la_croisiere_s'amuse Posted July 29, 2022 #1 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Yes, after two and a half years, COVID has finally caught up with us, and this variant is no joke. 😞 I'll probably recover just fine, but man, I really need to escape to my happy place in the meantime. Please play along? 🙂 I'll start: September 2004, Majesty of the Seas. We only did a 3-day "just in case we didn't like it." 🤣 A hurricane sent us to Key West instead of Nassau, but I didn't care in the least. I was totally hooked, and kept returning to the Sovereign class even as I gradually ventured onto larger ships. The only downside was that my first cruise was in a JS, and it took me quite some time to be willing to try anything less. For the record, I can now be perfectly content in a standard OV balcony! Okay, who's next? 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaniDanielle Posted July 29, 2022 #2 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Our first cruise was Celebrity Summit out of Bayonne. No flying, it was great. It was perfect in our eyes, we loved it and Bermuda. My husband had his doubts about cruising so we did a seven night cruise. He was hooked big time and couldn’t wait for the next one! We have had a few junior suites but are happy with a balcony cabin. Oasis class is our favorite so happy Oasis is in Bayonne for awhile. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishgal432 Posted July 29, 2022 #3 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Honeymoon Jan 1992. Majesty out of San Juan. First time out of the country. GTY inside room. Deck 2 next to the anchors. Fast Forward Jan 2022 Aquatheater Suite for our 30 year Anniversary. We have come a long way! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare aring75 Posted July 29, 2022 #4 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Sovereign of the Seas 1999. Did a 4-day out of Port Canaveral. Still have the souvenir mug we bought on that cruise. 😊 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Rubyfisch Posted July 29, 2022 #5 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Serenade of the Seas out of Copenhagen in May, 2017. I booked the cruise as a surprise for my mother's 65th birthday. Here are some photos: Tallin: The ship: St. Petersburg: Copenhagen: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celoplyr Posted July 29, 2022 #6 Share Posted July 29, 2022 My first cruise was a Carnival 4 night cruise in 2009 when you still had assigned seating (and our table mates were a disaster, probably because they didn't like us) and I traveled with my ex husband in the worst room on the ship, no shore excursions, no paying for drinks, etc. We still went again on a 7 night NCL cruise (dubbed the cruise from hell, don't go on a cruise in an inside room while deciding if you want a divorce). And then we divorced. And then I convinced my parents to go on a cruise with me over Xmas. They had never been. My father did not want to go. This was 2015, and I got to pick, so I picked the Jewel out of San Juan doing the Southern Caribbean (I don't like lazy vacations). My father hated probably every minute until we got on the ship and he went to the Windjammer, and he was hooked! He loves buffets. At the end of the cruise he was willing to go back but "could we do the Jewel again and the same room?" Same room wasn't an option, but one room over was. Now almost the whole family is diamond, we've done 4 Caribbean cruises, 3 Alaska cruises, 1 Mexico cruise, some of us went to Cuba, and we have 3 cruises planned including a Holy Land 13 day cruise, a 7 night Panama Canal cruise and just another ABC island cruise. It's become easy for us to all go together. We pack too much, eat too much, and really enjoy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosier sailor Posted July 29, 2022 #7 Share Posted July 29, 2022 OK here it goes, my first cruise was on Radiance of the Seas in 2004, and boy was it an adventure!! It was a birthday cruise for me, and the ship actually listed on my birthday in St Lucia. That was the first of 32 cruises and still going. Starting the next post covid phase now with back-to-back Radiance cruises. This time with a new cruise partner too!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSU_Redhead Posted July 29, 2022 #8 Share Posted July 29, 2022 2008. Splendour of the Seas out of Venice. I fell in love with cruising instantaneously! 😍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoperDK Posted July 29, 2022 #9 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Oasis of The Seas in Oct. 2015. Seven day Western cruise out of Port Canaveral. We weren't new to cruising, our first cruise was in Oct. 1998. We had cruised on several different lines in all different types of ship. It wasn't our first mega ship either, but when we first boarded and walked into the Royal Promenade, all we could say was Wow!!! It truly was a floating resort. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazeleyes46 Posted July 29, 2022 #10 Share Posted July 29, 2022 2006, Explorer of the Seas. We won a 9 day cruise 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la_croisiere_s'amuse Posted July 29, 2022 Author #11 Share Posted July 29, 2022 16 minutes ago, celoplyr said: My first cruise was a Carnival 4 night cruise in 2009 when you still had assigned seating (and our table mates were a disaster, probably because they didn't like us) and I traveled with my ex husband in the worst room on the ship, no shore excursions, no paying for drinks, etc. We still went again on a 7 night NCL cruise (dubbed the cruise from hell, don't go on a cruise in an inside room while deciding if you want a divorce). And then we divorced. I feel bad laughing at this, but I must confess I did. 😁 I'm also divorced from my first cruising partner, and it sounds like both of us are in much better places now! 😊 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisegirl1 Posted July 29, 2022 #12 Share Posted July 29, 2022 (edited) Our first was the Carnival ( Original) Mardi Gras in January 1987. Haven't stopped cruising yet after more than 35 years. There was a button in the cabin that you could press day or night and the cabin attendant would arrive. We had a small inside cabin, but surprisingly it had a large high bathtub. I hope you feel better M Edited July 29, 2022 by cruisegirl1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la_croisiere_s'amuse Posted July 29, 2022 Author #13 Share Posted July 29, 2022 3 minutes ago, hazeleyes46 said: 2006, Explorer of the Seas. We won a 9 day cruise 🙂 Wait, you won that cruise, or you won one on that cruise? If so, no wonder you were hooked. 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazeleyes46 Posted July 29, 2022 #14 Share Posted July 29, 2022 1 minute ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said: Wait, you won that cruise, or you won one on that cruise? If so, no wonder you were hooked. 😉 We won that cruise from a raffle ticket in our local town. It was $20 to sign up for discounts in the town for a year and you were entered in a raffle to win a 9 day cruise. We have been on 5 more RCCL cruises after that one and one soon 🙂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another_Critic Posted July 29, 2022 #15 Share Posted July 29, 2022 (edited) Cruise #1: Song of America - Sept. 1987 - Miami, San Juan, St. Thomas, Labadee, Miami Cruise #44: Voyager of the Seas - Sept, 2022 - Copenhagen, Kristiansand, Akureyri, Reykjavik, Qaqortoq, Nuuk, Boston Edited July 29, 2022 by Another_Critic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another_Critic Posted July 29, 2022 #16 Share Posted July 29, 2022 I probably have a "drink of the day" glass from Song of America. I know I have several from Nordic Prince. Later the glasses were just generic Royal Caribbean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruising89143 Posted July 29, 2022 #17 Share Posted July 29, 2022 First, hope that you feel better. We picked up this variant about three and a half weeks ago. Thank goodness for Paxlovid. First cruise ever was thirty-six years ago on the NCL Starward out of Miami to the western Caribbean. Loved it and it hooked us. No lido dining or room service back then and all three meals was served in the MDR at either main or late seating. Doors to the MDR closed fifteen minutes after the scheduled start. Don’t be late and you dressed properly or were turned away. Midnight buffet if you got hungry. First cruise on RCI was in 2001on the Majesty OTS out of Miami. My favorite RCI ship is the Navigator. Have seven cruises on that ship including three just after she entered service almost twenty years ago with a few more booked. Perfect size. We still enjoy RCI but also like Celebrity. So we have thirty-six years of cruising and stopped counting at sixty cruises. A lot has changed over the years. Some things for the better and unfortunately some things for the worse but overall it’s still one of the best vacations out there.🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another_Critic Posted July 29, 2022 #18 Share Posted July 29, 2022 I have my hand-written bar "charge" card from Song of America. 🙂 I don't recall if that was the "SeaPass" card or in addition to it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njkruzer Posted July 29, 2022 #19 Share Posted July 29, 2022 1st cruise 1971 Home Lines Oceanic NY to Nassau and back. We were very young! Dressed for dinner, assigned deck chairs and deck steward brought me my iced tea every afternoon. Our children found the pictures of us boarding, all dressed with dh in jacket and tie and wondered why. Times were different. No need to return to that way. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katsn1011 Posted July 29, 2022 #20 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Our first cruise was September 1999. Sailed on Carnival Triumph out of New York ,Hurricane Floyd was coming up the coast. We were being held in port until we got the OK to sail. They informed us to go to the show and they will let us know if we were going to be able to go. Did assure us they would announce before they left so if you wanted to leave you could. Not 20 minutes I feel us moving, no one told us. They were told to leave immediately. It was quite scary Floyd came with us 1-2 days. But I loved it after it was over. We have had many storms when we cruise but nothing compares to Floyd. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare rudeney Posted July 29, 2022 #21 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Our first RCCL cruise was 2007 on Freedom of the Seas. Before that was mostly DCL and a few others. We had just returned from a DCL trip in 2006 and was showing my (then 76yo) MIL photos. The next day, she called and said she wanted to try a cruise and had seen an ad for Freedom being the largest cruise ship in the world, so that was the one she wanted. We had a great time, but MIL had some horrible leg cramps during the trip. RCCL loaned us a wheelchair and we pushed her around in it most of the trip (even around Cozumel). It turned out that the cramps were a side-effect of a new statin cholesterol med she started taking. Had we thought to ask her if she was on any new meds and known that, we'd have told her to stop taking it! Even dealing with the leg cramps and wheelchair, she had a great time, and so did we. She talked about that trip all the time and we always planned to take her on another cruise, but she was never up to it. She had COPD and spent the last 5 years of her life tied to an oxygen hose. She will be missed, but every time we step onto an RCCL ship, we think of her. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la_croisiere_s'amuse Posted July 29, 2022 Author #22 Share Posted July 29, 2022 4 minutes ago, rudeney said: Even dealing with the leg cramps and wheelchair, she had a great time, and so did we. She talked about that trip all the time and we always planned to take her on another cruise, but she was never up to it. She had COPD and spent the last 5 years of her life tied to an oxygen hose. She will be missed, but every time we step onto an RCCL ship, we think of her. I can't quite bring myself to "like" this, but I'm so glad she had a great trip and you have great memories. 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjlbbk Posted July 30, 2022 #23 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Hope you are feeling better soon! My first cruise was on Song of America in 1985. The trip was a Make a Wish granted to my sister who was battling cancer. One of my sister's nurses would tell her stories of her cruising adventures which is why my sister chose a cruise as her wish. I was only 12 at the time so have some fun "kid" memories. I remember ice carving demonstrations (with chainsaws) and free Bingo on the pool deck, a chime that played across the ship every evening right before dinner (I can still recall the sound) and fresh doughnuts brought to the table at breakfast every morning. The kid program leaders doubled as dancers during the evening show and Shipshape dollars were awarded for attending activities which could later be used to buy a "I'm Shipshape" shirt. I was sad to outgrow my shirt but was excited to find another one at a thrift shop just a few years ago. Great memories! I have since gotten many friends and family hooked on cruising too... Thanks for a fun post...and for the great trip down memory lane! 😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broadwaybaby123 Posted July 30, 2022 #24 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Mine was when I was 5 on the SS Meridian (now a sunken Celebrity ship). I remember having to step OVER the threshold to get in the cabin! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingos Posted July 30, 2022 #25 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Our first cruise was supposed to be on Sovereign, and we had been saving our pennies to pay for it. I had been writing my checks for $5 over at the grocery store, for months, and had secretly purchased $500 in traveler's checks. A month before the cruise, our house (and town) was flattened in a hurricane. We sadly decided that we needed to postpone - but we seriously thought about still going. 🙂 We lived off that $500 for the first few weeks since our local bank was also destroyed and we had no access to our account. A year later, we rebooked on the same ship, same itinerary. Our cruise credit paid all but a couple hundred dollars, and our TA upgraded us to a Deck 8 oceanview from a lower deck interior because 'you deserve it'. It was amazing. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now