what was your 1st cruising experience?

[DaisyGirl55]

1991...NCL 's SS Norway...7 awesome nights to the Caribbean.

 

We were so innocent in the ways of cruising back then! It certainly got us hooked though, and we believe that there is nothing like going on a cruise. No other vacation does it for us.

 

I remember the Theme nights and dressing up for each one, seeing my DH in a tux and a dinner jacket. The midnight buffet each evening capped off with the Grand International Buffet at the end of the week. Laying out by the pool, and watching the trail of the wake from the back of the ship. Walking out on deck and watching the sun set. Packing so many clothes and shoes that I could have stayed at sea for at least another 2 weeks!

 

(sigh) It was magical for us, and they just keep getting better and better!

[Orgirl69]

My first cruise was on the Carnival Celebration, Sept 03. Just my best friend and I (early 30s), 5 days to Cozumel and Calica. I was engaged at the time (to someone other than my new DH) and she was getting ready to start having kids. It was the No-Boys-Allowed Bachelorette Cruise and we tore it up!! I have to say, we drank a scandalous amount of liquor on that trip and had a ton of fun doing the ports on-our-own. We still laugh about some of our stories on that trip. She had cruised before and really had a hard time convincing me to go, but now, I'm as addicted as she is!

[barbarah33]

My first cruise was back in 1990 aboard the Song Of America. It was my college roommate and I and that was our spring break and graduation gift from our parents. (Back then there weren't any age limits so we were fine in a cabin without 'an adult,' the drinking and gambling age was 18 on ships so we were free to do what we wanted.) We planned the cruise to the western Caribbean over a year in advance and actually had to wait for Royal Caribbean to open the books so we could reserve it. We based our choice on the fact that both of us wanted to go to Jamaica - we were young, what did we know?

 

We had the best time though it got off to a bit of a rocky start. We had to fly into Ft. Lauderdale vs. Miami due to snow then had the cab ride from hell getting to Miami - I swear the driver used to drive in the Caribbean. The hotel the night before was arranged by RCCL and it was nice enough but not in the best part of town so we couldn't go out to find something to eat as we had planned - in an effort to save a few bucks: we were starving college students you know. We put on our bathing suits and went to sit in the sun and literally as we spread the towels out on the chairs by the pool the sky clouded up and it started to pour.

 

The next day they knocked on our doors at 7am to get our luggage. (We had a letter from the cruise line we got at check-in saying that the bags needed to be ready at 9am.) We weren't even up yet let alone dressed and ready to hand our bags over. Then we got to play the 'hurry up and wait game' both in the hotel lobby and on the bus at the pier.

 

The good news is that that was the end of our bad luck and the cruise was everything we both hoped it would be. (Except for Jamaica which neither of us enjoyed.) We met some wonderful shipmates who didn't see us as simply college students on spring break; but rather, as people. There were a few who made some rude comments as to the fact that college students should not be sailing on Royal Caribbean but we chose to ignore them. (We were not at all wild or loud.) Yes, I did get hooked within the first 24 hours and now, 17 years and 29 cruises later I still love it!

[melika091900]

great great stories everyone,, keep posting....

happy cruising to all

Melissa

[iHartVacay]

Mine was ten or eleven years ago on the Commodore Enchanted Isle with my sister and parents-that was also my first time scuba diving. The entire trip was fantastic. We took the same ship a couple of years later as a family reunion and it was even better!

[madelinerose]

Carnival Miracle, October 2004, Cat. 8A balcony, Florida and Bahamas.

 

We had never even considered cruising until we received an email special and since the price was right and the port is 15 minutes from our home, it was a no brainer.

 

We loved everything except the diningroom hoopla, which we learned to avoid by leaving before it began. The supper club, Nick and Nora's was fabulous. What a nice memory. ;)

[JolieMadam]

In 1961, my parents took me to Europe on the original Rotterdam....it was my first time on a ship and it took 8 days to reach Holland with stops in France and England. We took our car and it was so fascinating to watch them offloading the vehicles....they were swaying back and forth on little metal slabs under the tires high above the dock while you held your breath to see whether it would make it. The most expensive alcoholic beverage was a champagne cocktail at 75 cents! My father told me stories of being on ships during the tail ends of hurricanes, but on our trip the ocean was like a millpond the entire voyage....kept hoping there would be some rough seas for excitement. On the way to Rotterdam through the English Channel, the ship has to slow down to a crawl and everything on board was vibrating for about 24 hours...it was nerve wracking! That was a long time ago, but, as they say....the more things change, the more they stay the same.

[iamgolden]

Ug, mine was in about '96 I think on the NCL Jewel in September. No balconies on this ship, and it was an oldie. We sailed w/about 50 other people after my friend's wedding. Our only stop was Bermuda, my god it must have been 120 degrees and the locals in the bar were so rude to us. I stayed on the ship for the two days. Learned a valuable lesson about how you actually have to pay for that $1,000. of booze you drink.....my other cruises were MUCH more enjoyable!

[cim]

My first cruise was on the Carnival Cruise Line aboard the Carnivale. Carried 800 +guest. Did the Eastern Islands. San Juan, and St Thomas and another island. Was the last week of June and first of July 1981. We actually travel with the Mardi Gras insight most of the way. I missed the Hearns-Sugar Ray Leonard championship fight that week. The talk at that time was that Carnival was building a new outstanding ship named Tropicale. Saw a post as to how small the Tropical is compared to the new ships today. Time does go by. This thread brings a smile to my face

[Avril]

My first cruise was in May of 2003 on the Carnival Imagination.

 

We were on Carnival's Imagination for our 1st cruise just 5 months before you in January 2003. We (my Mom and I) went to Key West, Cozumel and had 1 day at sea. We were in the bottom of the ship in an odd shaped cabin (number R19 - it faced bow to stern instead of starboard to port) and could hear the anchor being raised and lowered loud and clear but we had a blast!! :D Luckily, they only used the anchor once. There were a few thing about the ship we didn't like (plastic chairs in parts of the inside of the Horizon Court Lido Buffett, it is a little bright) but I think she is a fine ship for 1st timers and she will always have a special place in my heart. Cozumel has become one of my favourite ports (the other one is St. Maarten) and I'd love to go to Key West again. As you can tell by my signature, I'm completely hooked on cruising!!!! :D I can't wait to take my boyfriend Chris on his 1st cruise on Carnival's Conquest in February 2008!!!! :D