Tell Me About Your Oldest Carnival Cruise

[geckoaz]

Our first cruise was on the big red boat. Not carnival but it gave us the cruise bug. It would be 16  years later before our first carnival cruise. 

My son had been injured in a car accident when he was two. We were told he would not gain ues of right side. He fooled the doctors. He danced with mickey and had a great time. Cruises will always be magical for us.

Edited May 17, 2020 by geckoaz

[48traveler]

12 minutes ago, geckoaz said:

Our first cruise was on the big red boat. Not carnival but it gave us the cruise bug. It would be 16  years later before our first carnival cruise. 

My son had been injured in a car accident when he was two. We were told he would not gain ues of right side. He fooled the doctors. He danced with mickey and had a great time. Cruises will always be magical for us.

I am very happy about your son's recovery Miracles happen

[SNJCruisers]

July 1986 on the Jubilee.  Booked it through Singlesworld.  MDR seating and excursions were all set up for us.  Skeet and golf balls off the aft of the ship and topless deck up on the funnel.  Great experience that fueled my love of cruising.

[matymil]

Our Honeymoon, March 2010 on the Destiny. I went reluctantly and when I was done I said "yeah I like that...maybe we'll come back in 10 years". This year marks 10 and we had our 9th sailing booked (and canceled) 

[mredandchis]

Our first cruise on carnival was the Victory in 2007. At the time I was on Royal Caribbean a lot. And people on RC said that the Carnival people were just , how can I say this nicely,  Carnival people were rude crude and obnoxious.  

 

It wasn't my idea, to said on Carnival but I had taken my brother in law on a cruise in 2006 and he wanted us to go with him on Carnival with a tour group up north.  I accepted with a little reservation.

 

It was a 5 day cruise to Newfoundland and St John in late June and I was giving him a hard time about Canada being cold, numerous times.  After boarding in NYC it was well into the 80s and he said "Well it Aint cold".  And I replied this aint Canada.  The first morning I was on deck 10 sitting in the early rays of the sun.  It was before GPS on ships but I guessed we were off the coast of Maine.  The ladies were getting a head start on sunbathing and I thought , well this isn't bad.  Then I felt a cold breeze on the back of my head.  I thought a door opened and allowed air conditioning to escape.  It happened again and then again and I lifted myself off the lounger thinking I may need to move. Upon turning around I saw a solid wall behind me.  No door?  Then I saw a white mass dead ahead stretching across the horizon.  We entered it and it was a fog so dense that I could not see the water side across the way.  I was near the TV screen half way to the port rail.  IT GOT COLD!

 

I looked at my poor brother in law and said ,  " I am changing to my sweat shirt".  He has never lived that trip down as it was a deep fog for 3 days.  And don't tell him but it was a fun cruise. 

 

As for the Victory, it was pretty much like RC ships I was on.  Clean, well maintained, service was good, people were friendly and over all pretty close to what I was use to on RC. and it was a little cheaper.  

 

I remember the first night in the dining room.  The waiter knew i was new to carnival,  I didn't know about the blue card thing.  I said I was going to skip dessert but he highly suggested the chocolate molten cake.  "Try it , you will like it" .  So I did and loved it.  He smiles widely and with a Romanian accent , slapped his chest and said "I make!!!".  We all laughed, I thought maybe there was something more to the slogan "Fun Ship". Needless to say I have been on a lot of Carnival Fun ships since.

 

But yeah it isn't exactly like RC, but then I have sailed on 6 lines and they are all tweaked differently.  But carnival passengers were no more rude crude and obnoxious as any other passenger group on any line.  The Carnival Victory sold me on Carnival and the cool people i have met over the years.  

 

Foot note They want me to go to Alaska 2021.  I said  "But its cold".  The family said "you dont have to come, but we are going."  Oh I am going, but I will pack 2 or 3 sweat shirts.  I can't wait to cruise again.  

 

 

 

 

[richfret]

Did a 6/25/1995 cruise on the Sensation with stops at San Juan, St Croix and St Thomas.  Wow, 25 years ago!  Did 22 more cruises with Carnival after that and am booked on the Horizon for 2021 and 2022 (Hopefully!) 

[May1cruiser]

Ours was 1995 on Celebration out of Miami. It was our honeymoon. 7 days - Eastern Caribbean. We had a stern ocean view. I recall a lot of vibration when maneuvering into port.

 

I wish there were forums back then. Nobody told us of the velocity of the toilet flush...

We created a scrape book and saved almost everything. 

Can of Coke $1.50

Funship special $5.50

Glass of red wine $2.95

 

Signed up and enjoyed the wine and cheese tasting on board. I recall this was a formal event with guests in shirt and tie.

 

Also recall the Ice carvings daily as well as the GALA buffet.

 

The daily flyer in your room was called Carnival Capers

 

We bought a painting in the art auction with real bidding against others. Bidding was stressful. We still enjoy the painting to this day.

 

Great memories and fantastic first experience. As newlyweds, It took us some time to save up and life with children kept us away from cruising for 20 years. Our return to carnival was valor 2015 and we have been lucky to go on 15 cruises since then. Love the carnival family feeling and amazing crews...

 

[cruisequeen4ever]

2003 on the Ecstacy in a smoky smelling Inside stateroom; it was with a group of friends to celebrate our college graduation. We had a blast!! 

[skiorcruise]

My parents had been on several cruises and had enjoyed them.  I convinced DW to try a short cruise out of Long Beach on the Paradise (first smoking allowed cruise) when they moved to the west coast.  She asked a friend to join us, never expecting her to say yes.  So, 3 adults to an inside cabin,  off we went on our first cruise.  Friend spent the entire cruise in the casino, losing big.  DW and I were hooked on the cruise.

 

16 years later DW is platinum, I will be platinum on our next cruise.  An Italy cruise was canceled, but I am planning another, also Alaska with our sons and a cruise out of Florida for our daughters.

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by skiorcruise
last paragraph added

[iheartmarshall]

My first cruise was in 2014 on the Conquest, so not that long ago.  It was the traditional Western Caribbean route out of Miami and to date, Belize is still my favorite port.  We visited Xunantunich and not only were the ruins breathtaking, but I loved learning more about the culture and history of Belize and the locals were so nice.  Our bus broke down on the way there causing us to be an hour late making it back to the ship, but it makes for a good story and it seriously still is my favorite excursion.  Thankfully we booked through Carnival for that one! 

 

I love to research and once booked, I immediately dived in to all things Carnival and cruising and I've been hooked ever since.  I don't get to cruise as often as I'd like but I'll slowly work my way up to Diamond (one day). 

 

[SNJCruisers]

4 hours ago, iheartmarshall said:

 I don't get to cruise as often as I'd like but I'll slowly work my way up to Diamond (one day). 

 

Hate to burst your bubble, but here's a little dose of reality.  If you have 15 straight years of doing 2 cruises per year, all on Carnival, then you'll have the pleasure of making Diamond. 

 

I've been doing this since 1986, with my first cruise on the Carnival Jubilee.  16 out of my first 20 cruises were all on Carnival, because I didn't know any better.  Take off the blinders, do the research you love to do and you'll find that there is a world of fabulous cruise choices besides just Carnival. But I would highly recommend the Havana area on the Horizon, Vista or Panorama, best thing carnival has come up with in years.  Happy sailing.

[iheartmarshall]

Just now, SNJCruisers said:

Hate to burst your bubble, but here's a little dose of reality.  If you have 15 straight years of doing 2 cruises per year, all on Carnival, then you'll have the pleasure of making Diamond. 

 

I've been doing this since 1986, with my first cruise on the Carnival Jubilee.  16 out of my first 20 cruises were all on Carnival, because I didn't know any better.  Take off the blinders, do the research you love to do and you'll find that there is a world of fabulous cruise choices besides just Carnival. But I would highly recommend the Havana area on the Horizon, Vista or Panorama, best thing carnival has come up with in years.  Happy sailing.

 

Thanks for your opinion and trust me, I've researched other cruise lines extensively as well (I was actually once a TA but am no longer active due to my full-time job taking up most of my time).  However, for me, Carnival has always won out on price, itinerary, and offerings.  It's just my personal preference, as you have yours.  Maybe one day we'll branch out but so far for my preferences and budget, nothing has caused me to do so.  I still have that goal of reaching Diamond, even if it takes a while.  There's no rush and I'm not comparing my cruising speed to anyone else's -- just doing what we can, as we can. 

[Tutontow]

On 5/16/2020 at 8:01 PM, geckoaz said:

Our first cruise was on the big red boat. Not carnival but it gave us the cruise bug. It would be 16  years later before our first carnival cruise. 

My son had been injured in a car accident when he was two. We were told he would not gain ues of right side. He fooled the doctors. He danced with mickey and had a great time. Cruises will always be magical for us.

What a wonderful story.  I am so happy it worked out for your son.  Yes miracles do happen.

[LPut714]

Original Carnivale-5 days-skeet shooting off the back of the boar. Husband did beer drinking contest with a gal from Texas and he lost. Sat at dining table with 3 other couples who were a bit older than us but had the best time. Got us hooked-now 35+ cruises later can't wait to go back once it is safe as we are in 'that' age group to stay safe. When I booked the cabin didn't realize it was bunk beds in the lowest deck. We could sit on the toilet and have our feet in the shower at the same time. But not knowing anything different we had a blast-probably 1982 or 1983

Edited May 21, 2020 by LPut714
additional text

[geffric]

On 5/16/2020 at 3:52 PM, pinto18 said:

Same with us, sent the picture of us from 1984 and got the credit 

Us too.. our first cruise was our honeymoon on the Tropicale..I found the info and Carnival gave us credit for that cruise 20 years later..

[phoneman69]

On 5/14/2020 at 2:47 PM, 48traveler said:

I'm getting old enough to need a shove up the gangplank LOL

First Cruise was Carnival Celebration in 1996. Still have the place mat with the waiters signatures and our table mates. Have them for our next 4 cruises then they stop having them. When i asked on one of our cruises a table mate ask "how long you been cruising if you knew of them" . created a nice discussion

[angelsfort]

my first cruise was on the Disney Cruise Line back in the late-90's. (with my then boyfriend and his children - he became my husband in 2001 and our honeymoon was also a Disney Cruise, we were on the ship on our honeymoon on 9/11 and couldn't believe what was going on!)

 

Our first Carnival cruise - was in 2005 when our daughter was 3 years old (we'd lost her daddy 2 years prior) - it was her first cruise and my first since we'd lost my husband.  She had so much fun on that cruise - spent time in the kids area, fell in love with the Maitre' D in the MDR and got as many pictures as she could with Funship Freddy!  LOL  She did the talent show too - my brave little munchkin standing on that stage all by herself singing her little heart out (and she was GOOD!) and ballet dancing during the song too!  (she's still very much a showboat at 17 years old!)   I gave her a disposable camera to take pictures with and boy did she!  We've got a photo album of just those pics in it - they are quite interesting!  LOL

 

We've been on quite a few cruises since then - being a single mom, that's something I need to save up for so we go every two years on a cruise (my coming up cruise will be the first one I've gone on without her since she was born!!  I don't know how I'm going to act!  I'm gonna have to go hang out in the karaoke bar every night to feel like she's with me...  LOL)

[48traveler]

21 hours ago, angelsfort said:

my first cruise was on the Disney Cruise Line back in the late-90's. (with my then boyfriend and his children - he became my husband in 2001 and our honeymoon was also a Disney Cruise, we were on the ship on our honeymoon on 9/11 and couldn't believe what was going on!)

 

Our first Carnival cruise - was in 2005 when our daughter was 3 years old (we'd lost her daddy 2 years prior) - it was her first cruise and my first since we'd lost my husband.  She had so much fun on that cruise - spent time in the kids area, fell in love with the Maitre' D in the MDR and got as many pictures as she could with Funship Freddy!  LOL  She did the talent show too - my brave little munchkin standing on that stage all by herself singing her little heart out (and she was GOOD!) and ballet dancing during the song too!  (she's still very much a showboat at 17 years old!)   I gave her a disposable camera to take pictures with and boy did she!  We've got a photo album of just those pics in it - they are quite interesting!  LOL

 

We've been on quite a few cruises since then - being a single mom, that's something I need to save up for so we go every two years on a cruise (my coming up cruise will be the first one I've gone on without her since she was born!!  I don't know how I'm going to act!  I'm gonna have to go hang out in the karaoke bar every night to feel like she's with me...  LOL)

So sorry about your loss   Sounds like your daughter is a real winner

[always_cruisin]

Our first Carnival cruise was also the Tropicale, around 1986 (CA to Mexico). This was actually our second cruise, the first was on Admiral Cruise Lines, Stardancer (also to Mexico). Been hooked ever since. 🙂 

[vettprincess]

Our first carnival cruise was on the Mardi Gras 1974. Been on many 60+ since then and have sailed on most of the cruise lines.

Love to cruise but not this year because of @@##$$%%^^^ virus.