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What was your first cruise?


Jill

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I just came across the history of the ship of my first cruise in 1987! College spring break aboard the Emerald Seas. This was a fascinating history as she wasn’t originally built to be a “cruise” ship. 

https://nickscruisecorner.blogspot.com/2012/02/emerald-seas-another-on-of-my-favorite.html?m=1

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Our first cruise was on the Disney Wonder back in June of 2004 for our honeymoon. My wife and I had never gone on a cruise before and did not know what to expect. We decided on the Disney Land & Sea package and spent 3 nights on the Wonder and 4 nights at the Polynesian Resort in WDW. Needless to say, we had an amazing honeymoon and we caught the cruise bug! :27_sunglasses: 

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SS Norway, March 1985. Loved this ship. We ate at the Captain's table with the Captain and several officers every night! First legal beer at 18 (turned 18 on the cruise), first opportunity to blow my money at the slots, first time eating so many gourmet foods, especially at the Captain's table. Such an opportunity that I didn't understand at 18 years old!

https://www.cruisehabit.com/billys-favorite-ships-story-ss-norway-aka-ss-france

Edited by Baked Alaska
Don't bother with the math, I'm 52. :-P
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2 hours ago, JohnK6404 said:

Our first cruise was on the Disney Wonder back in June of 2004 for our honeymoon. My wife and I had never gone on a cruise and did not know what to expect. We decided on the Disney Land & Sea package and spent 3 nights on the Wonder and 4 nights at the Polynesian Resort in WDW. Needless to say, we had an amazing honeymoon and we caught the cruise bug! :27_sunglasses: 

So jealous.  My dream is to have enough money and time (after I win the lottery) to do a 7 day Park trip and when I'm sad at leaving, go on a 3 day Disney cruise!  Jane

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My very first cruise was on Disney Magic, november 2000: "Land and sea" package (3 days at the Contemporary resort plus 5 days at sea in a stateroom with navigator verandah on the 5th floor). 

At that time, we only got one child, a 2y11 months daughter, potty trained, whom the Oceaneer's Club accepted, although she was not 3 and did not understand a single english word.

We were so delighted with our cruise that we joined the Disney Vacation Club right after! We were droven by our DVC representative in his own car, with his own  wife and child inside, so that we could sign up in US territory before leaving to France on the same day,  because DVC was not sold in France! We are proud to be the 11th French family to have signed up for DVC in year 2000.

We have sailed about 15 times since… Always with DCL, but once with Princess (which we found cheap in comparison).

We are feeling ready for a change to something brand new in RC, but we keep in mind the excellent service and food and the all inclusive experience in DCL, which will be hard to compete with, since we are Disney fans by heart. 

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1996 on HAL's Statendam, 7-day Vancouver RT to Alaska. It was for our honeymoon, and we stayed the night before at the Four Seasons. I managed to leave my wallet in the room when we checked out, so I had to walk back from the pier to the hotel to get it (I think it was about 6 blocks). Eep!

Other than that it was a terrific trip! Totally got us hooked on cruising!

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Jewel of the Seas in 2004 for my mother and father in laws 25th wedding anniversary, have only done another 2 since then, a ship called Ocean Village that doesn’t exist anymore I don’t think and Allure of the Seas.

 

Going on our 4th one in October for mother and father in laws 40th anniversary on Adventure of the Seas. 4 generations going this time though, our daughters who are 5 and 8 throug to my wifes nana who is 84, it will be her first cruise.

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Our first was a 5-Night on Navigator of the Seas in November 2009. (Miami>Labadee>Ocho Rios>Miami) We intended to go on another sooner, but, "life" kept getting in the way.

We didn't get back into it until we got a pair of free flight vouchers for taking a voluntary bump in Vegas in 2016. While trying to decide where to go with the vouchers, we both got the simultaneous idea to take another cruise since the free flights helped absorb the cost.

We took our next on Rhapsody in January 2017 and wondered why we hadn't been doing this more/sooner. We decided then that we were gonna take a cruise every winter. So that's what we've been doing ever since. A week away from the cold Michigan winters and the stresses of life. NO  VOOM  PACKAGE! Just be unplugged, live in the moment, and enjoy all that cruise life has to offer.

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My very first cruise was sometime in the mid 90s on the Celebrity Meridian. However, I was very young and just remember flashes from it. It’s so funny the things you remember as a kid. I do remember I had oxtail soup in the MDR and that I ended up enjoying it.  I also remember one of the counselors at their kids program taught me that little “this is the church, this is the steeple, open it up and see all the people” hand game. 

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8 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

So jealous.  My dream is to have enough money and time (after I win the lottery) to do a 7 day Park trip and when I'm sad at leaving, go on a 3 day Disney cruise!  Jane

We sort of did this last June (2018). Stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge (not the time share one) for 3 nights and then did the 5 night, double dip to Castaway Cay on Disney Dream. It was a blast. Here's the kicker, stay on property so that you're not wasting time in the parks. On the face, it may seem more expensive, but the time cost alone is worth it (and at Disney your time is their money). Staying on property gets you your fast passes reserved waaay in advance. For Disney parks my thought is "get in, go crazy, and get out ASAP". It's a lot more fun and no miserable kiddos in the heat. The cruise after park days was the way to go. So relaxing. Also, there are transfers to DCL from parks, but they do stop at many resorts before they get to port. We took a car service and was the first family on the ship! Trying RCCL to see if it compares. It think RCCL will exceed my expectations!

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First  "cruise" was on one of the smallest Navy ships...a destroyer escort. That sucker rocked so hard, there were times the mast almost touched the ocean.

First pleasure cruise was a 2 night cruise to nowhere on a Carnival ship. Second cruise was a Canada cruise also on Carnival. That was SO bad and corporate was SO uncaring and unhelpful that we vowed to never put another penny into their coffers. So we switched to Royal in 2010. We have never been disappointed with RCL and never looked back. 

But still haven't done Hawaii or the Med. At least having the bucket list gives us something to look forward to.

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2003. Disney Wonder. Bahamas. Myself, the wife, and our 2 kids who were teens at the time. It was one of the Land & Sea trips, 3 days at WDW and Port Orleans and 4 days at sea. Castaway Cay was awesome, Nassau meh. We did 4 more longer Disney Cruises but have switched to Royal. We can no longer (being retired and empty nesters on mediocre pensions and social security) justify the cost of DCL. Also, now we can afford to cruise every year instead of every 3 or 4.

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My first cruise was with my mom on a ship from Dolphin Cruiselines. Can’t recall the name. It was in 1982. I was 25 (mom was 52) and we went with a group of senior citizens from the mobile home park my mom moved to after my dad died. Went to the Bahamas during hurricane season. Oh my goodness...what an experience! After a show in one of the ports, we had to walk in ankle high water to get to the shuttle to get back to the ship! Ahhh...memories! First Royal Caribbean ship was the Viking Serenade in 1998! Much, much better!

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First cruise wasn't planned.....buddy and I had a trip to the Bahamas booked...got cancelled last minute as the travel company went under. We really wanted to see the Bahamas, and it just so happened that the cruise industry at that time had started the drink packages(as that was one major reason I had not looked at cruising before). We found  good deal on Monarch of the Seas..that was in 2013 and I have done 13 cruises since then.....

Fell in love with cruising that first cruise...the food..the drinks...the casino..the entertainment....

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11 hours ago, Baked Alaska said:

SS Norway, March 1985. Loved this ship. We ate at the Captain's table with the Captain and several officers every night! First legal beer at 18 (turned 18 on the cruise), first opportunity to blow my money at the slots, first time eating so many gourmet foods, especially at the Captain's table. Such an opportunity that I didn't understand at 18 years old!

https://www.cruisehabit.com/billys-favorite-ships-story-ss-norway-aka-ss-france

I LOL'd at your "edit" ...

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4 hours ago, mcoler18 said:

Going on our 4th one in October for mother and father in laws 40th anniversary on Adventure of the Seas. 4 generations going this time though, our daughters who are 5 and 8 throug to my wifes nana who is 84, it will be her first cruise.

That is REALLY exciting. Happy sailing!

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1989 DISKO - Russian cargo ship converted to carry passengers all of 2,097 GT.

Cruising down Søndre Strømfjord in Greenland was breathtaking and probably what got me hooked.  It was smooth as glass and a lot of my friends were drinking a fair bit.  I was soaking it all in. 

Once we hit the North Atlantic several hours later it was very rough.  I tried to sleep but with passenger beds in the very bow of the ship my head was lifted off the pillow with each wave.  My friends regretted drinking so much and all became green with seasickness.  I did pretty good but eventually the sound of dry heaving all around me caught up with me.  The return voyage was much smoother thank goodness.    

DISKO-1.jpg.02a1eb18df95a6b684187c02de0ef5b1.jpg

DISKO-2.jpg.5060f4228be7007d9958c51e70c055f8.jpg

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My first cruise was a 3 day Bahamas cruise in September 1998 on the brand new and largest cruise ship at the time,  the Disney Magic. I remember it just towering over the other ships in Nassau. Funny how it looks so tiny compared to today’s modern cruise ships. My sister and brother in law got engaged on the top deck late at night in Nassau. My friend and I followed them as they walked around the deck so that we could capture it all on video. They are currently on a Mediterranean cruise celebrating their 20th anniversary. 

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My first cruise was with my Dad & 2 sisters (I was 10 my sisters 9 & 8 ) in 1973 on the TSS Olympia out of New York to Bermuda (never made it there due to a bad storm that lasted days), St Thomas & Puerto Rico.  I loved it!  The ship was rocking & rolling all over the place.  Both sisters were so seasick my Dad & I were fine.  Me being a typical kid I was more annoyed about the pool not being open during the storm or a few days after because of really the rough seas.  We would sit a the side of the pool & stare the pool guy down but nope he still wouldn't open that pool.  The dinning room tables had lips on them so that the dishes wouldn't slide off.  The waves were hitting the dinning room windows so cool.  My one sister was sick for days and when we got to Puerto Rico she didn't want to get back on the ship.  She still has nightmares about that cruise.

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40 minutes ago, MaryS said:

My first cruise was with my Dad & 2 sisters (I was 10 my sisters 9 & 8 ) in 1973 on the TSS Olympia out of New York to Bermuda (never made it there due to a bad storm that lasted days), St Thomas & Puerto Rico.  I loved it!  The ship was rocking & rolling all over the place.  Both sisters were so seasick my Dad & I were fine.  Me being a typical kid I was more annoyed about the pool not being open during the storm or a few days after because of really the rough seas.  We would sit a the side of the pool & stare the pool guy down but nope he still wouldn't open that pool.  The dinning room tables had lips on them so that the dishes wouldn't slide off.  The waves were hitting the dinning room windows so cool.  My one sister was sick for days and when we got to Puerto Rico she didn't want to get back on the ship.  She still has nightmares about that cruise.

Seasickness is awful....and when the seas are real rough, there is nowhere on the ship to get relief from it. You just gotta be sick.

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3 hours ago, Baked Alaska said:

We sort of did this last June (2018). Stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge (not the time share one) for 3 nights and then did the 5 night, double dip to Castaway Cay on Disney Dream. It was a blast. Here's the kicker, stay on property so that you're not wasting time in the parks. On the face, it may seem more expensive, but the time cost alone is worth it (and at Disney your time is their money). Staying on property gets you your fast passes reserved waaay in advance. For Disney parks my thought is "get in, go crazy, and get out ASAP". It's a lot more fun and no miserable kiddos in the heat. The cruise after park days was the way to go. So relaxing. Also, there are transfers to DCL from parks, but they do stop at many resorts before they get to port. We took a car service and was the first family on the ship! Trying RCCL to see if it compares. It think RCCL will exceed my expectations!

We always try to stay at the parks...we do a lot of the value or moderates and I get discounts with my Disney Visa.  I have almost 900 Disney dollars saved up since I keep going on rc cruises so eventually we will have a free hotel stay!  We did stay at animal kingdom when I ran my last half marathon there... We liked it but I think wilderness Lodge has a similar feel for less!  I love the idea of relaxing on a cruise after the parks!!! Jane

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My VERY first cruise was on a British Naval vessel, the name of which I have long ago forgotten.  I was 9 or 10 years old.  My father was an active duty Marine relocating from El Toro, CA to Kaneohe Bay, HI.  It was 1962 or 63 (cannot recall....it was a LONG time ago).  Back in those days you could move to Hawaii from the mainland either by flying there or by "cruising" there.  We went up to San Francisco, spent a few days there and then caught the ship over.  I recall nearly nothing about this voyage.  I am certain that we were in inside accommodations but I do remember that we had a blast !  Shortly after that they discontinued to "float-overs" which was a shame.  Why a British Naval vessel ?  Who knows.  I just know that it was HMS Something.

My first real commercial cruise was on Carnival Fantasy in 2000 and it's a major miracle that I ever tried cruising again.  It was an utter disaster.  No need to expound but not a pleasant time.  It really wasn't until Dan and I sailed on Grandeur out of Tampa (2007) for the first time that we both got the cruise bug.

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