Your first cruise ship

[DFD1]

Deleted

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by DFD1

[FlaMariner]

I think I've answered this before..........

 

Carnival Mardi Gras....the original Carnival ship.  1989.....moved UP to HAL in 2003 on the Zaandam and it has been Holland America every since.......Savor the journey......

[CineGraphic]

Raddison Seven Seas Mariner. (Now Regent Seven Seas Mariner)

We weren't sure if we were going to like cruising, so if we were going to be miserable, we were going to be miserable in style.

The ship and service were both amazing. So much so, that everything's been downhill since then.

[ernieb]

NCL’s Norway. That big beautiful navy blue ship must be why we love the HAL ships.

[oaktreerb]

August 2005, Ryndam, Seward AK to Vancouver,  woke up the first morning, looked out the stateroom window and was amazed to see the glaciers of College Fjord.  WOW!

[floridacruisers]

 S.S. Volendam November, 1979. That all it took for us to get hocked on cruising...

 

  Phil........floridacruisers

[iancal]

First one with children was RCI Legend of the Seas Alaska.  We lived in Vancouver.  My business TA called on Wednesday and told me she had reserved a cabin on Legend leaving on Saturday morning.  She said the weather f'cast was perfect, the fare was incredible.  We had four hours to decide.  Took us 10 minutes.

 

First by ourselves two years later was a 10 day Crystal Symphony Med cruise.  Absolutely amazing.  Never, ever had better food, entertainment, or service since.  It was a completely different experience from the Legend.  Partly because of the itinerary, partly because of the ship.

Edited August 15, 2020 by iancal

[PROCRUISE]

Carnival Paradise (when it was a non-smoking ship) 2002, Western Caribbean. Every passenger had to actually sign, saying they would not smoke anyplace on the ship nor bring cigarettes back onboard at ports of call. Sure enough, we say two young men disallowed back on the ship and their luggage brought to them when they tried to bring cheap cigarettes back onboard!

[Lunar Dragon]

I had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006.  To give me a boost, my parents surprised my family and I with a booked cruise on the Prinsendam to the Baltic in July 2007.  It was wonderful to focus on something positive during all the treatments and we were very excited about our first cruise.  The experience was beyond any expectation we had.  We loved every minute aboard!  I will never forget  Captain Chris Turner taking the time to visit our table in the dining room to wish my daughter a happy 9th birthday and the kindness of the entire crew.  
 

To say we were hooked on cruising is an understatement.  We are now 4 star mariners and we look forward to each and every cruise.  HAL especially has a special place in my heart.

[johnnyswitzerland]

Zaandam 2001 Christmas cruise with family.  Was just along for the ride, but got hooked!  Now I'm the instigator…

[sailingdutchy]

 

Our very first cruise was in 1982 I believe on the Stella Solaris for a week around the Greek Islands .

 

Our next one and the first with Holland America was on the Nieuw Amsterdam (the older one ) in 1987 in the Western Caribbean  and from there on in we have only cruised with HAL  so far 599 Cruise days and once the Covid 19 is over up to the 700 ! 

 

Tony 

[seaoma]

In 1980, NCL Sunward II. I can't believe it was 40 years ago!!

 

I just read about the ship in Wikipedia. She was originally owned by Cunard (1971-1977) and built in Rotterdam. She sailed until 2014. 

 

We went to Nassau and they used to have a Las Vegas style show at the casino. I can still hear the opening- "Welcome to Paradise Island". My husband and I won a bottle of champagne from some goofy pool contest our "friends" we met volunteered us for. We were told how romantic a stroll on deck was in the evening, but no one told us what a problem that was for someone with waist length hair! Needless to say, I learned a lot on that first cruise.

[Woofbite]

Ye olde Maasdam, Vancouver to Sitka.

[Randyk47]

On 8/15/2020 at 1:47 AM, Copper10-8 said:

Thanks for bringing my twelve-year old thread out of its animated state ;)

Things have changed though haven’t they?  Carnival’s Fantasy, my first cruise ship, is now beached at the breakers.   It’s not that I loved the ship but I loved the experience and a wise TA turned me on to Holland America based what I liked and didn’t like about the Fantasy.   That was the start of 27 years of cruising so it is a bit sad to see her cut up for scrap.

[KJ Knowles]

First Cruise ship was NCL Seaward in March of 1980. Itinerary was Nassau, Jamaica, Haiti, Great Stirrup Cay, probably a port or two I don't remember.

 

Purely by chance I cruised on her again in 2005. She had been refitted and renamed Norwegian Sea by then. Our cruise was the second to last before the ship was sold to Star Cruises where she became the SuperStar Libra and is still in service. 😮

[Copper10-8]

10 minutes ago, KJ Knowles said:

First Cruise ship was NCL Seaward in March of 1980. Itinerary was Nassau, Jamaica, Haiti, Great Stirrup Cay, probably a port or two I don't remember.

 

Purely by chance I cruised on her again in 2005. She had been refitted and renamed Norwegian Sea by then. Our cruise was the second to last before the ship was sold to Star Cruises where she became the SuperStar Libra and is still in service. 😮

 

 

Even though still in service as you wrote, SuperStar Libra, ex-NCL Skyward, is no longer cruising. Since July 2018, she has been a hotel ship for shipyard workers in Wismar, Germany

 

[VMax1700]

My first one was on a school cruise from Newcastle on Tyne to La Coruña, Gibraltar and Lisbon in (I think) 1963.  I think the ship was called 'Dunera' and it had been a troop carrier, so it was bunks in dormitories.   Absolutely loved it, but it was to be a long time until my next (and 'our' first) real cruise on Celebrity Galaxy from San Juan to Southern Caribbean in 2008.  First HAL was Eurodam from Fort Lauderdale in 2011.

[rkacruiser]

6 hours ago, seaoma said:

In 1980, NCL Sunward II. I can't believe it was 40 years ago!!

 

I just read about the ship in Wikipedia. She was originally owned by Cunard (1971-1977) and built in Rotterdam. She sailed until 2014. 

 

Not my first cruise, but my only NCL cruise and I was on her one year earlier, the Winter of 1979.  Booked into the next to the bottom category for an inside cabin for a 4 day cruise to Nassau and Coco Cay when private islands were just emerging on the port list.  

 

We really did enjoy that cruise.  First and only inside cabin that I have had, but it was quite OK for those 4 days.  Food and entertainment were good; service was good.  This cruise was the best value for the money we paid of any cruise I have taken.  It was so pleasant, that after much previous thought before the cruise, when I returned home, I convinced a friend that we ought to book our two cruises on Royal Viking Sky for the Summer of 1980.  

[seaoma]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

First and only inside cabin that I have had, but it was quite OK for those 4 days.

 

When I read this, I remembered we had an inside cabin too and it was adjacent to the steward's closet. We had a storm while going through the gulf stream and the room steward's cart came loose. We were young and didn't even think of calling to complain, but laid in bed listening to the cart go rumble, rumble, BANG, rumble, rumble, BANG for several hours.

 

Wow! I think we went to Coco Cay, too. I remember we had a shirt from a snorkeling excursion. It said Dive In. Do you remember anything about that?

 

 

[rkacruiser]

3 minutes ago, seaoma said:

Wow! I think we went to Coco Cay, too. I remember we had a shirt from a snorkeling excursion. It said Dive In. Do you remember anything about that?

 

 

Yes, I do.  When we returned to Sunward II, we had to deal with sand flea bites for the rest of the cruise.  Nevertheless, it was a cruise that I am really glad that I experienced.  

[Copper10-8]

11 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

My first one was on a school cruise from Newcastle on Tyne to La Coruña, Gibraltar and Lisbon in (I think) 1963.  I think the ship was called 'Dunera' and it had been a troop carrier, so it was bunks in dormitories.   Absolutely loved it, but it was to be a long time until my next (and 'our' first) real cruise on Celebrity Galaxy from San Juan to Southern Caribbean in 2008.  First HAL was Eurodam from Fort Lauderdale in 2011.

 

 

HMT (Hired Military Transport) Dunera (1937-1967) 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Copper10-8

[YXU AC*SE]

My first, a first, and my last in one pic. Ex-Westerdam II as Marella Dream alongside at Funchal, Madeira, with Nieuw Statendam on her inaugural cruise.   Sailed on NSDM again last fall, and hopefully will be on Rotterdam VII next fall -- if the COVID stars align.      Scott. 

 

 

[DFD1]

13 minutes ago, YXU AC*SE said:

My first, a first, and my last in one pic. Ex-Westerdam II as Marella Dream alongside at Funchal, Madeira, with Nieuw Statendam on her inaugural cruise.   Sailed on NSDM again last fall, and hopefully will be on Rotterdam VII next fall -- if the COVID stars align.      Scott. 

 

 

 

Great picture. I sincerely hope you make it. We all need a break.

[VMax1700]

11 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

HMT (Hired Military Transport) Dunera (1937-1967) 

Very interesting history.  Thanks for the nudge to start googling it!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMT_Dunera

[RetiredNow]

Hi Copper!

Our first cruise was on the NCL Skyward on July 4-11, 1982.  We did a Mexico cruise that included Miami, Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Cozumel and Great Stirrup Cay.  It was nice.

However, our first HAL cruise was July 3-10, 1986 on the Rotterdam V.  We did an Alaska that included Vancouver, Ketchikan, Juneau, Glacier Bay, and Sitka.  The Captain was Conrad Menke and the Hotel Manager was Dirk Zeller.  THAT is the cruise that got us hooked!  We had the privilege to sail numerous times over the years with his son, Mark Zeller, too.  That cruise turned us into very loyal and frequent cruisers for Holland America Line.