Did you jump or were you pushed...

[Elizanessie]

....into taking your first cruise ?

 

For years I had heard my mum going on about cruising with Cunard and RCCL but it never appealed to me...'isn't cruising for the old and rich' my head kept saying :o

 

Well nearly 8 years ago I was looking for a quick holiday with my son,we had been to many places in Europe & Scandanavia but wanted something different but didnt know what.

 

So mum said ..ok come on how about the 3 of us go on a RCCL cruise...and we loved it so much I just keep booking more cruises :D

 

Actually it has sort of taken over my life...always planning the next cruise (or two)..practically live here on CC.

My sitting room has 'cruise' walls...even my bathroom theme is cruise related :D

 

So how about you...did you jump or were you pushed into taking your first cruise?

[Rascal1]

We jumped, we were looking for a holiday to experience something different but also be pampered and spoilt. After much looking we loved the sound of a partial transit of the Panama Canal. It was a risk because my DH gets sea sick on ferries and small boats, but we loved it and have since come back for seconds and thirds :)

[insidecabin]

So mum said ..ok come on how about the 3 of us go on a RCCL cruise...and we loved it so much I just keep booking more cruises :D

 

 

Do you mean an RCI cruise

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is a global cruise holiday company that operates Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, Azamara Cruises and CDF Croisieres de France.

[Elizanessie]

Do you mean an RCI cruise

 

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is a global cruise holiday company that operates Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, Azamara Cruises and CDF Croisieres de France.

 

RCCL as in Royal Caribbean :D

 

Some call it RCI ...some call it RCCL.

 

As their email addresses have 'RCCL.com' ..I personally use RCCL all the time.

[jocap]

Once we'd retired, we thought we'd have a winter holiday in the sun....the local paper was advertising a cruise on Sea Princess with door to door transport, which was a way round the journey to Manchester with a night in a hotel. Instead, a taxi picked us up at home, and took us to a coach for the flight.

We were absolutely bowled over by the whole trip.....we'd been a little uncertain, as like you, we thought it was probably only for the well-heeled. We discovered people from every way of life on board, and found the sail in/outs beyond description.

That summer, our choral group was advertising a choir cruise, where you learned, then performed music. This was on a small Louis ship- VERY different to Princess, but in its way, just as captivating. Since then, we've travelled twice a year....amazingly, 3 times last year....but usually look for last minute bargains. Only 5 lines so far, but still trying!;)

Jo.

[EJNutz]

We jumped. I always wanted to cruise. We booked our first cruise with Thomson Emerald. However 2 weeks before cruising it was cancelled due to the 2nd Gulf War.

 

So we planned a land based holiday to Barbados. That was cancelled due to the tour operator going bust.

 

In the end we booked another cruise, this time with NCL Sun.

[SwissDave]

I was pushed, by a friend who had been on two cruises. I also thought it would be all old rich snobby people, but was pleasantly surprised - there were only a few old rich snobby people :)

 

I enjoyed it so much I now go as often as I can, usually solo.

 

 

First ship was Sea Princess.

[nijh]

Sort of pushed myself...

 

Sister decided to get married on a LA- Hawaii RT. She'd been on a few cruises with my mum and I just commented that I'd miss the wedding. Well - long story cut short - a few months later I apprehensively found myself on that ship with my GF and never looked back. Did a full transit of the Panama Canal the following year, followed by a Dubai - Italy and next a Caribbean in April.

 

Well and truly hooked - and I was genuinely worried that I'd be soooooo bored on the ship. I still pace every deck for the first day then feel myself slowly unwinding....... :cool:

 

Just like Host Elizanessie I'm always looking and planning for the next one now. :D

[BARBYDOLL]

We were pushed by friends, who said we'd enjoy it. I thought I would, but DH likes to be his own skipper on a much smaller yacht:)! I was initially put off by those holiday programmes which showed all the sun loungers lined up around the pool (somthing I hate on the beach and always avoid), but was pleasantly surprised on our first cruise to the Caribbean on Sea Princess by the lack of crowds most of the time (only disemarking for tours,. tenders, etc, seemed to have us jammed in like sardines waiting to get off the ship. We thoroughly enjoyed our second cruise through the Panama Canal and, hopefully, will continue to have an annual cruise somewhere (lots still on my list), as well as a sailing holiday on the smaller boat to keep DH happy (I enjoy those too, but more work involved!).

[jocap]

That's 3 replies mentioning the Sea Princess....an easy way to start cruising, with charter flights, and a mix of nationalities, but with a certain British side to it!

Which ship will be replacing her?

Jo.

[scrozuk]

First cruise admittedly was nearly my last. It was for our honeymoon in 1999 and was aboard the MV Bolero, a small 20000 ship, chartered to First Choice. The wife had found it on what was then Teletext Holidays on a good deal..

 

Had the wedding, drove up to the airport and stayed overnight, then flew out the next morning with our two very young children.

 

Got to the ship, and was stunned to see how small the cabin was at the time. I said to the steward, is this the cleaning cupboard?

 

After a rough couple of days at sea, got my sea legs and was able to enjoy the rest of the cruise. At the time, I just wasn't enamoured about cruising, but that changed when in 2006 got dragged onto Legend of the Seas from Southampton..

 

The rest is history as they say..

 

ScrozUK

[BARBYDOLL]

That's 3 replies mentioning the Sea Princess....an easy way to start cruising, with charter flights, and a mix of nationalities, but with a certain British side to it!

Which ship will be replacing her?

Jo.

 

We actually booked our own flights for this one as we avoid charter flights if we possibly can (especially Monarch!!). We were used to flying to Florida, so we booked the cruise in the US (when it was still easy to do so) and arranged our own travel. The only downside was getting to Port Everglades from Miami airport. There were 6 of us on the cruise and we had adjoining cabins and opened up the balcony doors, which made for a very sociable holiday. We are on our own this time, though, as we really wanted to do Asia next. Trouble with us is that we like lots of different holidays and still like touring part sof the US by car when we can and we still have lots of places there we want to see.

[swissmiss2010]

We were pushed as my Son got married on the Ventura the first year she sailed. My husband said he would come along to support me but that I would never to get him to go on another cruise again! Famous last words as we are both now hooked.

 

In fact previous to this our favourite holiday was train journeys on Eurostar to Switzerland. He has a big birthday next year and I asked him where he wanted to go - Switzerland or a cruise and to my surprise he picked a cruise! We are still going back to Switzerland in 2012 though.

[Goldryder]

Not pushed (apart from the first couple when still in a pushchair), and didn't jump either.

 

Born & brought up on the Isle of Wight, so as a youngster went with the family on the ocean liners, watched (and chased) the ocean liners going into or out of Southampton on a daily basis and had an uncle who was a captain with Smit Salvage, so would go on his ship on school holidays tween Rotterdam & Casablanca.

 

So I spose the sea...and sea travel....has always been a part of my make-up. Currently living a couple hours away from the sea and tbh, I wish I was still by it cos I miss it. But satisfy myself with cruising in a variety of different parts of the world, experiencing cultures and seeing history & architecture which makes cruising so wonderful. It opens the doors to the world in a way that is as unhurried & restful as you can possibly get & at a price that doesn't terrify the bank manager either ;)

 

Not sure if this will post as having major connection trouble on the broadband (have done for weeks & am changing provider in a few days time).

[Patsy F]

I jumped but pushed OH first! This will be our first cruise, going on Norwegian Jade in May and I really wanted to do it after seeing the itinerary included most of the places I had wanted to revisit. I'm really looking forward to it but not sure whether we'll find our sea legs - we both think we will be poor sailors but are determined to do it!

In the meantime, I'll be trawling through the forums for as many tips as I can find, you lot have wealth of experience!

Patsy

[siskokid]

My GF and I jumped at the chance to see so many ports that we would possably never see. Our 1st cruise was on Canival freedom. Well that was 2007 and the start. Now each year we look at which part of the world can we cruise to.

[firstevercruise]

I have always dreamed of cruising but DH never fancied it/ In fact if I was rich my dream would be to go across Europe on the Orient Express then catch a big ship for a cruise!!

He gave in last year and said he would take me on a cruise for our Anniversary so we have booked for our 20th Anniversary this year.

No idea if we will like cruising, will let you know later in the year!

 

Vickie

[Greghouseo]

Great question Elizanessie

I jumped by virtue of an educational on Ocean Village.

Mrs GreghouseO took quite a bit of pursuading. Not because she didn't want to cruise, but because she wasn't prepared to accept anything less than a balcony.

In the end I booked a 5 nighter on Vision of the Seas on an inside cabin and presented her with a fait accompli. In the meantime we got invited to the naming ceremony on the Equinox so she had a 2 day freebie.

 

She is now totally sold on cruising :-)

[Elizanessie]

I have always dreamed of cruising but DH never fancied it/ In fact if I was rich my dream would be to go across Europe on the Orient Express then catch a big ship for a cruise!!

He gave in last year and said he would take me on a cruise for our Anniversary so we have booked for our 20th Anniversary this year.

No idea if we will like cruising, will let you know later in the year!

 

Vickie

 

Hi Vickie

 

I hope you enjoy your first cruise, please come back and let us know what you think of the Indy ..she is a beautiful ship :D

[MAZANDSTEVE]

My first cruise happened because there were a few places in the Med I wanted to visit, the cruise was the best option as it visited them and more in one trip. now I am hooked and think its the best way to see the world.

[Burgmeister]

Pushed by wife. We are due to do our first cruise next month (IOTS). My wife didn't fancy going through the hassle of a flight as she has been unwell so we are cruising out of Southampton. She has wanted to cruise for a number of years, I am less convinced. It hasn't helped my caused that my oldest sister and her husband are regular cruisers and constantly tell us how great it is. I hope they are right!

[fue-fue]

We looked at cruises for our silver wedding but decided it was too expensive, but we looked at brochure prices.! So went to Las Vegas instead & had a great time.

 

2 years later we saw a very cheap P & O transatlantic cruise, repositioning, advertised in a local TA & jumped in with two feet. AFter lots of sea days plus visiting islands in Caribbean, we were converted. last year we flew to Florida, & transatlantic on way home is a killer! This year we are celebrating our joint 50th birthdays = 2 cruises!

[William Dean]

I'd always wanted to cross the Atlantic on QE2, returning on Concorde. My ex didn't like ships, or luxury....

 

So I ditched her, and booked the QE2 to New York, and Concorde home.

 

The rest, as they say, is history. Although since November 2008 there has been no QE2.

 

WD

[tartanexile81]

I jumped - but I had to push my husband. It was for our Silver Anniversary. And now? He's a real convert, so we've cruised quite a few times and we're both jumping - for joy - as we look forward to our next cruise - 10 weeks to go!!:) :)

[dj_spud]

Had a bad flight and put me off flying :o A few years later we decided lets go for it and did our 1st cruise. I feel like we have missed out now! We much prefer cruises over a land holiday.

But i need to get back on the plane as there is so many other cruises i dream of going on.

I guess the answer to your question would be, we was pushed!