Did Your First Cruise Ruin All Others?

[crystalspin]

My first cruise was Capetown to Buenos Aires on the Cruise & Maritime Voyages Marco Polo. Before you check your globes, there are no port-calls on that route.

 

My fellow travellers were all sea-sick tea-totallers, and I had my lower back go out. There was just me and the albatross that followed the ship. I hoped never to cruise again.

 

The next cruise, with the same compatriots, from San Diego RT Hawaii, was not much better. I'm pretty sure I will never understand people who are so desperately seasick -- and knowing they are -- wanting to cruise. I hoped never to cruise again.

[iancal]

No, after 20 plus on various cruise lines I can honestly say that we have enjoyed each and every one of them. 

 

Some have been different, some better than others but all have been great in their own way.  Even our TA, where we were ready to jump ship after four days, was a  fabulous ride on a Celebrity Solstice class ship with weather so warm on the crossing in November that we could sometimes not sit out on the balcony for too long because of the heat.

 

The challenge is not comparing and always finding fault but finding the differences and enjoying those differences.

[rkacruiser]

22 hours ago, iancal said:

The challenge is not comparing and always finding fault but finding the differences and enjoying those differences.

 

Well said!  Some cruises are much better than others.  My QE2 trans-Atlantic crossing was my most disappointing, but there were reasons for such--none of my causing.  Would I want to experience that cruise again?  No.  But, that cruise added to my travel experiences.  And, for that, I am grateful.  

[iancal]

Sometimes I wonder at those very loyal to one cruise line who try another and come back to report on how awful it was.  The comparators are always back to their favorite cruise line which of course is the best in the world in all areas.

 

It makes me wonder why they bother to waste their money on another cruise line product that will never match up to their preferred line.   I believe that some are bound and determined to find fault, any fault, in order to validate their 'choice' of cruise line and boost their own ego.

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, iancal said:

Sometimes I wonder at those very loyal to one cruise line who try another and come back to report on how awful it was.  The comparators are always back to their favorite cruise line which of course is the best in the world in all areas.

 

Yes, I understand your post.  It does not apply to me.

 

I tried the MSC product in 2020 and did not find it wanting.  I have been very complimentary on CC about my experiences on MSC Meraviglia.  Just as I have been with my cruises on Carnival.  

 

Were they different from my most favorite cruise line?  Yes, in some ways.  But, that different experience is what I was wanting.

[NantahalaCruiser]

Our 1st cruise was on the NCL Sun to Alaska back in 2003. Everything was excellent - with the exception of the FOOD SERVICE in the MDR - which was atrocious - forcing us to substitute specialty restaurants for most of our dinner meals.

 

Although we have chosen to avoid NCL because of that experience, it did not stop us from continued cruising almost every year since then on RCI, Princess and mostly Celebrity;

 

Perhaps NCL has improved since then; but a bitter experience has directed us instead to the many viable alternatives.

[squick64]

My first cruise didn't ruin the others, but it led to them. I had never been interested in going on a cruise--I had the usual image people have of 24-hour buffets and trashy tourist ports and so on. My parents had done it a few times, though, and they decided to take me on one--Holland America out of Fort Lauderdale.

 

I don't sail with HAL now, although I guess I have nothing against them. We joked the whole time that I was the youngest person on board (it wasn't quite true...). Anyway, I prefer what NCL and RCI provide, but HAL did a few things that I particularly remember and sometimes miss. Like the Mexican snack buffet by the pool, or the steel pan lessons (IIRC, the instructor was named Opal?) and her playing by the pool every day, which gave the whole thing a total Caribbean vibe that I've not gotten so much on subsequent voyages. I still remember the Canadian family and this poor guy in a Santa hat (it was winter) who was desperately trying to find someone to dance with him on deck. The matriarch of the family had brought the younger ones along, and I think they wanted a younger environment than what they were getting. Great food and service, anyway. It was a good cruise.