How did you decide to take your very first cruise ?

[lenquixote66]

In 1973 my wife and I having vacationed by car,bus and train decided to try a ship vacation .

[ecs66]

It was around 1984 and we lived in Alaska. We saw an ad in the Travel section of the paper for a Caribbean cruise out of Florida on Sitmar. We liked adventure and decided, “Why not?” The price was $400/per person, and INCLUDED round-trip airfare from Anchorage. We figured it had to be a scam, since you couldn’t do flights to Florida for $400, much less cruise for seven days with meals, entertainment, etc., included.

 

But we went and had a ball.  It was so much fun that four of our friends wanted to cruise the next year.  They had friends, and THEY had friends, and the group grew to about 30 people.  It was long before “online”, so I was the go-between for the travel agent.  I was surprised to learn that we got a free cruise because I had arranged this large group.

[TheOldBear]

I got a mailing for a 2 for 1 offer on a five night 'taster' cruise - August 2009  QM2 from Brooklyn to St John New Brunswick. We were interested in how we would deal with being together on a ship.

 

Since then, we noticed some welcome improvements to onboard air quality, and  that we had the same waiter in 2009, 2010, 2017 and again in 2022 [he dropped by our table to say hello in 2019]

[Shmoo here]

How did you decide to take your very first cruise ?

 

Way back in the dark ages (when I was young) my all-time earth shattering trip I wanted to take was a round the world cruise.  I had absolutely no experience with cruises, I knew no one who cruised, it just seemed the ultimate trip.

 

Fast forward (well, to about 15 years ago) my husband came home from work and said "There's a Panama Canal cruise I'd like to go on".  So we booked it.

 

We had no idea whether we'd like cruising or not, but we went for it any way, a 15 night cruise for our first ever cruise.  

 

Needless to say, they had me at walking up the gangway on embarkation day.  I grabbed my husband's arm and shouted "WE'RE GOING ON A CRUISE!!!!!!!!!"  Here we are some 13 years later with 27 cruises under our belt.  Would have been a few more, but, as we all know, cruising was scary the last 3 years.

Edited March 2, 2023 by Shmoo here

[SmoothFlying]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

In 1973 my wife and I having vacationed by car,bus and train decided to try a ship vacation .

For several years (when I was in my early 30's) I kept seeing a 2 inch block in the sunday travel section of the local newspaper advertising cruising and I decided IF the chance ever happened and I could afford it, I'd gice it a chance. Sure enough, everything fell into place, a job w/free flight benefits,  a free place to live and I decided that there's no chance like that current situation to take a chance and go on my first cruise even though it'd be solo. Even though I was sharing OV cabin with a total stranger on the first deck I decided this was the best way to go. I still feel that way 40 years later.

 

Mac

[BklynBoy8]

Our first cruise was a family sailing in early 70's on the Chandris Ellis out of NYC.

 

It was what they called No Where cruise.

 

It left Manhattan Friday 5PM and returned Monday 8AM.

 

We sailed around outside New York Harbor and Out to Sea.

 

Capable to Sun, Gamble but no landing on land.

 

"From Then On, Caught the Cruising Bug for Lfe"....

 

 

 

[GeezerCouple]

Back in 1974, my parents decided that they wanted to take "the family" on a cruise.  I have no idea why/how they thought of that.

It was one of those cheap 3- or 4-night Miami-Bahamas (both Nassau and Freeport), back to Miami.  We spent a couple of extra days first to take the little ones to something called Monkey Jungle near Miami (that may have been the highlight of the trip for the two youngest!) and other sightseeing.

 

That was back in the era of ships with spartan metal bunk beds, tiniest bathroom ever, and a small uncomfortable seat.  My parents got themselves a cabin with tiny portholes.

 

I LOVED IT.  Thought it was amazing!

The next year, they invited everyone again, same exact thing.  I loved it again!

 

Too many years went by without a good opportunity for a trip like that.

Then I went on one that was work related (yes!) in 2002.  I'm sure now that the violent sickness I had for several of the 7 days was Noro, but... I still LOVED the cruise!

 

However, I do *not* enjoy traveling solo...

 

As for DH:

DH kept refusing to try it, "knew he'd hate it", etc.

About 10 years ago, we figured out a way to entice him to have a vacation on a cruise ship for 7 days ("we are getting older, we want to bond with the family, etc."), and he agreed, albeit reluctantly.  But he was a very good sport about it.

 

Sailing date arrives, and... we and some family are off!

Our avatar is us early in the cruise, lying on our bed, peering over our feet at the same great forward view the Captain had, through a huge wall of windows...  

By the next day, DH was completely hooked!  🎉 😁🥂

 

We've sinced had some amazing cruises in several different areas of the globe, and we also continued some wonderful air/land trips.

[We are so disappointed that we had to cancel some recent trips due to Covid. 😞 ]

 

Although those first two cruises were *so* different from the luxurious trips we now take, I still have the fondest memories of them!

 

GC

 

 

[Davechipp74]

My first cruise was a wedding gift from my father-in-law. My wife and I went on a 14 day, Holland America cruise we loved it and although since then we’ve gotten divorced and remarried, and we divorced again I still happily cruise solo now and since then I’ve just gotten off my 14th cruise this past January and have one booked for October of this year.

[navybankerteacher]

When my parents advised me (at age 6)  that they were taking me to Bermuda, it seemed obviously  better than running away from home - so I decided to go with them.

[Aquahound]

6 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

How did you decide to take your very first cruise ?

 

My parents took me on my first cruise as a teenager.  It was on the NCL Sunward II.  I was forever hooked.  In fact, it was that experience being out at sea that eventually led to my enlistment in the USCG.  

[ldubs]

We decided to try on a 3 day RCI cruise out of San Pedro.   The decision was 100% based on the cheap fare.   After that, we went on a cheap 4 day Carnival cruise out of San Pedro.  Took the kids with us on that one.  Over the next few years we did 3 land trips to Europe.   Then we splurged on a 2 week Med Cruise on Princess.  That one is what really got the ball rolling with cruises.        

[ontheweb]

In late 2001 I said to DW, "Our 25th anniversary is coming up next summer, why don't we try a cruise.". She thought that was a good idea. I suggested Bermuda as we would not have to fly to the port in NY City (and who at that point wanted to fly). She suggested Alaska. We have since cruised to both, but at that point we both said no to the other's suggestion.

 

I sent away for a brochure from a TA advertised in the newspaper. One of the advertised cruises was in Western Europe, round trip from Barcelona. I knew my art teacher wife would love that. And that ended up being our first cruise.

[BklynBoy8]

Everyone should start cruising as early as possible so you won't miss out all those years you didn't.

[evandbob]

2003 solo, non smoking ship.

 

Has morphed into over 60 sailings since then on 8 different lines.

[K32682]

The first cruise was curiosity. I'd traveled a fair bit but never cruised so we tried it. The first experience was a week in the Caribbean and it almost put me off cruising forever. It was too regimented, rigid, crowded, time focused and shipboard life was pretentious and tedious. I returned to cruising a few years later because there were places we want to see and things we want to do that were best achieved on a cruise.

 

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by K32682

[Sea42]

We wanted to visit Alaska. See the inside passage and the glaciers. The scenery and wildlife was all that I had hoped for. The cruise itself, not so much. I disliked the crowds, the set dining with people I didn't know and had nothing in common with, and the outrageously priced shore excursions.

It was 10 years before we decided to give it another try. This time we had a balcony cabin so we had our own peaceful place to get away from the crowds, no set dinning and independent excursions thanks to CC roll calls. It was so much better!

We still don't cruise often. I much prefer land trips but I am looking forward to our upcoming cruise in May!

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, BklynBoy8 said:

Everyone should start cruising as early as possible so you won't miss out all those years you didn't.

 

Living proof here. I started cruising at the age of 8. "Vacation cruising" was just kicking off in 1971, but my grandparents and mother had visited Europe on transatlantic voyages a number of times and enjoyed shipboard life. Turns out cruising was a great family vacation even though at that time there were not a lot of activities geared toward kids. After that first cruise we went on many as a family, and later both my sister and I have continued to cruise and love it.

[MCC retired]

1976 my spouse had to drag me onboard  our 1st cruise , NYC -Bermuda , 7 nights.

Been almost 100 cruises since then as well as I sold cruises for 17+ years as a Cruise Specialist  for a large Cruise Travel Agency.

[mom says]

Throughout much of our married life DH refused to vacation on a cruise. Since his career was flying helicopters off navy ships, fair enough.  But with our 25th anniversary approaching,  he had a shore posting and I reminded him of the saying "happy wife, happy life". And a cruise was cheaper than a divorce. So we had our first cruuse- a  7 day eastern Caribbean on the QM2. Of course he loved it, and we've enjoyed many happy cruises in all the years since.

[NevadaCruiser2023]

Family vacation paid for by my FIL.  It made the choice easy.  

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, MCC retired said:

1976 my spouse had to drag me onboard  our 1st cruise , NYC -Bermuda , 7 nights.

Been almost 100 cruises since then as well as I sold cruises for 17+ years as a Cruise Specialist  for a large Cruise Travel Agency.

Similiar in that our first cruise was 1973 ,NY to Bermuda -7 nights.

Our second cruises was in 1994 and our third after we both retired.

Due to the nature of our jobs we has very little free time to travel .

[clackey]

Back in 2002 my sweet little wife commented that she had never seen the ocean.  After a little research I crunched the numbers and booked a 5-night cruise on the Carnival Celebration. out of Galveston.  The ship had mechanical problems so we missed our stop in Calica and limped our way back to Galveston.  We did get our stop in Cozumel and had a ball.  On the way home some cruisers commented that they should change the name of the ship to the Vibration.  When I asked if that wasn't the norm they laughed and said that most cruises were a lot smoother.  

 

We just finished our 20th cruise last month and have number 21 booked for May.  Yeah, we're hooked.

[SRQbeachgirl]

In 1992 my parents gifted me and DH and 7-day cruise on the Carnival Holiday. They had been on several cruises and thought we would enjoy it. We definitely did! We went on two more before starting a family and then life kept us much closer to home for vacations for many years, but we moved to the beach to satisfy our love for the sea. 

 

Finally got around to cruising again years later and don't plan to ever give it up! 

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, clackey said:

Back in 2002 my sweet little wife commented that she had never seen the ocean.  After a little research I crunched the numbers and booked a 5-night cruise on the Carnival Celebration. out of Galveston.  The ship had mechanical problems so we missed our stop in Calica and limped our way back to Galveston.  We did get our stop in Cozumel and had a ball.  On the way home some cruisers commented that they should change the name of the ship to the Vibration.  When I asked if that wasn't the norm they laughed and said that most cruises were a lot smoother.  

 

We just finished our 20th cruise last month and have number 21 booked for May.  Yeah, we're hooked.

LOL, we also had a cruise where the ship was given another name. It was supposed to be a 5 day cruise, but it turned into a 7 day cruise when a hurricane hit and the ship could not get back to Fort Lauderdale. On the last night, the crew put on a show. One of the assistant cruise directors changed the name of the ship from Enchantment of the Seas to ENTRAPMENT of the Seas.

[capriccio]

In the late 1990s my DH was stationed at the US Embassy Athens.  Some Greek cruise line - whose name is lost in the distant pass - contacted the Embassy travel office and said they were offering a last minute cruise in June IIRC to Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Patmos, and Kusadasi for Embassy staffers for about $50 each (inside cabin).  We had to pay for booze and gratuities and our excursions in Patmos in Kusadasi (we did DIY on the other islands).  All we could think was that 1) they needed to fill empty cabins at the last minute and 2) they figured Embassy staff would behave and be able to converse in multiple languages with the international passengers. 

Edited March 4, 2023 by capriccio