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Is your first cruise your best cruise?


pnyxprss

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I am wondering if anyone else suffers from there first cruise being there best cruise?  It might be this way because you don't know what to expect and you are wowed by every thing you see and do on that first cruise.  Our first cruise was The Serenade of the Seas as was my parents and my husbands parents.  After that we all tried a different cruise line separately and were slightly disappointed.  Could it be that The Serenade is just an awesome ship?  Has anyone else experienced this phenominon?  We have since been on several cruises that were excellent, but they still don't seem to quite measure up to that first one.

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Were any of your subsequent cruises with RCI , or different cruise lines.(i think thats what your suggesting?!)

 

My first cruise was amazing, the 2nd one was very good as well. Not as good as the first, but that had more to do with the people and not the boat itself. But I am going back for a 3rd one shortly and looking to book a 4th this fall.

 

I too have thought about looking at a difference cruise line to compare, make sure I am not missing out on something else good, or to make sure I am not biased. But I find it hard to look at anything else after my good experiences with RCI.

 

But so far, my 1st cruise was my best, yes.

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Were on Serenade in Dec & found it to be best staff & crew we had ever experienced, so it doesn't surprise that you found a different ship & especially another cruise less attractive. We have sailed 6 cruise lines and find RCI (Celebrity) best afloat, & RCI (Royal Caribbean) only 1 tick down. Between the two, itinerary is the only choice -- where ever our bucket list takes us. RCI was not our 1ST line.

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This is a great thread! My first cruise was on Explorer of the Seas in 2005. I didn't know anything about cruising. I had never logged onto Cruise Critic. I never looked at any deck plans. My group of 6 got on the ship and had the time of our lives. 

 

I think that is what made the trip so great. I truly believe people are really anal planners today, because they don't want anything to go wrong. It is almost like they are expecting things to go wrong. "When you're planning Life happens". I've seen people ask a million question on Cruise Critic, make spreadsheets of all the activities, the times they happen, etc. They want to see photos of the staterooms, how big is the shower, etc. Does it really matter how big the shower is? 

 

It just takes all the fun and excitement out of the whole trip. And yes I know some people are high anxiety and don't like the be "surprised" by things they don't know about. I think that is probably why, like Bryce said, for most their first cruise was their best. Mainly because they didn't have any expectations at all.

 

I've taken several cruises with big groups and I've been mainly in charge of planning the trip. I will tell you having to make reservations for everything, making sure people make it to shows, dinner, etc. really does take the fun out of it. You feel exhausted by the end of the trip and it isn't as enjoyable as when my wife and I just go and can cut loose for the week. 

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My first cruise was on Disney Cruise Line.  We sailed on the Disney Wonder and loved it.  

 

Cruised with Disney several more times, getting up to Gold status but I had cruised with RC once mixed in there and then for our honeymoon and saw huge price difference and went with Mariner of the Seas and never looked back.

 

I've also sailed on NCL and didn't love it so I keep coming back to RC for the quality that pnyxprss cited as well as the value I feel RC offers you.  

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My first cruise was with Rci and the only other line I tried so far has been Celebrity ( I highly recommend also). I would say 3 of my cruises I really put at the top of my list  Panama, Hawaii and Alaska, and the first one I took was memorable for several reasons. First we ended up doing a Pacific Coastal instead of the Mexican Rivera. Half the ship was upset because the Captain would not cruise through 2 hurricanes to get them to Mexico. A  mob formed at guest relations angry banging the fist on the counter top demanding full compensation. I had explored the ship already and had lunch in the wind jammer and loved I went up to guest relations in the middle of the mob seen and asked if they had any upgrades. they did not have any but the nice lady took my name and stateroom number if any came available the next day when I returned to my room from lunch a note and a bottle of wine.   :D  I enjoyed my first cruise on Vision of the seas but my second one on the brand new Mariner of the seas hooked me for life!

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My first cruise was on Disney Cruise Line.  We sailed on the Disney Wonder and loved it.  

 

Cruised with Disney several more times, getting up to Gold status but I had cruised with RC once mixed in there and then for our honeymoon and saw huge price difference and went with Mariner of the Seas and never looked back.

 

I've also sailed on NCL and didn't love it so I keep coming back to RC for the quality that pnyxprss cited as well as the value I feel RC offers you.  

 

I want to sail on a Disney ship, but the price is such a turn off. I'm sure it is worth it, but honestly I would take 7 days at Walt Disney World over a 7 day Disney Cruise. 

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My Subsequent cruises were The Disney Wonder, The Oasis of the Seas, The Disney Dream and the Disney Fantasy and we are booked on the group cruise on the Quantum. and are also booked on the Disney Magic in November.    I would say at this point we like RCI and Disney equally.  And like I said they were all excellent just not the same as the first cruise.

 

My parents second cruise was a Panama Canal cruise on NCL.  They really didn't like the anytime dining as they found everyone was lined up to get a table when they opened the dining room.  They found it much nicer to have a table ready and waiting for them on RCI.

 

My In-laws next cruise was Celebrity and they also did not like that as much.  I am not sure on the details. 

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My first cruise was on a Celebrity ship (Century) and it was a fantastic cruise. Going into it as a complete newbie with eyes wide open made for a wonderful experience.

 

I wouldn't say it was the best, though. That experience was topped by our first "real" Royal Caribbean cruise on Liberty of the Seas. (I'm not counting our actual first on Viking Serenade which was quite disappointing.) I fell in love with all that Liberty of the Seas had to offer.

 

And then that cruise was again topped by our cruise on Oasis of the Seas. Not only was she a phenomenal ship that had to be experienced to believe, but we were also joined by a friend of ours who decided to try cruising for the first time with us on that sailing. This cruise, the one I'd consider my best, was a combination of an amazing ship and great company.

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I want to sail on a Disney ship, but the price is such a turn off. I'm sure it is worth it, but honestly I would take 7 days at Walt Disney World over a 7 day Disney Cruise. 

Their pricing baffles me because it's absurdly expensive.  Given RC's bigger fleet and greater variety in itineraries and onboard entertainment, I left the DCL camp a long time ago.

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My first cruise was with Holland America, on the MS Westerdam.  Liked it but didnt love it.  My first cruise with RCI was on the Voyager of the Seas back in 2000 (their inaugural sailing for this class) and ever since have been sailing RCI.  I want to try Celebrity which I may do this Summer.  Ive also tried Princess but i still prefer RCI.

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My first cruise ever was in 2010 on the Oasis class. I was home on leave from Afghanistan and it was the best vacation ever. I have not cruised on any other class or any other cruise line since. I'm a little worried that anything less than Oasis class would be a downgrade. I had the most fun on my 2nd cruise however which was the Allure; plus i won the Bingo Jackpot on my last day!!! MY 3rd cruise was on the Allure also. The only difference was we went in the summer opposed to October with Oasis so there were a lot more children. I dont have kids so i'm not the biggest fan or crowds of kids (no offense to anyone). I love the Oasis Class I'm even planning my wedding on one. I cant say for sure that my first was my favorite (its hard to choose i've loved em all lol), but it def set the bar for my future cruises.

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I am wondering if anyone else suffers from there first cruise being there best cruise?

 

My first was on Carnival, so no…  ;) Our second was on RC's Monarch and we found it was a better "fit" and have stuck with the brand.  I'm sometimes tempted by other cruise lines (with 2 kids now the 3/4 passenger rates do make a differenece) but so far, we've stuck with RCL.

 

So far my best cruise is either my last one, or my next one, depending on where I'm at in the booking process!  :)

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