Your first cruise ship

[m*u*g*]

SS Norway 1990, NCL, Eastern Carrib.

Largest ship in it's day. 1037ft long.

Unrivaled until the RMS Queen Mary 2 in 2004 at 1132ft.

 

Now scrapped.

 

Did not get me hooked. Took 20 years to sail again.

Mostly due to cost and no money.

 

Been 4 times in last 5 years though.

Liberty, Allure, Oasis, Allure

Edited November 12, 2015 by m*u*g*

[bobbisailsolo]

SS Norway 1990, NCL, Eastern Carrib.

 

Largest ship in it's day. 1037ft long.

 

Unrivaled until the RMS Queen Mary 2 in 2004 at 1132ft.

 

 

 

Now scrapped.

 

 

 

Did not get me hooked. Took 20 years to sail again.

 

Mostly due to cost and no money.

 

 

 

Been 4 times in last 5 years though.

 

Liberty, Allure, Oasis, Allure

 

 

I loved that ship.. Felt line a real ocean liner!!!

 

 

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[loubetti]

I loved that ship.. Felt line a real ocean liner!!!

 

 

Norway was a real ocean liner, SS France. I'm sure you knew that though. :)

[legaljen1969]

Premier Cruise Lines (Big Red Boat) Majestic. I will say 1985. Family cruise with mom, dad and brother when the line was still partnered with WDW for 7 day vacations.

 

Cruised her again in 1988 for Senior Cruise graduation from high school.

 

I was definitely hooked.

 

Cruised RCCL Majesty of the Seas in 1995 for honeymoon.

[sunnyhat]

Sundream, a Suncruises ship 2004, originally Royal Caribbean Song of Norway, no longer sailing I think she was scrapped last year.

[harleysmama]

Mine was RCCL Song of Norway in 1975 to Eastern Caribbean hooked me for good...

[Kentchikan]

Mine was RCCL Song of Norway in 1975 to Eastern Caribbean hooked me for good...

 

I loved that ship sailed on it many times.

[Loveboat1995]

My first cruise ship isn't actually a cruise ship. My first "voyage" took place on the ocean liner, Queen Mary 2 across the Atlantic to Britain. I am ashamed to say I have not yet traveled on any other major passenger vessel, unless one counts two overnight stays at the old original Queen Mary in Long Beach.

[Loveboat1995]

Premier Cruise Lines (Big Red Boat) Majestic. I will say 1985. Family cruise with mom, dad and brother when the line was still partnered with WDW for 7 day vacations.

 

Cruised her again in 1988 for Senior Cruise graduation from high school.

 

I was definitely hooked.

 

Cruised RCCL Majesty of the Seas in 1995 for honeymoon.

 

I am so sad that I never had a chance to sail the Majestic/Big Red Boat/Oceanic. It was scrapped back in 2013. I loved the classic look of that old liner. How wonderful that you got to sail and experience her! :) How was the cruise?

[N7786W Flyer]

I am so sad that I never had a chance to sail the Majestic/Big Red Boat/Oceanic. It was scrapped back in 2013. I loved the classic look of that old liner. How wonderful that you got to sail and experience her! :) How was the cruise?

 

The Majestic was a different ship from the Oceanic.

 

While it is true that the Oceanic has been scrapped, the Majestic I believe is still running cruises...at least sporadically.

 

Here's a link to the history of the Majestic (originally named "Spirit of London").

 

Garnett

 

http://simplonpc.co.uk/FlamencoPCs.html

[Loveboat1995]

The Majestic was a different ship from the Oceanic.

 

While it is true that the Oceanic has been scrapped, the Majestic I believe is still running cruises...at least sporadically.

 

Here's a link to the history of the Majestic (originally named "Spirit of London").

 

Garnett

 

http://simplonpc.co.uk/FlamencoPCs.html

 

Thank you very much for the correction! I didn't realize that the Spirit of London was with Premier back in the day. How embarrassing! :D

 

Thank you for the link to Simplonpc. they have some great images and postcards! :P

[N7786W Flyer]

Here's the most recent info I can find on the Majestic...and even it is dated somewhat...

 

http://maritimematters.com/2012/01/ocean-dream-spirited-to-haikou-2/

[comet6270]

First was 3 nights on an 8 pax former PT Boat through the Yasawa Islands on Fiji. Next came several on the Istra and Dalmatijia (Yugoslav Jadrolinijia Lines). They were 5.500 GRT and sailed from Guadaloupe and Martinique using air with Air France Paris to Jfk to port. Those were in the early '70's. Next a 14 day on the Southward in'75. Still cruising and loving it. Be on the Reflection Jan31, '15.

 

What month in 1975 were you on the Southward. My first cruise was the MS Southward in late June/early July of that year.

Edited December 18, 2015 by comet6270

[capecodrn]

Boy am I glad I grabbed that hotel when I did for $122 plus tax because now it's $189 plus tax

[mrskhodak]

Our first cruise was aboard the Carnival Ecstasy. September 1995:rolleyes:. I can't remember where we sailed from. . .memory escapes me. . .but I think it was only 3 or 4 nights. . .we visited Nassau Bahamas. . .Man, I can't remember anything :confused:. I just remember this is what got us hooked! Even though I got seasick and lost an entire day. . .I loved to cruise from this point on. We will never do anything less than 7 days.

[mickyminnie890]

My first cruise was in March 2013 aboard the Disney Dream. It was 3-night to Nassau, Bahamas and Castaway Cay. Ever since then we are trying to book more trips. About to try RCCL this summer aboard the Oasis of the Seas. This will be our 3rd cruise!

Edited January 23, 2016 by mickyminnie890

[princess-mommy]

In 1992 I was 12 years old. I went on a 2 week Mexican cruise over Christmas and New Year. We were on the MS Noordam.

 

 

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[Kentchikan]

In 1992 I was 12 years old. I went on a 2 week Mexican cruise over Christmas and New Year. We were on the MS Noordam.

 

 

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I loved that ship

[princess-mommy]

I loved that ship

 

 

I believe it is now the Thomson Celebration. I remember thinking how "gigantic" the ship was.

[Kentchikan]

I believe it is now the Thomson Celebration. I remember thinking how "gigantic" the ship was.

 

I thought it was a beautiful ship.

[RCfanNdallas]

Well, in my mind it was the Pacific Princess from The Love Boat. My grandmother sailed her and brought menus home for me and I spent every week soaking up the adventures on her from my living room. My actual first time at sea was on the MS Matanuska ferry before I started my freshman year. It felt like a cruise...lol. My first real cruise was on Majesty of the Seas back in the early 2000's.

[Kentchikan]

Well, in my mind it was the Pacific Princess from The Love Boat. My grandmother sailed her and brought menus home for me and I spent every week soaking up the adventures on her from my living room. My actual first time at sea was on the MS Matanuska ferry before I started my freshman year. It felt like a cruise...lol. My first real cruise was on Majesty of the Seas back in the early 2000's.

 

I too spent many hours pouring over deck plans when I was a child. My first real cruise was on the Prince George in Alaska it was owned by Canadian National Canadian Pacific owned the Princess Patricia in those days which became Princess cruises first ship.

I too was on the Matanuska it was a fun time.

[comet6270]

ms Southward (1971-present) Built in 1971 by Cantiere Navali dell Tirreno e Riuniti, S.p.A, Riva Trigoso (Genoa), Italyas ms Southward for Norwegian Caribbean Line (NCL). NCL, at that time, was jointly owned by Norwegian Knut Kloster and Israeli Ted Arison, founder of Carnival Cruise Line. That arrangement was dissolved in late 1971 however and Klosters Rederi A/S took over the NCL operation. Southward was designed for the North American cruise market and delivered to her owners in November 1971.

 

 

Following a transatlantic crossing, she was christened on 30 November 1971 in Miami, Fl. This was the first time a new cruise ship was not christened at the shipyard were she was built, but instead in the port of her area of operations. The trademark of Norwegian Caribbean Line at the time were twin swept-back funnels and an orange sunburst painted on the sides of their ships.

 

Southward was NCL's fourth cruise ship, the others being Sunward (1966), Starward (1968), and Skyward (1969). Initially, she was operated on Caribbean cruises out of Miami. In 1987 however, she was dispatched to the west coast of the United States to begin operating out of Los Angeles (San Pedro) on three and four-night cruises to Catalina Island, San Diego and Ensenada, BC, Mexico. As a result of this move Norwegian Caribbean Line changed its name to Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) in late 1987.

 

 

In 1995, Southward was sold to Sun Cruises, the cruise division of UK-based all-inclusive travel company Airtours plc, who renamed her Seawing. Sun Cruises was founded a year earlier, in April 1994, to provide British holidaymakers with air and sea vacation packages at affordable rates. Seawing began operating for Sun Cruises in March 1995 cruising the Mediterranean in spring and summer and the Far East in the winter season. In February 2002, the new name of 'My Travel plc' was adopted by all the former Airtours brands, resulting in a change of house colors on its four cruise ships, Seawing (1995), Carousel (1995), Sundream (1996) and Sunbird (1999).

 

From May to October 2002, MyTravel's Seawing operated seven-night round trip cruises from Limassol, Cyprus into the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. From October 2002 to April 2003, she ran fourteen, sixteen and thirty-night cruises to the Far East including port calls at/in Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. While in the Far East, Seawing also operated seven-night round trips from Phuket, Thailand. Then in April 2003 Seawing returned to the Mediterranean and Aegean, picking up where she left off with seven-night cruises from Limassol.

 

 

When Airtours decided to pull out of the cruise vacation and ship ownership business in 2004, Seawing was purchased by the then Greek arm of Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Line and renamed Perla. After a winter in the Far East, Louis operated her on cruises out of Piraeus to the Greek Islands and Turkey in 2005.

 

 

In May 2008, she was chartered to Greece-based Golden Sun Cruises and renamed The Aegean Pearl, operating three and four-day Greek island cruises from Piraeus. Her first cruise for Golden Sun took place on 19 May 2008.

 

 

That charter ended in 2009 and the ship was returned to Louis Cruise Line; however, her name has remained The Aegean Pearl up to now.

 

 

Fascinating. Thanks for this information.

[Lchiles]

My first cruise ship was the Sitmar Fairsea approximately in 1971...there were only a handfull of children onboard. My 2 brothers and I; and another couple boys...Was hooked after that.

[BadAndy]

Well as a child a little less than 10 years old, our family took our first cruise. It was on the SS Independance around the Hawaiian Islands. My only memories from that cruise were the giant banyan tree in Lahina, having our dinner table next to Todd Bridges (of Different Stokes at the time) and of course the Arizona Memorial.

 

Later as a teenager, we went on the newly christened Carnival Celebration. That was around the mid to late 80's.

 

Haven't been on a cruise since, but am going on a music themed cruise next week on the NCL Sky. Looking forward to it.