Just for fun...what was your first cruise???

Saw this on another thread - so Ithought it would be great to see everyones "First".......

Mine was on an old Italian Liner to the Caribbean.....both ship & line are no longer sailing.....

was an RSVP Mexican Riviera in Feb/March 2000

1998--Sun Coast Cruise Line on the Carousel. Long gone. I think the ship was built in the 1950s and had been cut in the middle and extended. At the time we thought it was wonderful but now that we have been on so many other cruises, looking back we realize that it was really a piece of junk.

I don't think a navy ship counts as a cruise but my first ship was the SAS Fleur (South African Navy).

My first cruise was the 2007 RSVP Caribbean cruise on the Caribbean Princess.

2000 RSVP Mardi Gras cruise to New Orleans, Key West, and Cozumel aboard the now defunct Norwegian Wind. I was blown away by the fact that as we left Miami with three other cruise ships (two moving out of the channel in front of us and one behind), we were the only ship that folks on the shore noticed (due to the loud sail away party we were having). She was an old, rather awkward ship which had the MDR plopped down in the middle of her (she was cut in half to do it), but that cruise hooked my partner and I forever . . .

2007 with Atlantis Events Mexico Riviera Cruise onboard the RCL Radiance Of The Seas-hooked us for good. Sailing on the same ship in October but it's a mixed cruise. Should be interesting to compare.

The Norway in 1983.

Entertainment was: Shields and Yarnell, The Fifth Dimension and Norm Crosby.

The play 'My Fair Lady" was performed onboard.

A beautiful ship. Those were the days.

Our first cruise was on Queen Mary 2 in 2004 and now we're hooked!

Way back (maybe 1979/80?) - on the Emerald Seas sailing to Nassau and Freeport. My mom went with a group from the hospital she worked at and it was cheaper to bring me along than get a babysitter! Still remember the tiny inside cabins with an upper and a lower berth. I think that's when I got hooked!

1991 Royal Caribbean's Nordic Prince (Eastern Caribbean cruise)

We had booked a 4 day Bahamas cruise on the Nordic Empress in an inside stateroom, but 3 days before departure, we received a call that the ship was overbooked, and we were upgraded to a large outside stateroom on the Nordic Prince on a 7 day itinerary. We were delighted, and so began my life of cruising; well, one type of cruising anyway.

First I've been sailing as crew on Princess. Fun too, but a completely different experience. Did an overnight from Amsterdam to London, however my first full cruise was a week to the Mexican Riviera on Carnival. This was a last minute thing and I hated it. In the end I met some nice people but in general the vulgar loud Carnival crowd at that time was by no means my cup of tea.

So after that I abandoned cruises all together and lost complete interest. However through the internet I became interested again. So booked an 18 day Eastern Mediterranean cruise on Oriana in 1999. Still consider that to be my REAL first cruise. It was fantastic and been doing it ever since :-))

Sailed on NCL's Southward on the1979 Thanksgiving cruise out of Miami to the western caribbean...and got hooked. Earlier that year I had sent my parents on their first cruise . Bought them the top cabin on the Song of Norway...the premiere ship out of Miami...so for my cruise I had to find a cheaper cruise....thus the Southward.

Its funny how much of that first cruise I still remember....where as later cruises are just a blurrrrrrrr:cool:

My first cruise was in June 2001 onboard the Grand Princess before her subsequent re-fitting with MUTS and the removal of her very large arcade center with the motion ride. If this cruise wasn't memorable then I don't think I would have stayed cruising. It was a pleasant introduction to the world of cruising. While I Princess' taste and mine have veered away over recent years I do commend them for their "hooking" me on cruisin'!

I do give Atlantis kudos for introducing me to Norwegian Cruise Line though with the Dawn in 2003... my first all-gay cruise! Now I love NCL and sadly Atlantis has gone to RCI.

The beautiful Italian Line liner LEONARDO DA VINCI, 1977 I believe. I think I was around 11 or 12. I sailed with my grandmother and became hooked on ships ever since. Now some 75+ cruises later I still love them, and I'm still fascinated by passenger ships of yesterday and today.

I truly think we are in the "golden age" of cruise travel. I don't think there has ever been more choices in cruise lines, destinations, and ship designs then we enjoy today. It's also never been more affordable. Even so, I would give anything to travel back in time and sail first class on NORMANDIE, QUEEN ELIZABETH, QUEEN MARY, FRANCE, NIEUW AMSTERDAM, REX, SS UNITED STATES, etc. etc. So while today we enjoy the golden age of cruise travel, back then it was the golden age of ocean travel, when ships were truly a primary mode of passenger transportation.

Ernie

Our first (not counting the ferry from Miami to Freeport, Bahamas) was Regent Sun in 1995, an old, good-looking ship.

At the Regency Riot scavenger hunt the CD asked for fruit & Pete told me "Raise your hand!" She said "I asked for fruit" & he replied "We're gay." "So what," she replied, "I asked for fruit." "Well, he's a fruit."

She cracked up, stopped the show, told the story to everybody, & gave us a bottle of champagne.

Steve & Pete

My first cruise was on Eugenio Costa in 1990 to Greece and Black Sea.

Our first cruise was in 2006, a cruise to Alaska on the Serenade of the Seas. It was our honeymoon. And it got us hooked on cruising. :D

Thom and Brian

EugenioCosta......how was she.I personnally loved the old Costa with all its differences to that of north American products. The Costa of today (after sailing the Atlantica on her first caribbean cruise) was not to my liking. I tseemed to be just another Farcus designed Carnival product.Some of the crew I recognized said at that time they hated the new product.....

My first Costa was the Carla C, then followed by the Riviera, Classica (maiden), Romantica (maiden), and thefirst Caribbean sailing of the Victoria.

Would have loved to have sailed the Euginio, the Marina and her sister.

EugenioCosta......how was she.I personnally loved the old Costa with all its differences to that of north American products. The Costa of today (after sailing the Atlantica on her first caribbean cruise) was not to my liking. I tseemed to be just another Farcus designed Carnival product.Some of the crew I recognized said at that time they hated the new product.....

My first Costa was the Carla C, then followed by the Riviera, Classica (maiden), Romantica (maiden), and thefirst Caribbean sailing of the Victoria.

Would have loved to have sailed the Euginio, the Marina and her sister.

That's right! I agree with you. Old Costa ships were completely different from new ships. I sailed with all old and news 'till Costa Serena....then I said that's too much!!! This is one of reasons that I stopped sailing with them...but this is one another story!

Our first cruise was at least 16 years ago. Carnival out of San Pedro. Two couples shared an inside cabin. They offered to put us in two cabins, on a lower deck. We had heard that the lower you go the rougher the ride, so we turned them down. How stupid was that???? They probably figured that we had a wild thing going on.

We did have a great time and have been on many, many cruises since. Our next is on the Norwegian Sun, round trip SFO to the Mexican Riviera Oct 23, 2009. They are giving this cruise away, so we'd love to see some of you there with us.

Gregg

My first was a cruise to "nowhere" on the SS Norway out of Philadelphia in 1984. The second was not until 1997 with the RSVP South American cruise on the Odysseus. A lot of contrast in those two ships.

My first cruise was Rhapsody of the Seas, Mexican Riviera, April 2, 2000. A travel agent friend of mine who lives in Wisconsin had tried and tried to get me to go on a cruise with him. Sometimes he would tell me that all I would have to pay was port fees and the cruise fare would be free. I just had no desire to go on a cruise, but finally I agreed, and the Rhapsody would be our ship. I think I agreed because I was living in California at the time, so I could get cheap airfare from Sacramento to Los Angeles to get on the ship. But maaaaan, after 15 minutes of being on the ship, I was hooked! Shoulda cruised sooner!

Funny thing is, though, I was also seeing someone at the time who lived in Phoenix. BUT, while I lived on my own in a city about 12 miles from my parents, I was not out to my parents, or ANYBODY for that matter. I just kept thinking...if something happens to me on this trip, NO ONE will know of the guy in Phoenix! He will think I just disappeared or flaked, or whatever. Sooo...I decided I needed to come out to my parents before I left so that SOMEONE knew of the guy in Phoenix. I really wasn't ready, but being (I thought) between a rock and hard place, I almost felt forced to...but...I was 31 at the time, so really, it was something I should have done looong before.

So, 3 days after my 31st birthday which was 4 days prior to flying to LAX for the cruise, I had my parents over for dinner on a weeknight...which I NEVER did (usually it would be on a weekend).

"Do you think it's funny that I had you over for dinner on a weeknight?", I asked them.

"Yes", they said.

Then I went in to the whole schpiel about how I should have done it long before, how it was a hard thing to do, yada, yada, yada...and my Mom chimes in with "I know". "You know???" I asked. "Yea, I know", she said. Then my Dad chimes in with "What....I don't know!!" So I just came out then. Wasn't as big of a deal as I thought, since my Mom knew. My Dad said he didn't, but they both seemed to take it well and have always been supportive of everything. My Dad passed away in 2006, but my Mom has always treated my partner as part of the family, and still does.

Anyway...RHAPSODY was my first cruise. I guess I could credit going on Rhapsody with forcing me to make the decision to come out.

First cruise was so many years ago, and I was so young it really doesn't count. My father was in the RCAF (ground crew) and stationed to France and he had a fear of flying so took a ship over. I was only 2. Fast forward an unspecified number of years, DH and I took a 10 day Western Caribbean cruise on the Ocean Princess -- at Christmas. I do not recommend cruising at this time of year. Although it was far from the best cruise I had been on, it was enough to give me the cruising bug. Since then we have been on countless cruises over the past 10 year on several ships with several lines.

I was 12 and sailed with my mom and grandmother. This was back in the day when they used to encourage the dancers to sit with passengers on their nights off in the dining room. We had a handsome middle eastern man, gay of course, named Eddy at our table. My grandmother, who was in her late 60s at the time, took a liking him and spent the last night of our cruise dancing in the disco with him and other shipboard dancers all night long while my mom and I slept waiting for her to get back. Quite the memory!

HAL Zuiderdam Feb 03, RSVP Eastern Caribbean