How Did it Come to Happen?

[SANDY BEACH]

I love the water, beach, palm trees and tropical atmosphere. We talked some friends into going on a cruise with us and started our research. We opted for Celebrity Millennium and booked a balcony room. As all first cruises are, it was perfect. We were hooked and have tried to cruise at least two times a year since then. Our friends, while they loved it, will not commit again. We have sailed with others, family, but mostly by ourselves. Many know they are welcome to join us but we are not waiting at home for them to make up their minds. Wonderful, wonderful memories we talk about almost every day. Our first small 4 day cruise with our daughter is scheduled in July. I hope she and her DH love it as much as we do.

[Copper10-8]

Glass slippers, Ruth? ;)

[VABeach]

The Love Boat. Who didn't want to cruise with Julie, Goffer, Doc and Captain Stubing? I couldn't wait to pull up to a bar and tell Isaic to make me a margarita.

 

I wish the original Pacific Princess were still sailing. I would love to pull into port at Alcopulco.

 

Finally, I got someone to cruise with me and I have been going ever since.:D

[arzz]

I do think that the original Pacific Princess is sailing -- I saw it a couple of summer's ago across the dock at a Caribbean port. It was called the "Pacific" at the time and I think it was sailing for Pulmantor (not sure if I have the name right) -- there was no mistaking the Lido pool deck as it was the set used for SO many of the old love boat scenes -- and if you looked closely at the ship's name as painted on the bow and life boats you could still see the the word "Princess" outlined under the white paint on her hull just following the ship's new name "Pacific". Unfortunately, the ship was showing signs of age and some lack of upkeep.

[yiddishkopf]

My daughter and I took a cruise on Royal Caribbean during spring break in 1988, about 6 months after my husband died very suddenly. We needed a break and some relaxation. My older daughter decided to skip the cruise -- she prefers cities.

 

Much later I met my Significant Other and we have done a bit of traveling. In 2001, I convinced him to try a cruise and we took the Ryndam around South America with a pre-cruise trip to Machu Pichu. He had resisted cruising because during WWII, he cruised for 250,000 miles on the USS Alabama -- all expenses paid by the US Navy.

 

He wasn't sure he would like cruising, but we are now hooked on HAL. We were on the Statendam in January of 06 around NZ and into Australia -- we still love HAL!

[VABeach]

Arzz, Are you sailing Maasdam again this holiday? We are. Had such a great time we had to go again. :)

 

I figured the old ship was still out there somewhere. Too bad she isn't being taken care of. :(

[Guest Celestia]

Unfortunately, the ship was showing signs of age and some lack of upkeep.

 

She was my second cruise....showing serious signs of age and lack of upkeep, back in 1997. She was still under the Princess flag at that time.

 

I've told the story of my first cruise and how it was booked on this board before. Interested parties can search it out easily.

 

I'll not repost it here because I received some rather nasty mail when it was first posted and I do not care to have a repeat of that (and that poster still writes here and you know who you are). If you're curious enough to search it out, be warned my lifestyle may not be the same as yours and please keep any negative comments to yourself.

 

Great thread, Sails

 

CV

[arzz]

VABeach I sure loved the Maasdam also, as well as the friends I met on board. We are doing a quick Alaska on the Westerdam in June to celebrate DH's retirement -- instead of Christmas next year we are on the Prinsendam from Callao, Peru to Buenos Aries, Argentina (via Antarctica) January-February (with a few days in Peru pre-cruise to see Machu Pichu and the sacred valley). We will miss the annual Christmas cruise but for us, this is one of those "must do before we die" trips. I have been waiting at least 15 years to circumnavigate South America....Do have a great time on the Maasdam and post a review when you return. Good to hear from you!

[gizmo]

Hasn't anybody else ever won a cruise?

 

ME ! I won our first cruise by throwing a paper airplane at a car in the middle of the ice, while attending a hockey game.

 

The cruise was on the Norway and we loved it. :)

[VABeach]

VABeach I sure loved the Maasdam also, as well as the friends I met on board. We are doing a quick Alaska on the Westerdam in June to celebrate DH's retirement -- instead of Christmas next year we are on the Prinsendam from Callao, Peru to Buenos Aries, Argentina (via Antarctica) January-February (with a few days in Peru pre-cruise to see Machu Pichu and the sacred valley). We will miss the annual Christmas cruise but for us, this is one of those "must do before we die" trips. I have been waiting at least 15 years to circumnavigate South America....Do have a great time on the Maasdam and post a review when you return. Good to hear from you!

 

Sounds like a great cruise to be on!! Congrats on the retirement. (Todd is studying for his physics final right now. ;) )

[Atomica]

My parents took my sister and I on the Norwegian Wind to Alaska in 1998. I was always fascinated with ships, particularily the old ocean liners like the Titanic & Lusitania, so I was in my glory even before I stepped onboard. I remember pouring over the cruise documents when they came and reading the brochure until the staples in the binding started coming undone.

 

A few years later, as a high school trip to Europe, we got to do a short 4 day Greek Island cruise aboard Royal Olympic's World Renaissance, and while the ship wasn't the newest or fanciest, it definately cemented my love of cruising! As I'd cruised before I became the sort of resident expert who could confirm when we hit a storm with 30-foot-swells that yes, this was unusual! :)

 

In January 2005, I'd finally found a job I loved doing and had some vacation time coming up in May of that year. I think I was at Sears to buy a new toaster or something...and I wandered into the travel section, and wandered out having purchased a cruise to Alaska. I figured 'No time like the present!'. After that, I discovered cruise critic and a bunch of other helpful sites, and saw several pictures of the Oosterdam. I decided I wanted to sail on that ship someday. When I found out there was a 3 day cruise leaving from Vancouver, I jumped on it. And the rest is history!

 

Now I get to take my girlfriend on her first cruise, on the Veendam, this Friday, and I'm very excited about it! You never know when you won't be able to travel so in my mind, I plan to do as much of it as I can while I have the health/means/etc.