Our first cruise ....Celebrity Horizon 2005......., .Why did you go on your first cruise ?

[runningtide]

My late wife Sharon, back in 2005, asked me what we could do for her mothers 90th birthday. We went over various options, until Sharon mentioned her mom always wanted to see Bermuda. Up to this point, her Mom had never traveled, been on a plane, boat, or train. My wife's family were farmers in Maryland. Her mom and dad used the honeymoon money they saved,  to build their small farm house, and gave up their dream of seeing Bermuda. Now years later and a healthy and active widow about to turn 90, you can understand why we wanted something special for this wonderful woman.

I want to point out that my family are avid sailors in Annapolis, and none of us had every been on a "cruise". We spend vacations and days off sailing mostly on the Chesapeake Bay. While talking to a TA about Bermuda, she suggested doing a cruise from Hampton Roads VA on Celebrity Horizon, instead of flying there. I gotta admit, it sounded so convenient for my mother-in-law, not having to deal with hotels, cabs, airports, etc. My wife and I agreed, and booked the trip. I will admit, though I had over 25 years of sailing under my belt, I knew nothing about cruise ships. Like most, my only experience was watching the TV show.., The Love Boat.  I figured cruising was very lame and boring, and they would have to drag me kicking and screaming to get on a cruise ship.  But to accommodate my wife's mom on her special birthday, we figured....what the hell. 

Along with my youngest son, we left Virginia on Horizon for Bermuda in the summer of 2005. I'll not turn this into a cruise review, but in short, all of us were amazed at how much we enjoyed the ship, the crew, and all the personalized service and activities. It was nothing like what we expected. My mother-in-law was over the moon about cruising, along with getting to spend three days in St George and Hamilton while having her ship waiting for us at the end of each day. 

This first trip became the beginning of many subsequent cruises that continue to this day. I still have that great anticipation before each tip, and owe so much to the first cruise on Celebrity Horizon.

Tell us why you went on your first cruise.

 

All the best.........See you on the next tack !

 

Edited March 25, 2022 by runningtide

[MustBCruzn]

My first cruise had a similiar theme to yours. In 1994 I was stationed in Sicily (a Navy nurse) and my mom, back in Seattle, had just retired, and my dad had recently passed away. Although I had been stational all over the world I was only able to convince them to visit during an overseas tour once, when in Spain. She was very nervous about traveling alone all the way to Sicily. Long story short, I convinced her to come by booking us on the Costa Crociere for a 10-night Eastern Med cruise to Israel, Egypt, Athens, Cyprus, and Rome. It was wonderful. Not only did she find the confidence to travel the world, but it  turned us both into cruise addicts.

[ZoeyVictoria]

My late husband was undergoing chemo for lung cancer in 2004 and I was trying to find a vacation that would not be too strenuous for him.  My coworker was constantly talking about cruising, AAA was sponsoring a travel event, and we decided the time was right to try a cruise.  Even though it was squeezed in between rounds of chemo, it was the best vacation we had ever taken.  We booked another one just a week after returning from the first.  Unfortunately, he was too sick to cruise by then, but I am so happy to have the memories created on that one cruise.  

[George C]

Did a cruise to nowhere out of New York City in 1975 , next cruise 1977 to Bermuda and Nassau, have cruised every year since , been on over 70 cruises. Got engaged on cruise and honeymooned on cruise.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

My first cruise (other than trips on MATS transports) was a cruise to Alaska on Celebrity's Mercury.  My high school reunion group was discussing where to hold our next reunion and I casually tossed out that I had always wanted to go to Alaska.  The whole room lit up.

 

We booked it and had a fabulous time.  The Celebrity service was awesome.  Turned me and some of my friends into cruise addicts!

[runningtide]

8 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

My late husband was undergoing chemo for lung cancer in 2004 and I was trying to find a vacation that would not be too strenuous for him.  My coworker was constantly talking about cruising, AAA was sponsoring a travel event, and we decided the time was right to try a cruise.  Even though it was squeezed in between rounds of chemo, it was the best vacation we had ever taken.  We booked another one just a week after returning from the first.  Unfortunately, he was too sick to cruise by then, but I am so happy to have the memories created on that one cruise.  

Very similar situation with my second cruise on Grandeur in 2009. My late wife was a year into cancer treatment for stage 4, and we took both kids on a great 12 day trip. Sadly, we lost her two months later, but I still cherish that last cruise with her and the kids.

[Bo1953]

 

My grandmother!

 

When I was seven, she decided it was time for me to go on a cruise.

 

While I did not understand all of the ramifications of us cruising way back then, it was a happy vacation for me...

 

Then 20 years later I had a friend who got me a greatly discounted fare on the 'original' QE II and did not all of the memories rush back to a great degree... and I was hooked once again.

 

bon voyage

[TeaBag]

We sailed with Princes, Southampton to Athens for our 25th anniversary and the cruising addiction began....................

[dkjretired]

Our first cruise was the result of a beloved Aunt and. Uncle going back to the 60s when I was a teenager. He was a Shriner and their lodge regularly did trips and most were out of Yew York. My parents would take me to the sail away s when you actually could  go on board the ship for a few hours before sailing. We would then stand on the pier and throw those streamers at the ship as it departed. Guess it gave me the bug that I just wanted to try it. Our first cruise was American Family Cruises, which only lasted one summer, it was a spin off of Costa. Nest was Big Red Boat and then Meridian 

 

Edited March 25, 2022 by dkjretired

[mahdnc]

 

My wife and I did our first cruise on Carnival's Jubilee back in Jul 1991.  It was a 7 night round trip sailing out of Los Angeles (San Pedro) that called on Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas.

 

My wife had always wanted to go on a cruise, but I felt that it would be boring and I was more interested in active land vacations (national parks, etc).  But the reason she convince me to go on this Jubilee sailing was that the ship was going to be at Mazatlan on the exact day (Jul 11) that a total solar eclipse would occur and we would see nearly 7 minutes of totality!

 

The ship, trip, and eclipse were absolutely mind blowing for me.  I remember being amazed that you can wake up and find yourself at a different spot in the world.  And of course, I was not bored on the cruise--I was actually exhausted each day from all the activities.

 

Little did I know that--although it was not a special chartered cruise--all the passengers were  astronomy geeks like me.  We even got to meet Buzz Aldrin who was on board as a guest lecturer. The atypical passenger make up even caught the ship's crew off guard--as the casino was overstaffed and empty but the bridge tour was overrun with half the passengers on the ship wanting to attend. 

 

 

Some of the astronomy tour leaders on the ship banded together during the cruise and were able to persuade Jubilee's master, Captain Giovanni Gallo,  to change the ship's docking schedule on the day of the eclipse!  In the end he agreed to dock twice on that day.  We first docked at Mazatlan early in the morning to drop off passengers that wanted to observe/photograph the eclipse from land which provided a stable platform for their telescopes.  After dropping them off, Jubilee headed back out with those who chose to stay on board (which included us) to watch the noon time eclipse at sea on a mobile platform that would increase our chances of finding clear skies.  After totality was over, Jubilee headed back to the Mazatlan pier in the afternoon to allow us a little time to explore the city and to pick up the passengers who wanted to see the eclipse from land.  I doubt that Carnival sold any Mazatlan shore excursions for that day.

 

It turns out that we made the right choice to stay on board because those who watched it on land were clouded out while Jubilee was able to find a hole in the clouds just in the nick of time for us to see the spectacular eclipse.

 

I know a lot of people on this Celebrity forum make fun of Carnival, but I have Carnival to thank for helping me to discover that I really enjoy cruising.  By the time my wife and I were able to go on another cruise, it was on the brand new Century in 1996 and that is when we got hooked on Celebrity.

 

This patch should have identified our ship as MS Jubilee.

 

Edited March 25, 2022 by mahdnc

[carsail1260]

Remember it well.....February 1988.  Carnival to Nassau and Freeport from Ft Lauderdale. Booked 3 days before the cruise. Received Free airfare(usually included back then) from Chicago for $229pp. Paid for an Oceanview but were upgraded to a Penthouse!  When we boarded the ship we thought they made a mistake...the penthouse surely couldn't be that small...LOL!  We had 3 large portholes and 2 fixed twin beds...Once we started talking to other passengers who said their toilet got wet when taking a shower, we casually said we had a separate room where the tub and shower were.  A bunch of us went on a cabin tour between all our cabins.....ours was like a mansion!!!!  How things have changed!  Loved the cruise and have enjoyed many family and friend cruises over the years....can't wait until the April 8 for the Transatlantic to Southampton!  We are in a Royal Suite....unbelievable how even the lowliest inside cabins are better than the penthouses of the 80's!

[kdkstormy]

2002 the addiction began with our honeymoon - Southern Caribbean on the Sea Princess.  Have been hooked ever since.  20th anniversary cruise this year on the Silhouette 🙂 

Edited March 25, 2022 by kdkstormy

[mfs2k]

35 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

My wife and I did our first cruise on Carnival's Jubilee back in Jul 1991.  It was a 7 night round trip sailing out of Los Angeles (San Pedro) that called on Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas.

 

I was also on Carnival Jubilee.  It was my second cruise. The same itinerary.  But mine was in 1987.  

 

My first cruise was in 1986 on Carnival's Tropicale.  Carnival's first new-build ship. I fell in love with cruising on this ship.

 

My wife and I got married in 1999 in St. Thomas.  It was a port stop on Carnival's Imagination.  The wedding was pre-arranged by Carnival.  It was just the 2 of us with a photographer and videographer.  We were taken to "City Hall" for the license signing and then we were taken to Emerald Beach resort for our ceremony. We have pictures of us in tuxedo and gown, barefoot on the beach, drinking champagne.  Priceless.

 

 

 

 

[39august]

I suppose it was just curiosity that caused us to take our first cruise. I had heard about cruises from a couple of co-workers, but their opinions were directly opposite. One was bored out of her mind, the other  had loved being in different ports. I wanted to see some Caribbean islands, so we booked the Norway in 1999. Our ocean view cabin looked out onto the promenade deck, so we had to be careful to close curtains when changing clothes. And walkers would gawk in at other times. The mattress was so soft, that we both rolled to the middle every time we moved.  And the middle had a gap where the two twin beds were pushed together. The toilet was the old style with the tank attached to the wall above and a pull chain to flush.  But the food and service in the dining rooms were outstanding. The casino was a really fun place that was all decked out in red velvet and " gold" accents. We loved touring in the islands, took a gazillion pictures, and had a ball.  Of course we dressed to the nines, (well, I did) for formal nights, me in a long, red gown and he in his best suit.  We took a great photo of Norway at sea, from the beach downtown on St. Martin. Shows her proud smokestack. Sadly, as we all know, that smoke stack blew up several years later, Norway sank and several crew lives were lost.  Our next cruise was on Dawn Princess a couple of years later, and what a magnificent change that ship was from the old Norway. We've been at it ever since. Did 5 Princess cruises, then switched to RCi for several years, often going out of Galveston as we can drive to that port. After trying X in 2018, we will never go back to RCI. 

[chuly]

Honeymoon Cruise January 15 1972 , 7 day Royal Caribbean Song of Norway . Have cruised at least 2 or 3 times  a year since then including every year for our anniversary except for the Covid cancelled ones. 

[Purplsmurf]

Our first was 1993 for our honeymoon and we have been hooked ever since. 

[George C]

1 hour ago, carsail1260 said:

Remember it well.....February 1988.  Carnival to Nassau and Freeport from Ft Lauderdale. Booked 3 days before the cruise. Received Free airfare(usually included back then) from Chicago for $229pp. Paid for an Oceanview but were upgraded to a Penthouse!  When we boarded the ship we thought they made a mistake...the penthouse surely couldn't be that small...LOL!  We had 3 large portholes and 2 fixed twin beds...Once we started talking to other passengers who said their toilet got wet when taking a shower, we casually said we had a separate room where the tub and shower were.  A bunch of us went on a cabin tour between all our cabins.....ours was like a mansion!!!!  How things have changed!  Loved the cruise and have enjoyed many family and friend cruises over the years....can't wait until the April 8 for the Transatlantic to Southampton!  We are in a Royal Suite....unbelievable how even the lowliest inside cabins are better than the penthouses of the 80's!

My first 20 or so cruises I had inside rooms, once with my girlfriend we had a inside room and bunk beds on SS Norway , now nothing but suites had royal suite a few weeks ago. In July we did our first penthouse.

[phoenix_dream]

My first cruise was on my honeymoon in 1982 on the Carnival Carnivale.  We did it because my new husband had always wanted to try a cruise and the Love Boat tv show made it look so fun!  It was absolutely horrendous!  It rained every day, the seas were awful so I was popping meds regularly which helped only a little (they had fewer options back then).  I swore I would never cruise again.

 

Years later we were looking for a vacation where we could travel as a family - young kid, elderly parents, elderly aunts - and still have fun.  I agreed to try another cruise as ships had changed so much.  Had a wonderful cruise on the Horizon and it started us on a lifelong cruising journey.  70+ cruises so far (and the majority of them on Celebrity), with 7 more in the next year and more to come (I hope!).

[mailmama]

First cruise was on the Galaxy. There is something so magical about that first cruise that is never replicated in any other one! We celebrated our 20th anniversary for that 1998 cruise. Took the whole family in 2000 as we were so excited. Sailed on the Century with our 3 children who then fell in love with cruising also!  Our son even got engaged on one cruise (our families cruised together) and then married the next year on the Royal's Freedom of the Seas. We are cruising addicts for sure and hope to celebrate on the Equinox our 43rd anniversary this fall. (Covid canceled the 40th, 41st and 42nd for us!!)

[cangelmd]

Celebrity Zenith when it was still Chandris, 1993 or 94, we did the Horizon to Bermuda in 1995. Reason was escaping children

[lola2013]

A friend from high school married and moved out of state.  When she moved back to the area, we talked about taking a cruise together.  This was when the Love Boat was so popular.  Our travel agent booked us on the Cunard Countess.  Wow, was I surprised when the stateroom was the size of a closet (not at all like the cabins on the Love Boat) and the pool was covered at night so the overserved passengers didn't fall in (like the parties around the Love Boat pool with the lily pads floating in the water).  We did six cruises on that ship in addition to trying RCCL, Costa and NCL.  Fast forward about 15 years...my dad passed away and I thought my mom would enjoy a Panama Canal cruise which they had talked about.  My travel agent booked us on Princess and we did a couple of other sailings with them.  Ultimately, mom wanted to visit Croatia.  A friend of hers had sailed with Celebrity so that's what we booked.  Sadly, she passed away before that trip happened.  I went ahead with the trip with family and friends and have loved the Celebrity experience ever since.

A cruise ship is my happy place 🤩

[dkjretired]

47 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

Celebrity Zenith when it was still Chandris, 1993 or 94, we did the Horizon to Bermuda in 1995. Reason was escaping children

Zenith was never Chandra’s, it along with Horizon were Celebrity’s first new builds. 

[sciencegrrl]

2007, cruise to Alaska on HAL with mom, stepdad in one cabin, auntie and I next door.  They loved it, I was B O R E D. Did get lots of free drinks though 😉

 

Loved sailing out of Long Beach. Crewed on a 37' MacGregor for the Newport-Ensenada race a few times.  After the baby was born, we hung his johnny-jump-up from the boom when we cruised to Catalina, LOL

 

Now we are more mature (augh!) and cruise a pontoon boat on inland waters 🥲

[earlydiner]

Our first cruise was "free" as a reward for sales of corn seed.  It was 1989 and we were on the SS Norway.  Yes things have changed for the better,  however we loved it as it was then as well.  My wife says that cruise was not free because we have enjoyed 30+ cruises since.    I think we have been on eight different lines and loved every single one.  Kinda settled on Celebrity with just us and when we take the kids and grandkids it is RCI.  

Edited March 26, 2022 by earlydiner

[emmas gran]

1991 QE2 Southampton to NY, first time for both of us over the pond. It was a 2 for 1 deal lowest grade inside cabin. That got us hooked and this year we hit 70 cruises and over 900 days.