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

[VaBeachCruisers897]

I was concerned that we didn't have the right clothes since I was going by the photos in all the brochures. So we didn't even think about taking a cruise. We did motorcoach tours instead.

 

Then we won a Caribbean cruise from Frommers Guidebooks and we discovered that folks on cruises wear the same kind of clothes I have in my closet. We discovered how much we love cruising and we've been cruising ever since, both informal and formal.

 

I always wonered about those brochures myself. :eek:

[ATL2LAS]

I spent a few years in the Navy and once I was out, I swore I would never get on a ship again. It took almost 10 years after I got out before my first one and now I try to cruise twice a year. Really had no idea how much I missed being at sea until that first one in 2001. Tell your friends, there is no morning muster, no work details, no section duty. Midrats are alot better too :D

[Goldmoon]

My wife and I are considering our first cruise in June.

 

The only thing that has ever held us back from cruising has always been price. All inclusive in the Caribbean are just so much cheaper, easier to book last minute at fantastic rates 800 - 1000 pp including flights.

 

AI's, aside from 1 dollar tips, you really don't have to worry about anything else once you've paid ... it really IS AI. A cruise on the other hand will probably run us double (from these boards I'm gathering probably even more) what a 5 star Mexican/Cuban/DR AI would cost.

 

I'm also a little worried about getting sea sick and worried about "not having enough time" to enjoy port stops. Wife and I are "beach bums" so we're also a little concerned that we won't get alot of beach time in (we don't really like pools).

 

Aside from that though I've always wanted to do a cruise ... the main issue has always been a money that's held us back.

 

I just got a cruise for 2 out of Mobile for 5 days now it is off season and I did shop for the lowest fare, it's and you can get a better cabin for a few dollars more... 502 dollars for 5 days and that is for both of them... that is tax and port charges and all.. then the 100 dollars for tips.. which will bring it to 602 dollars, for 2 people. Now, how much money you spend than that is totally up to you... you can spend nothing more or a lot more... tea, coffee, milk, is included with Carnival and they let you bring soft drinks and bottled water ( small amt) on board in carry on luggage or strapped to luggage carrier with carry on luggage and one bottle of wine per adult (bring own corkscrew, or pay corkage fee in dining room). All your entertainment is free, room svs is free (with $1 tip), pools hot tubs, etc.

[AmoMondo]

My biggest concern was that it would be claustrophobic onboard, with too may people in too small a space and that they'd be trying to "organize" me in to having their idea of what I should find fun all the time!

 

When I finally took the plunge and booked a last minute trip, my mother warned me that I'd put on loads of weight and be seasick all the time. Even I as a land lubber knew that both were certainly not possible and that there was a good chance they were not going to force feed me!

[beauwalker]

We thought we were going to be herded from place to place and bored when we weren't being herded.

[mm24fan]

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"!!!!.

 

My husband and I are taking our first cruise and the only thing that has previously kept us from cruising was cost. Our vacations generally consist of Caribbean All-Inclusive resorts. We like the thought of paying one amount upfront for our airfare, resort, transportation, all meals and ALL drinks ;)

 

Then we just take some extra money for tipping and whatever excursions we want to do.

 

For this cruise I have prepaid the tips and whatever else I could, but we are already over our normal vacation budget and still have things to pay for (like transportation to/from port). :eek:

 

:D

[robwhite61]

Our main concern was always the money. When we got married in 1983 I told my DW I would take her on cruise for our 25th anniversary. I did on Carnival Legend. Now with past guest rates and other discounts, it is way cheaper than taking a land vacation for us. Now we just think up a reason to go. Last year's was because.....well, just because. Our next one is to celebrate one of our DDs graduating college.

[SeaBlu]

My first concern was I thought that everyone on the ship was going to belong to the "beautiful people" category. I am one of those people that has a lousy opinion of myself and figured "everyone would be looking at me - that I was the fattest, dullest, woman on the ship." It took me a few years to get past that and figured that that was not really true.

 

Then the concern for DH and myself became being 'forced or pushed' into "games and activities" and other "social" stuff that we did not want to do. When a good friend of mine became a TA I learned a ton of GREAT information about the different cruise lines and the different ships. She gave me a lot of great information and really changed my "ideas" about cruising.

 

After that DH's only concern was that he "did NOT" want to share a dinner table with anyone but me. My friend, and our TA assured us that on Celebrity, which is the line we had chosen, would allow us to have a table for two.

 

We took our first cruise on Celebrity, the Summit and have been 100% HOOKED ever since!

[ncovert]

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"!!!!.

 

For my wife and I the "concern" we had to overcome was simply not knowing about cruising. Raised as a land vacationer myself.

 

My father-in-law booked us our honeymoon and the rest is history. We would cruise more if we had more money and no other expenses. Cannot wait until we get to a point in our life that allows us more chances to be able to cruise. Wishing we could book a cruise in 2010... maybe 2011.

 

Best of luck to those "first timers" looking to take the leap.

[VaBeachCruisers897]

Are there any new first timers that have not answered the question??

[STARFISH*4]

IMy 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"!!!!.

 

my BIGGEST concern was flying to port after 25 years of NOT FLYING:eek:

and hubby surprised me with my Alaskan cruise so i didnt have the say of "BOOK IT"...so my next BIGGEST WORRY.....what was i gonna wear:D

[VaBeachCruisers897]

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.

 

So have you taken the leap?

[138east]

My first cruise ended up being a default choice. For their 60th anniversary my parents said they wanted to take us on a "family" vacation. I freaked out - where to convince DH and DD (23) and DS(16) to go for a week with my parents? DS was in high school, so the windows of opportunity were limited. We'd all done Florida and that was unappealing. Not enough action in an all inclusive. In desperation I said let's go on a cruise.

 

I got really lucky. We had to go Feb school vacation week. I went online and found a Celebrity cruise from San Juan that had only 1 sea day (DH claimed he would get seasick - Dad said no Carnival). The cruise air was cheaper than anything I could book. We flew the same day and, despite missing our connection in Atlanta, had no problem getting to San Juan. The rest is history - we had a fabulous time and it was the perfect vacation for all of us. Lots of family time, but lots of personal space. The icing on the cake was that coming back, we were all booked first class.

 

My father died within the year. My mom and I are still cruising. She's 91 and it is the only vacation that she can still do. We had to give up the flying and now sail out of NY.

[dreamonjaded1]

I recently took my first cruise. Let me tell you... it was my favorite vacation ever! I was very worried about dealing with sea sick. I took some meds before I got on and the first night because I was worried. After the first night I didn't feel the boat move and never got sick. I'd been really stressed with family and work when I went and for a week I really had no cares. It was that awesome!

[mm24fan]

My first cruise ended up being a default choice. For their 60th anniversary my parents said they wanted to take us on a "family" vacation. I freaked out - where to convince DH and DD (23) and DS(16) to go for a week with my parents? DS was in high school, so the windows of opportunity were limited. We'd all done Florida and that was unappealing. Not enough action in an all inclusive. In desperation I said let's go on a cruise.

 

I got really lucky. We had to go Feb school vacation week. I went online and found a Celebrity cruise from San Juan that had only 1 sea day (DH claimed he would get seasick - Dad said no Carnival). The cruise air was cheaper than anything I could book. We flew the same day and, despite missing our connection in Atlanta, had no problem getting to San Juan. The rest is history - we had a fabulous time and it was the perfect vacation for all of us. Lots of family time, but lots of personal space. The icing on the cake was that coming back, we were all booked first class.

 

My father died within the year. My mom and I are still cruising. She's 91 and it is the only vacation that she can still do. We had to give up the flying and now sail out of NY.

 

That is a great story, and how awesome that your mom is still able to enjoy it too! Thank you for sharing :)

[John-N-Jo]

Are there any new first timers that have not answered the question??

 

My husband and I are taking our first cruise in 8 days!!! We are so excited!

 

Anyway, to answer the question....it was always a case of not enough money that kept us from doing it or really any vacation, not to mention, I get motion-sickness.

 

We finally decided to do it when we got a little extra money this year, we talked about taking a "land vacation" to AZ but after looking at airfare...rental car....hotels....food, etc. it was way beyond our budget. I went on Carnival's website and found a cruise that was within our budget and suggested it to him, talked to a few friends and family members that have cruised who assured the hubby that he will be far from bored and...the rest is history...we are celebrating our 15th Anniversary a couple months early on the Imagination May 3!!:D

 

The motion-sickness thing, I think I will be fine, my mother also suffers and doesn't have any real problems on the ship as long as she takes the motion-sickness medicine....which I have already bought, plus I bought a seaband. So hopefully that won't be too much of an issue and I will be able to enjoy our vacation.

[sunnymay]

I (single mom) have always vacationed by myself or with friends each summer while my boys spent time with their Dad. I have fallen in love with Aruba over the years and have wanted to take my kids (12 and 14 now) to the Caribbean. I couldn't really afford the type of vacation for all three of us that I took alone. This year, my sister suggested we go on a cruise and take all our kids. The cruise is the best vacation bang for the buck for us both! We are not big drinkers, so excursions and shopping will be our expenses. I really never had any desire to cruise before as I like to fly in, hit the beach and explore a location at leisure. I am excited about this cruise though as the itinerary is really port intensive and to all places I have not been before! We chose a cruise so that we could all find something of interest during a 7 day vacation together!

My boys are even excited about suiting up for dinner one night!

[Marfuz]

You struck a cord of rememberance with mentioning the Carnival Festival.. She was our honeymoon cruise in 1987. The best. We hadn't cruised in many years until we went on NCL Spirit and NCL Dawn in 2006 and 2007. Our DD is now in college and to use up some BOA Cruise certificates ;0) DH and I are leaving for Hawaii on our first trip without DD. Thanks for bringing back a good memory!

[Niele da Kine]

Well, we've booked a cruise - Rotterdam and Alaska in about a month - and this will be our first one.

 

Previously we didn't go on cruise ships since we already owned a sailboat and just took that places although not really far away places. Also, my aunt and uncle had been here on a cruise ship and I saw the one they were on. This was before 9-11 and all the heightened security these days. It seemed a small cramped place to stay for a week, but that was a much smaller boat than the Rotterdam, one of the old inter-island Hawaii cruise ships. Also cruise ships were something tourists did and I didn't want to be in a small space with herds of folks mooing about. Especially herds of tourists, for heaven's sake. There is this "I'm on vacation, you must pamper me" attitude that so many (not all of them) of them have. If you've ever worked in the tourist industry or lived in a tourist town, you'll know what I mean.

 

However, the changes for booking this cruise are that I really do not want to go on another vacation that involves driving interminable distances in a car. Ugh! We went to the mainland several years ago and it seemed we lived in a car. If the "getting there" part of the vacation is going to be so prevalent, it might as well be comfortable and interesting. (At least, I hope it will be interesting.)

 

The other big attitude change came about when we got bumped from a mainland flight in Honolulu. I mean, we've lived there (we live on a different island now), we were staying with friends there so no big deal about an extra day so we stepped forward to be bumped. The airline put us in a limo, sent us to the Sheraton Waikiki Beach and gave us vouchers for food. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Another limo ride back to the airport the next day as well as $400 in plane fare vouchers. Ya know, if that's what it's like to be a tourist in Waikiki I can see why folks REALLY like it! So now we will see how good it is to be a tourist for a whole week in what is more or less a moving hotel.

[sentinel0]

Our first cruise is in 5 days. We had always wanted to cruise, but never had the time nor the money nor the babysitter. One day my dh said I'm putting some money away for a cruise, let's put down the deposit NOW. And we did. We're going for our 5th anniversary (our "golden" anniversary-we got married 5/5/05). We've planned for a year and a half now. We've arranged to have the spending money, the time off of work & school, as well as a babysitter. There has been A LOT of planning behind this vacation. We can't wait!

[Adri204]

I have always wanted to cruise and thaught it would be fun. I usually like 99% of the time travel alone and figured cruising was to expensive for one person.

 

Then I just decided to go for it. I am going on my first cruise October 31st. Im doing a Mystery Cruise so part of what I will be involved in on board with some others is solving a fun mystery.

 

I cant wait im terribly excited and im glad im just going for it. I love to travel and am a backpacker and used to packing and going. I rather like the idea of the ship moves and I dont have to keep packing and unpacking but still get to see fabulous places and have fun while on board.

 

"So thats my story and im sticking to it"

 

Adri

[Sinjan]

DH and I are going on our first cruise 9/18. Cruising is something we both know we will love and have wanted to do for years. I have looked over available cruises off and on for years as well. But they always seemed so unaffordable on our budget. (with 8 kids, someone always has their hand out lol)

However, DH and I try to get away, just the two of us about once a year. Once I did the math, I realized how affordable it could be for us. Then, in 08 one of our daughters bought us a $500 certificate for CCL so that sealed the deal. I chose this specific sailing for two reasons. 1 - It's DH's B-day 2 - When I booked, the Cove balconies on the Dream were only $50pp more than an OV.

 

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that Dreams really do come true. :)

[Sarah@Sea]

We never went on family vacations, I'm the youngest of 5 kids...we always got to go on school trips, band trips, etc...but as a family never had the $$$...well I remember once when I was 3 and then the infamous family trip to FL before my sister went for her bone marrow transplant..I think that sealed why we didn't do family vacations...lol...teasing it gave us memories and jokes for a lifetime. My sister and her family cruise, I just never thought about it as an option, but then again when I first moved to FL all my vacation time was used up with medical issues. My ONLY concern was having someone to go with...I had never really looked at prices much or really considered it. Then some friends from high school told my mom they were looking for a 4 th person for a cruise out of Miami...and since I had a passport I jumped at the chance!!! It was great. I went again with a friend from work. And traveled to GUA with that friend from high school. When I met my BF I had already booked the 2nd cruise w/ friend from work...BF really wanted to cruise (never had)...he kept suggesting NCL for the 'free style'. I said I didn't understand how normal cruising wasn't already "free style'...only thing you HAVE to do at a certain time is get on the boat!!!

[Cravin]

The biggest concern was cost really... All my vacations up to this point have been all inclusive resorts. I enjoy my beverages while I'm on vacation, and while we have booked our trip, I'm still pretty nervous about the actual end cost.

 

Also, trying to get answers to any "other" cost questions can be very difficult for those of us that don't know the right questions to ask.

 

At the end of the day this is really an experiment in our vacation planning.

 

If it was totally up to me, I'd just go back to the Canadian Rockies and go snowboarding... But DW doesn't care to much for that plan :-)

[Cravin]

The other big concern I still have is around the age group of the cruisers.... Having people in our own age group is still somewhat unsettling to me.