What was your first cruise?

[KruzPrincess]

My first cruise was the Costa Carla C - South Caribbean out of San Juan in the mid 70's. I loved cruising so much that I cried when they made me get off the ship.

[billet]

1951 RMS Salinas Southampton to Bermuda. I don't remember much about it since I had only just been born :D

[MXGirl]

Our first cruise was on the Coral Princess for her first season. We cruised from Seward to BC.

Needless to say that Alaska cruise hooked us for good.

Have since sailed on the NCL Sea, the Grand Princess twice, and Caribbean Princess on a 2 week B2B.

We are leaving on the Emerald in October, then off to Alaska again in 2011.

[JillK]

My first cruise was aboard the Norway in 1992 at the tender age of 17.

 

It was a family trip and my mother had made my father book one of the "biggest boats" he could find because she was terrified of the concept of cruising (not a strong swimmer).

 

We had so much fun that my folks got hooked (I believe they are cruising their 14th in September) as did I. I'm currently at 7 cruises.... and counting, with my voyage on the Emerald Princess in January 2008 being my favourite.

[cruzin4us]

I remember the skeet shooting on my first real cruise from Miami to the Bahamas in June 1977. I think the this cruise was Costa!! Not sure.

 

I had cruised in Oct of 1976 as well on a 2 day from Italy to Greece. That one was bare bones!! 4 (i think per room and no private baths!)

 

I wonder if I was on this cruise too :confused:. I did the skeet shooting and had communal baths.

 

This was back when I was 17 and (DON'T SHOOT ME......I DIDN'T KNOW BETTER) but we would write letters and stuff them in a wine bottle and chuck them over the back of the ship. I received a letter from a man in Santorini years later :eek:. Pretty weird.....and NO, I don't recommend doing this, nor do I still do it.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

Greek Line, Queen Anna Mariea NYC to Bermuda (October 1970). It was a small ship by todays standards. Got me hooked.

[alabama ghost]

These are some wonderful stories. Guess most of us really enjoyed our first cruise or we wouldn't still be cruising. Keep up the great stories!

[CruisinEars]

We only recently discovered cruising but we are now hooked. Even our kids love it.

 

Our first cruise was on the Disney Magic May 2008. It was fantastic and we are now eager cruisers. We can't think of a vacation now and not figure out how to get a cruise out of it. :D We head out on our 3rd cruise in under 2 years in less than 2 weeks.

[UK Cruiser]

2003, Coral Princess' second cruise to Alaska. This was eight months after I was diagnosed with cancer and three months after finishing chemotherapy. We wanted to see Alaska and got hooked on cruising. Since then I have had two more arguments with cancer (last treatment was a couple of weeks ago) and we have been on eleven other cruises.

 

We are looking forward to our next one in October :)

[txjim09]

From NY to San Juan in 1962, when my father was transfered to Puerto Rico! Don't remember much, however... :p

 

First modern cruise was on the Grand Princess out of Galveston. Watched the ship come in that morning and ended up talking to the Harbor Pilot an hour or so later. Very sad to see it leave Texas

[truckmaker]

Our first cruise was on the Carnival Festivale. I'm really not certian of the exact year but while we were on board Eastern Airlines went bankrupt and we flew home on a branded 'Carnival' plane. Smoking was still allowed on an airplane and we were all very uncomfortable as we flew from San Juan to Detroit.

 

We've now been on 28 and have 2 more in our book for next year. Yeah, we kinda like cruising too!

[Scubagal1]

My first cruise was on the Nordic Empress (renamed Empress of the Seas), a Royal Caribbean ship, to the Bahamas in 1993. Loved that ship and the main 2 level dining room. It was the last RCI ship to have a name that didn't end in "of the Seas". 3 day cruise, way too short!

[bruinlvr]

First cruise was on the Song of America, 10/83 for our honeymoon. Nassau, Puerto Rico and St Thomas from Miami. The ship was pretty new and very luxurious to me. At our stop in Puerto Rico we we allowed to board a NCL ship that was docked next to us for a look around.

 

Just thinking about this, I'm anxious to look at the honeymoon pictures when I get home tonite for a stroll down memory lane....

[bjkTX]

You always remember your first. Ours was on the Golden Princess in 2002 to Canada/New England for our 30th anniversary. We hated it so much we're going back for the third time in September :-) I did many things right on that cruise (roses, champagne, strawberries on the balcony as we left NYC) - but I also made one big mistake - I booked a mini-suite. Now with 5 Princess cruises under our belts and two more coming up I haven't been able to shake the mini-suite habit!

[spatsmcd]

Epirotiki's Atlas in 1984, Greek Island, Egypt, Israel, Turkey. I had a share cabin and my cabinmate was the first to unpack, she took the largest closet and hung up 5 things. I was traveling for 3 weeks and had much more then would fit in the small closet and lived out of my suitcase in the cabin. We did not get along, so all i did was sleep in the cabin. I had a great time making friends and seeing the sights. After i would only share with friends and then DH(now i get the most closet space!!):D

[Nancy53]

My first cruise was June 1973 with Costa Cruise Line the year I graduated from high school. We had two bunkbeds in the room and that was it. It was so small two people could not get dressed at the same time. I don't even remember the name of the ship but it was alot of fun. Four single girls just graduating from high school. Met some really interesting people.

Got drunk for the first time, oh what fun.

We didn't even have a bathroom in our room and had to share one down the hallway with all the other poor people like ourselves. We went to Bahamas, St. Thomas, Grand Cayman and the boat broke down and we drifted under Cuba for 8 hrs. Finally about dinnertime the power came on and they substituted Bahamas for the other port we were supposed to go to. Great memories. No casinos back then. :o

[puddytat]

My first cruise was on a Carnival 3 night Mexico weekend. The ship Paradise was a bit old and the crowd was very pleasant. They somehow set the two of us on a table with 6 other single women who was looking for date on the ship. One of the young girl was in a constant drunk state and disappeared from the table from the second night. That pretty much finished my interest with Carnival, although I know it probably will be different on another itinerary.

Then the real cruise was on Dawn Princess to Mexican Riviera. She was not a new ship but we liked the experience and so far Princess is our favorite cruise line. The only thing I consistently did not care about is the tiny shower space.

[jdm]

First "cruise", though not really a cruise. It was transatlantic NY - Bremerhaven. 1958. Ship was MS Berlin, I believe. I was with my mother and a whole bunch of great aunts. I was only 11 years old. I LOVED it. Did it again in 1963 on the Bremen. Then fast forward through adulthood to 1991 when we took our kids on the Big Red Boat. We have been cruising yearly ever since. Took the kids along until after their college. Great family vacation memories. Hope to take our grandchildren in a few years!

[Creeks]

Our first cruise was on the Commodore Cruise Line: The Enchanted Isle!

We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in 1991 with a seven night trip

out of San Diego to Mexico: Puerto Vallarta, Maxatlan & Cabo San Lucas.

It was an old ship but we had a wonderful time. The next was on the Crown Jewel of the Crown Cruise Line to the eastern caribbean, then the Star Princess 16 nights from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale through the Panama Canal. We went VAncouver to Anchorage on the Regal Princess seeing Glacier Bay and College Fjord. Before long we were on our twenty something cruise,

still loving it. When my DH died we had a cruise booked for that week; I cancelled that cruise but took the transatlantic we had booked and several since then. Ships have changed a lot, but they are still a wonderful way to travel.........In September I am booked on the Radiance of the Seas...........

[5:00_Somewhere]

Our first cruise was in October of 2000 on the Sun Princess. It was a "repo cruise", but we didn't know what that meant at the time. We sailed from LA to Acapulco (7-days). I had been reluctant to take a cruise for years, though friends had tried repeatedly to talk us into it. Looking back, I can't imagine what on earth I was concerned about. We fell in love with the experience that first time and, as you can see in my "signature" below, have become quite addicted. Just booked our 13th this past weekend. :D

[sackman]

Probably around 1978, Costa Carla C southern Caribbean. I was 10 years old and travelling with my parents. The officers on board carried out a three day strike during the voyage. This effectively abandoned us in Curacao for three days. "The Spy who Loved Me" seemed to be playing constantly in the theater. I probably watched that movie five times.

 

I've never set foot on a Costa ship since. I don't trust them. :D

[texkan]

First cruise for 35th Wedding Anniversary - January 2004 - RC Rhapsody- Galveston TX to

Western Caribbean. We enjoyed so much that we have done one cruise a year.

[NowVoyager908]

My first cruise was on Carnival’s Tropicale back in 1985 (LA to Mexican Riviera). My sister and her friend were going and asked me to join them. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but decided to give it a shot. Previous to this, my only cruise experience was a bon voyage party on the Oceanic back in the 60's.

 

We were booked in an inside cabin the size of a walk-in closet. Boy, was that an eye-opener. LOL. We requested late seating and got early, but the MD fixed it. He moved us to a large table that contained members of one family. I don’t know if they were happy about adopting us “orphans” for a week, but they didn’t say anything. And we had a great time.

 

The old show The A-Team was shooting its season premier episode during the cruise so there were times we couldn’t access certain areas of the ship. We didn’t know about it beforehand, but we didn’t care. I’m sure in today’s climate, someone would be screaming “class action suit” or asking for an OBC. Seeing the various actors around the ship when they weren’t filming made up for any inconvenience. I’m not particularly celebrity obsessed. You know us native New Yorkers. I’d rather stab myself than ask for an autograph or make it obvious that a celebrity just passed me on the street. LOL. But in this instance, it was fun to gawk from afar.

 

Bottom line, I loved every minute of it and all these cruises later (just completed lucky #13), I’m still loving it.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -- Theodore Geisel (a.k.a. "Dr. Seuss")

 

 

"Life is like an ice cream cone. You have to learn how to lick it." - Charlie Brown

[WeBeGone]

Our first cruise in 2001 was on the now gone, but not forgotten, Ocean Princess. We'll be forever grateful to the travel agent at the mall for suggesting that we would enjoy Princess.