What was your first impression of your very first cruise when you saw the ship

[toescat]

What was your  first impress when you got to the pier when cruised for the very first time?  We went on our first cruise in 1984 and we drove to Los Angeles the day before and after dinner we went down to the pier to see our ship.  Boy were we naïve !!!!!! There was big boat at our pier and we were so excited we could hardly sleep that night.  The next morning we drove back to the pier and parked and saw a different boat, this one was much bigger and I think our eye's popped out of our heads.  It was a 48000 tonnage ship but we thought it was as big as a city.  We asked where our ship went and the porter said nowhere, we said no the one from last night,  he said that probably was a fishing boat.  Dumb Dumb Dumb new cruisers.  I bet he took that one home with a big laugh.  We are much wiser today.  

[Tapi]

First cruise was on the 16,000 ton Cunard Princess in the early 80’s out of San Juan. I don’t remember exactly what my initial thought about the ship was, but I do remember that identical sister ship Cunard Countess used to sail from San Juan on the same day. Before I realized this, I remember going up to the pool deck and looking to the side and seeing the Countess docked next to us, and my initial thought was “OMG, we got on the wrong ship!!”, at the time not realizing that our ship was one of two identical sisters. 😂

[rkacruiser]

First cruise was on Rotterdam V from New York in 1970 and I had done much, much research in preparation for this trip.  I had a good idea of what to expect.  When my traveling companion and I arrived at Pier 40 on the day of embarkation, I was excited with great expectations (that were fully fulfilled).  Don't know that I said "WOW!" or not.  But, that cruise was a "WOW"!

[lhsail]

43 minutes ago, Tapi said:

First cruise was on the 16,000 ton Cunard Princess in the early 80’s out of San Juan. I don’t remember exactly what my initial thought about the ship was, but I do remember that identical sister ship Cunard Countess used to sail from San Juan on the same day. Before I realized this, I remember going up to the pool deck and looking to the side and seeing the Countess docked next to us, and my initial thought was “OMG, we got on the wrong ship!!”, at the time not realizing that our ship was one of two identical sisters. 😂

The Cunard Princess out of San Juan was also my first cruise. We were recently on the QM2 and they had a picture of her christening. I don’t exactly remember my first reaction when seeing the ship, but I was hooked. My first memory of seeing a ship and saying “Wow” was the SS Norway. She seemed huge and what a beauty. 

[Thrak]

We're noobs. It was 2011 and Sea Princess looked absolutely huge. When we boarded and saw the atrium I think I was just in total awe. You only get one "first ship" and one "first cruise". I doubt anybody ever forgets that first time.

[joybook]

Sapphire Princess out of Sydney in 2008 and our reaction when first seeing it was WOW!!!! Our son was driving over the Cahill Expressway at Circular Quay in Sydney just after we boarded and after seeing it for the first time his reaction also was WOW!!!!

[Sea Hag]

Our first cruise was on the Carnival Jubilee. We couldn't believe how big it was! Very small by today's standards.

[AZ Stan (FKA Stan in Chicago)]

15 minutes ago, Thrak said:

We're noobs. It was 2011 and Sea Princess looked absolutely huge. When we boarded and saw the atrium I think I was just in total awe. You only get one "first ship" and one "first cruise". I doubt anybody ever forgets that first time.

Thrak, you are exactly right!  there is only one first cruise ours was the 25,000 ton Fairwind.  We thought it was huge.

[OCruisers]

Gosh!  First was way back in 1961 on SS Bahama Star for a 2 day as a part of our high school senior class trip for a  week in Florida.  Liked it enough to give me a life long love of cruising.  

 

 

[Essiesmom]

My first was in 1972 on the 18,500 ton SS Homeric of Home Lines.  I don't remember what I thought of the ship.  You really couldn't get a good view of it at the piers in NYC.  In fact, I don't remember much about the ship, either.  My cabin, the dining room...One of the dance floors.  I have since sailed on an even smaller ship, the late MV Calypso of Louis Lines.  Before I sailed her I worried about sailing on such a small ship, but the service and food were superb and with six Greek islands in four day, you don't miss the missing amenities.  EM

[JustinPlusLauren]

I went on the smallest cruise ship on a high school band trip (which was so amazing that we had the chance to do that!) - it was the year 2000 and the ship was called the Big Red Boat. I didn't know the ship was small until we were docked beside a Disney cruise ship in port and it was massive compared to our ship. But, we had such an amazing time and it definitely got me addicted to cruising! It was only a 4 day cruise. It was many years until I'd have enough money to afford my own cruise during university, but I've been sailing as much as possible ever since!

[cflutist]

2001 and Voyager of the Seas out of Miami. Largest ship at the time, it was huge!

Yes we went ice skating and rock climbing onboard.

[TriumphGuy]

This was my first cruise, the City of Norfolk, an old Chesapeake Bay steamer, out of Baltimore in the very early 60's. I was 7 or so. In total awe. It was just an overnight down the Bay but I have never forgotten it. The ship was scrapped shortly after due to not being able to meet fire code. (too much wood).
Fast forward to 2016, Coral Princess 10 night to Panama Canal. Again I was in awe. 

[Desert Cruizers]

Our first cruise in 2002 was the Sea Princess and walked inside and were awed by how beautiful she looked . Two years later we boarded the Brilliance and thought the Radiance Class was even more stunning. 

[FLCruise7]

I can't recall everything about that first cruise (1989), but I do remember it was on the (original) Carnival Mardi Gras -- ship was about 24,000 tons.  One thing I remember vividly was our cabin which was way forward and the floor had a slight slope to it!  Also, I used to tell people that the bathroom was so tiny you could sit on the john, wash your hair in the shower and wash your hands in the sink all at the same time!!    That trip was the beginning of our love of cruising!

 

Fast-forward 30 years and many cruises - and they're still our favorite vacation.

[Dani24]

Our first cruise was on the Sapphire in 2005. I worked in San Francisco at the time, and about a month before our cruise she docked in SF on a repo. So I headed over to see her in person on my lunch break. 

My initial impression was from about a mile up the Embarcadero — she looked absolutely massive from afar!

I made my way up to the port and was even further blown away by her size. I took a bunch of pictures, which I later posted online and shared here. I had located exactly where our room was going to be (an obstructed oceanview). It was blocked partially by a lifeboat, but I was very pleased to see it let it tons of natural light still. I was also struck by seeing a couple of “tiny” people up on deck, further adding to my awe over her size. 
 

[4cats4me]

I was so disappointed on my first cruise, the Carnival Holiday, back in 1992.  No bells or whistles.  No atrium.  Just a boring ship with little to no food to be found at lunchtime. 

If one didn’t go into the MDR back in those days there weren’t many other options.   

We had barbecue beef sandwiches and potato chips available by the pool one day.  That was it.  In those days we didn’t have 24/7 buffets, only very limited hours.  

And that cruise cost a lot more than the cruises we take today.  

 

My second cruise ever on RCCL made up for the deficits of the Carnivore Cruise, and it would be eight years until my next cruise, this time as a newly married, on Celebrity.   Fell in love with cruising.

 

shortly thereafter we decided to try Princess, and we had a great time, but sadly, Carnival bought the line after our first or second Princess cruise.   Overall, we’ve enjoyed Princess immensely, even with the cutbacks.  They still deliver a great product. 

Edited March 2, 2019 by 4cats4me

[CaboWabo62]

First cruise was Star Princess 2003 she was a little over a year old. We loved it, you can do as little or as much as you want.  Could not believe how big the ship was took days before we knew our way around.

We started a tradition for us of watching the sunrise from the Hot Tub,  still something we enjoy but not always available that early in the morning.

[Lucky TGO]

My first cruise was on The Rowboat #1. All I rember was saying to myself. ‘’Someday I will be the Captain”. 

 

Edited March 2, 2019 by Lucky TGO

[Times Prince]

1996 - went on a cruise on a recommendation from a travel agent.  Coming into Port Everglades by shuttle we saw some ships,  but mostly big gas cans and what looked like warehouses.  Then we turned a corner and saw a massive, beautiful white ship that towered above everything around.  It was the Sun Princess and it was at the time the largest cruise ship afloat.  It was gorgeous, and love at first sight!  We couldn't believe we were lucky enough to be sailing on this huge beauty.  And everything inside was awesome too.

 

I still think she is the prettiest ship in the fleet.

[Papa Yoda]

7 hours ago, Sea Hag said:

Our first cruise was on the Carnival Jubilee. We couldn't believe how big it was! Very small by today's standards.

 

Ours too - didn't know anything and it was a great trip - 7 day Mexican Riviera.  November 1991 

 

Still remember the woman who made the dining room crew pull their tip out of her brassiere - she had taped about 100 $1 bills together.

[blazer58]

1981, Carnival , 7 day eastern Caribbean for our Honeymoon. Was in total wow mode.

Two broke young kids,  who could afford only one tour, and did the rest of the stops on our own.

Partied alot on the ship, and had a great time

[ontheweb]

Our first cruise was on the Royal Caribbean Splendour of the Seas out of Barcelona for our 25th anniversary in 2002. It seemed everyone on our plane was either going on that cruise or another cruise at the same time on Princess. There was really an overall sense of excitement on that flight.

 

I remember being impressed by the sight of the ship even though IIRC it was smaller than the Princess ship docked next to it.

[kitty2264]

Our first cruise was on the TSS Festivale which was a Carnival ship in the late 70's.  She was originally a mail ship ocean liner converted for cruising.  The ship was beautiful and seemed large at the time, especially since we had no previous exposure to ships.  I remember that she leaned quite a lot in the wind and that walking down the Promenade in a straight line was a challenge at times.

[long cruiser]

Our first cruise was on home lines oceanic in 1972 out of new york to nassau.She was gigantic(37,000)tons.

long cruiser