What was your first cruise?

[goldenrod]

Our first cruise was on the SS Bahama Star Miami to Nassau 3 days the cost was $69 per person we went with another couple we were in our early 20's. We all lived in Miami so you just went down to the port parked and got on the ship. In those days there was no security checks and I found out my crazy paranoid friend was packing a snob nose 38 pistol with him, when we were in Nassau he had it in his pocket if he had been caught he might still be their, but he didn't. The rooms were like a closet but we had a great time and have been cruising ever since the cruises are a little more expensive now but worth every penny!

[City_Woman]

Our first cruise was in 2002.

 

We had always been curious about cruises. I had wanted to try it for years. The cost always kept us away.

 

We bit the bullet and tried a 5 day from Miami. Our travel agent suggest 5 days was enough for us to make the decision if we wanted to continue cruising and try a 7 day.

 

We were hooked.

 

We have since moved to 7 days and now 10 days. If I had more vacation time and more money we'd cruise even more.

 

Love it!

 

Judy

[LETS PARTY]

1492 0n the Mayflower 45 days........no cabin had to sleep on deck.........the buffet not to good, bread & water only.....the entertainment was good front row seats for plank walking....

oh I must of been dreaming, just woke up

my real 1st was the Tropicale.... Carnival 1st ship they built 1988....love cruising, over 50 on the books

[OnVacation11]

Our first cruise was the Carnival Celebration. Her first summer sailing. I remember skeet shooting, and hitting golf balls off the back of the ship! We sailed the Norway too. I remember the smells of the ship on the Norway. Like an old battle ship!

 

Our 1st cruise was also on then new Carnival Celebration in Nov. 1987. We tried couple of other lines before our 1st Princess cruise in the Fair Princess to Alaska in July 1995. We have enjoyed Princess since then.

[Bill B]

Sun Princess, 'Voyage of the Glaciers', Vancouver to Anchorage (Seward), May 2000.

[cgoingmom]

My first cruise was on Matson Line's Matsonia. Sailed from Los Angeles to Honolulu in 1961. Boy what memories. Thanks for starting this thread.;)

[cruiserone]

Seems like a l o n g time ago but it was 1989 and the ship was the Song of America out of Miami to the Western Caribbean. Cozumel was a little tiny stop with a few stores and great food. The Cayman Islands stop was a dock right in town and not too many stores, but great rum! In Jamaica there was a cement factory where we docked out ship. Everyone knew everyone else on the ship and it was only one dining room and two times to eat. It was wonderful. We did see the Song a few years ago now owned by another fleet. Great memories, thanks for reminding me!:D:D:D:D

[CL-JW]

Our first cruise was on QM2 in 2004 - we loved it and we are hooked on cruising now.

[SeaGypsies]

Our first cruise was on the Atalante in 1985 for an E. Med adventure. We booked through a TA in Madrid while we were living in Spain. All the crew were Greek. The female CD called out Bingo in 5 languages. Casino was like a closet. Thought it was important to have a porthole window when choosing cabin and ended up in a tiny room with bunkbeds (but with a cloudy porthole).:o We didn't care. Food was outstanding and ports, fantastic.

[cruisemom42]

1492 0n the Mayflower 45 days........no cabin had to sleep on deck.........the buffet not to good, bread & water only.....the entertainment was good front row seats for plank walking....

oh I must of been dreaming, just woke up

 

 

Would've had to have been the Pinta, Nina, or Santa Maria back in 1492. The luxurious new Mayflower didn't come along for another 150 years or so..... I hear passengers were complaining that the food had gone downhill and service wasn't as good as in the good old days.....

[alabama ghost]

Cruising sure has changed over the years! The best part of it as far as we're concerned is it gives us a chance to get together as a family doing something fun together at least once a year.

 

Keep up the wonderful stories, more details, please. I really enjoyed the Mayflower story; did it really take only 45 days?

[Lisa&Neb]

My first cruise (neb) was NCL Majesty 4 night out of Miami to Key West, Cozumel and back. It was a srping break cruise for others (March break for us teachers). We lovedit but hated the Spring breakers (US university kids). So we decided to go longer cruiseds and try to stay out of Miami if possible.

 

Lisa's first cruise was Dec 1984 on HAL Neiuw Amsterdam. She went with her Grandma, and 2 cousins when she was 6. Her cousins were 13 and 16 with her 62 year old grandma. She went on many more with her grandma/mom untill 1994 and then nothing untill we started cruising 2003 on NCL

[Host Carolyn]

In 1988 on Commodore Cruise Line's Caribe I which until recently was the Imperial Majesty sailing from Lauderdale and now I can't remember what they call her... second cruise was on that ship too. They had lots of rock'n roll cruises and Shirelles were onboard both times = great memories and great cruise, obviously, since I'm now on #44-45 or thereabouts...

Still love older ships.. original Island Princess cruise to Alaska from Vancouver to Anchorage (11 days) in '98 is one of my all time favorites.

[Brill]

Our first cruise was on the Americanize (Greek Line) in the late 60s. We thought it was huge at the time although only 18,000 tons. We had a small inside room with bunk beds. We sailed out of San Juan for eight days to the Southern Caribbean. We paid about $450/person including airfare. We've been on about 15 cruises since then and have one booked for January. Cruising never gets old for us.

[ohtocruise]

In July, 1999 my wife, Donna and I went on a dinner cruise out of Philadelphia. It only lasted a couple of hours but during that time we started talking about someday going on a "real cruise". We had a delightful evening and three days later we had our first "real cruise" booked on the Sea Princess for our anniversary in October of that year. Loved it and we have our seventh cruise booked for December 12th as our Christmas presents to each other!!

 

"Life at sea, is like nothing on earth."

[bjboothman]

June 2002, The Love Boat (Pacific Princess) in her last season with Princess. It was a 7 day from NYC to Bermuda and at sailaway we all looked sadly at the Manhattan skyline where people stared at where "the WTC used to be".

 

We were celebrating our first anniversary and slept in a room with truly nonconverting twins (two singles nailed to the floor at right angles to each other. We laughed at the thought of it being called the Love Boat.)

 

It was such a small ship that by the end of the week you knew quite a few people on a first and lastname basis. Maybe it's because it was my first, but of all the Princess cruises I've taken since, it still holds the fondest memories for me.

[Colo Cruiser]

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.

 

 

Wow, I used to visit her and all the old P&O ships when they visted Melbourne!

I think she had sails didn't she. :eek:

[ashleycrew]

NCL Westward December 19th to the Bahamas. It was my honeymoon with my first wife. 6yrs later we where no longer married, guess that did not work out to well... haha. My Current wife and I will be taking our 9th and 10th cruises togethor in Sept.......

[Thumper69]

It was 1972, I was 9 years old and we were on the Oriana sailing the South Pacific out of Sydney. We had a broom closet with bunks no porthole. We sailed into the end of a cyclone and most people were sea sick, the ship was all over the place you couldn't go out on deck for a few days and definitely NO swimming.:eek: I thought the cruise was sooooo cooool. I was hooked and have loved cruising every since.:D

 

Anthony

[TM]

Our first cruise was May, 1992. The Crown Princess to the Eastern Caribbean. The following year we did a 10 day on the very old Dawn Princess to Mexico. Took off a couple of years to pay for college for our daughter, did one family cruise in 1997 to Mexico on Carnival, then started cruising every year since 1999. We just got off the Coral on Monday having done a B2B in Alaska. Already talking about next years trip, we have 2 future cruise deposits in the "bank".

[Tyskie]

Our first cruise was in May 1999, Nordic Empress (RCCL) RT - NY to Bermuda. We hit a weather system ALL the way down to Bermuda. Barf bags were all over the place ! I was getting close to OD-ing on Dramamine but "did NOT miss a meal". The waves were so high, they were hitting our window (no balcony)................and the silverware and flowers on the table were "jumping in the air". Gotta laugh ! We were late getting to Bermuda (missed our Tee time), couldn't dock in St. Georges. Ended up at the Naval Dockyard before it became commercialized.

First day in Bermuda it rained when we got to Horsehoe Bay............lol, street fair canceled. Next day it was beautiful, went back to the beach and had a lovely cruise home. Yup, I was hooked ! But I insisted on leaving from FL or SJ after that. Yes, we have since cruised on the Crown and CB from NY and will be doing so again this October. Hands down, we LOVE Princess !

btw: our first cabin stewart was a woman from Tibet, she was the BEST!

[Colo Cruiser]

It was 1972, I was 9 years old and we were on the Oriana sailing the South Pacific out of Sydney. We had a broom closet with bunks no porthole. We sailed into the end of a cyclone and most people were sea sick, the ship was all over the place you couldn't go out on deck for a few days and definitely NO swimming.:eek: I thought the cruise was sooooo cooool. I was hooked and have loved cruising every since.:D

 

Anthony

 

 

Loved the Oriana!! Been there done that! :eek:

[wowsmom]

My first cruise was on the Cunard Princess in the spring of 1982 (don't remember the exact date). It was a repositioning cruise from San Pedro to Vancouver. It was my parents, 2 of my sisters and me.

 

Best memory of the cruise - my sisters and I walked into the inside cabin we were sharing and looked around. We saw a small sign right inside the door that said "Your room steward is Jesus" and for about 15 seconds, we thought our parents had taken us on a religious cruise! :eek: Then we figured it out. :D

[wowsmom]

My first was Jul (or Aug?) 64, Vancouver BC to San Francisco, on P&O's Oriana. She was on a line voyage, Sydney Australia to Southampton, via the Panama Canal.

 

I'm pretty sure my grandma sailed on the Oriana - maybe in the early 70s? - to England.

[WeBeGone]

my first cruise was on the cunard princess in the spring of 1982 (don't remember the exact date). It was a repositioning cruise from san pedro to vancouver. It was my parents, 2 of my sisters and me.

 

Best memory of the cruise - my sisters and i walked into the inside cabin we were sharing and looked around. We saw a small sign right inside the door that said "your room steward is jesus" and for about 15 seconds, we thought our parents had taken us on a religious cruise! :eek: Then we figured it out. :d

 

rotflmao