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How did you become interested in taking your first cruise?


bcarney

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Most people didn't wake up one morning and exclaim "hey, I want to take a cruise!".  How did you first become interested in taking a cruise?

 

My then fiancee and I were doing wedding planning and I was thinking of a week in Tahiti for a honeymoon.  But damn.. that was expensive...did I want to go into that much debt for a honeymoon?  Memorable, yes, each time the credit card bill would come it would be a reminder...

 

A local franchisee of a major cruise chain would scour the local paper's wedding license announcements and sent people a brochure about cruising.  She sent us a copy, and since she was just a few blocks from my place we made an appointment and met with her.  She talked about cruising and we priced out a few cruises and decided to book one right then and there.  It was 1/3rd the cost of the Tahiti trip (which appealed to me, being as frugal as I am), and actually sounded more interesting than going to a single resort in Tahiti.  What really hooked me was a photo that showed the size of of some Princess ship behind the US Capitol Building - and the ship was larger!  (this was 1999, well before the Oasis class ships!).

 

We took the cruise (Carnival Fascination)...and I was hooked.  I think the pivotal moment was our last port day, when on an excursion on a Tiami catamaran cruise in Barbados a very drunk man from Arkansas came up to me and said "you're newlyweds?  Well, let me give you some advice, because I've been married FIVE times...."  

 

We came back from the honeymoon, and my mind immediately went to trying to figure out how to take another cruise... and here I am, 13 years later and just a few days from our 11th cruise.  And apparently my love of cruising has rubbed off on my siblings.  We came from very humble beginnings (where a vacation out of state might as well have been a trip to the moon), and we are all now avid cruisers.

 

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I took my first cruise in 2005 on Explorer of the Seas. I went with a family group of 6 for just a family vacation. I didn't know anything about cruising, had never heard of Royal Caribbean, Cruise Critic or even looked at a deck plan.

 

We got on the ship and had the time of our lives. I couldn't believe an experience existed like the one we found on a cruise. To be on this floating resort with just about anything at your fingertips, with people willing to get you anything you wanted. Not having to make your bed, wash your dishes or plan anything was an amazing feeling.

 

Since then I've been on 5 cruises total, even getting married on Liberty of the Seas in 2008, and think it is the only way to travel. I do enjoy Disney World as well, but a cruise is way more relaxing and better value for my money. 

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I took my first cruise with my (now) husband and in-laws in June (or July) 2005.  DH (boyfriend at the time) and i were btwn our Jr and Sr year in college and my mother-in-law invited me to come on a 5 night to Bermuda with them, out of Baltimore, on Grandeur.  At the time, I was a (very) poor college student and she asked me to pay half, which was only $300, and I knew NO ONE that had ever been on a cruise before but I was very close to turning it down because i definitely didn't have a spare $300 laying around at the time (again POOR college kid) - my friends told me i was crazy not to go so I asked my parents for a loan and to the ship we went.  

 

As a young kiddo, my parents had an old speed boat that we used to take out on the Allegheny in the summers and i loved it. I have always loved water and any type of boating (despite a near drowning incident i had as a young child, when we hooked up my snow tube to the back of above-mentioned speed boat and i got trapped underneath). 

 

From the moment i stepped foot on Grandeur in 2005, it was love at first ALL-THE-SENSES!  Since then we've been on 3 (regrettably ONLY 3) and hope to go on our 4th in Fall '15 and (fingers crossed) we'll be Platinum C&A by the time that cruise is over! 

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My wife and my first cruise was on Explorer of the seas in 2012 to Bermuda out of New Jersey. We were looking for something to do on vacation and did not want to fly anymore so we said lets try a cruise and we loved it. We had been to Bermuda 2 times before but had flown there. While we were on our way we both said why did we not do this 10 years ago so now we are hooked we cruised last year on CC sorry :) the Pride out of Baltimore. As soon as we got home we book a cruise for 2014 to Bermuda on the Grandeur. Not sure yet where we are going in 2015 but it will be a cruise. They say you will either love cruising or hate it well we love it. I think for the money its a great deal. We have been to Disney 5 times and those all cost a lot more than a cruise.

 

ERS

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My first cruise was on Disney Cruise Line for my sister's 13th birthday.  I think the reason we were interested was it was Disney and we had always heard good things about cruises but never took one.

 

We enjoyed that cruise a lot and then started taking more cruises and gravitated to Royal Caribbean because of more choices in ships, itineraries and lower prices.

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First cruise was in 2005, I took my then 4 year old daughter on the Ecstasy

to Baja Mexico. The ships photographer followed her all around the

ship and took pictures of her - she loved it. Each day she took a nap

in the window ledge in our cabin.  I would not sail again until 2011 when

Disney offered rates of $39 per person, just to get people to travel after 9/11

Since that cruise I've been on about 25 ships/cruises and love it.

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My first cruise was in 1984 on Song of America (I was young then!!). At that time, I knew no one who had ever been on a cruise, but I like to travel and decided to take a chance.  The rest is history.

 

I loved being able to unpack once and sample such a variety of activities and excursions.  Since then, I have tried Carnival and NCL for only one time each, but I am a true-blue RCCL cruiser now.  My next ventures are in November on Navigator OTS and in May 2015 on Independence OTS.

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We took our first cruise in 2003 because Disney had built the Magic and Wonder and well....we love anything Disney :)  It was only a 4 night cruise, which wasn't long enough, so we did a second DCL cruise for  7 nights in 2013.  After that I realize it's not just Disney, but cruising we love!! 

 

Fast forward to 2014 and no family vacation planned because 14 yr old son is getting braces :(  No way we can afford a cruise and braces right??  Nope, RCCL comes out with the 3rd & 4th & 5th sail free!!  So just a little nudging on my part,  and I convince my husband we can do this!!  Now just over 200 days until our first RCCL cruise :)

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This is a great question! I went on my first cruise with my wife and her parents in December of 2010 on the Adventure of the Seas out of San Juan for a 7 night Southern Caribbean cruise. The only reason I agreed to go is because my wife's parents said they would pay for our trip. Prior to that, I was pretty adamant about not going on a cruise because I "didn't want to be stuck in a small, confined area for a week and be bored". My wife had cruised 4 times (all on Royal) previously and did a great job of convincing me that I would not be bored, due to all of the activities always going on onboard the ship and that the ship would not feel like a small and confining space. She knew that I LOVE the water and any kind of boat, as well as my love for eating, good food, and good entertainment, so she was eventually able to convince me to give it a try (especially after her parents said they would pay for our trip). The second I stepped onboard the Adventure, I was hooked! The ship was amazing and its size was almost overwhelming! I knew that I would not feel like I was confined to a small space and would not feel like it was crowded (most of the time). We were spoiled with a balconly stateroom which I felt was actually quite spacious. By the third day of the cruise, we were at the Next Cruise desk onboard booking a 9 night Eastern Caribbean cruise for the following November. A couple months after the cruise, we decided we couldn't wait that long to take our next one, so we found a really good deal on a short 3 night Bahamas cruise on Monarch in April. We have since taken a total of 8 cruises, including a Transatlantic, and currently have two more booked! All have been on Royal. To this point, other than a few minor issues that were immediately addressed and corrected, we have never had a bad experience with Royal.

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  • 3 months later...

My first cruise was on Carnival Celebration back in 1988.  I had been traveling for work 5 days a week, every week, for over a year.  This included domestic and international travel.  i just wanted to sleep in the same bed for a week and relax.  My wife had been at home so she was ready to travel!  She came up with the cruise idea and I thought it was a great solution!  I could relax, be pampered, wake up in a different port of call every day, and still sleep in the same bed for the whole week.  I loved it!

 

Back then we weren't as connected to work via email and cell phone as we are now, but being able to tell my colleagues at work that they can't get in touch with me for a week is also a great reason to cruise.  I just can't believe that 26 years later we haven't been on more cruise ships… I plan to make up for some lost time.

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Back then we weren't as connected to work via email and cell phone as we are now, but being able to tell my colleagues at work that they can't get in touch with me for a week is also a great reason to cruise. 

 

I remember that feeling from our very first cruise (on Celebrity Century back in 1998). We had just boarded and were led to our cabin by a woman wearing white gloves. It felt so elegant. Even though we had a cabin on a lower deck, we were made to feel special.

 

Anyway, after arriving in our cabin, I remember using our cell phone to call a friend of ours. I was absolutely giddy with excitement, knowing that we were going to be taken away from everything that we knew of the real world for the next 7 nights.

 

Now, I always get the internet package and I'll often call home (using Skype) regularly throughout the cruise. So much for any sort of disconnection any longer. :)

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I think what is interesting is how similar some of our reasons are and then how different

It still amazes me that 80% of Americans have not cruised and price or location to get

to these cruises in one factor - still my favorite way to Vacation - love being on water

That is interesting. I am surprised that percentage is so high. What I have come across are people who "know" they won't like cruising (my brother being one of them) when they have  never been. I know  cruising is not for everyone and that's ok, but I don't get how people can knock it having never done it.

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I grew up in the Outer Western Suburbs of Sydney, Australia. I often would travel by bus and train for 45 minutes to get to the city so i could look at the cruise ships as they came in and take some photos, I always wanted to go on one but could only dream of it.

Now I live in Adelaide Australia, 1400 kms away and am able to afford a cruise, My wife and I both love photography and are looking forward to taking many beautiful photos on our first Cruise, we have travelled around the uk and ireland by coach so now feel a cruise ship is the next way to go.

Peter

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I had never thought one way or another prior to our first time. It was a wedding gift and oh what a gift that turned out to be! Our initiation into the cruise life took place aboard the Enchantment of the Seas. Royals commitment to quality service showed throughout the trip and even though Enchantment is one of their smallest ships I was hooked. I recall the podcast about ship classes and which ones were more recommended for first timers. If the small Enchantment was so awesome, voyager and above classes being close to 2 even 3 times the size (at least in tonnage) blows my mind!

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I had always wanted a cruise holiday but in Australia we were rpetty limyed for choice. P&O Australia were the only real choice down here and they had a terrible reputation for being booze cruises and men praying on women (and women doing the same). Basically bogan (redneck) paradise on the water. This put me and many other people off cruising.

 

It wasn't untill just a could of years ago when talking to relatives they mentioned Rhapsody of the Seas and what a great time they had. Thy showed us photos and raved about how they basically put P&O to shame. They were planning a cruise on the then new to Ausrtralia, Radiance of the Seas. We bit the bullet and joined them and havent looked back. Our first cruise was February 2012 and we are about to take our 8th in just over a month.

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I always loved the water and wanted to cruise.  The first time was in the early 90's on a cheap day ship over to Nassau.  Luckily I was young and stupid.  The "cruise ship" was small, cramped, with most of the passengers sailing over in the morning, spending the day in Nassau and sailing back that night.  I did the add on of a room in Nassau for the night.  What a horror but I loved it.  

 

First real cruise was in 1999 on the (then) new Disney Magic.  It took years to get my wife on another ship but since it was Disney, it was a go.  Great time was had by all and I was hooked.  Multiple Disney sailings later, I am still waiting for my first RCI trip.  But soon, hopefully.  

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I was curious for years but had heard the horror stories/rumors, plus the cost of getting to a cruise(from Canada), plus the cost once on the cruise(extras, tips and drinks!) was too much imho. So I travelled south for years and did AI's.

 

However, as soon as the drink packages came out, I decided to take the plunge and book a cruise. Have done 3 in the past 2 years and am ready to book my fourth.

 

Now that I have experienced it, I prefer it over an AI.....it's just convincing others to join me as the single supplement is killer with RCI.

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