How Well Do You Remember Your First Cruise?

Love this discussion -- thanks for everyone for chiming in. A couple of shout-outs:

*Love hearing about cruises before-my-time -- great history here.

*When your first cruise ship went out of service (or was sold off and off and off) did that make you feel old?

*Biggest heart-breaker of a story: SRF's post about his first cruise and his mother (#41). Thanks for sharing that.

Keep 'em coming and thanks again.

Carolyn

*Biggest heart-breaker of a story: SRF's post about his first cruise and his mother (#41). Thanks for sharing that.

Sharing helps.

But she was doing things she liked to do, travel, drink wine, harass people. And she went quickly.

So there is a better side.

Our 1st cruise was a delayed Honeymoon in 1984 (married in '83) on RC Song of Norway to Caribbean. Table for 8 two couples that knew each other from the navy and real newlyweds. Some rough seas, but loved it! From once a year to 3-5 times a year, we love cruising.

*When your first cruise ship went out of service (or was sold off and off and off) did that make you feel old?

Oh yeah. Mine was already on her second tour, having originally sailed for Cunard. This is her when I sailed her:

And this is the old gal a few years ago as Coral (Louis Cruise Line). I actually think her looks might have improved with age. She's now scrap.

Oh yeah. Mine was already on her second tour, having originally sailed for Cunard. This is her when I sailed her:

 

 

And this is the old gal a few years ago as Coral (Louis Cruise Line). I actually think her looks might have improved with age. She's now scrap.

 

Cunard Adventurer aka Sunward II: My only NCL cruise, but, along with her crew, she provided my traveling companion and me the best 4 day Bahamas cruise in a quite satisfactory interior stateroom, one level above the lowest category of such, cruise.

One negative memory: our visit to Great Stirrup Cay, NCL's private island was very, very pleasant during these early days of cruise lines' developing their own private islands. But, a few hours after returning to Sunward II, both of us discovered that sand fleas had become an "extra added attraction" to our beach excursion.

Our first cruise was in 2002 for our 25th anniversary. It was on the RCL Splendour of the Seas in the Western Mediterranean. I had suggested a cruise to Bermuda, and my wife reacted that a cruise sounded good, but how about Alaska instead of Bermuda. (We have since cruised to each of those destinations.)

What do I remember about that cruise? We started in Barcelona, and before boarding RCL gave everyone a free tour of Barcelona. (Everyone on our plane seemed to be either on our cruise or a Princess cruise also leaving that day.) Our first port was the port for Nice, and we not realizing we could get a wake up call almost slept through it only making it to the last tender. In Rome we took a ship's tour and saw the Vatican Museum among other places. For Florence, I screwed up royally getting us on the train going the wrong way. DW realized and we did get back, but did not get to Florence. (We did have time to see Pisa.) And I remember DW taking us to a church in Malta to see a painting, The Beheading of Saint John I think it was called by Caraveggio that I thought was disgusting.

Footnote--10 years later for our 35th anniversary we did a similar Western Mediterranean cruise and this time made sure to see Florence as we booked a Florence on your own excursion with the cruise line and prebooked the two main museums in Florence

First cruise was over Christmas in 1986 on the Premier line (precursor of Disney). We had an inside cabin with two cantilevered upper bunks. Our girls were afraid to sleep on them and DH and I didn't know if they would support the weight of an adult so the girls slept on the beds and DH and I slept on the floor between the beds. I remember Santa Claus coming on the ship from a speedboat. We had terrible weather and everyone, including the crew, got seasick. My younger daughter hasn't cruised since then.

:)

Carolyn

Sharing helps.

 

But she was doing things she liked to do, travel, drink wine, harass people. And she went quickly.

 

So there is a better side.

One thing I forgot to mention in my original post was the experience we had getting from our pre-cruise hotel to the port. We had booked a hotel that had a special park for free and shuttle to the port. As everyone on the shuttle was going on a cruise (Vancouver back when they also used the Ballantyne dock in addition to the newer cruise terminal) and there were 4 ships in Vancouver that day everyone was asking what ship they were going on and where was the ships going. When we announced that this was our very first cruise we got such great tips from the seasoned cruisers. We were amazed that one couple were on their 50th cruise! It really felt as though our experience started as soon as we boarded the shuttle. The comeraderie extended to our onboard experience. Thanks for this thread - so nice to hear positive experiences instead of the silly complaints.

A 14 day cruise aboard Princess around the British Isles. Sea sick sailing through the most notorious shipping channel in the world, people groaning to make it stop. Old beds had just been replaced with new ones, worst sleep I've ever had. Give me a little worn in one anytime! The ocean seemed to go on forever, I thought my feet would never touch ground again.

But when they finally did...I realized over the years, I missed the ship and the dangerous nights swaying back and forth in the North sea. I missed the lazy afternoons playing card games and sipping scotch with no land in sight. I remember getting to know the intimate details of the ship, menus, and faces all just becoming familiar.

The Isles were nothing but spectacular, while the smaller ship held her own and cared for her patrons like no other.

It was a real cruise that I would do over in a second's notice, it was a test of my unworthy sea legs. I passed.

Our first cruise was in April 2014 on the Norwegian Dawn. I actually had won a "cruise". My husband was adamantly against cruising "spending 7 days stuck on a boat with a bunch of people does not sound like a good time to me" Well I told him since I won it that it was a great opportunity to try it out. He loved Norwegian because of the Freestyle cruising. We didn't want to have to be on a specific eating schedule or have to "dress up" for dinner. My husband is definitely not a suit and tie kind of guy. Well, he is hooked! We booked a balcony room (which I highly recommend for a first cruiser) and enjoyed sitting out there everyday watching the sun rise and or set. It was breathtaking. Our ports were Cozumel, Roatan, Belize & Costa Maya. We booked excursions through the ship at every port since it was our first time venturing out of the US (besides Tijuana) and were concerned about safety. We had a blast swimming with the dolphins in Cozumel, snorkeling in Roatan and hunting seashells in Belize and lastly took a local tour in Costa Maya of an actual Mayan couples home.

Since this was our first time on a cruise ship and we were cruising alone we didn't know exactly what to do. It is definitely sensory overload. We kind of kept to ourselves as the ship was full of families (will never cruise during Spring Break periods again) but just went with the flow. The cruise ended way too fast and before we debarked we booked our next one!

We have since taken another cruise on Norwegian to the Mexican Riviera. We went with friends this time and enjoyed being the experts on what to do. Since we had already been through the process we really enjoyed much more of the ship the second time. We visited all the bars, participated in Name that Tune, watched Karaoke, went to the gym, played basketball, ate and drank more then I ever imagined and were already planning our next one!

We love Norwegian and enjoy the perks with being a loyal customer. 24 days until our next cruise on the Norwegian Getaway. We are looking forward to discovering everything that super ship has to offer. I think what I am most excited about is the fact that it has a "Howl at the Moon" dueling piano bar on board! I think I may be there every night!!!

Would love to know what was your first cruise (ship, line, where did you go).

First cruise was Sun Princess to Alaska in 2006

What was the biggest learning moment on the cruise?

It's really easy to get sucked in to spending too much onboard. We had over $800 of unbudgeted onboard expenses and it really hurt. We've since learned not excessively spend while on board and try to pick out just a few must-have splurges.

Best discovery about cruise travel?

We felt like royalty! Exceptional service, chocolates on the pillows....we were young and broke and had never had such a luxurious experience.

What one piece of advice would you want to give folks who haven't cruised yet, but want to (you can give more than one ).

Don't have unrealistic expectations--just go with the flow. It's so easy to be disappointed if every little thing isn't perfect when you have spent so much time and money planning your dream vacation. But really, nothing is ever perfect, and unless something truly horrible happens, you are guaranteed to have a good time if you don't let little things bother you. We've had overcrowded cruise terminals, mediocre meals, lame stage shows, rude passengers, and at least one snarky waiter. But we just shrug it off and laugh about it later--it's all part of the experience. We've never had a cruise that wasn't amazing!

Our first cruise was Sept of 2005. We were on the Carnival Conquest and left Galveston with sunny skies and smooth seas. On our last day at sea we heard from the Captain that the Galveston Port was closed because of Hurricane Rita. We spent two extra days at sea, visited an extra port of call and had beautiful weather. Two days later we docked in Galveston and saw the devastation left behind from Galveston all the way back to South Louisiana. We were lucky to find that our house had minimal damage because our town was also hit by that same storm. So yes, I do remember our first cruise.

My first cruise was March 2002 out of Long Beach on the Carnival Elation. I was 5 months pregnant and my DH and I wanted to get away before our daughter was born.

We did anything and everything that was listed in the daily schedule.

That was 15 years ago and we have our 32nd cruise coming up next month.

We love cruising. No cell phone. No emails. No work. Love it.

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Henry Gibbons troupe transport Hamburg to NYC 1949. I was 3 yrs old but remember the tug boats in NY harbor. 2010 Voyager of the Seas Galveston to Barcelona, mostly Texans and some Europeans going home by sea because of the disruption of air travel for the volcano eruptions. Both are pleasant memories.

I remember my first cruise as if it were yesterday because it was the best vacation I'd ever had and turned me into a cruise addict!

Sailed on the Carnival Holiday (now gone) in December, 1989. Although it was a small ship by today's standards, it looked HUGE to me. My friend and I went to the Western Caribbean (Jamaica, Grand Cayman, & Cozumel). The best part, though, was the ship. We loved sea days and couldn't believe how many things there were to do on the ship. We took a galley and bridge tour, played bingo, and went to the spa and hot tubs. We booked an inside cabin but got upgraded to an oceanview. Surprisingly, it cost about the same or more than an inside would cost now! We paid $700/pp for an inside on a 7 day cruise.

The only problem we had was sea sickness. The first 2 days we spent lying in bed and vomiting. :( No one had told us about mal de mer and our cabin was very far forward. But after the second day we had our sea legs. Since then I've learned about Seabands and they do the trick. My friend and I still cruise together after nearly 30 years and are still having just as much fun.

Forgot to mention that one of the greatest things on that first cruise in 1989, and continuing for about 15 more years, was the Midnight Buffet. Carnival had a once-per-cruise extravaganza of food and ice carvings at midnight one night. There were many long tables put end to end - I'd never seen so much food in one place. The ice carvings were gorgeous too. Still have the pictures of this buffet.

First cruise that counts? Or first cruise ever? The first one I really count is on Celebrity Century in May 2003.........it is the cruise that got me hooked........been cruising at least twice a year for the past 14 years:D

The first one I can actually remember was in 1985:eek:....I got divorced that year and went on a cruise with a company called "SINGLEWORLD"...I can't remember for sure but I think it was on the old "PREMIER" cruiselines/BIG RED BOAT....from 85

to 92 I didn't cruise again............then #2 was in 1992........I remember that one more clearly....it was my parent's 50th annivesary

and they took the family on a 3 night cruise out of Port Canaveral on Carnival's old "CARNIVALE"..it was a fun weekend but for some

reason I never cruised again until 2003...........now I have never stopped:)

And I still have an old family photo of that Carnival cruise.......wow..........

First cruise was on Royal Caribbean's Song Of America in May 1983. The ship was relatively new and it was only the ships twenty fourth sailing to Nassau, San Juan, and St Thomas. I sailed solo the first time and had a great time. The ship was only thirty four thousand tons and very small by today's standards. I was assigned to a double room, ocean view cabin on the ships Upper Deck, in the bow of the ship. At the ships Singles Get Together there were approximately one hundred singles. There were fifteen males and eighty five woman on that sailing. For a twenty six year old single male I was never so popular in my entire life. That voyage got me hooked on cruising. I remember the cash bar back then and I remember the stewards passing around trays of sandwiches at 1:30AM. Great memories and a great time. I now have been on over thirty five cruises to the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Baltics. Also one fourteen day cruise to Alaska and one seven day repositioning cruise from Long Beach to Vancouver. Next sailing is on Royal Caribbean's Independence Of The Seas fourteen day sailing from Southampton to Spain, Portugal, and the Canary Islands in June 2018 with my wife and son. Might as well enjoy myself while I still can. Happy cruising everyone.

Our first was on the Crown Princess, the all-white ship with the domed casino above the bridge. I recall that shortly after boarding we had drinks in hand and looked down at the pool area. There we saw a couple and the woman had on one of the skimpiest bikinis we ever saw. It left little to the imagination and my wife and i made some comments to ourselves as we speculated about her personality. As it turned out they were our table-mates at dinner along with a police officer from NY and his wife. We were all in our forties back then and we thought it was nice of Princess to seat us together 'cuz everyone else struck us as OLD. Mow we are the age of the cruisers we thought were old. Sigh. Oh, well, at least we've been lucky enough to reach our sixties. Had a great time -- it was a western Caribbean itinerary -- and have been hooked on cruising ever since.

Advice to new cruisers: study up thru cruisecritic, of course!

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Mine was April 1983 on the Carnival TSS Festivale.

Memorable because on the last night of the cruise on Friday the 13th sailing back to Miami, power went out and auxiliary power come on. This happened while sitting at the end of 1st seating for dinner. Late seating never got served. this when they only had the main dining room. no other options.

A steam pipe burst and we were dead in the water off the coast of Cuba. Did not get the ship back up and running till about 1am. Got back into port around 10am.

Luckily we had air booked through the cruise line, and they got us rescheduled. MIA was a zoo.

Was a fun time the rest of the night.

Our first cruise, a LOT of years ago was on the RCCL Viking Serenade. A four day, weekday cruise out of the port of Los Angeles with stops in San Diego, Avalon and just across the border in Mexico. It was a gift.

My wife's family were John Deere Dealers, and her younger brother was running the business. He and his wife had a cruise planned and he won a cruise as part of a sales effort from John Deere. Did we want to go? Round trip airfare from Michigan where we lived at the time, to LA and back, bus transfers the whole works, for free.

We talked about it, and then made the decision. The kids were big enough to stay alone, so we loaded up and went. At the time is was RCCL's oldest ship, and NOT too much by today's standards.

We had a porthole cabin with twin beds, and a chair and not much else. About 80% of the folks on the ship were from the John Deere group, and all they talked was tractors and farm implements. Kind of interesting in its own way. The Pacific was dead flat calm for the first three days, and we had a good time. The second or third night, we had dinner up at the buffet restaurant, and ran into a couple from the deep south. They were both looking a little 'green' and told us this was their very first time on a ship, and that evening was the first time they had left the cabin due to motion sickness.

The next night as we left the Mexican port, the ocean was glassy, but rolling BIG sweeping rollers, with fetch all the way from Australia. The ship was rolling like crazy! We both slept like babies, but I did feel bad for the couple we had met the night before!

From that trip on, I was hooked. We have sailed HAL, RCCL, Celebrity and Disney. We have a HAL 11 night in less than a month, and a Disney seven day the second week of February.

I'd have a lot more money put away if I had told my brother-in-law, NO!

Tom in Okeechobee, FL

1983. Carnival Cruise Lines TSS Carnivale. Miami, San Juan, St Thomas, Samana (Dominican Republic). I was 12 years old, and was the only cruise that my family went on together, as my parents were divorced the following year. We had a great time, though the cabin was miniscule. The ship was actually in questionable condition appearance wise, but she was always mechanically well maintained. Food was incredible, especially by today’s standards. The one thing I remember the most, is that we were docked in Charlotte Amalie at Havensight, right behind Royal Song Of America. She was beautiful with all of her shiny glass, and looked gorgeous at night all lit up. We were secretly jealous of her passengers, as we boarded “the tug.” But, it got my mother and I hooked on cruising, and we have been on 2other cruises together. My wife and I are hooked on cruising, have our next one booked on Navigator of the Seas, and are contemplating an NCL cruise after that.

A2Mich,

Your comment about being in port with a "shiny" Song of America brought back this memory to me. On either cruise #1 or #2, on Rotterdam V, we were docked at San Juan and I observed the arrival of Royal Caribbean's new Song of Norway. She docked across the pier from the Rotterdam. While perfectly pleased with my experiences on the older Rotterdam, the "wow" factor of the Song of Norway helped to cause me to book cruise #3 on Home Lines' Oceanic, which was a newer ship than the Rotterdam.

I have wondered if my first cruise had been booked on the 1939 built former French Line's Pasteur, then sailing for North German Lloyd Line as the Bremen rather than the Rotterdam (because my traveling companion and I had "boiled" the choices down to those two ships/companies), would the love and enjoyment of cruising that I have been created.

My first cruise was on the Crown Princess in 1991. It was described a few posts above as an all white ship with a domed casino on top.

Our day itinerary was Fort Lauderdale - St. Thomas - San Juan - Nassau - Fort Lauderdale.

One thing that stood out for me on that cruise on one of the sea days at the stern, we did some skeet shooting. Something that is totally unheard of these days.

I didn't cruise again until 11 years later in 2002.