Your first cruise ship

[zumbaguy]

My first cruise ship was the Carnival Ecstasy. It was my honeymoon!

 

Our itinerary was

 

Embarkation at 5:30PM Monday, February 10, 2003

Tuesday: Catalina Island (but ended up being a Fun Day At Sea due to weather)

Wednesday: Catalina Island

Thursday: Ensenada

Friday: Home sweet home....but wished the cruise was longer

 

We are hooked! Wish we could cruise once a quarter.

[titanic27]

Our first cruise was the Radisson Diamond in 2003 out of San Juan, we cruised to St-Marteen, St-Barts, Gorda.

Radisson Seven Seas Cruise Line Presents: Radisson Cruises

 

This unique, 350-guest ship combines the spacious luxury of a grand ocean liner with the intimacy of a private club. Her twin-hull design makes her one of the most stable vessels afloat.

 

The 20,000-ton, 350-guest Radisson Diamond combines small-ship intimacy with large-ship amenities to offer you the ultimate cruise experience. Her every brilliant facet provides an unprecedented level of personal luxury including all ocean-view accommodations, and a unique, twin-hull design that provides the most stable ride of any ship at sea.

 

 

Destination Life on Board

Dining Option Before You Sail

Deck Plans Cruise Quote

 

Radisson Diamond:

 

Contemporary luxury

350 guests

 

World's Best Small Cruise Line

 

Unique twin-hull design, providing exceptional stability

 

Single, open-seating dining

 

Entertainment program

 

Port-intensive itineraries

 

Wine with dinner and bar set-up included

 

Shipboard gratuities included

 

 

 

 

SHIP STATISTICS

 

Overall Length: 420 feet

Beam (width): 103 feet

Draft: 23-26 feet

Passengers: 350

Officers: European / International

Crew: 206

International crew

Passenger Decks: 12

Gross Tonnage: 20,290

Ship's Registry: Bahamas

Edited June 9, 2012 by titanic27
wanted to add

[sarasfw]

My first cruise was in the 70s on either the Canberra or oriana, not sure which was first but my dad's band used to play onboard with my mom as a singer and so we had free cruises every year for about 6 weeks for about 7 or 8 years. I had such a great childhood, very lucky going to the Caribbean and med at such a young age. Fab memories x

[njcruisingmom]

My first cruise was on the Holland America ship Volendam in 1983 -- New York to Bermuda. Left from New York (my dad and brother were able to come aboard to see my mom and me off!) We docked in at Hamilton and St. George! What a wonderful trip. Definitely hooked me on cruising. I'll go on my eighth cruise in August.

 

Ran across some pictures from that cruise -- got a bit of a jolt when I saw the trade towers in the background of several shots. I'd forgotten that.

[lovetotravel700001]

Wow, that was a long time ago. I was a young travel agent and AAA offered us a $25 a day cruise so I jumped on it and had a great time. It was a 7 day out of San Juan with similar ports to what you get today. Came back and sold a ton of cruises because I was so enthused. I went on another in May of 82 on La Boheme with a friend. She was so happy about it, she still mentions it everytime I see her or she sees a member of my family.

I could never have imagined what the ships would be like, although the popularity of cruising does not surprise me.

[Bonzy49]

My first cruise was a present from my sister and we went to the western Caribbean on Majesty of the Seas.I almost cried at the Farewell Show as I didnt know when I would go n anther...nineteen cruises later I still love it!!

[Maimou]

ss Zion (1956-2003) Built in 1956 as ss Zion by Deutsche Werft, Hamburg, (then) West Germany for Israel-based Zim Lines as part of Germany's World War II reparations (Reparation Payments Agreement) to the state of Israel. As the second passenger-cargo carrier ever built for the young Jewish state, Zim operated her on their Haifa to New York (Kent Street, Brooklyn) service alongside her sister ship, ss Israel. She had four cargo holds with a capacity of approximately 4,000 tons each, including refrigerated space. In addition she had a drive-in car deck for up to 30 vehicles.

 

 

Her primary route would take her from Haifa, Israel to New York City across the Atlantic with stops at Palma de Mallorca, Spain and Gibraltar, UK in the Mediterranean. Return trips to Israel would include stops at Gibraltar and Piraeus, Greece. On some journeys, stops at Naples, Italy and Halifax, Nova Scotia were included. During 1961 and 1962, she worked a route from Haifa to Marseilles, France with stops at Limassol, Cyprus and Genoa, Italy (or Naples). Although she could accommodate a total of 323 passengers, only 24 of them were in First Class. Those cabins were located on Boat Deck, comprising of two berths with some upper Pullmans. First Class lounges were located forward on Promenade deck with Tourist class cabins mid-ships and a Veranda Cafe, serving strictly Kosher food, aft. Additional Tourist Class cabins were located on Main Deck with a synagogue mid-ships and a Tourist Class Smoking Room, as well as a swimming pool, aft. The dining rooms were located on A-Deck, as were the balance of the Tourist Class cabins, most with private facilities.

 

 

In 1966, she was purchased by Portugal-based Sociedade Geral de Industria e Commercio, who renamed her ss Amelia de Mello and operated her between Lisbon, Portugal, their West African colonies of Guinea and Angola, and their Atlantic Isles (Sao Vicente, Madeira, etc). In 1967, they sent her back to the Deutsche Werft for upgrading and refitting. As the Portuguese colonies achieved their independence, liner services came to a halt and Amelia de Mello was withdrawn from service in 1971.

 

A plan to convert the Amelia do Mello into a full time cruise ship was considered but before it could be executed, her Portuguese owners sold her in late 1971 to Greek interests, specifically the London-based Vlassopoulos family.

 

 

John and Nick Vlassopoulos had her extensively rebuilt as a full-time cruise ship at Bilbao, Spain from which she reappeared, now having a total capacity of 780 passengers, as the ss Ithaca, named after their hometown/island, for their newly created Ulysses Line. Converting the ship into a 13,000 ton cruise liner entailed extensive reconstruction of all existing spaces as well as extension fore and aft of her superstructure to provide room for the entertainment and lounge areas required for her planned 700+ passengers. Involving no pretense of grandeur, designers and owners opted for simplicity and convenience, building well over 200 new cabins and fitting private facilities in all 294 cabins aboard. She emerged a substantially new ship but with her once pleasing profile ruined by a top heavy look forward. Worst was an unusual "bonnet" cladding her funnel, installed both to deflect smoke and disguise her origins further.

 

While in Ulysses Line service, she would operate on Mediterranean and Atlantic Isles cruises starting in 1973, that were largely marketed by UK tour company Thomson Holidays as very inexpensive cruises for a British clientele. Following severe increases in oil prices in the mid-seventies, Thomson decided that cruising was no longer economically and financially feasible for them so the charter was not renewed at the conclusion of the first four year period.

 

During 1977 and 1978, Ithaca was chartered to Canadian tour operator Strand Cruises for two years offering fourteen-day Mediterranean fly-cruise packages to both Canadian and American passengers. When Strand went belly-up, Vlassopoulos moved the ship to the Caribbean in 1979 under the new name Dolphin IV. This would be her area of operations for the rest of her career. Ulysses Line/theVlassopoulos family had entered into a joint venture sales and marketing agreement with French shipping company Paquet, known as Paquet Ulysses Cruises, to operate her on three and four-day cruises to the Bahamas from Miami, FL.

 

 

In 1984, Paquet pulled out and Dolphin Cruise Line was born (once again owned by the Vlassopoulos family) taking over the operation. The Vlassopoulos family later formed a holding company, called Cruise Holdings, which bought out both Premier and Seawind Cruise Lines. By 1996 however, Dolphin IV did not fit in anymore, even with the aged Cruise Holdings fleet and with the impending merger of their three lines into a reborn but ill-fated Premier Cruise Line, they sold her in 1998.

 

 

Their new owners were a company called Cape Canaveral Cruise Line who would operate her under her same name of Dolphin IV on short cruises to the Bahamas out of Port Canaveral, FL. In 2000 however, she was taken out of service because of corroded fresh water and sewage tanks. Cape Canaveral Cruise Line attempted to find a replacement for her but this proved unsuccessful. Dolphin IV was subsequently laid-up at Freeport, the Bahamas due to reoccurring problems with her fresh water and sewage holding facilities. In February 2003, she was sold for scrap to Indian Breakers. Upon her arrival at Alang, India in April 2003, she was beached and broken up.

 

Wow!! Wonderful, extensive history of my first cruise boat! I was 18 years old in 1980, and it was a 3 day cruise out of Miami to the Bahamas. It was our high school's senior trip!! I saved my babysitting money to afford the $379 fare, but halfway through senior year got a well paying part time job at the local hospital. I blew the thousand bucks I managed to save in the first six months on that job!! I had a ball, and my thoughts are turning to cruising again (more than 30 years later!).

[Lauriejl2]

My 1st cruise was Premier Cruise (big red boat!) I loved it! I was 14 yrs old back in 1987. It was only a 3 day cruise but I remmeber Loving it and wishing we had done 4 days on the cruise and 3 at Disney World instead of the other way around. It was really rough seas although and LOTS of people were getting sea sick including my mother nd sisiter LOL I know we went to Nassau but not sure where else if anywhere. I remember taking a smaller boat to a island where we went snorkeling and laid out on hammocks....I think I remember people saying blue lagoon was filmed there but I could be wrong about remembering that. That was my 1st and only but looking even more forward to my 2nd cruise and know it will be 100% better!!

[mobster75]

My first cruise was on Celebrity Millennium back in March 2005. At the time, I needed to get away to somewhere warm with just a week's notice and I ended up trying a cruise. Wow! I found that I really enjoyed being out on the ocean, away from the craziness of every day life.

 

Ten months later (Jan 2006) I took my girlfriend on her first cruise on RCCL's Voyager and I was elated to see that she loved cruising as much as I did! I was super happy that we didn't have to break up over it ;)

 

Fast forward to today and we've enjoyed 4 more cruises together including our honeymoon cruise and have spread the joy of cruising to our oldest daughter who has 3 cruises to her credit @ 3 years old. We've got another future cruise fanatic who will be going on her first cruise in January '13 a month before her first birthday.

 

We are what you might call - a cruising family! :D

 

mobster75

[RubyDog08]

First cruise was on Majesty Cruise Line's Royal Majesty. What a beautiful little ship! 4 nights out of Miami, western Carib...Key West, Cozumel...:confused:...don't remember other ports, but I have a lovely photo album and great memories. No balconies back then...when dinosaurs ruled the planet. :p

 

She was sold to NCL, stretched and named Norwegian Majesty. Not sure, but I think she has since been scrapped. :(

[Charbie]

This is a fun thread!

 

My 1st cruise was aboard the Costa Flavia in 1980 to the Bahamas. 3 girlfriends made all the arrangements and we celebrated my divorce being official/final during the trip! It was so much FUN! We stayed in a tiny little inside cabin - all 4 of us. The Flavia was only 15,465 GT and only 557 ft. long (built in 1947) ... I can't believe it was such a small ship, considering the GIANTS we sail today! But I became HOOKED just the same.

 

Again, thanks for starting this FUN Thread!

Karen

[efinder]

HAL Volendam 1980 Christmas Caribbean cruise. If I remember correctly, it left from Miami, and some of the ports were St. Thomas, Curacao, and Curacas.

[petitcanard]

Oh fun! My first cruise was with my sister, 7 nights on the SS Norway in 1997. Itinerary was St. Maarten, St. Thomas/St. John and Great Stirrup Cay (which was missed as the water was too rough to tender). RT Miami, I believe. I LOVED it but my second cruise wasn't until 2009.

 

Have now managed to talk my husband into booking a cruise for this December, it will be his first! (NCL Sun, 10 nights w/ports of call @ St. Maarten, St. Thomas, St. Lucia, Barbados and Dominica)

[hazeleyes35]

1993, The Big Red Boat. We loved it but didn't get to go on another cruise until 2006. Then 2008, 2010 and next one 2013. :)

[pacwind3]

My first cruise, and only with my ex-wife, was on the Star Princess, in 1996. So; the older Star, since Princess re-used the name on a new grand class ship.

We had a "special" sailing, 10 day Carribean. Special because it was a 10 day, not a 7, and because it was in Oct during hurricane season. I was so down when I found out we'd booked during the potential for a hurricane. We had an excellent cruise however, and we made many good memories. Yes, a hurricane rolled through, right over Princess Cays the day we were to be there; so we missed that stop. But otherwise it was fun. I got completely hooked. It took alot of talking to get my current wife to cruise however. She had this idea that because the ship is usually moving somewhere; she wasn't going to be relaxed. Like she was stuck traveling the whole time. AFTER her first cruise; she got it. Then understood why I've been hooked. Her and I have done 3 more cruises since, and are scheduled to go out this Oct on a California coastal.

[I miss Enchanted Isle!]

Commodore Cruise Line Enchanted Seas in 1994. Been on many since then

[ScubaCruiser54]

NCL Sunward II, 1982, 3 day Bahamas. Nassau and private island. We loved it. Took a while to go on another, but since then we are regulars.

 

History of "Sunward II":Cunard Adventurer - Cunard Line: 1971-77 Sunward II - NCL: 1977-91 Triton - Epirotiki/ROC: 1991-2004 Coral - Louis Hellenic Cruises: 2004-

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/NCL/Sunward_II_02_CC.jpg

 

It is amusing that this was only a 14,000 ton ship.

Edited July 13, 2012 by ScubaCruiser54

[Beth C]

My first... December 5, 2009... just a tiny little ship for my first time ;)

Bahamas, St. Thomas, St. Maartin

Edited July 22, 2012 by Beth C

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Our first cruise was also on Costa out of San Juan in 1987. We were on the Daphne and had a great time and were hooked on cruising in spite of a sight problem. The ship (with us aboard) sailed at midnight on Saturday, and our luggage (all of it) caught the ship on Monday. Let's just say, we were easily recognized by the that time and made quite a few friends.

[Rusty 70]

My first cruise was from Liverpool to Gibraltar in November 1945 aboard The Monarch Of Bermuda aged 7, I loved it ( after the Blitz ). I returned to Tilbury in September 1952 aboard the MV LLangibby Castle, 1957 saw me again going to Gibraltar aboard Orient liner Oronsay, returning in 1958 aboard P & O's Chusan. Other cruises :- Van Goth 2002 The MED. 2007:-Sea Princess the MED 2009 Celebrity Millenium the Baltic. In between 1958 &2002 saw me sailing the world with the Royal Navy. Next Cruise is in October this year aboard Grand Princess, the Med & Adriatic.

[momofmeg]

My first... December 5, 2009... just a tiny little ship for my first time ;)

Bahamas, St. Thomas, St. Maartin

 

LOL! You're funny-however that did not even exist when I started cruising-the voyager class was still yet to come in 1998.

 

I have to say too -those small ships were great and the food was great-no balcony staterooms unless you booked a suite-but you also spent a lot less less money for a top quality time. Specialty restaurants were not needed as the main dining room had great food. We loved the promenade deck-we were out there a lot looking at the ocean since all we had was a window in our room;however back then you could actually walk on the promenade deck all the way around the ship-there were no unauthorized /crew only areas on that deck then.

 

Cruising was about cruising back then-not a floating shopping mall/amusement park. I miss that.

 

BTW although I loved the radiance class RCI ships-you would have a hard time getting me on that Oasis or Allure of the Seas. I am also not interested in the new ship Princess has coming out either-Caribbean Princess was way too big, so was RCI Mariner of the Seas.

 

We was on Celebrity Solstice last month and it was too big too-but at least it never felt crowded the way the Royal Promenade did on Mariner of the Seas-if ports were the same though Would pick the Constellation over the Solstice. I loved the Constellation.

[CRUISEWITHH]

My first cruise was way, way back in 1958. The ship was the Leilani and we cruised from the Port of Los Angeles to Honolulu, Hawaii. It was just one way because it was the last crossing (5 days) of the ship because it was sold upon arrival in Honolulu.

 

I definitely was sold on cruising but it took a few years until I got to take another cruise. The second one was on Chandris Amerikanis (Greek owned) in 1977. We cruised in the Caribbean and the only ports I remember were Greneda and St. Thomas.

[RobertL88]

My first cruise was on the Carnival Victory in 2005. We did the Eastern Caribbean itinerary back then. That's when I got hooked.

 

Unfortunately I'm from Europe and cruising is more expensive over here. If I want to go on cheaper cruises (often departing from the USA), the airfare doubles the costs of the cruise :(

 

So I'm happy when I get to take a cruise once every two or three years ;)

[Cruiser104]

Our First Cruise was on the Federico C about 1973:)

 

 

Federico C was the first new ship built for Costa Line, entering service in March 1958 on a route from Genoa to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. She continued on this run until 1966, when she was replaced by the new Eugenio C. Federico C then inaugurated a route from Genoa to Florida, the Caribbean and Venezuela. In 1968 she received a major refit, and then alternated her liner service with Caribbean cruises. Cruises became her full time activity from 1972 to 1983, when she was sold to Premier Cruise Lines.

 

It was a very small ship but an unbelievable experience. There were beautiful wooden decks and brass railings. They changed the character of the dining room each night depending upon the cuisine they were serving (Italian, Spanish, American, etc.) and the waiters also wore different costumes. Since it was an Italian liner, the food was fantastic.

 

I literally thought I died and went to heaven on that cruise. Believe me, things were not as fancy or large on that ship as they are now, but it was a wonderful experience. When we got back I told my husband that I wanted to work on a cruise ship. I will say we have been on 30 cruises since that date as that first one really gave us the bug. But there was something so special about that first one and the charm of that little ship that was hard to match. Each experience cruising has been unique and we will always remember our first cruise with great fondness.

[Guest debbiejohncruise]

We sailed with one of the Sitmar ships for our honeymoon in 81. It was fantastic. That was back in the day when you had your food prepared for you at your table. We have since cruised with Carnival (never again), Celebrity, Cunard, Princess, Uniworld and Holland America. Trying to figure out which cruise to go on end Jan 13 for 2 weeks in Southern Caribbean.

:)