Your first cruise ship

Silver Whisper October 2013 - 10 night Canada/New England - a wonderful cruise' date=' amazing staff & food, and a beautiful ship

 

 

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Silversea Cruises' Silver Whisper

Stella Oceanus 1975 East Coast of South America

Royal Olympic Cruise Line's Stella Oceanus

1998, Celebrity Century - Eastern Caribbean.

Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Century

We were on sister ship Sitmar Fairwinds in 1975, our first.

Sitmar Cruises' Fairwind

My first cruise was as a teenager in 1974 on the 26,000 ton ss Ocean Monarch part of the Shaw Savill Line. We sailed from Southampton to the Canary Islands, Madeira, Ceuta and Lisbon. Great memories!:)

Royal Caribbean's Song of America to the Western Caribbean in 1990.

We had a cabin with a porthole; literally a small round porthole and our cabin was bright orange. Not only the but the beds - both lower, folded up into the walls so you could pull the chair out at the desk/vanity. Yes, it was VERY small.

And yes, I was hooked immediately. In fact just yesterday I just booked my 46th cruise. :cool:

1990 Carnival Fantasy....Bahamas...... 22 cruises under our belts.. and counting..

Very first was on the Carnival "Carnivale". It was a cruise in about 1975 and was terrible.

Then in 1991, I booked a cruise on the Celebrity Zenith and we loved it. Most of our 34 cruises have been on Celebrity but have used HAL, NCL, and RCCI.

Carnival Fascination. Triumph, Aug 2016. Dream, March 2017.

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My first cruise was as a teenager in 1974 on the 26,000 ton ss Ocean Monarch part of the Shaw Savill Line. We sailed from Southampton to the Canary Islands, Madeira, Ceuta and Lisbon. Great memories!:)

Shaw Savil Line's Ocean Monarch

I have been trying but failing to remember the name of the cruise line and ship that I first sailed on. It was only 16 years ago but my memory fails me. Perhaps someone here can suggest a way to find out. It was a 7-day round-trip cruise during late December 1999, sailing from Montego Bay, calling at Playa Del Carmen, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Havana and Isla del Pinos. Not necessarily in that order. I am fairly certain that the hull was dark coloured, and it was not a large vessel. The food was amazing.

MyTravel/Sun Cruises Sunbird

Oh dear, Sitmar Lines TS Fairstar "The Funship" with an army buddy in 1982. Pacific Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia

Those that know will remember the "Animal Bar" LOLOL.

Sitmar Cruises' Fairstar

My first cruise was in 1970 on the "SS Nevasa" a British India ship which cruised round the Mediterranean. She carried groups of British schoolchildren on cruises and a few adults were allowed on board as well. She was a former troop carrier.

British India Steam Navigation Company HMTS Nevasa (as troopship)

Our cruise was with Holland America.

 

It was a 14 day cruise to Mexico on the, then new, Nieuw Amsterdam, in March 1984. I am not much of a vacation person, but was hooked on HAL cruising ever since.

 

We spent so much time on the Promenade Deck, that I obtained the original brass directory as a remembrance, when HAL sold the ship.

Holland America Line's Nieuw Amsterdam

My first cruise was on the MS Zaandam (HAL), July 2010. It was a 7 day Alaska Explorer. Really enjoyed the Harley ride in Ketchikan. Definitely hooked from day 1. Looking forward to retiring (in 25 years), so I can cruise full time.

Holland America Line's Zaandam

RCCL's Song of Norway in April 1971 with my parents while in high school (Miami, Nassau, San Juan, St Thomas, Miami). Repeated it for my honeymoon in May 1974. First HAL was in the 1980s on the old N Amsterdam when HAL started sailing out of Tampa.

RCCL's Song of Norway

The pictures of the older ships in this thread are amazing.

That being said our first cruise was in 2005 on the Princess Star.

That was in the fall right after Hurricane Wilma. Our trip was to be a Western Caribbean trip, but the destination ports were underwater. Princess changed the itinerary to an eastern trip. I was fine with that , but several others were upset that they could not go to Cozumel, Cancun, etc. My idea was that the peeps in those ports were in recovery mode and the ports would not have been as much fun due to that.

My wife and I had a blast on the cruise and spent too long going on the next one.

The pictures of the older ships in this thread are amazing.

That being said our first cruise was in 2005 on the Princess Star.

That was in the fall right after Hurricane Wilma. Our trip was to be a Western Caribbean trip, but the destination ports were underwater. Princess changed the itinerary to an eastern trip. I was fine with that , but several others were upset that they could not go to Cozumel, Cancun, etc. My idea was that the peeps in those ports were in recovery mode and the ports would not have been as much fun due to that.

My wife and I had a blast on the cruise and spent too long going on the next one.

Princess Cruises' Star Princess

Our first cruise was on the Chandris line Regina Magna. We had a grand time--you should have seen the size of lobsters we got (covered the plate).

 

Our total cost for the week, including air from Omaha, was under $300 dollars--about 1975. We had a very large OV cabin in the absolute front of the ship--it was even prow shaped! Downside was that it was the only time I've been seasick on a cruise ship--no stabilizers in those days!

Chandris Line's Regina Magna

In March 1987, my mom paid for my sister and me to go on a day cruise out of Tampa while she watched our kids. Not sure if the ship or company was called Sea Escape - but it basically went far enough from shore until they could drop anchor and open the casino. I was early in my second pregnancy and wouldn't take sea sickness meds, but I was fine - until we anchored. The rocking of the ship and all the cigarette smoke had me feeling green pretty quickly! My mom had paid extra for us to have a cabin, which was a godsend for me once I was seasick. However, the cabin was very tiny.

That one-day experience didn't make me want to cruise again, and I didn't - until my mom invited me to join her on a 7-night eastern Caribbean cruise on HAL Zaandam in Feb. 2004 out of Port Canaveral. We went to Tortola, St. Thomas, and Half Moon Cay. I didn't particularly care for the ship or experience, but I was anxious to book another cruise right away to fix all that had gone wrong on the HAL cruise!

*A Google search of Sea Escape took me to this old CC thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=128426

In March 1987, my mom paid for my sister and me to go on a day cruise out of Tampa while she watched our kids. Not sure if the ship or company was called Sea Escape - but it basically went far enough from shore until they could drop anchor and open the casino. I was early in my second pregnancy and wouldn't take sea sickness meds, but I was fine - until we anchored. The rocking of the ship and all the cigarette smoke had me feeling green pretty quickly! My mom had paid extra for us to have a cabin, which was a godsend for me once I was seasick. However, the cabin was very tiny.

 

That one-day experience didn't make me want to cruise again, and I didn't - until my mom invited me to join her on a 7-night eastern Caribbean cruise on HAL Zaandam in Feb. 2004 out of Port Canaveral. We went to Tortola, St. Thomas, and Half Moon Cay. I didn't particularly care for the ship or experience, but I was anxious to book another cruise right away to fix all that had gone wrong on the HAL cruise!

 

*A Google search of Sea Escape took me to this old CC thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=128426

Scandinavian World Cruises/SeaEscape (charter) Scandinavian Star

Ours was the Queen Mary 2 from Southampton to New York and back again in 2012 and yes it got us hooked! [emoji3]

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Ours was the Queen Mary 2 from Southampton to New York and back again in 2012 and yes it got us hooked! [emoji3]

 

 

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Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2

Ours was P&O's foray into casual cruising "Ocean Village" around the Med Sadly no more as it is now with P&O Australia it really gave us the cruising bug.

 

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Ocean Village Line's Ocean Village - now Pacific Pearl for P&O Australia

NCL's Norwegian Majesty, Boston to Bermuda, September 2000, for our 15th anniversary.

 

We enjoyed it very much, but didn't cruise again until 2007. Now we do a 10 day Caribbean as a winter break each year, and are thinking about Hawaii in March 2018.

 

:D

NCL's Norwegian Majesty. now Thomson Majesty