Your first cruise ship

[KirkNC]

Yikes a thread from 2008, that has to be a record.

[KirkNC]

Yikes a thread from 2008, that has to be a record.

[KirkNC]

Yikes a thread from 2008, that has to be a record.
 

[Copper10-8]

15 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

Yikes a thread from 2008, that has to be a record.
 

 

Plus a response in triplicate! Another record 😁 

[broberts]

35 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

Yikes a thread from 2008, that has to be a record.

 

It's a wonderful archive of cruise / passenger ships. I'm always happy to see it resurface.

[oaktreerb]

10 hours ago, Nephite Beauty said:

My first Cruise was on the Statendam in the late '60s.
We left Los Angeles for the Orient and South Pacific. Along the way a sickness broke out and they would stop the ship in the middle of the night to have a brief ceremony and inter the body to a watery grave.
We were supposed to go on to New Zealand, but got off in Sydney early.
I was about 3 years old at the time.
Would really like to know what everyone was getting sick and dying from. All I know is after a while, it really started to freak my Grandmother out.

It was an avian flu virus at that time according to CDC records.  That was a long cruise!

[MISTER 67]

Our first cruise was in December of 1982 and was with Sitmar Cruises and on the Fairwind. The Fairwind built in 1955 as Cunard's Sylvania, a medium sized ocean liner at 25,000 tons.

Its still ranks as one of our best cruises with excellent food with pasta dishes always available. Officers and crew were Italian. Service was outstanding and the entertainment and activities were very good and a lot of fun. Needless to say, we were hooked and have now sailed 64 times. We were heartbroken when Sitmar was merged with Princess in late 1988, so heartbroken that I actually wrote a letter to Sitmar headquarters in Los Angeles begging them to not go through with the merger to no avail. We refused to sail with Princess but finally bit the bullet in 2006 and along with HAL, Princess has become a favorite cruise line for us.

BTW My signature photo is the Fairwind.

Edited January 7, 2022 by MISTER 67

[deliver42]

Our first was a 3 day on the Carnival Fantasy in 1993.  My wife hated it. We decided to try a 7 day in 1995 on the NCL Norway, and were floored. Been cruising ever since. Diamond on Royal, and Elite on Celebrity.

[rkacruiser]

14 hours ago, Nephite Beauty said:

My first Cruise was on the Statendam in the late '60s.

 

She was a great ship!  While both of the two new Statendams (with one with the odd "Nieuw" in front of her name) were/are good ships, there is something lacking in comparison to the Statendam on which we sailed.  

[KirkNC]

4 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Plus a response in triplicate! Another record 😁 

Too funny, I’ll blame CC for that one.  

[aliaschief]

Coppers Pulitzer Prize thread resurrected!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[mr. godfredo]

On 9/13/2008 at 5:06 PM, Copper10-8 said:

What was your first cruise ship? What cruise line, the year and the itinerary? (if you remember;) ) Did it get you hooked?

 

Ours was Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's m/s Viking Serenade, a converted car ferry, back in NOV 1991, a 3-day L.A. - Catalina Island - Esenada, Mexico - L.A. cruise. Never forget our first impressions - we were hooked from that day on!

 

http://media.shipspotting.com/uploads/thumbs/rw/36607_800/Ship+Photo+VIKING+SERENADE.jpg

 

Viking Serenade (still sailing today as Island Escape)

 

http://media.shipspotting.com/uploads/thumbs/rw/574798_800/Ship+Photo+ISLAND+ESCAPE.jpg

I was also on that ship in the early 90's. I looked it up once on Youtube and saw some great videos! We did the same itinerary and had a blast. It wasn't my first cruise, but it was certainly memorable. I also remember that the Carnival Holiday was docked next to us at every port. Do you remember the VingCard door Keys? (plastic rectangle with the holes!)

[CNSJ]

1979 - SS Emerald Seas Fort Lauderdale to Nassau 3 night trip.

I may have shaved with her this morning. 

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, mr. godfredo said:

I was also on that ship in the early 90's. I looked it up once on Youtube and saw some great videos! We did the same itinerary and had a blast. It wasn't my first cruise, but it was certainly memorable. I also remember that the Carnival Holiday was docked next to us at every port. Do you remember the VingCard door Keys? (plastic rectangle with the holes!)

 

Yes, I remember using those light gray plastic VingCard door keys with the holes in them on the 1983-vintage "N"-class Nieuw Amsterdam III back in Nov 1993. I believe I stuck one in a photo album of that cruise. Will have to look it up and take a pic to post here. That was all prior to the combination ship I.D / door key credit card-type keys now in use

Edited January 7, 2022 by Copper10-8

[Scrapnana]

I enjoy hearing about the "firsts" when this thread reappears and Copper always has interesting facts (and usually a photo) to add.  

[zgscl]

It was with Carnival. It was the Ecstasy on a 3 night 4 day Mexico cruise from Long Beach to Catalina, Ensenada & a day at sea. Sailed on March 25th, 2002. I still have the ticket (although it has been scanned) and my Sail & Sign card. 

[YXU AC*SE]

8 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Will have to look it up and take a pic to post here. 

 

No need.   🙂.     Scott. 

Edited January 7, 2022 by YXU AC*SE

[GTVCRUISER]

My first cruise

[jeh10641]

Copper10-8

Thanks for the photo of my first ship (Nieuw Amsterdam, 1938 version). I sailed on her again in 1966 with my parents. Had the same table steward as in 1959. His name was Carl. In 1959 I also sailed from Genoa to New York on American Export's Constitution. Stay well.

 

Jim

[St Pete Cruiser]

2 hours ago, GTVCRUISER said:

My first cruise

I sailed aboard it as Oceanbreeze with Dolphin Cruises.  Flew to Aruba and did a 7 night cruise in an inside room.  Great itinerary on a classic old time ocean cruiser.  Built in 1955 as Southern Cross, it had a great history and old fashioned deck chairs much like what we still have on Holland America.

[GTVCRUISER]

23 minutes ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

I sailed aboard it as Oceanbreeze with Dolphin Cruises.  Flew to Aruba and did a 7 night cruise in an inside room.  Great itinerary on a classic old time ocean cruiser.  Built in 1955 as Southern Cross, it had a great history and old fashioned deck chairs much like what we still have on Holland America.

Years later , I cruised on her as the Oceanbreeze

[jimgev]

Ours was in 2008 on the Veendam. We sailed out of Tampa on a 7 night Western Caribbean itinery.Prior to that, I never was interested in cruising. I don't particularly like crowds and liked to "do my own thing" on vacations. But everything about the cruise was wonderful and we were hooked.

[MISTER 67]

13 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Yes, I remember using those light gray plastic VingCard door keys with the holes in them on the 1983-vintage "N"-class Nieuw Amsterdam III back in Nov 1993. I believe I stuck one in a photo album of that cruise. Will have to look it up and take a pic to post here. That was all prior to the combination ship I.D / door key credit card-type keys now in use

We cruised on the Noordam back around 2002, nice ship. What I remember about that cruise was that on our way back to Ft. Lauderdale from Cozumel we had some rough seas in the straits of Florida and a lady fell down a staircase and broke her leg and also had a concussion. A helicopter was dispatched from Key West and landed on the aft pool which was covered with wooden slats and picked up the injured lady and flew her to Miami.

[RAS4331]

Our very first cruise was on the Zuiderdam in December of 2019, literally just weeks before everything hit the fan.  We absolutely loved the ship.  We thought it was the perfect size .  We weren't looking for a megaship with zip lines and skating rinks, yet we did enjoy the grandeur of the world stage and the 2-floor dining room.   We found our way around the ship easily.  Though the ship was full, it did not feel overcrowded.  The ship was spotless and beautiful, the crew was outstanding, the food was delicious, and our expectations were exceeded in every way. 

 

One thing that astounded both of us was the number of people we met who were on their 10th or more cruise!  To us,  going on a cruise was a once-in-a-lifetime vacation.  I'm still kind of amazed at how many people in forums like this seem to cruise three and four times or more per year!  Wow.  More power to them - and their pocketbooks. 🙂 

 

We're going on our second cruise next month because YES, it is addictive!!   We're going on the new Rotterdam, and though I'll miss the Zuiderdam, I look forward to this brand new, gorgeous ship! 

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, MISTER 67 said:

We cruised on the Noordam back around 2002, nice ship. What I remember about that cruise was that on our way back to Ft. Lauderdale from Cozumel we had some rough seas in the straits of Florida and a lady fell down a staircase and broke her leg and also had a concussion. A helicopter was dispatched from Key West and landed on the aft pool which was covered with wooden slats and picked up the injured lady and flew her to Miami.

 

Still fairly unusual to have a helo actually land on a cruise ship that is not designed for that purpose as none of the Holland America Line ships ever were/are, unlike some of the modern day behemoths like those of Royal Caribbean who have an actual helo spot. Still, as you related, it has happened.

 

This is a pic taken in the Summer of 1985 of a Garde Côtière Canadienne / Canadian Coast Guard  Sud Aviation (Sud-Est) SE3160 Alouette III with floats, I'm thinking from Prince Rupert / CCG Base Seal Cove, BC, having landed and conducting a medevac from the aft deck (note the shuffleboard markings 😉 ) of Rotterdam V in Queen Charlotte Strait, BC. Not a lot of room to spare! Those pilots know their stuff!

 

Also check out the group of Rotterdam pax happily watching the event from one deck up! That would never happen in this time of age! Can you say liability if something would go wrong with that helo or its rotor blades   

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Copper10-8