What was your first cruise?

[CalGal777]

My first cruise was on the Bermuda Star out of San Diego, a 7 day Mexican Rivera cruise. This was the late 80's and DH was in the Navy and we got a military discount and the trip cost $500.00 for the both of us. Had a very tiny room with bunkbeds, I got to sleep on the top. It had a porthole that opened.A bathroom that also was the shower. I would guess the cabin was no more than 12'x8'. The dining room was on the bottom on the ship and no windows. They had a lounge with a dance floor and every night the Captain was there dancing with the ladies.

[LoriPhil]

A TA in July 1963 on the final (?) voyage of the SS America, when my family was being transfered back to the US from England. That's when we discovered I was highly subject to motion-sickness, so much of the time I was in a life jacket bobbing around in that beautiful inside pool. I also discovered room service - wow!

 

Took me decades to cruise again, and now DH and I are hooked!

[Fabian52]

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

 

Now I remember the name of the ship "Federico C" from Costa Cruise Line.

Very small ship but it was fun. Seven day cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale.;)

[retiring soon]

My first cruise was on Chandris Fantasy Cruise's (now X) Amerikanis in Feb. 1989. It was a 7 day Caribbean cruise that left from Puerto Rico ~ what a thrill to see the huge ships docked there! We had an inside cabin which had dark blue velvety wallpaper & the bed's headboard was engraved silver ~ beautiful. We thought the cruise was great but heard other people talking about how much better this or that other cruise was.

We liked it enough that we booked the next cruise on the Victoria in Feb. '91.

~Jo~ :)

[Cruisin' Bud]

Our first was for our honeymoon on RCCL's Sovereign of the Seas, and it was a GREAT experience! At the time she was one of the largest ships afloat (nowadays she's almost a dinghy!:eek:)

[noobiecruiser]

Our first cruise was on the NCL Dream, out of Houston and cruising to the Caribbean, December 2005. I'd been bugging my DH for years to go on a cruise, and he kept saying he didn't think he'd like it. I finally wore him down, and he told me to just book it and leave him alone. Then the pressure was on because he was waiting to hate it so he could say I told you so. Knowing nothing about cruising, I chose NCL because of their freestyle policy -- he doesn't like being told when and with whom to eat, and he doesn't really like getting dressed up. Then I chose Houston because the NCL website said that cruise would be more casual because of the "relaxed Texas lifestyle."

 

Long story short, DH loved it from the second we walked onto the ship, and now he's hooked!

[lizboyle]

Chandris Fantasy Cruises SS Britannis, 5 day Mexican Riviera in 1990. Looking back now it was a bit of a rust bucket but it had a fabulous party atmosphere onboard and the food was excellent. From then on I was hooked.

[jake165]

Our first cruise was in 1997 on Sky Princess, a 14 day trip from Singapore to Hong Kong. Regards Jake

[Druke I]

Hello Jake

 

Long time, no see. Hope all is well.

[miamiu96]

I was 9 and my family went on the Atlantic out of NYC to Bermuda in Aug of 1983.

 

I was part of the kids program, and when were were half way between NYC and Bermuda, the program had us write a note with our name and address, place it in a wine bottle and throw it overboard.

 

In Oct of 1984, I received a letter from a man who found my bottle when it washed up on shore at a Club Med in the Bahamas. He sent back the letter too, and I think we still have it at my parents house.

[jake165]

Hi Michael(Druke 1), Life is good, we are off to Asia on Ocean Princess in Feb, what about you guys any trips planned. Cheers Jake

[taxatty]

Majesty of the Seas, in 2003, before the renovation. Got us hooked on cruising. An old, tired ship, but we love it for a weekend! We'll be sailing on it for the 5th time in October.

 

Les

[cruiserus]

We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary on the Song of Flower, part of the Seven Seas Cruise Line. We cruised from Vancouver to Anchorage, and then did some land tours through Alaska Airlines. It was an all-inclusive cruise with beverages included. The ship was small, only 172 passengers, and the service was top-notch. It now sails under the name Diamante as part of a French Cruise line. We saw it down in Antarctica last year.

[kman48]

Our first was in, I believe, December of 1985. We booked a week in the Carib. on the Countess or sister ship (Princess?). But our ship had to go unexpectedly into drydock. Our TA called and told us the news, 2 days before our sceduled departure. Cunard offered 3 or 4 "makeups" at different times but only one during the vacation we had already started: they would fly us to Barbados to board Vistafjord for the last week of a 10-day cruise. We took it, and it was pretty nice!

 

Imagine our surprise in learning on our 2nd cruise (and 3rd, et seq.), that the "typical" cruise did not involve a single seating for dinner, vegetables dispensed to order at table, a sorbet course, etc.!!

 

After a number of decidedly less-luxe cruises, we were able to cruise her twice more, years later, as the Caronia, and those cruises were above average but still somewhat less fancy than in 1985.

 

Kent

[musicman2648]

First cruise last April (2009) RCL to Western Carbbean. Loved it all but enjoyed the service and amazed at how comfortable the bed was. They did not make "noise" as someone said early. LOL (We may be in our 60's but we are not dead) We were on Freedom of the Seas. Great ship! Loved meeting so many people from so many places

[flamomo]

My cousin and I, both recently widowed, sailed on the Coral Princess on r/t FLL-Panama Canal itinerary in 2004.

I knew NOTHING about cruising, and she had only been on one previous cruise. I scoured the Cruise Answer Book for all the info I could find.

I just remember the shuttle bus pulling into the port in FLL, and catching my first glimpse of the Coral. She was so beautiful, with the sun shining on those blue plexiglass panels on the balconies, and she was HUGE - far bigger than I could have imagined from the few photos I had seen of her. I was awestruck, and pretty much stayed that way for the whole cruise. EVERYTHING impressed me, and by the time it was over, I was so hooked on cruising that it became the only kind of real vacation I want to go on. (Trips to Vegas don't count as vacations any more !) I have completed 7 cruises with Princess now, have 2 more booked, and ideas for several more that I'd like to take. There's a lot more world out there that I want to see.

[vette]

Our first cruise was on the Blue Lady (Norway) out of Florida in 1996. We visited St. Thomas, St Martin and the private island. It was a Rock N Roll cruise and we had 20 of our closest friends with us. What a wonderful time we had!! We partied all week, and I have been hooked ever since. It is a true Mom's vacation, no cooking, no cleaning, no making beds, no laundry - just relax and enjoy - I am soooooooooo glad I found cruising.

 

Vette

[PescadoAmarillo]

Our first was the RC Rhapsody of the Seas to Alaska, in late August 1997. It was its inaugural year and I had never seen anything as beautiful as that ship. I booked it on a Wednesday, just three days before we left! DH and I both had a week's vacation scheduled the next week, with no plans. Even 8 years after moving into a new house, we were still spending way too much time painting and planting, and I was determined not to spend my vacation week the same way. I saw a flyer posted in the lunchroom at work with last minute deals, called the TA and just booked it. I then came home from work Wednesday evening and said, "Guess where we"re going Saturday". It was never a choice for him, and I remind him frequently how well it worked out when we did it "my way".

 

I had been after him since our wedding 14 years earlier to cruise, and he never would, for all the usual reasons. But I knew he would love Alaska. Well, he did. But he loved cruising even more. Our next cruise was in 1999...a 15 night transatlantic with 5 sea days in a row. We were in heaven! Now, I can't get him to do any other kind of vacation. I still do land and scuba vacations with friends, but with DH...it's cruising or nothing.

 

Frankly, I'm glad I didn't know about CC back then (did it even exist?). I'm glad I only had basically 2 evenings to prepare and pack. I didn't know the first thing about the ship, the ports, or what to expect. But it has sure been fun getting our "cruise education" the old way...with practice.

[PescadoAmarillo]

He sent back the letter too, and I think we still have it at my parents house.

That is a VERY cool story! Unfortunately, I'm sure today's kids club can't do that (throwing bottles into the ocean), but I think it's something every kid should get the chance to do once.

[Infi]

SS Florida, 1962, with my parents. It was a 7 day "cruise" to the Bahamas, by which they meant it sailed to Nassau and parked there for 5 days like a floating hotel. The cabins were so tiny one person had to stay in bed while the other walked around. The bathrooms were down the hall, shared among the deck. The ship really was an old tub, converted from a cargo liner if I remember right. As a kid, I remember being really jealous of the ship docked beside us in port, the Yarmouth Castle, because it had a swimming pool. (The Florida didn't.) I kept saying we should have gone on that ship instead. A few years later, the Yarmouth Castle sank off the coast of Florida after an awful fire. After that happened, I got a "Bet you're glad we didn't go on that ship!" from my dad.

 

Believe it or not, the Florida got us hooked on cruising. We sailed her a few more times before moving on to Home lines, Lauro lines, Admiral lines, Chandris, and Sitmar (bought out by Princess). Yes, I do miss the good old days of cruising back in the 70s with the smaller ships, the fantastic crew, and the food. The dirt-cheap prices didn't hurt either! Although times have changed a lot, I still love cruising as much as I did back then.

[ShelbysMom]

Sitmar Fairsea in December of 1986, 9 day Mexican Riviera from LA.

 

Great Italian crew.

[tispwisp]

Our first cruise was on the Golden Princess in March 2002. DH was extremely reluctant and complained the entire drive down about how miserable and bored he was going to be. After the third day, he looked at me rather sheepishly and said I was right - this was the best vacation he'd ever had and to book next year's but make it a 10 day because 7 is too short! Needless to say we are now totally hooked and can't imagine vacationing any other way!

[anniversarycruiser40]

First cruise I took was on the SS Independence (I think that was name) from Italy to NY City. I celebrated my 9th birthday onboard! I remember rough seas and getting sick, but I still had a great time. It was November 1958. My Dad had been stationed overseas and we were taking an ocean voyage back to the US. We even had our German Sheppard puppy aboard the ship!

 

First trip as a married family was when I graduated from Nursing school in March 1988. We took the Big Red Boat on a 4 day cruise and a trip to Disney world with our 2 younger kids.

 

Next cruise will be my 11th!!! Ruby Princess 10 day Eastern Caribbean 2009- another birthday cruise!

[cruising 4 me]

our first cruise was on carnival triumph. it was given to us as a gift from my husbands company for 25 years of service. he is now retired after 48 years of service . since the first we have been on 8 others and will be on #10 in nov when we cruise to hawaii on the golden princess.;)

[cubfan63]

Caribe I, 7-night cruise sailing June 30, 1984.

 

The cruise went from Miami to St. Thomas, San Juan and Puerta Plata.

 

Not only was it my first cruise but it was my first time on an airplane, flying from Chicago to Miami.