Question For All First timers & those that remember the first time?

[VaBeachCruisers897]

I am always interested in what keeps folks from cruising. Many friends of ours him and haw about taking the leap. I understand that some folks have extreme motion sickness and I understand that.

 

My question is...

 

What was the number one concern that you had to overcome before you were able to say - "Let's book it; I'm taking this Cruise"!!!!.

[BroncosFan2010]

I had no concerns, I had wanted to take a cruise for years. My husband had cruised before we got married, so it was a no-brainer for our honeymoon (1st cruise).

[WeBeGone]

Our concern was money. But we shopped around and booked the least expensive cruise we could. Then we were hooked. Now our budget revolves around taking cruises. :D

[VaBeachCruisers897]

Our concern was money. But we shopped around and booked the least expensive cruise we could. Then we were hooked. Now our budget revolves around taking cruises. :D

 

It is amazing how you can rearrange the finances if you get hooked. I think as a result of our cruising problem we are not only better at planning vacations but we are also trying to best manage all future needs since we would like to do some big cruises some day but not at the expense of our responsibilities.

 

Thanks for the response.

[ragtopwife]

DH is part of the "OMG I'll be trapped on a ship and bored" group. I told him that many many people seem to say the exact same thing and then love it. So we are booked on a 7 day in September. I really, really hope it goes well. Or it will probably be our last cruise (at least together :D)

[uppitycats]

The only problem we have is the money. I'd love to cruise regularly. As it is, once every couple of years is what we can manage. We saved, saved, saved, for our first one, knowing we'd love it.

[cb at sea]

No concerns for me! Now, hubby--he thought he'd be bored stiff and have a "trapped" feeling....he found that wasn't true! Although, I have to say, he still doesn't want too many sea days....

[Brewzz]

I suppose that being in the Navy made going on a cruise for a vacation a little less appealing to me than it might be for some. Why would I take a vacation away from a ship to spend a week or so on a ship? :rolleyes:

 

Actually, we've discussed it several times over the years, but something usually took priority, so the idea would get tabled for another couple of years. Life gets in the way of living sometimes. You know, things like money, time, raising kids, transfers, time, and money.

 

Kids are grown and raising their own, I don't spend most of my life aboard ships anymore, vacation time is doable, and we can budget the money for it more easily. We've finally decided that it's time to quit talking about it, and "get 'er done" for our 24th anniversary. :D

[sealady1]

I was a single mother with 3 jobs while my children were growing up. So for me, it was time as well as money. A couple of years ago, I married a wonderful man who has taken me on all sorts of adventures I could only dream about before. Now, we are going on our first cruise. Yippee!!!:D:D

[VaBeachCruisers897]

I always heard of great food etc.. But I was definitely in the "I do not want to be trapped camp". Our first cruise to test the waters was short & in a port for MAXIMUM hours. I immediately realized that not only did I not feel trapped but there was no such thing as a cruise that was too long; just too short. (my opinion)

 

It looks like several "posters" are leaving in the next few weeks\months... Please return with the outcome - especially the sailors or ret-sailors. As you know I live near a pretty big naval base and the "why would I want to leave a ship to go on a ship for vacation" is very common amongst my friends. But it would be awesome for some of our really close friends to join us.

 

P.S. - appoligies for my AVATAR, but i need to keep it for now as it is a running joke on my roll-call.

[Brewzz]

The comment about leaving a ship to vacation on a ship was mostly tongue in cheek, as I've always known that a cruise is nothing like being on a Navy vessel.

 

I've actually known a few sailors that would take leave to go on cruises over the years, and loved it. Usually, someone doing just that was what would spark the discussion for us, "Hey Wifey, so-and-so is going on, or just got back from, a Caribbean cruise. Wouldn't that be fun?" Then we’d start talking about it, and decide that we didn’t have the money or time.

 

"As you know I live near a pretty big naval base" Now there's an understatement! ;)

 

Me, too.

[ballawana13]

Let me be very blunt. My poor DW gets motion sickness and it worries me and especially her to no end about how she will feel on our first cruise this fall. I don't know whether I will be spending most of the time on our first cruise nursing my DW from her motion sickness or enjoying the experience. I grew up sailing small boats each summer and loved being on the water. We watched Love Boat when it was on TV in the early years. I am sure that show encouraged a lot of first timers at the time to try cruising, many of whom have now had many great experiences on cruises. We had a vacation in the Bahamas in the late '70's and she felt bad on a glass bottomed boat in 6' of water on very calm seas. We tried again for whale watching off the California coast in the mid- '80's. Good for the first half hour but bad for the remaining 3 hours. A trip to Hawaii a couple years ago for my 50th was interesting as she got the patch, had no problems on the flights, no problems on the whale watching excursion but was hit with a bad case of vertigo on the day after we arrived home when the patch was removed. It lasted 4-5 days and she doesn't remember Christmas that year at all.

 

We were looking for a trip to Italy this year for our 30th Anniversary. We found a great Western Mediterranean cruise that hit many of the spots in Italy that we wanted to see as well as Barcelona, Athens and Nice all wrapped up in a cruise. We decided to go for it, with some prompting on my part, as my DW is still terrified of having to spend all her time in the bathroom tossing her cookies and lunch and dinner too. She plans to wear a patch and we are praying that will work. The usual meds on board make her more ill rather than helping. I have not had any motion sickness to date, thank God.

 

Normally money would be a big issue. We have saved and something unexpected seems to be lurking around the corner with the house and having kids in college. After our 2 youngest both graduate from college this year we hope to start saving some money for retirement and future travel. We will have some money from a small inheritance following her mother's passing in January that we plan to use to pay for excursions on our cruise. Wish us luck on the motion sickness. If all goes well, we hope to be able to plan many future cruises in all kinds of locations.

[VaBeachCruisers897]

Let me be very blunt. My poor DW gets motion sickness and it worries me and especially her to no end about how she will feel on our first cruise this fall. I don't know whether I will be spending most of the time on our first cruise nursing my DW from her motion sickness or enjoying the experience. I grew up sailing small boats each summer and loved being on the water. We watched Love Boat when it was on TV in the early years. I am sure that show encouraged a lot of first timers at the time to try cruising, many of whom have now had many great experiences on cruises. We had a vacation in the Bahamas in the late '70's and she felt bad on a glass bottomed boat in 6' of water on very calm seas. We tried again for whale watching off the California coast in the mid- '80's. Good for the first half hour but bad for the remaining 3 hours. A trip to Hawaii a couple years ago for my 50th was interesting as she got the patch, had no problems on the flights, no problems on the whale watching excursion but was hit with a bad case of vertigo on the day after we arrived home when the patch was removed. It lasted 4-5 days and she doesn't remember Christmas that year at all.

 

We were looking for a trip to Italy this year for our 30th Anniversary. We found a great Western Mediterranean cruise that hit many of the spots in Italy that we wanted to see as well as Barcelona, Athens and Nice all wrapped up in a cruise. We decided to go for it, with some prompting on my part, as my DW is still terrified of having to spend all her time in the bathroom tossing her cookies and lunch and dinner too. She plans to wear a patch and we are praying that will work. The usual meds on board make her more ill rather than helping. I have not had any motion sickness to date, thank God.

 

Normally money would be a big issue. We have saved and something unexpected seems to be lurking around the corner with the house and having kids in college. After our 2 youngest both graduate from college this year we hope to start saving some money for retirement and future travel. We will have some money from a small inheritance following her mother's passing in January that we plan to use to pay for excursions on our cruise. Wish us luck on the motion sickness. If all goes well, we hope to be able to plan many future cruises in all kinds of locations.

 

Thanks for the post and I wish you well with your cruise. I understand that motion sickness can be a very difficult and I would never question someone who said they were not going on a cruise because they have this condition. Seems like your DW is a trooper and willing to give it a shot. I have read that some folks take medicine prior to a trip and it would probably not hurt to contact the family doctor.. Worse case scenario the ship doc should be able to help if y'all get in a bad way.

[VaBeachCruisers897]

 

"As you know I live near a pretty big naval base" Now there's an understatement! ;)

 

Me, too.

 

S.E. Virginia - we are neighbors. Yes it was a bit of an understatement. My best friend retired with 24 years and I am proud to live in Hampton Roads. And yes "I love jet noise". He is one of my friends that is now only considering a cruise. Inactive Reserve for 6 years and it is difficult to get him on a fishing boat.

[Andee]

Our first cruise was for my parents' 50th anniversary in 1996. A cruise wasn't something I was yearning to do, but I was happy to celebrate with them. We had a wonderful time, and we have been on eight or so cruises since then, including one for their 60th anniversary, which turned out to be three months before my father died.

 

We enjoy cruises, but we love other types of vacations, too, and I wouldn't choose to cruise multiple times in one year. I'd never give up a ski trip for a cruise. We love vacations where we spend multiple days in one place and get to know it a little more.

 

I love to be busy on vacation, and sea days just seem like filling time. On a cruise, I miss walking around a foreign city in the evening and eating the local foods for dinner.

 

We'll probably cruise again, but I can certainly see that it's not the right choice for everyone.

[S.E.]

For us, getting to see new places outshined any fear of boredom. We love to travel to new places, and we are thinking that a cruise ship is a wonderful way of getting there. Heck, it seems a cruise ship is a great destination in and of itself.

 

We will let you know after our 1st cruise in June. :cool:

[Northender]

I am always interested in what keeps folks from cruising. Many friends of ours him and haw about taking the leap. I understand that some folks have extreme motion sickness and I understand that.

 

My question is...

 

What was the number one concern that you had to overcome before you were able to say - "Let's book it; I'm taking this Cruise"!!!!.

 

Because you were on it:D

 

Actually it took me a few years to get DH to do a cruise. He had the same concerns as ragtopwife's DH. Before the last day he said, lets book the next one.....and we have been cruising ever since.

 

Hi Andrew:):)

[just having fun]

Our first cruise...That was in 1984,our 25th anniversary,aboard the Carnival Festival out of P.R. I had spent 6 years in the navy on ships and was against going on another one,but after 25 years of twisting my arm my DW finally had me go. Since then we have gone on 10 other one`s and if we can afford more in the future we are going.:rolleyes:

As far as I am concerned there is no better way to spend your vacation than actually seeing different people,places and enjoying the benefits of being treated like royality,even if it`s only for a week or more per year.:D

[Carol Anne]

No concerns for DH and I. I came into some money as the result of an accident and I said"what would you like to do with some of this money" and DH who had cruised once in his first marriage (wife #1 didn't enjoy cruising) said "Take a Cruise". After that cruise I was hooked and so was he. Now its like 40 some odd cruises later with hopefully many more to come:p:)

[Carol Anne]

No concerns for DH and I. I came into some money as the result of an accident and I said"what would you like to do with some of this money" and DH who had cruised once in his first marriage (wife #1 didn't enjoy cruising) said "Take a Cruise". After that cruise I was hooked and so was he. Now its like 40 some odd cruises later with hopefully many more to come:p:)

[KathShe]

And to the ones I don't know or talked to...HELLO, as well!

 

Ours was the $$$$... If we can swing it...LET's try it. That, and we were afraid we wouldn't meet anybody and would be stuck, with each other, in a inside cabin...TOGETHER...JUST THE 2 OF US!! LOL!! Well, that was in 2002! And we met some great friends on our 1st cruise that I still correspond with. We loved it and have been cruising, every 2 years, since...

[Goldmoon]

I am always interested in what keeps folks from cruising. Many friends of ours him and haw about taking the leap. I understand that some folks have extreme motion sickness and I understand that.

 

My question is...

 

What was the number one concern that you had to overcome before you were able to say - "Let's book it; I'm taking this Cruise"!!!!.

 

I have always wanted to travel and take a cruise... my dh on the other hand on a big ship in the middle of the water.. no way there could be anything to do or be fun. Finally talked him into going on a New Years cruise, and we have gone on one about every year, year and a half since. (Money concern and time off work) He said it was the most relaxing and enjoyable thing he has ever done. Not to mention enjoying the food, entertainment and getting to see different sites and not have to drive there.

[Moosey3]

I'm in the process of planning my first cruise but have wanted to go on a cruise for years. To be honest I don't know why it's taken this long! We normally go to all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean because we like relaxing on the beach and the unlimited drinks. I think the hardest part about the cruise is having to pay for drinks :P I love to travel to different countries so I think a cruise is the perfect wayto see a lot of places in one shot. Then if we really fall in love with a place we can go back :)

[princess in flip-flops]

DH and I are booked for our first cruise in a couple months, and excited to experience it. :)

I love to travel...but with three kids (13 -my stepdaughter, and 3 year old twins) and work, and life...the time & money haven't been there. We are celebrating our 5th anniversary/2nd honeymoon with this trip. Since my DH doesn't like to fly unless he HAS to, I suggested a cruise. He was open to the idea and I found a reasonable deal...so we went for it. I certainly hope the cruise bug bites him, as I am sure I will walk off the ship ready to pack for the next one! :D

[FINTUCKYFARMS]

Motion sickness! I get sick in a car if I don't drive or can't see the horizon. I use to scuba dive and had problems in a small boat getting to the dive locations. AND I get air sick.... the last place I wanted to be was trapped on a boat. My in-laws invinted us along on the Amsterdam to Alaska 3 years ago for our 20th anniversary and we are HOOKED. As budget allows, we will cruise for the rest of our lives. :D I always try to book mid ship and the lowest I can go and that keeps sea sickness to a minumin.