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

[voljeep]

somewhere around 1990 on The Big Red Boat we took the kids on a 3-4 day cruise out of PE to Nassau and the out island

 

thing I remember most was how much I hated set dining times..

 

didn't cruise again until 2007 on Diamond Princess in Alaska - just me and my wife

 

just the size of the ship - great service - anytime dining - but actually ended up with a set table and time in a

window table for 2 ... and the unlimited lobster tails on 'formal night' ... and I did wear a black suit and tie and even

wore a sportcoat and tie on the smart casual nights

 

not anymore ... bought the picture, been there, done that

 

 

[Sea Hag]

5 hours ago, Ferd Berfle said:

 

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.

That first cruise of ours was July 1991. We were on the sailing for the total eclipse of the sun.

That must have been some sight, seeing that gal do that!

[PEB]

I had no interest in taking a cruise but my wife and some friends had other ideas. They wanted to go on a total eclipse cruise and they needed help carrying all their telescopes and cameras so I went reluctantly. It was in Hawaii on the SS Independence which already had a lot of years on her, however the second I saw the ship I fell in love with her and I was hooked. We did cruise on her again before she stopped but we have been on many different ships on many cruise lines since then and I even worked on cruise ships for a couple years. 

[Doug R.]

Our was on RCCL's Enchantment of the Seas in 2004. We spent the night before at the Embassy Suites adjacent to the Port Everglades. Early the next morning, prior to sunrise, we could see all the ships at the port with a thunderstorm and flashing lightning in the background. It was quite a sight. I remember boarding and thinking how big the ship was. Looking back it is one of the smaller ships we have sailed on.

 

 

[jagsfan]

I talked my DH into spending money we could ill afford on a five day cruise at the end of March, 1984. 

The ship  was SS Royale, the first ship of the new Premier Cruise Line, and we were on her 4th sailing. 

Our rate was $199 each, for an inside cabin with upper and lower berths. It was so small we had to put the chair into the bathroom to get into bed. The bathroom was ugly, with exposed pipes, but the bunk beds had new bedspreads!

We thought it was all wonderful and exciting. 

I don’t remember lunch on sailing day, but dinner was in a beautiful dining room. 

The ship was an elderly cruise ship, but a lot of money was spent in refurbishment. 

The dining room had a new ceiling of reflective strips, and burgundy accents, including linens. 

The food was excellent, even looking back over 55 cruises later. My first escargot was on that cruise!

The entertainment consisted of former stars, such as the  Platters and Commodores. 

During the day there were horse racing and skeet shooting. 

That cruise was 5 days of magic, and changed our lives. 

[cabin4three]

First cruise as in late 70's , I was a child and cant remember which cruise line.  We went to the Baltics and remember sailing through a storm,  at one point we were the only passengers around; everyone else was in cabin or sick bay with seasickness.    They had to close the dining rooms, cancelled entertainment and left us alone in the buffet, great for a kid having so many cakes to choose from.  Later in cruise we got to go to the bridge and meet the captain  as a "thank you" as  we had to "manage" by ourselves.

I remember my first Cunard cruise on QE2, much more formal back then, loved the white glove afternoon tea. I remember my dad having different dinner suits, one back and on white,  and the men dressed in black or white, I assume depending on if we were in "tropical" waters.

Since then the ships have got bigger and bigger.

[aqua2]

What fun stories! And I was reminded of my real first cruise, a transatlantic from New York City to LeHavre, back in 1966. Can't really remember the name of the ship; almost every passenger was a college student heading to Europe for a junior year abroad program.  Needless to say, we had a blast despite tiny cabins with bunk beds, some miserable weather  with decks closed off.  The ship dropped off a few passengers at Southampton, then docked in LeHavre and we all proceeded to whatever our land destination was (mine was Madrid).

 

My next cruise after that, which got me really hooked on cruising, was in 2005 on the Tahitian Princess for French Polynesia.  I absolutely loved the size of that ship, the ambiance, the ports of call.

[GloriaF]

Ours was on the Grand Princess when she was new.  I don't know the year, but it would be easy to check when Grand was put into service.  It was a 7 nt Caribbean cruise out of FLL.  I booked it myself, knowing nothing about cabin classes, or cruises in general......I booked the cheapest fare quoted, not even realizing there were other choices....probably an interior, but we lucked out with an upgrade to an OV on the Plaza deck.  

 

We were hooked from then on!  Booked balcony cabins and stayed with that category.  Have never experienced a mini-suite, and am afraid that once I have a mini I'll never want to go back, so staying with balconies! 😉 They suit us just fine.

Edited March 2, 2019 by GloriaF

[mnocket]

1960 (do I win a prize for the earliest cruiser here?)

My father was given this vacation as a work bonus. Mom, dad, my older brother and I boarded the Cunard Mauretania 2 for a Caribbean cruise in New York harbor. I was a youngster, but still remember many things about the experience. First, even as a child you had to dress appropriately. I remember my parents taking my brother and I to Saks Fifth Avenue to buy our cruise-wear (we weren't wealthy, but I guess Saks was the place to go for cruise-wear). We lived on Long Island, but spent the pre-departure night in NYC. The next day we took a cab to the port. I remember pulling up to the dock alongside this huge black wall. You guessed it - it was the ship. I'd never seen anything so big!

My memories of the cruise are a bit scattered, so in no particular order here's what I remember.....

 

• There was an indoor pool way down in the bowels of the ship. My brother and I spent a lot of time there, and while there was a lifeguard, I can't remember anyone else ever swimming there. The ship obviously didn't have stabilizers and I remember the water sloshing from side-to-side. This I'm sure was what made it so fun.
• Dining: In those days there were still different dining rooms for the different passenger classes. I have no idea what class we were. Every night was quite formal in the MDR. I remember one night there was a reception line of the Captain and officers who greeted everyone as they entered the dining room. At the end of the cruise my parents were presented with a full set of menus - each in its original binder. I wish I had those, but they are long gone. My only memories of the MDR are the desserts (souffle, and cherries jubilee prepared table-side). One night they had a magician in the MDR. To my total amazement he pulled a coin from behind my ear. I couldn't believe it! I also remember dining at the captain's table one night.
• I think all ports were tendered at that time. When we dropped anchor at each port an armada of small boats would row out to the ship. Passengers would line the railing and throw coins into the water and the locals would dive from their boats and retrieve them. Other boats were selling souvenirs. You would place your money in a basket and lower it down on a rope. They would put whatever you bought into the basket and you would pull it back up.
• I don't remember much about the ports themselves. I do remember the extreme poverty of Haiti (my mom had her wallet pick-pocketed there). My parent's bought straw hats for my brother and I. Mine had tall donkey ears on the sides with pom-poms at the ear tips. I loved it, but soon learned upon returning home never to wear it again!
• Biggest Disappointment: The candy selection. The only candy for sale on the ship was British. There were no familiar brands. What they did have was disappointing. I think we finally found some chocolate we liked.

 

I've gone on too long. Suffice it to say that if you wonder whether or not to take your young children on a cruise - do it! Even if they are only 7-8 yo, it's one of standout events of my young childhood.

[BarbinMich]

17 hours 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.

 

I think you get your "first ship" with every new "model" they introduce or first time you sail on a new-to-you line <g>.  Our first Princess cruise was on the Dawn P in 2000 when she was a mere 3 years old; it was our seventh cruise.  Having previously sailed on 2 old ships that had sailed between the UK and Africa in the 1950s (SS Independence in Hawaii in 1997; Celebrity Amerikanis in the Caribbean in 1994) and Celebrity Horizon & Zenith (both 1992 builds), we were very impressed with the Dawn and its spectacular atrium!  And Tommy (forget his last name) was the cruise director!  We had him on various subsequent cruises.

[rkacruiser]

20 hours ago, TriumphGuy said:

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. 

 

Well, this post brought back a memory for me.  My first non-ocean cruise was a Great Lakes cruise on Lake Erie:  embarked in Detroit with ports in Buffalo and Cleveland before returning to Detroit.  A 4 day week-end type of cruise, I recall.  The ship was the S. S. South American of the Georgian Bay Line.  Not sure from a $$ standpoint how my Mother did it, but we "lived high on the hog" on that cruise.  She was able to book a bedroom and a private bath rather than a cabin with bunk berths; baths/toilets were down the corridor.

 

I "blame" my late Mother for my cruise addition to this day!  Thanks Mother!!!!!

[Sea Gypsy 2]

OMG!

[RMMariner]

Our first cruise was on the Grand to Hawaii in 2015. I had sworn to my wife that I would never go on a cruise.

 

My wife really wanted to go, and so we did. I had pretty low expectations.

 

My first impression was that the ship was huge. I really had no idea what to expect, but I did enjoy the cruise, and we have been on a number of cruises in the last 4 years. 

 

I am trying to convince my wife that we should do one cruise and then one bike ride or trek together. When you go on really hard adventure (like biking down the West Coast of North America), you appreciate the relaxation of a cruise even more when it is your next trip.

[gbolton]

Holy moly!!

[MsSoCalCruiser]

 My very first cruise was with my daughter on Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas. It was just under 74,000 tons and we thought she was huge! The funny part was when I opened the door to  our oceanview cabin and my jaw dropped in disbelief. My daughter looked at me and said… “What did you expect the Wynn?   Yes, I did 😂😂😂

[HappilyEverAft-ers]

Our first cruise was Grand Princess,  1-2002.  9.11 had just happened, and I wanted to cancel.  We tried, and Princess came back with an offer to good to turn down.  When we first saw the ship we were in awe at her size.  We had been upgraded (see above) to a mini-suite.  To this day, it remains one of our favorite cruises.  Graham Seymour was the CD, and the pool party is still the best one we've ever attended.  We've sailed on the Grand once more since then, and she'll always hold a special place in our hearts.  The first ship of every cruise lover always remains the fondest, right?  🙂

[cruisinnorth]

Hi All,  Our first cruise was on the Pacific Princess (not the original).  When we first saw the ship we thought it was huge.  Little did we know.  Being newbies we didn't know that once final payment was made you were locked in to the higher price.  We complained to our TA and she informed us that we couldn't take advantage of a lower price after final payment was made.  I said to her, "That's the wrong answer."  Such bravado in our ignorance.  She said to give her half and hour and she called back indicating she could upgrade our room to a mini-suite, no refund, but a nicer room.  Our first glimpse of our ship... it was huge, and the cruise itself... perfect and we have been hooked ever since.

 

Dave

[nukesubsailor]

My first cruise ship was the Star Princess for an Alaskan cruise in 2002.  As our motor coach approached Wittier and I saw the ship I was awe struck by how huge it was. Once onboard, I was again awe struck by how fancy the décor was.  My only other sailing experience was on a U.S. Navy 292 foot long fast attack submarine and on a 552 long submarine tender in the late 60's/early 70's.

[suzyed]

On 3/1/2019 at 7:32 PM, 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. 😂

LOL! Our first cruise was in 1980 on the Cunard Countess out of San Juan!  They were identical but I heard from some on the Princess that they were quite unhappy with the service on their ship, while we thought the service on ours was wonderful!  It seems silly looking back now that we kind of followed each other to several of the ports...St. Thomas was one of them and that was when we got to speak with some of the passengers on the Princess.  But if was all new to us!
We had the most wonderful waiter, Enzo, in the dining room...we will never forget him!  One evening, I didn't really see anything on the menu that looked good to me, so he went into the galley and had the chef prepare a wonderful pasta dish just for me! 
That was when they had the wonderful midnight buffets complete with lobster and shrimp and incredible desserts! They also had a contest to determine who gained the most weight!!  LOL!  If you wanted to participate, you got weighed the first and last day!  
I probably should have entered...I realized I was pregnant with my first child on the second day of the sailing...so I might have won!  
I remember  that the slot machine area of the casino was basically a 10 X10 room with slots around the perimeter!  

[donaldsc]

This was my 1st cruise ship - the Lewis R French.  Look it up.  I spent 7 days on her.  She held 22 passengers.  I thought she looked great.

 

BTW - why is this post on the Princess board.  Is the OP only interested in 1 looks at Princess ships.  It should be on the Ask a Cruise Question board.

 

DON

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by donaldsc

[stoneharborlady]

We could not see the Caribbean Princess at embarkation as we went right into the building, and entered the ship from that building.  We didnt actually see the ship in person from the outside till we got off the next day onto the tender for Princess Cays.  I was amazed at the size of the ship.

[LarryL]

We first sailed on the Golden Princess in Jan 05 out of San Juan. I was so pumped about getting on a ship anyway. When we got on the shuttle from the Marriott Stellaris & Casino the drive to the ship only increased my anticipation. When I saw the ship I was awed and only thought "WOW". Being our first cruise, which was port intensive, we got carried away with excursions (2 a day) and were se tired we never saw much of the ship. We did spend a lot of time in Skywalkers, which is still our favorite spot. We never realized how much we love the Grand Class ships until we sailed the Star a few years ago. My anticipation of getting on a cruise ship hasn't diminished a bit though.

[Elkhorn20fan]

On 3/1/2019 at 7:44 PM, 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.

Sea Princess was also our first cruise, the ship was huge, until we sailed on the grand class. Hope to sail on the sea princess again sometime.

[Busy Mum]

It was the Dawn Princess in 2009 and we just could not believe how BIG she was and just so beautiful!!  We have recently tried the Majestic, now that was big. It is certainly funny thinking that the Dawn was soooo big. 🙂 

[Dawniepoo]

I was just a kid taking my first cruise. It was on Sitmar Fairwind back in the early 80s.