What was your first cruise?

[GSDsky]

My first was nov 1972 aboard the Arcadia. Yes P&O. Sailed from Vancouver to Sydney for 45 days. 22 years of age and loved it. Drinks 25 cents and lots of singles immigrating to aus. Sailed again in 73 on Oriana and then again on Oriana in 75. Thanks to princess for Elite status.:)

[Cruisematic]

1992 on the old Star Princess 7 days out of San Juan, great southern route. We loved it so much we did again the next year. After that we cruised 10 years straight between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the best time for the best deals in the Caribbean.

[chrysalis]

1972.....from Dakar, Senegal to Southhampton, England aboard the P&O Orsova. We were such a motley group (6 of us getting on mid-cruise) that they gave us our our private dining room with waitstaff so that we did not have to dine (offend) the other passengers at meal time.

[comoxvalley21]

My first cruise was on Cunard's Scythia in 1956. My parents were emigrating to Canada from Scotland. My memories (as a six year old) are limited but I do remember being thrilled that I could have dessert with every meal ....even breakfast if I wanted it. I also remember my poor mother suffering from seasickness the entire trip...she could never eat an apple again!!!

It took 25 years to get her back on a ship but, thanks to modern medicine, she and my dad enjoyed about 30 cruises until his death. They encouraged us to do the same and 17 cruises later I think we've definitely caught the bug.

[conwakr]

Our first cruise was on the Nordic Empress (Royal Caribbean) in 1997. San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, etc. just my husband and I. It was such a pretty boat and I loved the lines of the ship. We had a balcony and have on every cruise since. Everyday we would leave port they would play "Sail Away" by Enya. The memory of that still sends chills down my back and I adored that tradition. I'll never forget the sommelier--a really cute Irish gal about our age. We both loved getting "gussied" up for dinner. So nice. My husband worked on the water during his twenties on tugs and stuff and I've been a "sailor" all my life, but it's so relaxing to cruise in luxury, be waited on, and watch the water go by. We had both grown up listening to stories from our grandparents and parents about the "old" cruiseships they took to get back and forth to Europe. I'm grateful that the kids are "grown" and we can find those more elegant ships again, although we've had tons of fun as a family on Disney, Carnival, etc. We're all about the "smaller cruise ships" and the traditions.

[nac04]

My first cruise was a the Carnival Fascination.

[cajun-cruiser]

My first cruise was my "Sr Class Trip". Commodore Cruise Line "Ms Boheme" May 14 ~ 21, 1977.

Departed from Miami Beach, Florida

Ports of call:

Puerto Plata, Domincan Republic

St Thomas, Virgin Islands

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Cap Haitien, Haiti

 

That week was all a blur!!!!!!!!!!

[GFLeeper]

In 1955, as a 12 year old, I traveled with my brother, sister and parents on the Isthmian Line, "Steel Rover" from Honolulu, through the Panama Canal, to Norfolk, VA and disembarked in NYC. The Steel Rover was a 12 passenger freighter, however, only one other couple was on board. I had a cabin to myself. My younger brother and sister shared another, my parents were in a third. We ate with the officers in the mess. Our room steward was also the waiter. The first mate had children the same age as my sister and I, so he took us under his wing. I went on the daily hold inspection with him. They conducted a test of the safety equipment while we were on board. I got to fire the Lyle cannon. After dinner in the evening, we would go to the after deck, under the awning. "Sparks" would try to get a radio station and pipe it out over the loudspeakers.

 

The Panama Canal was much different than today. the "mules" could only pull on the cables and had no ability to take up the slack. That was all done with capstans on board the vessel. While in the canal, the crew took advantage of the fresh water to use the fire hoses to wash down to vessel and remove the salt film that had accumulated.

 

This was a great introduction to ocean voyages. Thirty-three years later, I introduced my wife to cruising. I could calm her fears by assuring her that the nearest land was only a mile away. Straight down.

 

George

[CruisJack]

I read on another board a thread like this one and thoroughly enjoyed it. Hope you might like to remember something like this.

 

My first cruise was on the S/S Florida, part of the P&O Cruise Lines, from Miami to Nassau in the summer of 1966. Very small, by today's standards and the "staterooms" reminded me of those on trains. We had a wonderful time and that began our family cruising which we're still doing today. I remember they had a special deal where teenagers (or children?) could cruise free and my sister and I even got our own room.

 

Ahoy Alabama Ghost :-)

Our first cruise was in the summer of 1980 on the Costa Flavia from Miami to the Bahamas for 4 days. It was a small ship of maybe 10,000-12,000 tons and our cabin was small. When we sat on our twin bed, our knees would touch the other bed. The bathroom had a shower in the middle with a round ring attached to the ceiling with the shower curtain. It would wrap around you whilst you were taking your shower.

The crew and staff were from Italy. I remember our dining room waiter who was named Antonio. He missed his wife and children back home. He was friendly and personable and the food was very good.

Our room steward was named Rocco and we could hear him singing opera in the hallway while he was doing his job. On the last night of our cruise, Rocco sang in the theater. He wore a costume which had the male part facing the audience when he sang the male part of the opera. He would turn around so the female costume faced the audience whenever he sang the female part of the opera. That was the best performance of any of the entertainers on our cruise.

We had a fantastic cruise and we were hooked on cruising.

Now, we really enjoy the larger ships with all of the amenities

for cruising but that first one was a beauty in itself.

This was a great thread and I have enjoyed reading about

everyone's first cruise adventures.

May you all have fair skies and calm seas on your future cruises.

 

[laemerald]

Wow our first cruise was 1993 on the carnival Jubilee imagine one husband me and our eight year old daughter and 4 year old twins in ONE ocean view room we had two on the bed, two bunks ,and one rollaway cart it was great but ill take two in a mini suite please

[Mom33]

Our first cruise was on Home lines "Doric" sailing from NYC to Bermuda in 1980. Thank goodness the ship was in Hamilton for 3 days before our return to NY, otherwise it would have been a disaster. We went through a storm on the way to Bermuda and we went through one on the way back. The ship did not take the rough seas well and it was frightening. We never got to enjoy the actual cruise. Swore I would never cruise out of NY again.

 

It took 10 years for us to set foot on a cruise ship again.:D Alaska was great!

 

Got hooked on the idea of cruising and started cruising on our own boat in the Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound.

 

Now retired, we are letting Princess fill the gas tanks and dock the boat :p

It doesn't get any better than this.

[zogrand]

Our first cruise was on the Royal Majesty, Boston to Bermuda, in May 1997. She became the Norwegian Majesty but has now gone on to other ports. Like so many others, we're hooked. Our 12th cruise is next month and our 13th is booked. Our children were young adults when we took our first but our granddaughters - 1 and 3 have already taken their first. Times have changed!!

[AndyTheK]

At the beginning of December 1981, my 13 year old daughter was involved in a bus accident on the way to school, which hospitalized her for a week. She worked feverishly to get off the wheelchair, then off crutches, and was back in school by the middle of January. We felt she deserved a great reward for her efforts, so booked a cruise for President's weekend at the end of February.

 

Four days Miami to Bahamas on an NCL ship whose name I can not recall. We all had a great time.

 

Through the '80s my ex and I cruised sporadically, but cruising was not a favored vacation, although we did a large amount of land-based travel. In 1990 we moved a quarter of the way around the world and eventually went our separate ways.

 

In 2000, my DW and I were married. She had never gone further afield from New Jersey than one trip to Florida to visit her retired parents. She is disabled, and land based touring is generally difficult for us to manage. Remembeing that there are many people with disabilities who thoroughtly enjoy cruising, we booked. The rest, as they say...

[3LittleBirds]

Star Princess, eastern Caribbean 2004 for our honeymoon. Hooked ever since... :D

[toberman]

Unfortunately, we just discovered cruising in 2007. A very dear friend died from a massive heart attack, totally unexpected. We knew we had to get away and for some unknown reason, I suggested a cruise to DH. I have also had a heart attack so I guess I was thinking about my mortality. We took a 7 day Crown Princess cruise and we were totally hooked. We will soon be going on our third Princess cruise and I'm not sure I want any other kind of holiday!

 

Janette

[rdsqrl]

My first cruise was in 1990 to the western Caribbean, aboard NCL's Seaward. I was a major Love Boat fan and really wanted to sail on Princess, but NCL offered a better deal to singles -- you only paid the per person rate but the catch was that NCL assigned you the cabin at the last minute with no choice of category. Of course, I ended up in an inside room (NEVER again!!!!). I loved everything about the trip (well, except for that inside room!), even the one day of rough sailing, and have been feeding my addiction for 19 years now . . . None of my friends or family has caught cruise fever and they all just roll their eyes when I talk about my next cruise. So sad for them.

[raydon]

1982 NCL Sunward 4 night Bahamas........hooked!

[choochella]

1997 - now defunct Dolphin cruise lines. 750 passengers!!

Actually, Bert Stratten was on this cruise. Must have been his start in the business.

[DocM4]

1969 on the a Sitmar Cruise aboard The Fairwind - we also sailed the following year on the FairSea. Both small ships, wonderful service. Both times it was a Mexican Riveria cruise. Oh such memories!!

[hughdm]

1981 QE2 round trip from Southampton to Bremen and various Norwegian ports. Lots of eventful goings on. Had to actually return to France and take a ferry back to Southampton, as when we left the dock workers were on strike, so the captain just pulled away and the gangway went into the water. The port wouldn't let us back in! Had some steering problems and missed Geiranger Fjord, but went to the cutest town Allesund. The whole town turned out ,with a marching band at the dock. Townspeople organized tours on their local buses. A great time was had by all.

[RickEk]

I first sailed on the Island Princess during her inaugural season in 2003. We did the 10-day Panama Canal partial transit. We visited Jamaica, Cozumel, Costa Rica, the Canal and Grand Cayman. It was really my first trip outside of the United States and started my cruising obsession. :)

 

I remember going to Port Everglades in a cab from our hotel and how amazed I was by how the Island Princess looked ... very futuristic.

[cruisemom42]

My first cruise was on the Emerald Seas -- a 4-day Christmas cruise in 1973; I was 10. My mother and grandmother had traveled by ship before (they went to Europe via the Queen Mary, among others....) but "cruising" was relatively new. There were 4 of us in a tiny cabin with a porthole. I loved sleeping in the bunk bed. Since it was over Christmas, they had "Santa" onboard and gave a present to every kid!

 

Shortly thereafter we discovered Sitmar and I cruised several times in the 1970s on the Fairwind in the Caribbean, and one memorable cruise on the Fairsea (14 days to Alaska from San Francisco, back when hardly anyone was cruising Alaska....). The Italian crew always made a fuss over my sister and I, and I was introduced to afternoon tea in the lounge and wooden horse racing. The kids club was a small room in the aft of an upper deck with a few board games and a juke box. It was heaven!

 

Tried NCL and RCCL in the 1980s. We spent the first week of our honeymoon on a cruise ship. DH did not enjoy cruising. Now he is ex-DH; could there be a link? :rolleyes:

 

Back to Princess in the 1990s and it felt like home (although have had a "fling" with Celebrity and HAL), so DS and I have been pretty loyal passengers since then.

[MNYTRPS2GO2]

With a lifelong history of motion sickness I never wanted to cruise. My family finally talked me into it and we sailed on the Carnival Triumph in November 2001 during Hurricane Michelle. I cursed them for days, did get motion sick even with medication but fell in love with being on the ocean. Cruise number 8 is in November. I do still have a problem with the motion but deal with it and enjoy myself..

[SurveyHand]

I also suffered a moderate to major heart attack about 6 weeks ago. Just started rehab last week. Can you tell me if you had any problems cruising after you had yours, flying, insurance etc. I don't want to hijack this thread but my email address is steve james 18@gmail.com, without the gaps.

 

Thanks

Steve

[Ashryn]

Our first cruise was on the QEII. My husband always wanted to cruise but I was terrified of drowning! Saw a 5 day cruise from Bangkok to Phuket and figure that it pretty much hugged the coast. As it was our anniversay at the time of the cruise I booked it as a surprise and figured I would be able to cope with such a short cruise once in my life. Can't believe I thought I didn't like cruising! Booked another cruise that same year with the children and have been cruising ever since. Best way to travel, just love it.