Take pity on the COVID Kid: your first Royal cruise?

[rudeney]

1 hour ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

I can't quite bring myself to "like" this, but I'm so glad she had a great trip and you have great memories. 🙂

 

She was a great lady - I could not have asked for a better MIL!  I always laughed when I heard other guys talking about their MIL's like they were evil demons.  She did a lot for her family and we for her.  She'd love that you "liked" the story!

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, bjlbbk said:

 

I don't think I have my ShipShape shirt, but I still have a visor.

[John&LaLa]

1989 Carnivale, 3 night Bahamas,  inside, uppers and lowers 

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

1 hour ago, flamingos said:

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. 

Whoa, that is straight out of a soap opera!!

[Another_Critic]

Not a hurricane, but a job layoff.

 

Booked Nordic Prince - NY to Bermuda.  Cruise was paid off, but wife got laid off.  Father in law said we should cancel.  We thought about it, but figured it's paid for and it may be a while before we could afford another vacation.  A couple weeks before sailing, I got a call from Royal asking if we're willing to go another date.  Huh?  They said they'll give a full refund and book us on another sailing ... only paying port charges ($89 at the time).  Went two weeks later.  It would have cost us more to stay home! 

[barbeyg]

1993, Sovereign of the Seas.  Thought it was the biggest ship I’d ever seen.  Awed by the size and the variety of activities.

 

Fell in love with the ship, cruising and RCI.  
 

Hope you feel better soon. We had our butts kicked by it at the end of May, after over 2 years of avoiding Covid.

[vegascruiser1]

First cruise NCL Skyward in 1980 with two girlfriends in an inside cabin. Second cruise on Royal Sun Viking 1983 with the same two friends in an inside cabin. Really fell in love with cruising when the world’s largest cruise was built in 1988 the Sovereign of the Seas. Since 1998 my husband and I have cruised at least once a year. 

[Ozzie26]

Our first cruise was on Carnival Imagination in 2002. We flew from Philly to Miami and were in awe of everything. We had booked bunks because we didn’t know any better and told the TA to save some money. We were hooked. 30 Carnival, 48 Royal and 1 Celebrity complete. 2 carnival , 5 Royal and 3 celebrity booked. Helps that we moved to Florida in 2002. I do miss the Elaborate Midnight Buffet. 

[mrs_fitz]

Feel better soon!!

 

Costa Cruise and I was 10 years old. My parents surprised us; they told us we were driving my uncle to the airport and then I saw she had packed all of our bags in the hallway. We were the youngest cruisers by far, but it was my family's cruising start and it turned into our vacation of choice for school breaks. We only had a window with uppers and lowers but it was so much fun! I got my husband hooked on them, too. We are excited to be back after a 4-year cruising hiatus (3 for me, I went with a gf for her first time on a cruise)!

[perfect match]

Our first cruise was on Disney Dream out of Port Canaveral in 2011. It was a three day cruise because we weren’t sure if we would like cruising. We thought we might be bored! 🤣🤪  Needless to say we were far from bored and fell in love with cruising and have been cruising whenever we can ever since. 🛳

[HappilyEverAft-ers]

Our first cruise was on Princess Grand in January, 2002.   We tried to cancel, as final payment was due around the time of 9-11.  I wasn't comfortable flying, let alone getting on a cruise ship.  Princess came back with an offer we couldn't refuse, so I sucked it up.  That cruise has been one of our best ones, many cruises later.  We had the best cruise director we've ever had, and the awe of seeing that ship for the first time is a sight I'll never forget. 

 

We (ok, my husband 🙄) were hesitant to book a 7 night cruise for our first cruise in case we (he) didn't like it.  I knew I would love it.  Princess upgraded our cabin, and we've never looked back.

 

Where in MO?  We're in KC.

Edited July 30, 2022 by HappilyEverAft-ers

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

6 hours ago, HappilyEverAft-ers said:

Our first cruise was on Princess Grand in January, 2002.   We tried to cancel, as final payment was due around the time of 9-11.  I wasn't comfortable flying, let alone getting on a cruise ship.  Princess came back with an offer we couldn't refuse, so I sucked it up.  That cruise has been one of our best ones, many cruises later.  We had the best cruise director we've ever had, and the awe of seeing that ship for the first time is a sight I'll never forget. 

 

We (ok, my husband 🙄) were hesitant to book a 7 night cruise for our first cruise in case we (he) didn't like it.  I knew I would love it.  Princess upgraded our cabin, and we've never looked back.

 

Where in MO?  We're in KC.

Hey neighbor! 😄

[welshrich]

First cruise was 2007 Western Caribbean on Freedom of the Seas, we'd always done land vacations and was hesitant as sure I would be bored, how wrong was I, loved it and didn't want to get off the ship at the end, we were in an inside promenade cabin and I learned the lesson about closing curtains the hard way! Enjoyed things that have now gone away such as midnight buffet, after dinner liqueur shooters and mints on the pillow.  Recently did our 45th cruise on Radiance to Alaska and still love the feeling of being onboard, it feels like coming home.

[Gardener5b]

Our first ever cruise was our honeymoon cruise in 1989 on NCL Seaward.  It definitely got us hooked on cruising.    

 

Our first Royal cruise was probably our 2nd cruise, on Song of Norway in early 1992.   I can't remember the Caribbean itinerary, but I do remember the treacherous staircase to get to the Viking Crown Lounge.  You had to enter via staircase that was outside.   Quite the experience in a dress, heels, and windy conditions at night!!

 

Edited July 30, 2022 by Gardener5b

[The sea calls my name]

Our first cruise was on the NCL ship S.S Norway in June 1989. What a magnificent old lady she was. My DH and I thought this was a "once in a lifetime" vacation but we, like the rest of you were hooked and found ways to save our pennies in order to take a yearly cruise. Our assigned dinner mates from that first cruise have become dear friends and through the years we added several other couples from around the country to our "yearly cruise " who also remain close friends.  While we were in St Thomas on that cruise, we saw the new RCCL ship Sovereign of the Seas in the harbor and knew immediately what ship our next cruise was going to be on. That began our RCCL "love affair".

 

33 years later and 30 cruises later (20 being with RCCL) we are now passed hooked to addicted. Since our retirement and move to Florida's Eastern coast in 2020, we can now enjoy more and longer cruises.

[sunluva]

Dec 2001 Radiance of the Seas, was my first cruise. I fell in love with cruising! Got married on Brilliance in 2005, praying my  husband would fall in love with cruising as I did! 

Luckily, he did. Have now been on 14 cruises. 

I often wonder how much of a price drop I could have gotten on that Radiance cruise after the 9/11 tragedy. I almost didn't want to go. But being my 1st cruise, I didn't know I'd probably be eligible for a price drop. 

Little did I know how "empty" the ship was. In spite, we had a great 1st cruise. Enough to get me hooked. 

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

On 7/30/2022 at 8:57 AM, The sea calls my name said:

While we were in St Thomas on that cruise, we saw the new RCCL ship Sovereign of the Seas in the harbor and knew immediately what ship our next cruise was going to be on. That began our RCCL "love affair".

 

It's interesting how many people have mentioned the Sovereign as a "hook" of sorts. She's probably the decommissioned ship that I remember with the most nostalgia. Of course, that's partly because it was my first Grand Suite and I thought I had hit the peak of luxury! 😄

[The sea calls my name]

2 hours ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

It's interesting how many people have mentioned the Sovereign as a "hook" of sorts. She's probably the decommissioned ship that I remember with the most nostalgia. Of course, that's partly because it was my first Grand Suite and I thought I had hit the peak of luxury! 😄

It still remains my husband's favorite ship. I surprised him one year with a watercolor painting of the ship  ( that yes I won at an art auction🤣). It still hangs proudly in our home.

[cooncat_mom]

In 2008 my daughter convinced me to board an airplane (😳 - still don’t like them) to Miami and do a 5 night Key West/ Cozumel cruise on the little Carnival Imagination. (Sad that she’s gone) We got in the night before, had a very nice car driver from NJ who (when he found out I grew up in NYC) was great about telling us what areas to avoid. Our hotel right near the pier upgraded us to the 6th floor, and when we woke up, we opened the curtains and saw 6 cruise ships at the Miami pier waiting for their new passengers. We were thrilled with the Imagination and actually had assigned seating at a great table - all mothers and daughters traveling together. It was the start of some great vacations.
 

We moved on to NCL and RCI but have been cruising twice a year since. Our best NCL was several years ago when I won an upbid to a Garden Villa on the Dawn and my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughters (2 & 4 at the time and very well travelled)  came with us to Bermuda. Wonderful! And our first post-Covid cruise was this past Sept. in a Boardwalk Balcony on a half-empty Oasis. Beautiful ship, great cruise! DD and I  have Voyager OTS lined up for Canada/NE in a couple of months. Looking forward to our Promenade room and being on a cruise again!

[LisaLisa87]

Our first RCCL cruise was in 2002 on Radiance. She was pretty new at the time and we loved everything about her!