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On this very day, one year ago...

gcvt

By gcvt,
in Royal Caribbean International

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gcvt

gcvt

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...I took the GF on her first ever cruise - Freedom Eastern itinerary. Looking back, I kind of giggle at her apprehensions...fears of sea sickness, feeling isolated, etc. The mainstream media had her pretty worried. Of course, we had the best time of our lives and I was so happy that she enjoyed the voyage. I had told her about my previous cruises but, of course, until you experience one for yourself, you just can't imagine how fun it is.

 

She is absolutely ADDICTED now. We did a Mexican Riviera on Princess last September and that just cemented everything.

 

She now mentions cruising almost every day and knows lines/ships by photo now. I think she's a "keeper" :D

 

edit We did stay in 1400 on Freedom. That was a HUGE mistake for her first cruise because she thinks every cabin should be that big :o

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gcvt

gcvt

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Well, just think, you could have started her with a large cabin on the Oasis or Allure.

 

Oooh, good point!

 

 

The best was when she went home for a few days at Christmas. I put about a hundred photos of our two cruises on a USB drive so she could show them to family and friends.

 

Everyone she showed them to, including her parents, said they had never seen her look so happy :D

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gcvt

gcvt

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So when are you taking her on next cruise, she has to catch up :p

 

LOL - I see what you did there!

 

She got home from work tonight and saw that I was browsing the CC forums. She said, and I quote, "OMG we need to go on a cruise, please cruise, please cruise, please!"

 

I told her our next cruise was "only" 246 days away. She took the dog to the bedroom to watch bad TV and be sad :p

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gcvt

gcvt

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.......and created a monster. ;)

 

You're not kidding! I had always heard "Be careful what you wish for." Yeah, now I get it.

 

When we come across the 'building of FOS' and the 'Oasis turn around day' shows on TV, she wants to watch them again even though we've both seen them a dozen times. She would live in one of Freedom's cantilevered hot tubs if she could. That's her favorite place on Earth.

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gcvt

gcvt

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So, how would you compare RCI to Princess? I'm a loyal Royal, but, desperate for a cruise right now, looking for a good solo bargain, no cruise line left unexamined!

 

Tough question! The big thing for us is that cruising on Princess means that we can take a 20 minute cab ride down to the Pier here in San Francisco, as opposed to flying five hours to get to FL.

 

We found the RCI Freedom class ship to be superior to the Princess Grand class ship in terms of layout and technology...by far. RCI was way more 'open plan' feeling and the PCL felt more segmented, for lack of a better term. Star Princess is a wonderful ship but the public areas, both inside and out, cannot compare to what the Freedom class ships have in the Promenade area.

 

With that said, even with Star being an older ship, she was in better shape overall. I would also have to say that the MDR food on Princess was better than Freedom. The same would have to apply to the buffet food to be honest. But, we have not experienced RCI's new menus - I'm talking about the RCI food from one year ago.

 

Given the choice, we'd sail on RCI more than PCL, but PCL will have a ship here in San Francisco full time so...well...the savings in travel is hard to resist. From our home port we can do Hawaii, Alaska and Mexico. When we do the Caribbean again, it will be on Allure or Oasis.

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goouchjac

goouchjac

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Tough question! The big thing for us is that cruising on Princess means that we can take a 20 minute cab ride down to the Pier here in San Francisco, as opposed to flying five hours to get to FL.

 

We found the RCI Freedom class ship to be superior to the Princess Grand class ship in terms of layout and technology...by far. RCI was way more 'open plan' feeling and the PCL felt more segmented, for lack of a better term. Star Princess is a wonderful ship but the public areas, both inside and out, cannot compare to what the Freedom class ships have in the Promenade area.

 

With that said, even with Star being an older ship, she was in better shape overall. I would also have to say that the MDR food on Princess was better than Freedom. The same would have to apply to the buffet food to be honest. But, we have not experienced RCI's new menus - I'm talking about the RCI food from one year ago.

 

Given the choice, we'd sail on RCI more than PCL, but PCL will have a ship here in San Francisco full time so...well...the savings in travel is hard to resist. From our home port we can do Hawaii, Alaska and Mexico. When we do the Caribbean again, it will be on Allure or Oasis.

 

Just checking the boards and saw your post on here,,,I knew Francesca would be addicted after the first cruise:)..

We just came back from the Oasis,,have to say,,it's a beautiful ship,,alot to do,,but way too big:eek:..FOS class much easier to get around...The new menu was a pleasant surprise,,think you will enjoy it...We had the family with us this trip and our GD loved the kids program..

We did sail on the Crown Princess a few years back and have to say,,we missed RC...so nothing planned yet for our next cruise...Say hi to Francesca...

Ann:D

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m_duck

m_duck

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We had the reverse experience and it was me that refused to cruise for a number of years. My partner had worked for RCL after leaving

University (she worked on the Majesty and Brilliance) and then visited friends on board so had cruised a lot when we met.

I had always thought cruising was for old people, queuing for everything, being told what to do and when etc ... Being stuck on a

prison ship for a couple of weeks did not sound like fun. All the usual cliché statements ... and from someone who had never cruised.

 

She wanted to visit a friend who was working on the Jewel out of Harwich so we arranged to visit him the next time it was in port. I didn't

Realize this was part of her master plan to get me to agree to a cruise. So off we went to meet him and spend a few hours on the ship before it departed.

And I have to say it was impressive and a little odd when there are only crew onboard and a few people visiting friends and family.

 

In the end I agreed to a short Med cruise out of Barcelona on the Navigator. After a few lovely days in Barcelona I queued for ages to get onboard, and then

we had the muster station wearing life jackets in the sun and getting away from the muster was a pain. Our evening meal was nice and the show was good so I went to

bed thinking it was ok but not convinced.

 

I was up early the next morning and went on deck to take some pictures to find us arriving into Nice with the most beautiful red sky and sunrise

with the mountains in the background. There was no one about and I took some lovely pictures. We explored the ship in the morning and then went ashore for a lovely lunch and then back to the ship. The next day we went to Florence and had a lovely lunch. I sat there thinking on Monday I had lunch in Barcelona, Tuesday in Nice and Wednesday in Florence and tomorrow we are in Rome. I think it was at this point I was sold. And we have cruised every year since and hopefully our honeymoon later this year will see us on board having a great time. Although I still haven't admitted to her she might have been right all along about cruising.

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Jodi3284

Jodi3284

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My husband took me on my first cruise in 2008 and now I drive him nuts with it... Always looking to sail again and working on convincing him to get away... Monster created indeed LOL Reading your memory was heartwarming, Thank you for sharing

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gcvt

gcvt

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Just checking the boards and saw your post on here,,,I knew Francesca would be addicted after the first cruise:)..

We just came back from the Oasis,,have to say,,it's a beautiful ship,,alot to do,,but way too big:eek:..FOS class much easier to get around...The new menu was a pleasant surprise,,think you will enjoy it...We had the family with us this trip and our GD loved the kids program..

We did sail on the Crown Princess a few years back and have to say,,we missed RC...so nothing planned yet for our next cruise...Say hi to Francesca...

Ann:D

 

OMG! Hi Ann!!! Francesca and I still talk about meeting you a year ago today...give or take a day :D

 

That was a fantastic cruise despite the early weather issues and missing our first stop.

 

I will certainly tell Francesca that you said hi and, rest assured, she sends you a cyber-hug. We hope all is well with you and your family and wish you an incredible new year!

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gcvt

gcvt

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My husband took me on my first cruise in 2008 and now I drive him nuts with it... Always looking to sail again and working on convincing him to get away... Monster created indeed LOL Reading your memory was heartwarming, Thank you for sharing

 

Embrace your Monster mentality :)

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