Your first cruise ship

Ok, here's another first on the Mardi Gras, 1981. Great first cruise at 21 years of age....since then, 10 more cruises.:D

My first was on the Empress of Canada of the Canadian Pacific line in 1964, trans Atlantic from Montreal to Glasgow. I remember having a great time with some of the younger people who were on the ship, and I remember that our dining table had several young officers eating with us every evening. I also recall renting deck chairs, complete with wool blankets, for the duration of the sailing ,and being served warm beverages and soup on deck. I think the ship later was sold to Carnival.

I loved being at sea from my very first crossing, but have done most of my cruising with my husband in the past 10 years.

My first cruise was in June of 2001 on the Maasdam.

I liked it so much that as soon as I got home, I went to the travel agency and booked another Maasdam cruise for early July. :p

m/s Maasdam (1993-present)

:) In 1965 We Were On Spring Break From College In North Carolina And Decided To Take A 3 Day 2 Night Cruise From Miami To Grand Bahamma I Think The Ship Was Either The Seaward Or Sunward (hey It Was The 60's) I Do Remember That It Cost $39.00 For The Least Expensive Stateroom, It Was Fabulous , I Was Hooked, So Much That I Joined The Navy A Couple Years Later, Retired In 1993 And Have Been Cruising About 60 Days A Year Since

Only one problem with your timetable , NCL (or then Norwegian Caribbean Cruise Line) did not begin operating until 1966 but their very first ship was the Sunward (Seaward did not come in until 1988) - Is it possible you're off by one year?

m/s Sunward (1966-2004) Built by A/S Bergens Shipyard, Bergen,

Norway, Sunward was the vessel that started it all, Caribbean cruising that is.

A little background: NCL originated in Norway at the turn of the 20th century when Lauritz Kloster purchased a used steamship and founded a company, Klosters Rederi A/S based in Oslo, shipping ice from Norway to the United Kingdom. Kloster filled his ship with coal for the return trip, and from this beginning built his company into a major shipping company. He later added ferry services as well.

By the early 1960s, the company had come under the leadership of Kloster's son, Knut Kloster, who saw an opportunity to expand the group's ferry operations. In 1966, Klosters acquired a new vessel, the Sunward, which, at 8,600 grt (gross-register-tons) was capable of carrying up to 600 passengers and 500 cars. Kloster's idea was to provide ferry service to British vacationers from Southampton to Vigo (Spain), Lisbon (Portugal) and Gibraltar. Due to political reasons, this venture was a financial disaster and Sunward was taken off the route.

Israeli entrepreneur Ted Arison saw potential in Caribbean Cruises but was in need of a ship so he contacted Kloster, who shifted his out-of-work vessel to be repositioned from Europe to the then obscure Port of Miami, arriving in December 1966, for Caribbean cruising. With the formation of the new cruise line called Norwegian Caribbean Lines, the travel industry was revolutionized overnight. Kloster managed the fleet, while Arison did marketing & sales. By 1971, Sunward was joined by three other vessels, Starward (1968), Skyward (1969) and Southward (1971).

Sunward left the NCL fleet in 1972 after being sold to French state-owned ferry operator CGTM (Compagnie Generale Transmediterraneenne - Transmed), entering service as the Ile de Beaute in 1973. In 1977 she was sold again to become the hotel ship Grand Flotel in Saudi Aradia. In 1978, she was sold to the Saudi Maritime Transport Company of Jeddah, as the Saudi Moon I to begin a Suez (Egypt)-Aqaba (Jordan)-Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) service.

In 1988, she was sold to Ocean Quest International out of New Orleans, La, and renamed Ocean Spirit. After a rebuild period, she began operating cruises on New Orleans-Cozumel-Belize-Cancun and on St. Petersburg, Fl-Belize-Cozumel-Roatan-Guanaja routes. In 1990, she was chartered to SeaEscape and renamed Scandinavian Song and between 1991 and 1993 she was chartered to the Danish Cruise Line. She returned briefly to SeaEscape in 1993 on their Pt. Canaveral-Freeport (Bahamas) service. She has since operated as Santiago de Cuba and The Empress for Empress Cruises. She eventually made it to Chittagong, Bangladesh and was scrapped in April, 2004

My first "cruise" was on the USNS Patch from New York to Bremerhaven, Germany in December 1951. Not really a cruise (it was a troop ship) but my first experience on an ocean going vessel.

My first real cruise was aboard the SS Independence from Naples, Italy to NYC in June of 1962. My wife and 3 young children were with me, all in one cabin. Again, it was courtesy of the US Air Force -- the Independence was on a Mediterranean cruise roundtrip from NYC and we were fortunate to be able to join the cruise. We were one of three military couples that were transferring back to the states, and the military sent us back this way!! Nice touch!!

Bob

1991, NCL's Southward, which is now the Perla in the Mediterranean.

My first cruise was on the Bermuda Star on a 3 day cruise to nowhere out of Newport News, Va. With 52 years of military service (26 years each) between my DW and I it was many years before the next one. Now we are addicted to cruising with Holland America.:D

Which ship was the Trtion before? I thought it was either the Starward on Sunward? My son met my daugher in law on the Triton in the Caribbean when we were on an Xmas cruise in 1992 then they were on it for their honeymoon in 1999 in Greece.

Ontario Cruiser

My first cruise was on the old Rotterdam 1974 round-trip New York to Bermuda and Nassau. I've really been enjoying the pictures and now know where some of my favorite ships have ended up. Thanks, John.

s/s Rotterdam V (1959-present) Built in 1959 she would become the flagship of the Holland Amerika Lijn/Holland America Line and sail for them for 39 years . On 3 September 1959, she set out on her maiden voyage destined for New York. Until 1971, she made regular roundtrips from Rotterdam to New York. She subsequently made cruises on behalf of HAL until her successor, Rotterdam VI, came into service in 1997. She was then sold to Premier Cruises in 1998 and renamed Rembrandt.

When Premier went bankrupt in 2000 she was laid up in Freeport, Bahamas until 2004 when she became the property of s.s. Rotterdam BV (part of RDM holding) From 17 June to 12 July 2004 she was towed from the Bahamas to Gibraltar where she remained docked until 2005. On 1 July 2005 she became the property of Rederij De Rotterdam BV and from 25 November 2005 to 10 February 2006 she received dock maintenance in Cadiz, Spain. From 10 to 27 February 2006 she was towed from Cadiz to Gdansk, Poland and from 24 August to 2 September 2006 to Wilhelmshaven, Germany where she stayed for renovation until making her triumphant return (see below) to Rotterdam on 4 September 2008 where she will be permanently docked and serve as a floating hotel.

Which ship was the Trtion before? I thought it was either the Starward on Sunward? My son met my daugher in law on the Triton in the Caribbean when we were on an Xmas cruise in 1992 then they were on it for their honeymoon in 1999 in Greece.

Ontario Cruiser

Triton (1991-1995) used to be NCL's Sunward II and before that, Cunard Adventurer

Cunard Adventurer (1971-present) Delivered in 1971, Cunard Adventurer was one of a series of small, cruise-oriented vessels the line operated at that time. She operated for Cunard until 1977 when she was sold to Norwegian Caribbean Line and renamed Sunward II. She was sold to Epirotiki Line (Greece) as Triton in 1991 and then passed to the combined Royal Olympic Cruises fleet in 1995. Following the collapse of Royal Olympic, Triton was sold to Louis Hellenic Cruises at public auction in 2005 who renamed her "Coral". She is currently sailing for Louis under that name.

Our first cruise was also on the Noordam in the summer of 1995. It was a western Caribbean cruise which was a gift to us from a TA friend since my kids had missed out on a trip to Disney at Xmas due to my kidney transplant. We all had a blast and have been hooked ever since. HAL has always treated us great and dh and I have yet to try another cruise line.

 

Great thread and I love reading all the stories and seeing the pictures!!

m/s Noordam III (1984-present) Delivered to Holland America Line in 1984 and operated for them until 2004 when she was time- chartered to Thomson Cruises and renamed Thomson Celebration. She is currently operating under that name

__________________

Wow! Look at the response this thread has gotten in 1 day!

 

Our first was on Holland America's Oosterdam in Jan 2006 to the Mexican Riviera. My husband had always resisted a cruise because he doesn't like buffet food, he'd be bored, he'd get seasick, he'd have to dress up for formal night, there'd be nothing to do.

My dad had booked the trip with the senior group he joined shortly after my mom died. When he had come to visit that past summer, my husband told me to check into the cruise that my dad was on because then my husband thought it might be fun to spend more time with him. By the time my husband got home for dinner I had the cruise and airline tickets booked.

My husband immediately fell in love with Holland America. Barely found time to take a nap. Up at the first sign of dawn. He thinks cruising is the best vacation ever - and I have to agree.

He even wears a tux on formal night - no problem. Last fall we sailed with friends we met on that first cruise who live in Vancouver.

 

 

 

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m/s Oosterdam (2003-present)

The S.S. Independence when I was a kid.

TA from (I think) Livorno to NY.

My parents were both career Navy and I had been

on ships before, but always Navy. This was my first

commercial ship.

And many after that, but don't recall many of them

until I was in Grad School and started on my first

HAL ship, the Nieuw Amsterdam, as a celebration for

finishing my Ph.D.

SS Independence (1951- present) Delivered in 1951 as an ocean liner to American Export Lines. In 1959 she was rebuilt as a cruise ship but was laid up between 1969 and 1974. Between 1974 and 1976 she sailed as ss Oceanic Independence for Atlantic Far East Lines only to be laid up again between 1976 and 1980. In 1980, she was purchased by American Hawaii Cruises for inter-island cruising and reverted back to her original name. After the bankrupcy of American Global Line, the owners of American Hawaii Cruises, became the property of the U.S. Maritime Administration and sailed from Honolulu to San Francisco, arriving on November 8, 2001.Since 2006 the ship has been named ss Oceanic.

In February 2003, Independence was sold at auction for US $4 million to Norwegian Cruise Line, which also acquired ss United States. In July 2007, Norwegian Cruise Line announced that Oceanic had been sold with later reports claiming the ship had been purchased by an American company. On February 8, 2008 after being mothballed for 7 years, she left San Francisco initially for Singapore but that was changed to Dubai where she is currently laid up awaiting her

My goodness - I get busy with a full court docket on Saturday and Sunday as well as presiding at 2 weddings and look what happens - I end up on page 9!!! Thanks John for starting this thread - I love looking back at our first cruise. It was in July, 1989, on Carnival's Jubilee. I won the cruise through a radio station contest where the prize was for a cruise for 2; we upgraded so we could bring our then 7 year old along with us and by day 3 we were all hooked. We've done several cruises since then, mostly with Holland America, and our entire family (3 grown children and 1 significant other) is now booked on the Rotterdam next year in October for a wonderful Mediterranean experience. We've made some fabulous friends through cruising and we look forward to making many more. Thanks for the memories!

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Gerry

Jubilee (1986-present) Delivered in 1986 as Jubilee to Carnival Cruise Line, she operated both in the Caribbean and on the west coast (Mexican Riviera out of L.A.) until 2004 when she received an internal transfer to P&O Australia, a Carnival subsidiary who renamed her Pacific Sun. After an intensive refit at Grand Bahamas Dockyards, she received interior as well as exterior changes. The most obvious exterior changes were the removal of both Carnival-trademark winglets on her funnel and the construction of so-called ducktails on her stern. Due to this addition, she will pitch and roll less and this will also increase her fuel efficiency.She is currently operating under that name out of Brisbane, Australia.

As a sidenote, on July 31, 2008, 42 of her passengers received medical attention after she was hit by severe weather and experienced 22 feet swells and 50 knot winds causing her to roll sharply just before 8 pm. She was enroute to Auckland, New Zealand following an eight-day cruise in the South Pacific.

Ours was seven day cruise on American Hawaii's ss Independance in January 1997. Definitely was the way to see the islands but our cruise on the ms Veendam 11 months later is what got us hooked. While we have strayed from the line a few times, HAL is what hooked us and keeps us coming back.:)

 

Now that I think about it I believe we would have been mighty disappointed with the Independance had we cruised on HAL first. Very interesting to cruise on a classic ocean liner but the American crew paled in comparison to HAL staff. And naturally the ameneties on a 50's liner were much less than what you find on a modern ship.

m/s Veendam (1996-present)

RCCL's Legend of the Seas in January of 2002. I was with my mom (not her first cruise) on a 12 day NZ to Australia... a few days pre cruise and about a week and a half post. The ship didn't seem to be entirely full and it was mostly older couples... I was one of the few people onboard under 50 and one of perhaps 3 or 4 ladies of college-ish age... quite popular with the crew ;) What a great trip!

Legend of the Seas (1995-present) Delivered to Royal Caribbean International as Legend of the Seas, the first of the six Vision-class vessels

Maybe I should amend my earlier post: first ship was the SAS Fleur in 1977 (South African Navy). That did not get me hooked on cruising; I got to seasick that I was eventually transferred to a land base.

 

Alsjeblieft/There you go - recognise your ship?

For ELLINIS, try LAURALINE. SEA VENTURE, u know as The Love Boat

Lurline (1932-1987) Lurline was launched in 1932 as the last of a trio of ocean liners built for the Matson Lines’ Pacific services. She was one of two Matson liners which provided a first class only service between Hawaii and the American mainland from June 1957 to September 1962, mixed with the occasional Pacific cruise. Serious competition from jet airliners caused passenger loads to fall in the early 1960s. After suffering engine trouble, Lurline was laid up until being sold to Chandris Lines in 1963 to replace the Brittany, wrecked by fire earlier in the year. The Lurline had her engines repaired in the USA and was the refitted at North Shields (Newcastle-Upon-Tyne) with increased accomodation for 1,668 passengers in one class. She embarked on her maiden voyage from Piraeus to Sydney on 30 December 1963. Her homeward voyages were alternately routed via the Panama Canal to Southampton from 1964 and she also took occasional cruises

In April 1974, while cruising to Japan, Ellinis developed major problems in one engine. Chandris were able to buy a surplus engine from her former Matson sister Mariposa (Homeric) who was being broken up in Taiwan at the time. She provided mainly cruise services from 1975 and in October 1980, she was finally laid up after providing passenger services for nearly fifty years. Despite various rumors concerning plans for the ship, she was sold in 1986 and scrapped in Taiwan in 1987.

This is a great thread, and thanks for the GREAT photos of some classic ships!

 

Relative newby here -- first cruise October 2000 on NCL Majesty -- this was when they were going from traditional to "freestyle" and while they had open seating, there was still "parades" in the dining room -- very odd... When we arrived at the pier in Boston we thought that ship was SO BIG!!

 

Yes, we were completely hooked after that -- sailed a few more Majesty cruises before going to a "BIG" ship --and haven't looked back! 15 cruises under our belts and #16 in about 41 days!

m/s Royal Majesty (1992-present) She was originally ordered by Birka Line (Sweden) as m/s Birka Queen for short cruises out of Stockholm from the Wartsila Marine Turku Shipyard in Finland but, when that yard went bankrupt in 1990, completed by Kvaerner Masa Yards (same yard but operations reorganized) as m/s Royal Majesty for Majesty Cruise Line. When Majesty Cruise Line ceased operations at the end of the 1997 summer season, she was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) and lengthened by 110 ft at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany.

In April 2008, Norwegian Majesty, alongside her fleetmate Norwegian Dream, was sold to Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines who had reportedly outbid International Shipping Partners with their offer of $162 million. She was then chartered back to Norwegian Cruise Line until December 2009.

My first ship was Leerdam, back in 1952. It was an ocean crossing from Rotterdam to Halifax. Don't remember any of it, but that's probably why I felt at home when we did our first adult cruise on Maasdam in 2003.

January 1971, Incres Lines Victoria. Sailed between New York and the Bahamas and encountered a storm off Cape Hatteras. Loved it and have been cruising ever since. Next on Maasdam in Nov

Dunnottar Castle (1936-2004) originally built by Harland and Wolfe in Belfast, Northern Ireland as Dunnottar Castle in 1936 for Union-Castle Line. She was used on the London (Tilbury) - Round Africa service until the outbreak of World War 2, when she was converted to an armed merchant cruiser, and then later used a troop transport. After the war in 1949, she resumed Round Africa service.

In 1958, she was sold to Incres SS Co, who renamed her Victoria and had her substantially rebuilt in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She entered service in 1960 on New York-West Indies cruises. In 1964, she was sold to Victoria SS Co, a subsidiary of Swedish company Clipper A/B, but retained name, service and Incres Line as agents. In 1975, she was purchased by Chandris Lines (Greece) and resumed sailings as The Victoria in June 1976. She was used for cruising in Europe as well as in the Caribbean.

In 1993, she was sold to Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines as Princesa Victoria. She continued operating two and three-day cruises from Limassol to Haifa, Israel and Port Said, Egypt until laid up in 2003 at Eleusis Bay, Greece. She was eventually sold to breakers, renamed Victoria once again and scrapped at Alang, India in 2004.

My first cruise was in 1971 on the MV Freeport. Four girls in an inside cabin trying to do hair, makeup and get dressed in prom gowns. :eek:

 

Yes, my school chartered the ship for our senior prom. I guess the parents felt good knowing we were captive. My high school was in Ft. Lauderdale so it was easy to sail from Miami.

Freeport (1968-present) built in 1968 for the Miami Terminal Transport Co (Freeport Cruise Line), running between Miami and Freeport (Bahamas). She was renamed Freeport I soon after delivery. In 1973, she was sold to Oy Birka Line Ab (Sweden). She reverted back to her orioginal name of Freeport for cruises between Stockholm-Helsinki. Later the same year, she was again sold again to Stockholms Rederi Ab for the Trave-Line service Helsingborg-Tuborg (Copenhagen)-Travemünde as Svea Star.

In 1976 Svea Star was sold to Bremer Schiffahrts for a summer car ferry service between Portland (USA) and Yarmouth (Canada). In winter she was chartered to Commodore Cruise Line for Caribbean cruises.She was used on 7-night, 4-island trips to Montego Bay, Port Antonio, Puerto Plata and Port-au-Prince, sailing every Saturday. In 1981 she was renamed Caribe Bremen and sold to Scandinavian World Cruises as the Scandinavian Sun for a Miami-Freeport service.

She was chartered to SeaEscape Cruises in 1985, followed by purchase in 1988. In 1992, she was sold to Belle Meade Shipping, and renamed Balanga Queen for the Corona Line between Karlskrona-Gdynia. In 1994 Balanga Queen was chartered to Hansatee, Tallinn (Estonia) and used on a Tallink route Tallinn-Helsinki-Tallinn-Travemünde. The same year, she returned to the Caribbean as Discovery Sun for Discovery Cruise Line. She is still operating for them on day cruises to the Bahamas out of Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale)

John,

My first cruise ever was on the Ocean Monarch in '62...as a college student....College Week Cruise to Bermuda! I have a photo I found online of the Ocean Monarch...but still haven't figured out how to post anything more than a thumbnail.

 

So, please, double-click to enlarge:

t/s/s Ocean Monarch (1951-1981) Built in 1951 for Furness, Withy & Co., she was based at New York and was used on the New York - Bermuda service by Furness Bermuda Line, carrying passengers and fresh water supplies to the island's hotels. (Bermuda has no fresh water supply). In 1966 following the ending of sea passenger services to Bermuda, she was laid up in the River Fal, Cornwall for disposal. In 1967 she was sold to Balkantourist (Bulgaria) and renamed Varna to earn foreign currency by cruising.

In 1970, she was laid up at Perama, Greece. In 1979, she was refurbished and renamed Venus and then Riviera A and operated by Trans-Tirreno Express. In 1981, she was renamed Reina Del Mar but still laid up awaiting finance. She was chartered to SUR-Seereisen (Germany) for summer cruises and overhauled. In 1981 while at Ambelaki, Greece, engine running trials led to an engine room fire which gutted the ship. The burning vessel was towed out to sea, but the tow parted and she went ashore on Salamina Island. Towed off, she again burst into flames and was scuttled at Kynosaura, Perama Bay where she fell onto her side and became a total loss.

Thanks for the info on the Triton. We crossed the ocean on her twice. She looked so tiny when we arrived in Tortola and somebody asked how we every managed to cross on her.

Ontario Cruiser

Azur

Oceanus

Jupiter

Pegeasus

Triton

Bolero

Veendam

Zenith

Mercury

Summit

Tahitian Princess

Noordam Nov 2008

Millennium Mar 2009

Ours first two were on Disney Magic to Western Carib. and Mexican Reviera and we were hooked after the first one especially being my Navy background with lots of worldwide cruising at taxpayers expense.

 

We are hooked on Holland except my wife is taking a 4 day cruise on Disney to the Bahamas next August which didn't do anything for me for such a short time.

Disney Magic (1998-present)