What year and what ship was your first cruise?

[Hlitner]

1977 on NCL's Sunward II.

 

Hank

[Von & John]

1990 - Carnival Fantasy

[iancal]

About 1997  Alaska trip on RCI Legend of the Seas.  Vanouver return.   Booked on Wednesday, sailed on Saturday.

Edited April 1, 2019 by iancal

[Warm Breezes]

2001 we did a 3 night Disney Wonder with  a 4 night Disney World.  We've done a total of 18 cruises to date on 4 different cruise lines with cruise's 19 and 20 booked.

[Daytona_MAc]

1968 - a Transatlantic from Montreal to Le Havre on Holland America's ms Maasdam. About 600 students, traveling to Europe for summer education. Dinner was jacket & tie required, meals were served by the wait staff at the table, same menu for everyone. You could ask for more or less, but few options for anything different. One dining room, two seatings, no optional food service areas.

The seas were rough all the way across and about half the passengers didn't leave their cabins. The north Atlantic in July can be cold and gray. And yet, I fell in love with cruising and took it up again years later, when I finally could afford it.

[wwcruisers]

The SS Azure Seas (an old converted ocean-liner), sailing out of San Pedro/Long Beach, back in the spring of '86. Our itinerary was a 3-nighter to Ensenada, with one sea day. My DH and I were in a dark, dank, little inside cabin, down in the bowels of the ship -- right over the engine room. Unlike today's bed configuration, the cabin's twin bunks did NOT push together (bolted to the floor & wall). To top it off, the toilet was ... I kid you not... INSIDE the shower compartment. But -- LOL -- that whole experience was still amazing enough for us to catch the 'cruising bug' -- which we've never managed to shake, in the 30+ years, since!😎

[MicCanberra]

1988 honeymoon cruise around Fiji on a blue lagoon cruise.

[JOM19]

1987 Carnival Jubilee- Honeymoon cruise

[akcruz]

1988 Carnival Holiday, western carribean, what a difference from current day cruising!

[wwcruisers]

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

1988 honeymoon cruise around Fiji on a blue lagoon cruise.

I'm JEALOUS -- that sounds amazing!! 😎

[MicCanberra]

21 minutes ago, wwcruisers said:

I'm JEALOUS -- that sounds amazing!! 😎

It was fantastic, only 40 pax aboard.

[Bizmark'sMom]

2007, Sea Cloud II through the southern Carribean.  We boarded on Antigua, and disembarked on Barbados.  I was well and truly spoiled by that cruise.  It was the last big vacation my FIL - who had dementia - was able to take.  And Linblad, the cruise line chartering the Sea Cloud, was the only cruise line that agreed to allow FIL on knowing about his dementia. They really were fantastic.

[Ima Cruiser R U]

Sovereign of the Seas - 2007

[h_blond2]

2009 on the Carnival Fantasy

[olemissreb]

1991 (I think) Crown Princess ...heck it's all in my signature. 😁

Edited April 2, 2019 by olemissreb

[GeeDunk]

1996 --  Sky Princess - Alaska

Upgraded from an Inside to an Outside.

(One and only upgrade from Princess)

[Stairsonly]

1976 Pacific Princess. This ship took a break from filming The Love Boat and headed to Australia to do a couple of South Pac cruises and I was lucky enough to have my mum and dad take me on this 2 week cruise. This how my love of cruising started.

Edited April 3, 2019 by Stairsonly
Incorrect year

[Sancho_proudfoot]

2008, Independence of the Seas. Sh e was almost brand new - sh e had done a 4 nighter across to Cork in Ireland, so this was officially cruise #2.

When we booked,  sh e was still being  built, and we kept  panicking  in case  the  ship wasn't  ready on time (but of course  it was)

[griffy116]

First cruise was approximately 31 years ago, give or take a year. It was on Carnival and this was prior to the internet. We knew absolutely nothing. It was a small ship with a very different atmosphere. Very pretty dining room but no windows at all. Very few activities on board, tiny, tiny cabins and the bathroom was hilarious looking at the bathrooms on the ships today. No minimum drinking ages or on gambling. We found our 13 year old sitting with an Apricot Sour playing a slot machine when we let our daughters go up early to wait on us to get ready for dinner (drinks were free then). She spent her winnings from her spare quarters on a stuffed teddy bear in a captain's jacket in the gift shop. Smoking during dinner in the dining room was not only allowed but the waiter always lit your cigarette and switched out the ashtray every time you snuffed your cigarette out. I wish I could remember the name of the ship. I still have the photos of us dressed for dinner. VERY different from the cruises today but my daughters and I still go cruising together. We cruised on Allure together this year.

[chengkp75]

1977, QE2 from Southampton to New York, moving back from the UK.

[kristapb]

1981, honeymoon on the Chandris Britanis.  We had a tiny inside cabin with bunkbeds.  When we boarded, they didn't have my husband in the room with me and had assigned someone else!  A few tears, but they got it sorted.  A grand old ship that was a bit the worse for wear - had been converted to a troop ship in WW II.  Started our love of cruising that continues to this day!  The Britanis eventually sank while being towed to a port to be cut up for scrap.

[Gwendy]

2005 on Pacific Sun.  Didn’t think cruising was for me but my Mum wanted to go and as she was in her 70’s I went with her.  She thought it was ok but didn’t want to go again.  Me - over 30 cruises later I found I liked it. Lol.

[happybooker1]

Actually my (& my Ex's) first cruise was 4/'82 on a Windjammer barefoot cruise. It was wayyyy fun. However due to life, it was 2004 before I got to enjoy a "standard" Carnival cruise, which REALLY got me hooked.

[pris993]

1982, RCCL Song of America

[cruisemom42]

My first cruise was 1972 on the Emerald Seas; I was 9 years old and it was a Christmas cruise with family. Following the success of that one, we regularly sailed with Sitmar Fairwind for the next decade or so (and occasionally her sister ship the Fairsea). These cruises were delightful and instilled in me a love of both being on the ocean and of traveling at an early age. 

 

Bad weather could be a real adventure. I remember being in the dining room where the tables had "edges" that could be raised to prevent the dishes sliding off the table. And "seasick" bags placed strategically along the corridors in case of need...  Luckily I was always a good sailor.

 

We sailed as a family of 4 in a single cabin with two fold out upper "berths". My sister and I loved the attention from the Italian crew. It was a big deal to stay up for the grand midnight buffet. Food and service were both great and Sitmar was ahead of their time in having a special "brick oven" pizzeria onboard their ships with several varieties of pizza available at no charge. It was a real little restaurant, not just a station on deck....