Hey Oldtimers, what got you started cruising?

"Seehorse Video" wrote:
Anybody else willing to try an
old review from memory?
Harry Cooper

I think I've done this before, but I'll do it again. My first cruise
was in July 1950 from NY to La Havre. Our cousins from NJ apparently
took us to the ship. (My father's sister and her children, plus
friends of her children.) They came on board and afterwards were
there on the dock to wave goodbye. I took this picture - I think with
a Brownie camera
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?fil...&id=1643993700

1 - my oldest cousin, 2 my dad, 3 my cousin, 4 my mom, 5 my cousin's
friend, 6 my aunt, 7 my sister and 8 my other cousin. Note - women
wearing hats and men wearing coats and ties. It was windy on deck and
my sister and I had trouble keeping our skirts down.

We were traveling second class. We had an inside cabin with two bunk
beds, and if we wanted a bath, we had to make an appointment to use
the room with the bathtub in it which was down the hall. The steward
would 'draw' the bath for us, and tell us when it was ready. The
bathtub would have a lot of water in it - more than the couple of
inches that my mom usually allowed us. We didn't have a shower at
home, and I don't know whether there was one on the ship in the Bath
Room. I don't remember anything else specific about the ship
personnel (except that my dad tipped them), but of course I didn't
deal with them myself.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?fil...&id=1643993700
This was us at dinner - me, my mom, my dad and my sister. It was my
mom's birthday (she was 41) and the flowers on the table were for her.
We got a big menu for each meal, but I don't remember that there was
much choice. I don't remember anything about the food

There was a separate pool for the first class and second class. The
pool was salt water. I don't remember much about the entertainment
except that there was a dice based horse racing game, and bingo played
on the deck and canasta games, a large percentage of which my sister
and I won (I think my dad did the betting on the horse racing game).
We had reserved deck chairs and we could have hot tea sitting wrapped
up on the deck.. There was ping pong and shuffleboard.

My dad was fascinated by the wake of the ship (he was from Colorado)
and took lots of pictures of it. There were some other young people
on board - most a little bit older than I was. My dad took pictures
of one of them - a 16 year old girl from Texas who was named Mary Lou,
posing on the rail with the ship wake in the background. I soon
learned my way around the ship, including how to get up into first
class by the back stairs.

We ran into a storm of some kind and it delayed us so that we were a
day late getting to Southampton (our first port) and so we were also a
day late getting to LeHavre. My dad was not a good sailor, but the
rest of us had no problem.

We were traveling with Thos. Cook as independent travelers, and since
we were a day late, we missed going to Luxembourg which was to have
been our first night. We went to Paris, and then visited Belgium,
Holland, Denmark (we were in the Tivoli gardens when planes dropped a
flyer about the start of the Korean War) and Germany (US, British and
French zones), Austria, Switzerland and then back to Paris where my
dad had a paper to give at a convention (International Cancer
Congress).

Then we took the ferry across the English channel on a VERY rough day
on which green water was washing over the outside decks. My dad was
sick, but we sat in the crowded lounge and had hot tea and were fine.
After we visited London, Daddy had another paper to give at a
convention in Oxford (this time the Anatomical Congress), and then we
rented a car and drove up to Edinburgh and back. We had many
adventures which included getting back one wrong passport from the
train porter in Switzerland, and running out of soap in England to
find that it was still rationed and we couldn't buy any. (Some kind
lady gave us her coupons so we could get some.)

We left for the return crossing from Southampton. This time, there
was a cute boy named Wally Zimmerman who was about 15 from Detroit. I
wonder what happened to him. There was no storm this time.

On Oct 7, 10:11*am, "Seehorse Video" wrote:
We have had several new cruisers asking for advice lately and often they
trigger memories of my first cruise fifty years ago. *Are any of you gray
beards and blue haired ladies willing to give us a review of your
introduction to this way of life? *It should be fun.

Harry Cooper

My first cruise was circa 1973... The MTS Jason and the Greek
Islands... great Italian waiter staff.
It was mid-size ship for the time but it was the biggest thing I'd
ever been on that moved... it was a great introduction to the
lifestyle...
I still have the bronze cabin key label... its on my keychain.

That was then... now, I'm booked on the Liberty (20x the tonnage of
the "Jason") for March '10... Thanks for helping it come together so
smoothly Ray!

jay
Thu Oct 08, 2009

"D Ball" wrote in message
...
Great thread, Harry. I am thoroughly enjoying reading everyone's
accounts.

I agree, Diana,
We took our first cruise on the Regal Princess in 1995.
We would never have cruised if it were not for our eldest daughter. She had
moved from Alaska to Seattle with her family and decided to take a
sabbatical from her nursing career for a year and went to work for Princess.
After she had taken her first cruise, she kept after us constantly to try
one. I told her I had absolutely no desire to go on a cruise, but she was
relentless and we finally gave in. She, nor anyone else, had to talk us into
our next one and since 1995, we have taken 46 cruises and have six future
bookings ahead!

I enjoyed reading that your first cruise was on the Norwegian Sea, Diana.
She was our 10th cruise in 2000 and we enjoyed her immensely. The ship was
mostly filled with Texans since she departed from Houston and that was one
friendly bunch of passengers...you were not a stranger to anyone for very
long! They had a bunch of Jimmy Buffett fans on the ship and did we ever
enjoy his music...the band and singers were terrific!

--Jean

Our first cruise was in 1989 on an RCCL ship out of Miami. It was
the first time I'd been on any ship that big and it was beautiful.
On advice from our friend and TA at the time, we booked 2 cabins:
one for us and next door for the kids, 15 and 13 at the time. It
was just a 4-day cruise, coupled with a few days at Disneyworld.

On the second night, about 11:00p, I decided that I wanted to have
a drink, so I got out of bed, got dressed and headed for a bar in
the casino. There at the bar was my son with a cigarette in hand
and the remains of a martini in front of him. He was calm and
mellow when I sat down beside him, then looked over and saw that
it was his Dad who had just joined him at the bar.

I said nothing. He simply ground out the cigarette and we had our
drinks in peace and quiet. He finished his with nothing said,
then returned to the cabin he was sharing with his sister.

Great old memories: thanks for the thread.


--
Nonny

Live a good and honorable life.
Then when you get older and
think back, you'll enjoy it
a second time.

"D Ball" wrote in message
...
Great thread, Harry. I am thoroughly enjoying reading everyone's
accounts.


SNIP


Keep the stories coming!

Diana Ball
Austin, TX

Hi Diana,

I remember your request for advice for your first cruise. This group is
good at helping newbies get started. You may have gone just a tiny bit
overboard on the carry on baggage, but you probably had more fun than
anybody.

Harry Cooper

Nonny,

I have some Chris and Sam stories.. but I choose not to share them
here VVBG


My first cruise, as an adult (there were a few before that as a child,
where I really don't recall the details) was in 1984 on the old (what
did I know) Bermuda Star of the Bahama Star lines (Or Bumuda Star?).

It was a 7 days out of New Orleans. My first time in NOLA. The
schedule was NOLA, Key West and Cozumel.

She was a small ship, with just a few food & drink options. But what
I recall the most is the first night out of NOLA as we where cruising
down the Mississippi River. I had early dinner then was at the
singles party in the "Disco".

They had all the singles take off one shoe and throw it in the middle
of the dance floor. The idea being that you picked up a women's shoe,
and that was you mate for the cruise. Whatever.. (She Was!!!)

At the point that we were reaching for shoes the ship ran into a barge
going down the river and everybody kind of fell over... Hell-o!

They stopped the ship to check it out. OK. The next morning in Key
West we all looked at the huge gash from the barge that hit us... What
a sight.

It was at this point that I had to seek out funds...as it was a Cash
bar.(No one told me..TA Sucked) This were before the days of easy
ATM's, and had to go to a bank and get funds off my Master Card. What
a trip.

The next night at Dinner they had the Baked Alaskan Parade... Was good
for a few seconds, but they forgot that it was a low ceiling and it
was decorated with banner or Orange and Black for Halloween... They
took to fire not well at all.

btw...NOLA Stank as it was NOLA, And Key West Stank as it was in the
middle of Fantasty Fest... And Coz was Coz. Mucho better back then!

In Cozumel it was Halloween Night. The Neptuno Disco had just opened,
and we had a 1:00 AM sail time... I made it just in time. What a trip
with all the costumes.. you had no idea who was local or cruise.


I left off many details . but I had the time of my life as I was 31 at
that time. I hooked into one hell of a group that I met on board. I
was with a Singleworld Group...Last time with them..

Not sure if I would cruise again, I waited until 1987, on the CCL
Jubilee.. It sucked... but I kept going. 31 with CCL now, and 29 with
RCCL...


Sure .. I will keep cruising. Have 82 under my belt, with 4 booked
at this moment. One booked yesterday and another early this morning!!


Stephen in FLL------ will be creamated and ashes scattered at Sea ;-)









So.. two disaters on my "first" cruise and I'm still going strong!!




The next night at dinner

"Go Fig" wrote in message
...
On Oct 7, 10:11 am, "Seehorse Video" wrote:
We have had several new cruisers asking for advice lately and often they
trigger memories of my first cruise fifty years ago. Are any of you gray
beards and blue haired ladies willing to give us a review of your
introduction to this way of life? It should be fun.

Harry Cooper

My first cruise was circa 1973... The MTS Jason and the Greek
Islands... great Italian waiter staff.
It was mid-size ship for the time but it was the biggest thing I'd
ever been on that moved... it was a great introduction to the
lifestyle...
I still have the bronze cabin key label... its on my keychain.

That was then... now, I'm booked on the Liberty (20x the tonnage of
the "Jason") for March '10... Thanks for helping it come together so
smoothly Ray!

jay
Thu Oct 08, 2009


I found a little more info from the SS Queen of Bermuda and my first cruise.
She was built in 1932, about 550 feet long and 70 feet wide, 20,000 tons.
The second class was segregated from the first class by staircases and
traffic patterns, similar to the old SS Rotterdam from HAL and probably the
more famous Queens. I think the ship held 700 passengers and our fare was
$62.00 PP for a 7 day cruise. The nickname was the millionaire line,
chuckle, chuckle. There were no singing waiters nor parade of chefs but
they did have baked Alaska. With the exception of WW 2, the Queen ran the
Bermuda route from 1932 to about 1966, ultimately dismantled in the '80's.
That's a long life by today's standards.

Thinking about that $62 fare, in 1960, my VW bug cost $1,800, a loaf of
bread was a dime, gas was 19.9, sirloin 79 cents a pound and rent on my two
bedroom house was $90/month. Combined salary for my wife and me was
$1,000/month, our first year out of college. Life was good. Still is.

Harry Cooper

Nonny wrote:
On the second night, about 11:00p, I decided that I wanted to have a
drink, so I got out of bed, got dressed and headed for a bar in the
casino. There at the bar was my son with a cigarette in hand and the
remains of a martini in front of him. He was calm and mellow when I
sat down beside him, then looked over and saw that it was his Dad who
had just joined him at the bar.

LOL What a wonderful story, Nonny. You and Mrs. Nonny are so wise, I
can see why your children have grown up so well.


Becca

Hi Diana,

I remember your request for advice for your first cruise. *This group is
good at helping newbies get started. *You may have gone just a tiny bit
overboard on the carry on baggage, but you probably had more fun than
anybody.

Harry Cooper

Harry, that is wild you remember my newbie questions! You are so
right, we had a ball on that cruise, but we've never packed that much
again!

I loved hearing all about your honeymoon cruise. The details you
provided and have prompted everyone else to provide are so
interesting.

Thank you for giving us all a chance to share good memories and good
talk about cruising.

Diana

This has been one of the most interesting threads .

Since I am probably the oldest "Oldtimer", my first cruise goes way
back to 1968. It was on the White Star Carmania that had become part of
the Cunard Line It had recently been fitted out from an ocean liner to a
cruise ship. It had also carried troops in WW2 The crew were not used to
a one class ship and treated us all like 1st class passengers.

I don't know who had the 1st idea to try a cruise vacation but we were a
group of 3 neighbor couples and I invited friends of mine to join us
making 4 couples. We saved. sewed and shopped for months because this
was the most expensive vacation any of us had ever taken. We had gotten
brochures from all the cruise lines and it boiled down to a German,
Norwegian or British ship. I can't remember why we chose the British.
Back then we paid brochure rates. No shopping around. We just went to a
local travel agent and booked a 10 day Caribbean cruise. Then we read
every word in the brochure to give us an idea of what a cruise would be
like.

We paid extra for our deck chairs and had an assigned chair. Everything
onboard was cash and I do remember the men would spend the morning
waiting for the sun to go over the yardarm playing cards and drinking 10
cent beers. Served in the pint thumb print mugs. The liquor was all duty
free so drinks were cheap.

There was no casino but there was bingo, horse races and betting on the
daily mileage. There was also no spa, no fitness center, and no ship
excursions. We got taxis in the ports and took a tour of the islands.

All meals were either late or early seating. No open seating at all and
dinner was a formal affair. We were served by white gloved waiters from
large platters. Picking what we wanted and telling them how much to
serve us. The crew were all from the UK.

There was a list published with the names of al the passengers and we
spent time trying to put faces to names on the list. We called one very
stylish woman Delores Del Rio. She had a very Spanish appearance. We
took on and let off passengers in the various ports.

I think I remember more about that cruise than I do about the 60 or more
we have taken since then.

P.S. I also travelled on the Epirotoki Jason back in about 1980. Another
"oldie but goodie"

~~DORIS~~
**________*/*/___/*/___/*/_________
*\::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::/
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


http://community.webtv.net/DorisIs/AROUNDTHEHORN