What do you remember most about your very first cruise?

[packedandready]

Hi Everyone,

Sometimes I'm surprised about some of the questions asked, such as, what colors are the linens or what's the menu for such and such night. DH and I are still newbies...going on our 4th in 59 days (but who's counting).

 

We had never considered cruising, didn't think it would be anything we'd enjoy. Friends found a "hot deal" and talked us into going too. So here we were booked for a 7 night cruise just 2 weeks away. Knowing nothing about what we were getting ourselves into and having never heard of cruise critic:eek: I started reading the RCCL website. So, with shopping, trying to decided what to pack and what excursions to do, about the only thing I learned was what to wear for dinner and tipping (you would all be proud).

 

I will never forget the feeling when we walking onto the ship and entered the main foyer. Everything we did was a brand new experience and surprise. Every day was something new and unexpected. I've learned tons on this board and thank everyone for all the helpful advice. But, there was just something about "not knowing everything" that made the cruise special.

 

I'd like to tell the first timers not to micro-manage. Let the surprise happen. Happy cruising all.

[barbaragrace]

The thing I remember most about our first cruise was HOW HORRIBLE it was! Thank GOD we decided to try again and now we are hooked!

[bambam2972]

You know what? I totally agree with you! When we booked our first cruise all we knew was that we need to bring formal clothes for one of the nights and "regular clothes" otherwise, the Seapass is used for everything and that we were going to Nassau & Coco Cay; all learned from rccl.com too.

 

We had a BLAST!! I don't know why people want to see compasses... that's something I enjoy on the ship. Getting a drink and looking over the next day's activities. The second time we went on the Sovereign I planned it to death and didn't have as great a time.

 

This time on Mariner I've planned some (like private excursions that we've never done before), but that's basically it.

[NancyIL]

My first cruise was on Holland America's Zaandam in Feb. 2004. I had expected to be wowed by the ship and the cruising experience, and I was disappointed. The ship wasn't quite the WOW I expected, the seas were rough the first few days after leaving Port Canaveral, and we had engine trouble - which caused us to arrive in Tortola at 3 p.m. instead of 9 a.m. In fact - the seas were so rough that my mom, who walked with a cane, needed a wheelchair because it was difficult for her to get around. When I mentioned to people that it was my first cruise, they said, "It isn't usually like this"!

 

However, my 2nd cruise was a year later on Splendour of the Seas, and that cruise far exceeded my expectations! I ended up cruising solo because my sister had to cancel at the last minute. Gorgeous ship, wonderful cruise director (Graham Seymour), fun ports - it was a fabulous cruise!

[Pomperaugrr]

I remember being awed by the sheer size of the ship, and that was just the Carnival Holiday back in '89. The entire trip was great, despite rough seas. The dining room service and overall experience hooked me for good. I try not to over plan or micro-manage the cruises, since that first time experience left so much to see and discover on our own. I like to keep some of that mystery, for each ship I sail on now.

 

I still get awed just looking at the size of the ship as I arrive at the pier. That is what floored me the first time and every time since then.

 

Eric

[CruznTom]

I remember missing the sailing due to an ice storm and having to get catch up flights to San Juan and then a puddle jumper (DW hates to fly) to St. Croix to catch the ship on day 2. Somehow luggage got to St. Croix a day ahead of us and was just sitting out in the open. There was a single file stairway for boarding and we had to wait over an hour for passengers going ashore to dwindle so we could drag our luggage up.

*

What a great start!

[KelJ]

The thing I remember most from my first cruise is how HUGE the ship felt, and that was RCCL's Sun Viking back in 1991! Today's mega ships would make it look like a row boat!!

[Natmar]

Our first cruise was a four nighter on the RCCL's Viking Serenade and I remember how big the ship looked and felt the entire cruise. Have been on four other cruises since but still have fond memories of the Viking Serenade and still can't believe she was once a ferry before a cruise ship. Can't wait to see the Granduer in June and have the same feeling all over again.

[Bruin Steve]

Wow...

Considering it was a couple of decades ago, I remember quite a bit...

 

To set it up, it was on the old Premier Cruise Lines Big Red Boat (the forerunner to Disney)...A 3-night cruise followed by a 4-night Disney package...

Our daughters were 3 and 5 and we booked a quad OV cabin...

 

First thing I remember is that we booked air and everything through the cruise line and they booked us on a red-eye out of LA...arrived in Orlando at 7 am local time (4 am our time) and driove to Canaveral and took the Space Center tour prior to boarding the ship...We were all dead tired and my wife and younger daughter fell asleep on the space center bus...

 

Second memory is that somehow our luggage didn't get to the cabin until AFTER dinner...Try that with two little kids when you've all been wearing your clothes since the day before when you left home...

 

Third memory is that one daughter slept through dinner, the other woke up only to order ravioli, fell back asleep and woke up again to eat it, then back asleep...

 

Fourth is that we found our cabin was on the extreme other end of the ship from the Kids' center...and we got to carry both girls the length of the ship at the end of each night...

 

Fifth, I remember the Cruise Directors' welcome speech where he explained the meal/food service schedule and apologized that from 4 am to 6 am there was nothing to eat!

 

I remember how much fun we had...

 

And mostly, I remember feeling disappointed...when we realized that we had to GET OFF...

 

So, we learned a lot of lessons:

1) Always fly in at least a day early

2) Pack something in a carry-on...in case you don't get your luggage early enough...

3) Cabin location is SOMETIMES important

4) BOOK LONGER CRUISES!!!

 

...and, mostly, 5) This was one great way to vacation...

[kruzerci]

I am sad to say that I can hardly remember anything about my first cruise-7 years and 6 cruises later! I am sure it will all come back to me being on Sovereign again in April.

Here are a few things that stand out in my mind:

• Walking into the atrium and seeing that huge clock while being in awe of how huge everything was!
  
• Getting to our TINY cabin that we roomed 4 people in and thinking it must be the closet :p .
  
• The first sailaway and the pool deck party
  
• Thinking that our ship must be the biggest ship ever built- now Freedom is double the size of Soverign :rolleyes: .

BUT- the number one thing that stands out in my mind is getting goosebumps when we were driving up to the port and seeing the ship. I remember the Disney Wonder, Fantasy, and Sovereign docked in Port Canaveral and we didn't even know which one was our ship until we saw the signs- that goes to show how much I knew about cruising before my first cruise, but that is what made it so much fun and different!

[David4]

Being dead bone tired. Didn't know that I had a good time until I got home.

[kyriecat]

I remember the baby who was in the cabin next door and somehow managed to start screaming approximately 30 minutes after we went to sleep. It didn't matter if it was night, afternoon, etc. I don't think those folks ever left their cabin. Aside from that we had a great time. It was Monarch doing a 7-nt S. Caribbean trip. When we got back we were exhausted and hubby said NO MORE CRUISES because in a hotel, you can switch rooms or hotels to get away from annoying neighbors. You are stuck on a ship.

 

Fortunately he got over it about 4 years later and let me book another one. So far, no screaming babies next door and I've managed at least 1 cruise a year since. Hopefully my streak will continue since I've become addicted.

[David4]

Being dead bone tired. Didn't know that I had a good time until I got home.

[zwanzig]

Ooh, I love these types of threads! :)

 

My first cruise was on Nordic Prince in 1984, when I was 6 years old, and I have so many impressions from that first trip.

 

Some of the more interesting ones include finding a dollar at the bottom of the pool with a friend I made on board, then taking it to the casino where the casino attendant changed it into quarters for us so we could play the slots. (I think I even have a photo somewhere of me playing the slots. :cool: )

 

Also I remember getting on an elevator and pressing the button to go to the deck I wanted to go to, but instead of going up the elevator went down, down, down until the doors opened to reveal a huge laundry operation. I was so scared that I had done something wrong, because I had no clue how I'd gotten to some place that I obviously wasn't supposed to be. The laundry attendant who called the elevator got a chuckle out of the scared little girl in the elevator, I'm sure! :)

 

And I remember my older cousin, who was my roomie on that trip, kicking me under the table when our cute Portuguese waiter gave me attention instead of flirting with her.

 

Fun fun fun! :D

[puglvr]

We too are still newbies in most ways. I've booked our 4th cruise for this fall on the Mariner. Our very first cruise ever was on the Majesty. Now mind you, we had never actually seen a cruise ship before, so the Majesty was HUGE to us. LOL.

Yes, we overplanned our first cruise. We booked a shore excursion for every port and had attended the shopping seminars getting "educated" on just where to shop & what to buy. LOL. Cruise Virgins for sure.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck some of our fellow passengers in Ocho Rios, while we were all at Brimmer Hall Plantation for a Tour. Many pax were seriously injured when a Jitney wagon overturned. The most severely injured required to eventually be airlifted back to Miami for further medical treatment. This had a rather sedating effect on the ship the remainder of the cruise. I still have the articals from the newspaper and the online reports too. RCI did step up to the plate, arranging for medical care, transportation & accomidations for the injured & their families and assigned company reps to each of them. They even brought a couple of counselors to the ship to help the remaining families & friends of those injured and for those who were injured yet were able to continue their cruise. This changed our outlook on being adventurous in foreign countries forever.

[BillOh]

When we had our child (23 years ago) Everyone told us just exactly how it was going to be, based solely on their experience. Labor lasts 40 hours and stuff like that. You probably know, things go differently for different people. Cruising is kind of like that.

 

I'm kind of glad my first cruise was like the way you described yours. Having had that first wonderful cruise out of the way, I spend a lot of time here waiting on the next one. But thanks to this forum, I know many things I didn't back then, but I do remember how to make sure I have a good time, like the first one.

[BillOh]

I like to keep some of that mystery, for each ship I sail on now...................

 

I still get awed just looking at the size of the ship as I arrive at the pier. That is what floored me the first time and every time since then.

 

Eric

 

My wife would agree with the first part. She refuses to see any pictures of Freedom, or watch the shows about it. I'm soaking up everything I can about it, but I know I will still be wowed.

 

I also remember I was on the left side of the bus as it drove over the bridge into the Miami port area and seeing the ship for the first time. I look forward to that moment again.

[pepsicruiser]

"Jelly Belly", he was a waiter poolside on the Soverign of the Seas the first year in service (I think around 1988). He entertained us tremendously spinning the tray and dancing around. Back then it was a different atmosphere on board. Very festive all day long. Every night there was a different parade in the diningroom. There was also tableside cooking at least 1 night a trip. The Cherries Jubilee was also done tableside. I do realize that with 3000 guests now it is unreasonable to think it could be done now but it is nice remembering how it was.

[hayesktrm]

I remember:

 

*All the food (my husband eating 3 lobsters)

 

*Thinking, wow, this is really a vacation because the kids played in the kids' club and we got some time alone for the first time in a LONG time!

 

*Wow, this cabin is so small

 

*Being so tired at the end...and I got the norovirus a day after I got home...wished I would die I was so sick. Never have been so sick before or since. Still couldn't wait to cruise again.

[minnie00]

Our first cruise was just last year and about 3-4 months before I found these boards and was a junkie for info.

I wanted to know the ins/outs and what to do at dinner, how to tip, etc.

It didn't take anything away from the experience for me...its always fun for me to plan my trip...thats what I am doing here now. ;)

The thing I remember most was how BIG the ship really was and that I liked our room a lot more than I was expecting too.

The first few minutes on the boat at the pier was weird feeling but after that I never felt different than being in a hotel....that rocked. :p

I am really excited about trying RCCL....and will be here researching up until we go. plus...my family knows I am the "planner" and expect me to have all the answers to their questions...and they are shocked when I don't. :cool:

[CruiseKeeper]

You always remember your first and mine was RCI’s Song of America. After entering the ship for the first time, I didn’t think we were on the ship. I thought it was another holding area at the port because it was so enormous. I asked my husband where we should line up to enter the ship!

[packedandready]

Thanks for the replies and stories. I can relate to the wonder at the size of the ship....and we were on the Rhapsody. I am very glad to feel the anticipation now, not because of what might be but because of what is to be. I'm sure things could happen that would put a damper on things but unless it's a major, major problem I'm sure not going to waste my vacation worrying about it.

[cruisinMike]

It was the only one I took with my ex-wife years ago and I'm still trying to forget it! :D

[hyerpraise]

Meeting my wife..

[CL-JW]

 

I will never forget the feeling when we walking onto the ship and entered the main foyer. Everything we did was a brand new experience and surprise. Every day was something new and unexpected. I've learned tons on this board and thank everyone for all the helpful advice. But, there was just something about "not knowing everything" that made the cruise special.

 

I'd like to tell the first timers not to micro-manage. Let the surprise happen. Happy cruising all.

 

Fun topic!

 

Like you, that feeling when we finally got on board and entered the Grand Lobby (on QM2), it was just such a feeling of "WOW". We were awestruck.

 

The next thing I would have to say would be the feeling of complete & total relaxation we felt during the days at sea, especially on that first cruise.