  air fare from NYC to Aruba (embarkation port), was $399 a person

 

[Copper10-8]

On 10/12/2019 at 12:13 PM, Ryten said:

1969 on the Franconia, New York to Bermuda, 7 days. $79.00 for a C deck berth with a group of Boy Scouts. Ah the good old days.

 

[Copper10-8]

On 10/12/2019 at 12:21 PM, geocruiser said:

It was either in 1976 or 1977 on Homes Lines SS Oceanic.  I payed about $550. for a week in a inside cabin.

 

[Copper10-8]

On 10/12/2019 at 12:29 PM, 1ANGELCAT said:

1976. SS Statendam NY to Bermuda. 7 days in the cheapest room on board . It had an upper and lower bunk. I believe it was around $400.00.

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

On 10/12/2019 at 1:54 PM, Mickb said:

1989 - Cunard's QE2. 6 days -  NYC/Bermuda/Martha’s Vineyard/NYC - in Queens Grill £1400 each inc flights fro and to London. 
19 cruises later - still totally hooked!

 

 

[Copper10-8]

On 10/12/2019 at 2:04 PM, Petunia1950 said:

My first "cruise" was in 1963 -- SS United States, New York to Le Havre.  Military transport because my father was in the Air Force so the Air Force paid.  The United States was then the fastest ocean liner -- five days at sea total.  The entire family (luckily only 4 of us) slept in one two-bunk-bed room with a porthole.  And we were thrilled.  I still have the passenger list booklet and one or two of the menus.  Fast forward to 2008 for my second cruise on board RCL's Liberty of the Seas, then the largest of the RCL ships.  I think we paid about $1800 for a balcony cabin for two.  That one got me hooked, although I dumped RCL for good after they "couldn't find us" during a transatlantic cruise in 2012 so we missed the ship's tour we had booked.  I don't know where they thought we were since we had left Europe behind about 4 days earlier ...

 

[Copper10-8]

On 10/12/2019 at 3:56 PM, Tantsee said:

NCL’s M/S Starward In 1986.  We were really stretching our pennies to take our first cruise.  If I recall correctly, it was $1200 including air and pre-cruise hotel.  That was for an inside cabin in the belly of the ship.  Lol. We even had to take the stairs to get down the final flight to our deck, because the elevator didn’t go down that far (at least in that location?).  I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t work these days!  It seemed like we were in the basement.  Yet, we always remember that cruise with fondness. 

 

[Copper10-8]

On 10/12/2019 at 5:13 PM, sevenseasnomad said:

Fairwind in May 1975, sailing from FLL on eastern Caribbean cruise, for $1200 per person, which included round-trip air fare from Washington D.C.  We loved Sitmar, marvelous service, fabulous food, and the entertainment was Red Buttons and Henny Youngman (for those of your born after a certain time period, those were two outstanding comedians, with Buttons also an actor in several movies).  We never laughed so much.  Each of them did two shows on a week-long cruise.  

 

Yes, that voyage hooked us.  Sadly, we didn't have the money to cruise on a regular basis until 2008.  By then, we'd taken 1 Carnival cruise, 3 RCCL cruises, and three Celebrity cruises.  We discovered HAL in 2008.  Since 2010, we've sailed HAL exclusively, at least twice a year, sometimes three times a year.  After 2017, I've sailed with family or friends, as my wonderful husband died.  He made me promise that I'd never stop cruising as long as I'm physically able.  It's a promise that isn't hard to fulfill, although I do miss sharing the adventure with him on these trips.  This summer will be my first time going solo.

 

But no cruise will ever exceed the joy of that first cruise.  

 

 

Edited October 14, 2019 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

On 10/12/2019 at 5:48 PM, redhot1 said:

It was 1976 on Song Of Norway an RCCL ship out of Miami and the cost was around $675 plus airfare to Miami from Los Angeles . Loved it and we were hooked. We've now taken close to 50 cruise with  about 25 on HAL. Out first HAL cruise was  an Alaskan cruise in 1990 out of Vancouver and was around  $1400   including out 2 daughters. Great  cruise and we have been on and off HAL ever since.😉

 

[Copper10-8]

On 10/13/2019 at 6:35 AM, Essiesmom said:

First two cruises were in 1972 on Home Lines Homeric, built in 1931.  Sailed solo, 10 days from NYC to San Juan St. Thomas, Martinique, St. Maarten.  Cost $350 in inside cabin.  Doesn't sound like a lot, but that is about $2100 in today's currency.  The next year I sailed twice on Oceanic.  No idea what I paid for those.  EM

 

[Copper10-8]

On 10/13/2019 at 6:56 AM, mcrcruiser said:

Our first cruise was paid for by our son in law mid nineties on Carnival Holiday to Catalina Island .We all had cuch a great time .The first cruise there after we paid for was Carnival Jubilee   a  7  night  Alaska from Vancouver inside passage  .i recall total price for that cruise was $ 750  ocean view cabin  /We had a ball & have gone 5 more times on Alaska cruises & inland . Total cruises now to date is  84 cruises all over the world 

 

[Copper10-8]

On 10/13/2019 at 7:54 AM, LewiLewi said:

Our first cruise was on Greek Lines” Queen Anna Maria “roundtrip NYC to the Caribbean and Bermuda in Feb. 1966. We paid $275.00 per person. We spent the first few days dosing ourselves with Dramamine; rough winter weather and questionable stabilizers. After that it was clear sailing to our first port in San Juan.

We have been hooked ever since; 165+ cruises.

 

[Copper10-8]

On 10/13/2019 at 8:01 AM, Djptcp said:

A 3-day Christmas weekend in 1994 on the Norwegian Sea. We were living in MN and the total cost for an ocean view cabin was $1200, including first class air fares. It was so windy with high seas that the ship stayed in Nassau overnight. We weren't really thrilled with the cruise and didn't know if we would do it again. Well, we are taking our 51st cruise in 3 weeks!

 

[Copper10-8]

On 10/13/2019 at 8:24 AM, floridacruisers said:

Our first cruise was on the S.S. Volendam out of Miami to Jamaica and Haiti November, 1979. We were hooked. Did have to pay an extra $40.00 each for fuel surcharge due to the situation in Iran. It cost us $350.00 for the both of us (plus the surcharge)for a 5 day cruise. Here we are soon going on our 45th cruise on Celebrity's Reflection and after that HAL's Nieuw Amsterdam. I guess you could say we like cruising.........

 

  Phil......floridacruisers

 

[Copper10-8]

On 10/13/2019 at 8:29 AM, Tapi said:

I started cruising in the early 1980’s,  but the earliest one which I remember how much I paid is the Monarch of the Seas (1993), which was a little over $1000pp for an inside cabin on deck 2. This was for a 7 night Southern Caribbean itinerary out of San Juan. 
 

That would be about $1,700pp in 2018 adjusted for inflation. 

 

[Copper10-8]

23 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

Our first was also on a Chandris Fantasy ship--the Amerikanis!  My DH's professional assn. offered a group cruise on this ship out of Puerto Rico in Feb 1994.  Itinerary was 7-days and stopped at St. Thomas, Antigua, Guadeloupe (shaped liked a butterfly), Barbados, and St. Lucia.  Truly a wonderful itinerary for a first cruise, but I don't remember the cost (probably nominal given the ship and it being a group deal).  I don't think major cruise lines have gone to Guadeloupe for some time; it's French-speaking and that's off-putting to some.  As is Martinique, but it's still on many itineraries.  But we still get to visit Guadeloupe via the TV (PBS) show, "Death in Paradise."  They call the island Saint-Marie and I can't say I recognize where they shoot it.  We had a wonderful tour there with a local guide.  The ship had been on the UK-South Africa run in its early life, as was American Hawaii's "Independence" which we sailed on a few years later.  We got hooked and now, 51 cruises later we were still at it until 2017 when my DH's health started to decline.

 

[mcrcruiser]

35 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Yes the hull was built for speed .We understand she could do 40 knots . she is now owned by who bought Crystal  cruise line & it is a all suite ship  . Very pricy  but happy that she has another useful life 

[Copper10-8]

21 hours ago, BJzink said:

Our ship was the Britannis - inside cabin below water line.  But it was very big, lots of closets.  

 

[Copper10-8]

18 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

Carnival's Mardi Gras in 1989.....4 night from Fort Lauderdale to Freeport and Nassau.  Don't remember the price.  

 

We had a blast and have been hooked ever since....

 

[Copper10-8]

15 hours ago, cate54 said:

My first cruise was in 1986  on the SS Galileo. It went from Boston to Bermuda. I don't know the price as it was a wedding gift from my parents. It was lovely, and got me hooked on cruising.

 

[Copper10-8]

6 hours ago, terrydtx said:

My first cruise was on a very old and rusty gambling ship in Galveston Texas in  Summer of 1995. I can not remember the name but I think it was "The Pride of Texas," we have always called her the Rust Bucket. 

 

Every 30 days this gambling ship had do a cruise to a foreign port, Cozumel,  to keep her foreign registry. We did this 5 day cruise. The ship was built in the 1950s to be a trans Atlantic cruise ship from England to Montreal,  so it had terrible air conditioning and it was sweltering cruise. I think we paid about $400pp for a better class OV cabin with a porthole. A month after this cruise, this ship was repossessed by a finance company in Europe and I heard it became a interisland cruise ship in Greece.

 

As bad as this ship was we had a great time and we were hooked on cruising. A year later we did our first real cruise on the CCL Fascination out of San Juan, it was a great cruise and we paid about $1500pp for a junior suite with a balcony.

 

My DW's first cruise was on the Queen Mary from England to New York in 1965, she has no idea what it cost as she was only 16 years old.

 

[Copper10-8]

5 hours ago, G&G said:

Ninadam, 1492, $4.99, Blue Light Special 

 

Actually, Carnaval Festavale, Nov 1978, $665 pp, still have carbon copy of AMEX receipt.

 

[Copper10-8]

4 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

My first pleasure cruise was a 4-day cruise on the Carnival Fantasy in 1993.   I had been bugging my then wife to try cruising but she was afraid of getting seasick.   That “try it you’ll like it” cruise cost around $600 in one of the few veranda cabins on the Fantasy.   That led to our first, and for the ex our last, cruise on Holland America in 1995 on what was then the pretty new now departed Ryndam.  We were in a Deluxe Suite, now called a Neptune Suite, for a 10-day Caribbean cruise.  Cost was around $6,000.   

 

[Petunia1950]

1 hour ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

She was a beauty!

[cate54]

40 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Thanks for the picture. While I have pictures taken aboard the ship, I didn't have one of the ship itself. I read a while back that she sank in May of 1999 after a fire on  board the ship. Everyone was rescued, no loss of life. You were so thoughtful to posts all these pics.

Cathy