Your first cruise ship

Jim Avery · July 16, 2014

Copper, loved seeing the pictures in this thread. My first "cruise" ship was RMS Queen Mary. New York/Southampton. 1950. I will never forget it. Not only did it get me hooked on sea travel, it helped in my decision to "run away" to sea. Worked up from Ordinary Seaman to Master over the years. Thanks for prompting the memories.:D

Ugbar13 · July 18, 2014

My first cruise was last year. It was a 7 day roundtrip cruise from Vancouver to Alaska. We went with Celebrity aboard the Century, and stopped at Ice Straight Point, Ketchikan, Hubbard Glacier, and Juneau. Loved it so much that I'm going back to Alaska next month aboard the ms Zaandam. Looking forward to it!

thetexasaggiecruiser · July 18, 2014

I will take the time to read each and every post on this thread. What a wealth of joy and experiences! Thank you to Ugbar13 and Jim Avery for the bumps.

1999, Veendam, Western Caribbean on our honeymoon. Best cruise ever, but I might be biased, given the event. Still cruising HAL, headed out again this December again. The impression that HAL made on us the first time we cruise still lives with us!

shipcafe · July 18, 2014

Royal Caribbean's Song of Norway in March of 1987 sailing from Miami to the Western Caribbean. I knew from the minute I stepped on board.

sportsmum · July 18, 2014

Big Red Boat 1995 3 nights to the Bahamas - just to give it a try.

I was pregnant and we had our 18month old with us. The other kids stayed behind at the last minute for an 'attitude adjustment'. Best money spent for a vacation that never happened! Holiday times comes around and everyone is so pleasant now!

Husband was not crazy about taking a cruise as I get seasick. I didn't and we're hooked.

docrawdad · July 19, 2014

Carnival Mardi Gras 1988 out of Miami... I love those old ships.... doc

4boysnana · July 20, 2014

I was on the Ryndam coming back from a summer of classes at Oxford following my graduation from High school. It was a different ship than now and I remember the dining room had a raised wooden edge on the tables to keep the plates from sliding off. We had a bunch of students on board and our rooms were inside cabins with built in bunks. The bunks also had a raised wooden edge to keep us from falling out on the rough TA crossing. We had been taking English Literature classes and some of the kids had costumes from Shakespeare dramas we enjoyed. I can still remember standing on the deck and seeing the Statue of Liberty with all the kids I had spent the summer with. It was 45 years ago and today is the anniversary of the first moon walk. Somewhere I have an Oxford England paper with the headline of the moon walk from 1969. I loved every moment of the trip and the sea is still calling.

Smokeyham · July 21, 2014

I was on the Ryndam coming back from a summer of classes at Oxford following my graduation from High school. It was a different ship than now and I remember the dining room had a raised wooden edge on the tables to keep the plates from sliding off. We had a bunch of students on board and our rooms were inside cabins with built in bunks. The bunks also had a raised wooden edge to keep us from falling out on the rough TA crossing. We had been taking English Literature classes and some of the kids had costumes from Shakespeare dramas we enjoyed. I can still remember standing on the deck and seeing the Statue of Liberty with all the kids I had spent the summer with. It was 45 years ago and today is the anniversary of the first moon walk. Somewhere I have an Oxford England paper with the headline of the moon walk from 1969. I loved every moment of the trip and the sea is still calling.

What a wonderful memory for you. Thanks for sharing that.

mrscopper · July 21, 2014

Thanks, this site has been fun. Breath of no smoking fun. Our first cruise was in Christmas/New Years 78'79'. It was the old HAL Veendam and it was wonderful. Went to St. Croix, St. Maartin, Aruba, Martinique, St. Thomas, must have been other ports because it was 14 days, but I am getting old. However, we continue to enjoy cruising and are scheduled on 10 day this fall.

footer6 · July 21, 2014

Home Lines Homeric was my first. Ft. Lauderdale to San Juan, St. Thomas and Nassau, late February 1987. Never got a chance to sail on her again. The line was privately owned. When the owner died, the company was broken up. Too bad. Homeric was a beautiful ship.

I was hooked.

lady_cruiser · July 21, 2014

Sept 2005, Carnival Conquest. We spent two extra days at sea because Hurricane Rita closed the Port of Galveston, visited an extra Port of Call; Costa Maya. We've been cruising ever since. When we are lucky, financial wise, we can cruise 3-4times a year.

mcsean · July 21, 2014

My first cruise was in 1968 on the old Italian liner the Leonardo da Vinci. It is a good story: My parents and I were invited to a bon voyage party by friends from Chicago. In those days it was quite common to host such parties in your cabin. After a few cocktails I heard my father say" I wonder if they have any empty cabins on board". One of the officers who was at the party assured him there was room. He asked me if I could return to the hotel and pack our bags and be back to the ship in half an hour for a 10:00 pm sail. I flew , grabbed a cab and told him to wait for me ; meanwhile I went in and threw everything into our suitcases. There was a long line to check out so I skipped out figuring we could pay up later.( I was !6, what did I know!)

When I got back to the ship it was 10:15 pm, and they are now holding the ship.After a few moments of sanity my father realized he should not go. It would be too much time from work. I told him we still had the room at the Park Sheraton, gave him a bottle of witch hazle from my winter jacket(his cologne of choice at the time) and sent him on his way.

The sales desk suggested(thank God) that we have two separate cabins. And we were off.

!4 day cruise to the Caribbean.Everyone referred to us as the stowaways, kindly offering summer attire as we had only woolens.Such was security in those days. My driver's license sufficed as ID. My mother said that the first thing to do is meet with the purser (she said she reads Gourmet magazine and that is what they would suggest) We opted for a different sitting than our friends . She said we don't want to be too dependent on them. We had one of the most memorable times of my life.

I have been hooked ever since.

Best,

Tom

scapel · July 21, 2014

My first cruise was in 1968 on the old Italian liner the Leonardo da Vinci. It is a good story: My parents and I were invited to a bon voyage party by friends from Chicago. In those days it was quite common to host such parties in your cabin. After a few cocktails I heard my father say" I wonder if they have any empty cabins on board". One of the officers who was at the party assured him there was room. He asked me if I could return to the hotel and pack our bags and be back to the ship in half an hour for a 10:00 pm sail. I flew , grabbed a cab and told him to wait for me ; meanwhile I went in and threw everything into our suitcases. There was a long line to check out so I skipped out figuring we could pay up later.( I was !6, what did I know!)

When I got back to the ship it was 10:15 pm, and they are now holding the ship.After a few moments of sanity my father realized he should not go. It would be too much time from work. I told him we still had the room at the Park Sheraton, gave him a bottle of witch hazle from my winter jacket(his cologne of choice at the time) and sent him on his way.

The sales desk suggested(thank God) that we have two separate cabins. And we were off.

!4 day cruise to the Caribbean.Everyone referred to us as the stowaways, kindly offering summer attire as we had only woolens.Such was security in those days. My driver's license sufficed as ID. My mother said that the first thing to do is meet with the purser (she said she reads Gourmet magazine and that is what they would suggest) We opted for a different sitting than our friends . She said we don't want to be too dependent on them. We had one of the most memorable times of my life.

I have been hooked ever since.

Best,

Tom

Tom,

That is one good story. Thanks for posting it.

Dr.Joe

scapel · July 21, 2014

Home Lines Homeric was my first. Ft. Lauderdale to San Juan, St. Thomas and Nassau, late February 1987. Never got a chance to sail on her again. The line was privately owned. When the owner died, the company was broken up. Too bad. Homeric was a beautiful ship.
I was hooked.

What happened to the Homeric?

SmittenByJuneau · July 21, 2014

My first ship was the Dawn Princess, sailing the Mexican Riviera in 2008. When I see her in Juneau I still get a little wistful. I was definitely hooked.

We have not yet found our cruising home, but we are still searching. We do our first HAL sailing in a little over two weeks and I am looking forward to it after all the comments I have read here!

scapel · July 21, 2014

My girlfriend, later my wife, and I sailed on the Sitmar Fairsky (later the Sky Princess) in 1985. That was my first cruise -- 30 cruises ago.

I didn't want to go. I liked hiking (I've done the Grand Canyon rim to rim, but that was in another life). She said, "Try it. You'll like it." So I tried it. To please her. I figured she'd know. She already had 20 or so cruises under her belt.

I'd never seen so much food in my life. Loved the croissants. Many times. No one had told me they were practically all butter, and thereby hangs a tale:

I was thinner in those days, and I liked tight jeans. Once on the ship, however, I took 'em off, hung 'em in the closet and didn't put 'em on again for the duration. On the night before disembarkation, as I'm sure you all know, you put your luggage outside the door and just save the clothes you're going to wear off the ship in the morning. Yep, my tight jeans.

Problem was, I didn't realize I'd gained about 10 pounds. Couldn't get the jeans zipped. Had to get on the plane with my fly open. She thought it was a riot. I didn't, though today I can see the humor.

Moral of the story, according to DW: The sea air shrinks your clothes.

KK

Good story with lesson to be learned. We sailed the Fairsky in January 1986.

homeschoolmama · July 21, 2014

My first was Epirotiki in the Mediterranean in 1984. Cruised from Israel, up to Turkey, then Greek Islands and disembarked in Egypt. Had about 6 decks, 1 TINY pool, I tiny restaurant and 6 slot machines in a hallway that took only Greek Drachma.......but what a wonderful trip.

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scapel · July 21, 2014

Darn it. Every time I see an update to this thread it makes me mad :o. My wife and I got by luck a space-A flight to Athens for our honeymoon in Oct 1982. We only packed for Germany in the Fall. So we get to Athens, then what? We wandered around town and made our way down to Pireus for lunch early in our stay. Wouldn't it be neat to cruise the Greek Isles we thinks to ourselves?? So we did, it was great. Small, old, Greek ferry line. Almost nobody on the ship but UK holidayers. First exposure to the chicken-dance.... Have hated it since. Someday I will make it through old memory boxes and find something that tells me what the ship was.

Going back; but this time in style, is on the bucket list.

Dennis

We cruised the Aegean sea (Greek Isles) on the Stella Oceanus in 1979

scapel · July 21, 2014

My first cruise (and first trip o/s) was onboard Orient Lines Marco Polo to the Antarctic Peninsula in Jan 2005. What an adventure!! On our way back across Drake Passage we blew windows in in one of the dining rooms!! Will never forget that trip but not sure I was hooked straight away as it was another five years before I cruised again... Love the atmosphere on a ship, somewhere new every day but you don't have to keep packing and unpacking your bags!!

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What a cruise for your first. A Drake Rake would not be a cruise enticing experience. I just did an Antarctic Cruise in 2009 on the Multanovskiy, but flew across the Drake.

scapel · July 21, 2014

Stella Oceanis was built in Monfalcone, Italy as the inter-island car ferry Aphrodite in 1965 on behalf of the Hellenic National Tourism Office. The government of Italy funded the construction as a war reparation to Greece. In 1966 Greek Sun Line, of which the Marriot Hotel Group owned a 50% share, purchased the ship after an extensive upgrade and named her Stella Oceanis.

In 1997 Sun Line and Greek Epirotiki Line merge to form Royal Olympic Cruises (later Royal Olympia Cruises when the International Olympic Committee took exception to the first name) with Stella Oceanis included in the deal. Eventually, ROC decided to get rid of their smaller ships and Stella Oceanis was taken out of service and laid up in 2000. In late 2003 she was sold for scrap, and eventually arrived in Alang, India for breaking up which took place in early 2004.

Thanks for the picture. I have some of the Stella Oceanus at the graveyard.

calex · July 21, 2014

What happened to the Homeric?

Thanks to Wikipedia.org, your question can be answered...

The SS Mariposa was a luxury ocean liner launched in 1931; one of four ships in the Matson Lines "White Fleet".

Career with Home Lines

In 1947 the SS Mariposa was mothballed for six years at Union Iron Works in Alameda, California. Her engines were overhauled by Todd San Francisco Division. Home Lines bought her and renamed her SS Homeric, sailing her to Trieste for reconstruction to allow 1243 passengers: 147 First Class and 1,096 tourist class. Gross register tonnage increased to 18,563. Total length increased to 641 feet (195.5 meters). Home Lines operated her beginning 24 January 1955 for liner service between ports in the north Atlantic. In 1964 she replaced the SS Italia to steam on the regular run between New York and Nassau, Bahamas, though she in turn was shortly replaced by SS Oceanic. SS Homeric was reassigned to intra-Caribbean cruises. In 1973, a major fire destroyed much of her galley and restaurant and she was scrapped in Taiwan in 1974. During the ship breaking process, her sister ship Ellinis (ex-Lurline) suffered major engine damage on a cruise to Japan; Chandris Lines was able to purchase one of the Mariposa engines from the ship breakers.

scapel · July 21, 2014

Thanks to Wikipedia.org, your question can be answered...

The SS Mariposa was a luxury ocean liner launched in 1931; one of four ships in the Matson Lines "White Fleet".

Career with Home Lines

In 1947 the SS Mariposa was mothballed for six years at Union Iron Works in Alameda, California. Her engines were overhauled by Todd San Francisco Division. Home Lines bought her and renamed her SS Homeric, sailing her to Trieste for reconstruction to allow 1243 passengers: 147 First Class and 1,096 tourist class. Gross register tonnage increased to 18,563. Total length increased to 641 feet (195.5 meters). Home Lines operated her beginning 24 January 1955 for liner service between ports in the north Atlantic. In 1964 she replaced the SS Italia to steam on the regular run between New York and Nassau, Bahamas, though she in turn was shortly replaced by SS Oceanic. SS Homeric was reassigned to intra-Caribbean cruises. In 1973, a major fire destroyed much of her galley and restaurant and she was scrapped in Taiwan in 1974. During the ship breaking process, her sister ship Ellinis (ex-Lurline) suffered major engine damage on a cruise to Japan; Chandris Lines was able to purchase one of the Mariposa engines from the ship breakers.

Thanks for the info. It is always sad to see ships disappear.

keeponcruising · July 21, 2014

My first cruise was in 1981 on the Dolphin. It was a 3 day cruise to Nassau.

Landlubber54 · August 2, 2014

We were on the Ryndam in August 2005. Southbound from Seward to Vancouver (after a one week land tour). We loved it, but kids and other issues have occupied us since. Will be on the Statendam's repositioning cruise at the end of September. Sad to hear that both the Ryndam and Statendam are leaving HAL.