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What made you decide to start cruising ?


Eglesbrech
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Friends of ours have just returned from their first cruise, which they loved. They decided to give it a try after hearing over the years how much we enjoy it as a holiday experience.

 

I should be on commission the number of people I have sent P&Os way. For Brits it's always a good place to start as it feels familiar and is generally an acceptable all round package.

 

For me it was watching the Love Boat which, at the time, seemed so sophisticated and thinking I would like to try cruising. For those of you too young to remember the Love Boat was an American TV series set on a Princess ship. It was a light hearted rom com. If I watched it now I would probably not be so impressed but this was back in the 70s when some uk hotel rooms were still not en suite and there were no fancy cocktails or pool parties.

 

So what gave you the cruise bug?

I lived in NYC and Cunard cruised from Manhattan.I decided to try a cruise and became "hooked."

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I was brought up in Liverpool and used to watch the ships that came into the Pier Head. When i said I was going on a ship one day my parents laughed and said it was only for the rich and not for the likes of us (that was in the early 60s) which made me more determined that one day i would cruise. A promotion at the age of 40 was what finally motivated me to book a cruise on the Victoria for my husband, myself and out then very young daughter. Husband hated it; daughter and I loved it and went on cruising every year until she left home last year. I also cruise alone and with friends.

Now that Liverpool has built a new cruise terminal, I really must try a cruise from there to go full circle; I know Fred sail from there so will probably try them.

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I'm Australian and am married to an Englishman and have lived in England for 15 years. Every two years we fly home to Australia for Christmas and I usually require quite a few G&Ts to ensure the plane doesn't crash (stupid fear I know). My boss cruises a lot and kept telling me I'd love it so in September 2015 we did a eleven day cruise around Spain, France and Portugal on Britannia. He was right. I loved the ease of driving to Southampton, dropping the car off, unpacking suitcases and staying put whilst waking up every morning in a different port. I loved the food, the music, the bars, the pools, the dressing up for dinner. I loved the sound of the sea right outside the cabin door. So far we have been on three cruises, all with P&O and all on Britannia. We are booked on a Canary Islands cruise next year on the same ship. I know we probably need to branch out and that other cruise lines leave from Southampton.

 

We're off to Australia in December, get the G&Ts ready!!

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I think Eglesbrech deserves a virtual round of applause for starting this thread!

I don't know about anyone else, but I find that the people who dislike cruising the most are those that have never been.....

 

This is a wonderful thread....I agree with zoe sproodle the people who don't like....or say that they won't like...cruising are the ones who have never cruised....they just say "Oh I won't like cruising"....ask them why and they come up with all sorts of incorrect reasons....

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  • 2 months later...

Booked our first cruise 18 months ago on a whim. Booked last minute with RCL for 2 weeks around the med. Loved it so much we have already had 2 other cruises since to the Carribean and Spain. We were going to have a year off this year and have a couple of land based holidays booked,However looks like we will also be going to the Fjords in June :).

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I should also add to my post that aged 20 I emigrated to Canada on the Cunard Sylvania. 15,000 tons and we had a Force 11 for 6 days. ropes up the stairs, fiddles on the tables to stop everything sliding off. Was sick for 2 days, but recovered with a brandy and port. Loved the life at sea. So many years later we started cruising.

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Nevasa was my 1st cruise, an educational school trip to the Med aged 15. Fast forward 30 years with a 25th wedding anniversary to celebrate, I managed to covince hubby that a cruise would be special. we decided on Pacific Princess ( The Love Boat) around the Holy Lands, wonderful ship, fantastic 2 weeks. Since then we have celebrated each significant anniversary with a dream holiday, another with Princess , then P & O who we love, 45th Anniversary this year, Aurora and Norway awaiting us.

 

Sent from my SM-T710 using Forums mobile app

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After a few years of poor health which meant no holidays, we decided to splash out on a cruise to celebrate freedom. 1 May 1981 we stepped aboard the old Oriana and the rest is history. Still cruising after all these years and been to some fantastic places all round the world, although not exclusively cruises.

 

Hope to continue for as long as possible, well would rather spend money on fantastic holidays than care home fees!

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When I was a kid we used to holiday with my Dad's family in Ireland,it was the 1950's,air travel wasn't an option,only rich people did that,much to the discomfort of my Mum who was sick days before the sailing & for days after!

I loved it though & later travelled by ferry wherever I could,holidays in the Netherlands & the Isle Of Man,along with countless day trips to the Isle Of Man where I would spend the whole voyage out on deck just watching the world(& ships) go by,holidays were great,just load up the car & forget everything until you get there.

But because ferries take time any destinations were close to home,we had no interest in the sun spots our holidays of choice saw us heading to the USA most years for fly drives,anything up to 3 weeks, driving 2-3000 miles at a time,such wonderful memories,but as we got older,the journey seemed harder,the security got stricter,& the flight prices kept going up,something needed to change.

Given our past history cruising seemed an obvious choice,if only we could find somewhere interesting to go without flying,still I wasn't at all keen on the idea,travelling somewhere by ship was enjoyable,being 'stuck' on one for 2 weeks seemed less appealing.

My Wife on the other hand was really keen on the idea,I think she liked the idea that it seemed glamorous,I finally gave in in 2010 & booked a cruise on the Crown Princess to Iceland & Norway which I thought sounded interesting destinations.

After booking I can still remember my Wife saying at least that is everything paid for,then we started reading the small print in the brochure,so much per person per cabin per day would be taken out for tips,£25 each extra to eat in the 'better' restaurants,along with seeing the price of the drinks which seemed very expensive & the thought of having to dress up which I hate made me even more apprehensive as the time approached.

We live in the North,the coach journey to Southampton seemed to take forever,arriving at Southampton we were kept waiting at the bottom of the escalator to the departure lounge for ages,we found out why when we got up there,it was a madhouse,just like being in an airport,not a good start!

This was July but we soon realised that many of our fellow passengers were not a hardy bunch as even in the Irish Sea on our first full day while we were still in t-shirt & shorts many had taken to overcoats,hats,scarfs & gloves,by the time we were approaching Iceland I was the only one out on deck,loved that bit,while inside evry space seemed crammed,not fun,the price of the drinks turned out to not be such a big problem after all as they seemed to run out of pretty much everything we liked within days of sailing!

We enjoyed the destinations,Norway especially was beautiful but after returning home we both said,'done it,wouldn't do it again!'.

Within weeks my Wife was telling me she loves cruising & wanted more,not only that but she now wanted anywhere sunny,giving in again we booked the school holiday cruise to Spain,Portugal,Canaries & Madeira on Britannia,her first year,found her too big,didn't like the dark colours inside,we had many teething troubles in our cabin,the balcony was too small,there were millions(or so it seemed) of kids but somehow we came home feeling that we actually had enjoyed it,for starters the check in at Southampton had been so much better which was a good start.

So the jury is still out but next month is a significant Birthday for me,I have just retired so we are flying out to join Britannia again on her cruise back to the UK,am i looking forward to it,as treat I booked the Premium upgrade on the flight & a suite on board to ease the pain(!),& yes I am,maybe an age thing but the 5 days at sea on the cruise out to the Azores sounds really peaceful,by the time we get back we may know whether we are(both) really into cruising!

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I spent a lifetime saying cruises were not for me... I would want to get off, would feel claustrophobic, would not like all the events organised and was afraid of sinking. Not helped by 88 year old father in law loving his cruises on Saga and reeling off a lot of scenarios and activities I would hate but topping it all by complaining after the last one that the other people were just too old now on cruises even for him!!

 

Then some friends our own age started raving about a cruise on the Fjords and suggested we would like it. I started to investigate and coming up to the big 60 I surprised the family by saying I wanted to try a cruise as my Big Birthday Treat - even if I didn't like it, I wanted to try it and need never go again.

 

Well, that's the history. After a week on Oriana to the fjords back in 2013 we are both well and truly hooked. Met a couple on our dining table and got on like a house on fire and have been crusing with them every year ever since.

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In August 1978 I had just returned from a very damp holiday in Ireland.

On my return to London I saw,from the bus, a large advert for P&O.

Next day I visited P&O House and booked a cruise on the old Oriana for June 1979.Been hooked ever since!

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I was fascinated by the glaciers when I was at school so my mum treated us to a Norway cruise from Harwich with Page & Moy when I was 17. A family friend said we would get addicted and she was right.

 

We sailed with Page and Moy twice more to Norway and also the med and the Baltic. We did book to go to Egypt and Syria but due to world events it was cancelled. We had a break for a few years but returned to cruising last year with P&O on a short break to Amsterdam and Brugge. The Cruise fever took over and are booked up for two more cruises to Iceland and Canary Islands.

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I guess P&O is in my blood. My late parents met on a cruise in the early 1960s (Orcades or one of her sisters from memory). Our first family cruise was with me at the tender age of 8 sailing on Canberra, which we repeated every few years including once on the original Oriana too.

 

Wonderful memories - inside cabins, sometimes shared facilities down the corridor, being woken up by the steward bringing in orange juice and biscuits. A lot of my time was spent in the playroom and, for some reason on one cruise, spending most of it 'assisting' a lift bell boy press the buttons when passengers called the lift.

 

Soon after I was married I introduced my wife to cruising and we've never looked back. Our first cruise together was again Canberra. Since then our children have caught the cruise 'bug' and both of our grown up children have cruised independently of us with their partners. 2 years ago my in-laws, not known to be holiday types, even joined us on a wonderful Japan cruise and followed it up last year when all the family generations did a California fly cruise. So it's never too early or late to take to the seas!

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my parents got hooked on a Thomson cruise to the northern lights they wanted to go again we went at the end of the 1st season of celebrity eclipse i then got hooked but the prices went up so we booked azura in 2012 and ended up doing 175th on oriana which was a blast apart from the weather the god send is work won't pay the mobile charges on a cruise so no phone if i go to Europe on a land holiday work phone has to go with me so do as many cruises as i can afford.

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My husband and I were looking for a weekend away to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary in 2005. I persuaded him to try a weekender cruise on the old Adonia (sister ship to Oceana). I loved it but wasn't sure if he liked it or not - one of those "strong, silent" types. It was only when speaking to a friend that I found out he had said to her "don't tell Michele, but I really enjoyed it." There was no stopping me then, we booked for four nights the following year, 7 nights the next and have been cruising every year since, plus I've done a few short break ones with my mother too. Finally this year we are going to the Fjords - which I have wanted to do since we started cruising, but my husband has always wanted to follow the sun to the Med! Roll on September.

 

Michele

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Great thread - Interesting to read how everyone got into cruising !!

 

For me I went into the travel agents to get a brochure for something else and picked up a leaflet for P&O Cruises, took it home and read it cover to cover about a 100 times and fell in love a cruise on Arcadia to Belgium, Holland, Germany, Norway and Denmark in December 2009

 

Just before I was due to sail they held the climate conference in Copenhagen - where we were due to have 2 full days - For me that was my reason to book as I had wanted to visit Copenhagen - People were demonstrating in Copenhagen so P&O sent me a letter saying we were going to go to Aarhus in Denmark and Gothenburg in Sweden instead of 2 full days in Copenhagen. I went on the cruise, had a great time, met some lovely people, came home and raved about it - but wouldnt sail again until 2012 when I booked on P&O Azura to the Norwegian Fjords, got a great deal on an inside cabin, too good to resist

 

Needless to say its an expensive addiction that I bloody love

 

49 Nights on 6 Cruises, 4 Ships, 13 Countries later all with P&O Cruises

 

Will be experiencing Princess Cruises from Vancouver to Alaska on the Star Princess in May 2018

 

We were on that 2009 cruise too! We were disappointed to miss Copenhagen but fortunately we'd been there before. We had a lovely day in snowy, frosty Gothenburg and an "okay" day in Aarhus where we visited a folk museum and my main memory is of it sleeting all day!

Great thread as others have said.

Damian

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My fiance was used to foreign holidays from being a child so wanted to try something different for our honeymoon in 2001 and I was happy to go along with it. We did a cruise and stay with Carnival in the Caribbean and enjoyed it but wouldn't say we were hooked. In 2003 we then did a Baltic cruise with NCL and we were starting to get the bug.

Someone recommended P&O to us so in 2004 we did a cruise on Adonia and became well and truly hooked. Credit to our seasoned dining companions Phil & Jill who shared their cruising experience (in the nicest way) and really made the holiday special. Our other table companions Ali & Nicole were brand new to cruising and were great fun so we have fond memories of them as well. In 2005 we did a Mediterranean cruise then later in the year we were on the first ever Christmas markets cruise. From there we did 2 cruises a year, always with P&O until 2012 when we adopted our son so we had to go without for 18 months before introducing him to cruise holidays. His first was a challenge but now he loves it.

So we're now restricted to an expensive, once a year cruise during school holidays on overcrowded ships but we still love it!

Damian

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While holidaying in Jamaica I saw the cruise ships coming into port and thought it looked amazing travelling to lots of different places. And the thoughts of flying..............

 

Was that Ocho Rios by any chance? We saw the cruise ships there whilst on our honeymoon but didn't really pay them any mind. Little did we realise then that 20 years later the cruise bug would have well and truly bitten!

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My father made me do it. He was in the Royal Navy during WW2 then got a job with a well known travel agency. They sold all sorts of travel and in 1964 he was given the opportunity of a two way Transatlantic on Cunard and French Line with a week in New York for the world fair and a Greyhound excursion to Niagara Falls. He could take his family as we were too young to stay at home alone. So we went, my mother could not save us.

 

Regards John

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The incessant adverts, voiced over by Nick Handcock for Ocean Village 'for people who don't do cruises'.

 

It got to the mindset of my wife, egged on by my mother in law.

 

We didn't, so we did.

 

Truly scary at the time, as I had struggled with sea sickness as a kid on the Woodchurch ferry, just to cross the Mersey.

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Being able to see more than one place on a holiday! Normally we would go away on a package holiday to one place for 10 days but with a cruise, we are able to go on holiday and visit say 5-7 different countries in the same trip. Our first cruise was on Britannia and it was so impressive! We booked a balcony cabin and went on a fly cruise to the Carribean, there was nothing better than waking up and looking out at the island and you come in to dock.

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My late partners stepfather originated from Barbados and kept telling us how beautiful it was there and in the Caribbean in general. Eventually, we felt we needed to see for ourselves and in 2004 booked a cruise with Cunard, two weeks round trip fron San Juan visiting 11 islands. It was meant to be a one off hoiday of a lifetime but proved to be the first of many. Sadly, I now cruise on my own as my partner passed away in 2007, but find it an ideal holiday for a single person.

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A Cruise is a Floating Hotel, so everyday you will see a different beach or city. Also if you compare the prices of a resort with the cruise, the ship is cheaper. Other is a Europe tour by land or train all days pick and drop bags, sleep in the train etc, best is the cruise same room for my vacation. there are a lots of examples.

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