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Your 1st cruise..what was main factor that helped you choose which cruise?


PoppyMac

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I had been wanting to try cruising for some time, but my DW felt crusing was for family or groups of folks, not for a single couple. So, we joined a travel club at our local bank. They offered a cruise to the Greek islands and the rest is history. Now we plan our cruises mainly on itinerary. Love visit new places. My DW has found that we can cruise with a group or alone. We enjoy both:).

 

DT

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what was the main factor for your first cruise? Some here might not even remember as they have been on so many, but when you planned your first cruise..what was it that finally determined what cruise? Money? Destination? kids club? Pool? Family chose? Tossed a coin? Pro and con list? Friend recommendation?

 

Really just wondering if all this research that makes you want to go on each cruiseline is worth it? Maybe I will just pick top 5 and pull one out of hat!:p

 

For me it was both the price and the destination. I always dreamed about taking a cruise to Alaska and when I saw the rates for a 14night cruise in September 2009 back in June 2008 I jumped on the chance to make my dream come true. I didn't regret it, but was badly bitten by the cruise bug. Whatever cruise you pick, you'll probably never forget your first one :)

 

Cindy

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My four steps:

 

1. Choose a cruise line and length of cruise that seems to fit my style

2. Choose a destination offered by the chosen line during the timeframe I want to sail

3. Choose whichever sailing to the chosen destination is the best deal

4. Book it!

 

I didn't worry too much about the particular ship as I don't have a personal preference yet. I don't sail until March, so fingers crossed that my method proves to be a success! ;)

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what was the main factor for your first cruise? Some here might not even remember as they have been on so many, but when you planned your first cruise..what was it that finally determined what cruise? Money? Destination? kids club? Pool? Family chose? Tossed a coin? Pro and con list? Friend recommendation?

 

Really just wondering if all this research that makes you want to go on each cruiseline is worth it? Maybe I will just pick top 5 and pull one out of hat!:p

 

Two questions here:

 

1) What was the main factor for choosing my first cruise? Simple. My parents planned and paid for it. I was just along for the ride.

 

2) When I planned my first cruise, what was the main factor? My first cruise was on a 40 year old ship. We were docked next to the Carnival Jubilee and I could see it offered a lot more than the ship I was on. I then found out the Carnival Holiday was home ported less than one hour from where I lived. So, to see what it was like, I booked it for a three night cruise. That was sixteen cruises ago.

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Our first cruise was on the Windsong. Ship size and informal atmosphere were a big consideration. But the biggest reason was itinerary (French Polynesia). It still stands as one of the best cruises we have been on. Soon after, we cruised on the very small Renaissance ships in the Med and Caribbean. Again the Renaissance Med cruise was fantastic.

 

Since then, the ships we cruise on have gotten much bigger and the experience is very different.

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I was 22 when I went on my first cruise and we were going for our 3rd anniversary. So, it was basically a money factor. I remember getting brochures, but basically the TA picked the cruise for us based on our spending money available. :rolleyes:

 

Now days, I look at where I want to go first, then the itinerary and then which ship.

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Well, I didn't go on it yet, but am in just 4 weeks! My mom is paying for me and my sister, so...

 

We chose a cruise because my mom always wanted to go on a cruise.

We chose Carnival because my cousins (my age), aunt, and uncle recommended it to us. Also, the port is only an hour away.

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She wanted a cruise to the Caribbean.

I wanted to drive down to Italy.

We compromised, by going on a cruise to the Caribbean

 

JB :rolleyes:

 

Thanks for the laugh!!

 

My mother offered to take the kids for 10 days so dh and I could celebrate our 10th anniversary (and with 3 little boys, who would pass that up??). So, we chose the cruise by date--we wanted to on the ship on the day of our anniversary. We used a TA (family friend) since we hadn't cruised before and she suggested the itinerary, ship, and cruise line.

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1st cruise was ncl because it sailed in and out of boston where we lived. 2nd cruise because it was ncl and it cruised out of boston landed in new orleans and was 15 nights. this next one in november is because we love ncl even though it leaves out of miami. it is 11 nights and will stop in tortolla. the longer the better. ncl rocks although epic tooooo big. southern and eastern caribean is the best.

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I guess we are in the minority, but we consider the ship a big part of our "destination." We love the caribean so we check out the availability of cruises out of the caribean, then our preferred line (RCCL), then the itineraries...and factor in airfare (ouch!). It's always great if we find the ship, itinerary and port city that makes it more affordable. This time (JUly) we will be on Freedom of the Seas, sailing out of Port Canaveral (no flying required) to ports we've loved on past cruises. :D...counting the days!!!

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It was 2001, and we were living and working in the Caribbean. Sept. 11 happened, and the bottom fell out of the cruise market. The prices were incredible -- probably cheaper than any other holiday we could have chosen. We decided to try a cruise, to prove to ourselves that we wouldn't like cruising (something we had decided years before). We even had our escape planned: we would be jumping ship and going home if we really hated it.

 

LOL! Like ducks to water ...

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Friends talked my DH into a cruise late one night while playing cards. He had refused for over 40 years to cruise, saying that he would get seasick. The first cruise was coastal, from Vancouver to Los Angeles for 7 days. He figured that if he did not like it, he could jump ship and be close to home. He did just great; in fact, I felt the motion more than he did.

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I chose a special Dixieland music cruise on the SS Norway that included The Original Salty Dogs and the Bob Crosby Bobcats dixieland band. I met Bob Haggart who wrote "South Rampart Street Parade" and "What's New" and did the original bass and whistling on "Big Noise from Winnetka."

Bob Haggart and a different drummer (I think he name was Ed Meese Jr.) performed this on the cruise.

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I was getting a little older and thought cruising would be so EASY after years of back packing in Europe (remember the book Europe on $5 a day?) and living on a boat in St Thomas etc. etc.

 

My DH sAid, "I'm not going to be stuck in a teeny cabin in the belly of the ship." So I showed him photos and gave him dimensions of a balcony cabin and he said okay.

 

Now where do we want to go that is affordable as well as a good deal? I took various itineraries and found the airfares to the farthest point. I didn't even have to try to figure meals and hotels. Usually the air fare to some exotic port exceeded the cost of a cruise in a balcony. We were going to drive to the port to see friends, so flying to the port was not a factor.

 

So I decided that the Ultimate Western Caribbean was the best bang for the buck, 11 nights to the Panama Canal (not a full transit) with stops on many Caribbean islands.

 

Travel agent tried to push Princess since it was a balcony guarantee for about the same price as competition, and he thought our chances of getting a minisuite were great. I chose Celebrity because of many factors, but mostly itinerary (and no upgrade. It stopped in Aruba and Key WEst and DH had always wanted to see Aruba, and I wanted h im to experience Key West. Secondly, it had classical music and I'm a music teacher.

 

Now 7 years later I am finally taking my first Princess cruise, and yes, I have a guarantee cabin and no cabin assignment. Sail in 2 weeks. Keep your fingers crossed for me. ha

 

But as far as FUN goes, I found it on our first NCL cruise to Bermuda 4 years after the first one. He loves freestyle and probably would never go on another line. So I go with my adult daughter on any line we want. We adjust easily, as long as the food is good and drunks don't throw up on our shoes.

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Started dating a guy who had been on his first cruise the year before. He took me on an one day "gamblers special" RT San Diego to Ensenada. Then we booked my first cruise a 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise. Since then, every vacation longer than a couple of days, other than our honeymoon in Hawaii, has involved a cruise.

 

If someone asks me for recommendations on figuring out what cruise to take, I would suggest they go to a cruise specialist (look in their yellow pages under travel agencies and see who says this in their listing or ad) and talk about what they're interested in (activities, ports, etc.).

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My first cruise was booked "last minute". About 5 weeks in advance. Stuff at work was gonna be slow for a bit and I was encouraged to take a nice vacation. I thought maybe a cruise would be nice. My parents had been on the NCL Star in Hawaii a year or so prior. They had a great time. So, I decided to go. I had a great time.

 

 

My next cruise? I haven't booked it yet, but it's planned. But I didn't pick it. Someone else took care of that for me. I think it's gonna be fun, too. (RCI Freedom of the Seas, Eastern Caribbean )

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I've not yet been on my first cruise, but my current criteria are: 1. Lots of nice food (I'm a big foodie and the grub on board has to be at least as nice as the food I cook at home) 2. Good itinerary - this is after all the reason that we have decided to take a cruise - so that we can see as much as possible in as short a time as possible 3. A beautiful cruise ship - this is after all our honeymoon!

 

 

Still undecided, although it's fun looking through all the glossy brochures:p Maybe I'll try them all!

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what was the main factor for your first cruise? Some here might not even remember as they have been on so many, but when you planned your first cruise..what was it that finally determined what cruise? Money? Destination? kids club? Pool? Family chose? Tossed a coin? Pro and con list? Friend recommendation?

 

Really just wondering if all this research that makes you want to go on each cruiseline is worth it? Maybe I will just pick top 5 and pull one out of hat!:p

 

 

We chose our first cruise to Cozumel on a 4 day from New Orleans on the Carnival Triumph!! Our main reason for choosing this was it was the shortest they offered. We live 5 minutes from the port and just decided to finally book it. We booked it one week before it left. The price was amazing, wish I could get a deal like that again. We paid $722.06 for a suite. That was for two people including all taxes. We were looking and said you know what lets do this. Our reason on going was celebrating the end of Mardi Gras and Saints winning the superbowl, Why not take a cruise next!! So we did!! We didn't want to book a 7 day just incase we didn't like it or what not. So we have been on 3 booked on our 4th now. We have only been cruising since Feb. 2010.

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I knew the destination was Alaska (taking two siblings and my father for a trip), so then I went looking for the smallest ship I could find that I could afford, and one with a reasonably short (1 week) itinerary in case being cooped up with family turned out to be unpleasant. Ended up on Holland America.

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We'll be going on our first cruise in 2 weeks, we made our choice through the following process:

 

First it was a matter of elimination based on date, location and budget. We didn't know whether we would like cruising so we left out itineraries in another continent and luxury cruise lines.

 

Then it was all about reading the reviews of the remaining cruiselines. From what I understood MSC and Costa iare more geared towards am Italian public, and the service + food of NCL is a bit inferior to Princess, Celebrity and RCL. We also checked the time we are allowed ashore on our itinerary, some were very unfavourable!

 

Finally, with three cruiselines left, we checked the size and age of the available ships. Newer ships are more appealling, and a larger ship has more facilities (but more crowdy). Checking the promos was the deciding factor though. We first chose Celebrity, but the promo was sold out so our final decision became RCL's Navigator of the Seas.

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My aunt had always talked about how great cruises were so my DH and I decided to finally try one out.

 

We decided to chose our cruise based on the departure port. I was used to land vacations so I figured if we spent time in the departure port and I enjoyed it but hated the cruise it wouldn't be a complete waste of money.

 

We decided on the Carnival Triumph out of New Orleans because I always wanted to go to NOLA and it was only a 5 day cruise in case I didn't like it. And at the time (just last year) only NCL and Carnival worked from that port and Carnival was cheaper.

 

Well we loved the ship and the port. Heading back to NOLA in March but this time trying out RCCL for the first time :D

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