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Topic: Cruising as both an adult and child

desirod7
First Class Passenger
Member # 1626

posted 11-15-2001 12:51 PM

Some of us on this board, Sailmom, Joe, and myself have cruised as both adults and children, Sailmom was on the Canberra about the time I was; during her Big Red Boat period.

I know that Topgun hates kids on cruises, but it is in the cruise lines interests to start their customers young to get them hooked. This strategy works beautifully with the tobacco companies and the religious institutions.

I would believe that life long cruisers are less likely to get seasick, better understand a lifeboat drill, better manouver a buffet line, and most important: how to treat other passengers and crew members.

My first cruise was at the age of 9 [TSS Olympia-now Regal Empress] and by 15 I had been on 4. I have been on 6 cruises as an adult; all on classic ships.

It was amazing therapy to reboard the Regal Empress 28.5 years later since the last time I was on her. I could see major differences in who I was then and now like stills from a film. I even recognized the scent, steward buttons, library, and dining hall from long ago albiet they seem smaller now. Could hear voices from back then too.

Anyone else besides Joe, Sailmom and me life long cruisers? Any thoughts?

[ 07-06-2002: Message edited by: desirod6 ]

Posts: 5727 | From: Philadelphia, Pa [home of the SS United States] | Registered: Oct 2000 | IP: Logged

PamM
First Class Passenger
Member # 2127

posted 11-15-2001 02:23 PM

quote:
Originally posted by desirod6:

Anyone else besides Joe, Sailmom and me life long cruisers? Any thoughts?

Yup, I cruised as a child and adult, not that many 'cruises' overall though, and a long gap after my first was born before my youngest was 'old' enough. [I don't believe in taking babies, but from 5 onwards is OK with me.
My first was at 5, and I remember the lot [told the story somewhere here before], first impressions stick. The smell of the ropes and salt doesn't seem to be around much these days

that's what I like. My father was a Captain in the [UK] merchant navy and subsequently a marine supervisor of an oil tanker port, so I have also been aboard many a large oil tanker in my 'youth', not for sailing on though, just checking out

The sea sticks and one just must get back sometime.
On that first cruise I was as sick as a dog for 3 days, but n'er a hint of the mal-de-mere since, whatever the weather, and I prefer it rough, so might be some truth in what you say. My own children have never had a hint of it at all.

Pam

Posts: 12176 | From: Cambridge, UK | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged

topgun
First Class Passenger
Member # 928

posted 11-15-2001 03:18 PM

Desirod, I think that you sideswiped me in your comment; "Topgun hates kids on cruiseships".

To be accurate and put things in context lets agree to change this to; "Topgun prefers to avoid cruise ships with large numbers of children on board. In his opinion, when their numbers become upward of 200 or so, unruly elements in the group tend to spoil the cruise experience for others"

This is my opinion which I believe is supported by a silent majority.

Otherwise, I agree that an early exposure can addict anyone to cruising.

Having said my piece, I now have other concerns. After a few years absence, we shall be on Holland America"s Volendam in early January.

Here, the passenger mix goes to the other extreme. Tell me that it isn't so. I am informed that they now place comlimentary Geritol in the cabin instead of the usual chocolate on the pillow at night.

Posts: 759 | From: Burlington ont,canada Cruise center of North America | Registered: Nov 1999 | IP: Logged

Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 11-15-2001 05:40 PM

Topgun , I've heard it described as: "The average age onboard was deceased"!;-)

Posts: 19210 | From: Essex (Just Outside London) | Registered: A Long Time Ago! | IP: Logged

desirod7
First Class Passenger
Member # 1626

posted 11-15-2001 05:40 PM

quote:
Originally posted by topgun:
; "Topgun prefers to avoid cruise ships with large numbers of children on board. In his opinion, when their numbers become upward of 200 or so, unruly elements in the group tend to spoil the cruise experience for others"

Hello Topgun,

I do not disagree with you. If you read my 'passengers from hell' posts. The kids under 5 were a major problem on the Canberra and Queen Anna Maria. All the families with young kids were cordoned to one section of the dining room.

While my mother was pregnant with me, the family was on the 'Queen of Bermuda' and my older sister, then 4yo fell out of the bunk during a storm in the Gulf Stream. A railing was then put up. That sister refused to put on a life jacket and made a scene.

Funny story
In Bermuda they allowed 4 bottles per person duty free. My Mom, Dad, and 3 older siblings was 5 people and brought home 20 bottles. Later they changed the law with a minimum ageLOL

On the Norway there was enough to do for little kids that it was not problem. Not so for the Rembrandt, but there were few children. Passengers from hell come in all ages.

Posts: 5727 | From: Philadelphia, Pa [home of the SS United States] | Registered: Oct 2000 | IP: Logged

Green
First Class Passenger
Member # 171

posted 11-16-2001 02:11 PM

quote:
Originally posted by desirod6:
[qb]
Anyone else besides Joe, Sailmom and me life long cruisers? Any thoughts?

quote:
Originally posted by PamM:
Yup, I cruised as a child and adult........... Pam[/QB]

Me too - I was 6,........actually at 4 I did the Stranraer-Larne trip - remember a 'nice lady' feeding me ice cream because both my parents were sick!

First real voyage was from Greenock to Montreal - with my Mum. Our cabin had bunk beds -I got the top one! - recall that we had a Steward and a Stewardess who helped us unpack and then pushed our cabin trunk under the lower bunk - Tourist Class cabins were very compact! You made an appointment to have a bath; Cabin Boys all wore pillbox hats, their jackets had 2 rows of shiny brass buttons!

I was very sick for the first few days - soon recovered, we kids thought rough weather was fun - sitting on a cushion, you could go from one end of the dance floor to the other - whee!! Managing to sneak a peek at the First Class pax, all dressed to kill, as they went to dinner was another fun thing.

I do think it's true that in finding your 'sea legs' early, you're probably set for life. I experience no problems now, whatever the weather.

Posts: 2913 | From: Markham, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Jul 99 | IP: Logged

Dmitriy
First Class Passenger
Member # 128

posted 11-20-2001 04:22 PM

Me too... My first cruise was in the summer of '86 on Blasco's Gruziya. I was 10

We left Odessa on Sunday and visited Yalta (still one of my favorite ports), Sochi, Suhumi, Batumi, Novorossiysk, and Sevastopol (ex-USSR, now Russian, Ukrainian, and Georgian ports on the Black Sea).
What's funny is that the next year ('87 and two years later in '89) my parents and I repeated this itenarary on Ivan Franko (think a stripped down version of Marco Polo but without WC's in the staterooms.) - she was about 20,000 tons or so and seemed absolutely enormeous to me. I recall being completely amazed by the size of the dining room which was entire deck-wide.
Even Norway which I enjoyed fully in '99 did not have that impact on me

Well, in less than a week, I will be on Grand Princess...wish me luck and safe flights from the West Coast...lol.
BTW, a question on the side. We will spend a day in Majahual, Mexico - any suggestion on what to do there?

Posts: 118 | Registered: Jul 99 | IP: Logged

Frank X. Prudent
First Class Passenger
Member # 1723

posted 01-02-2002 02:41 AM

I was 14 when I first booked myself on the DELTA QUEEN for a one night cruise out of Cincinnati on June 14, 1974. I'm sure that the poor travel agent had no idea that they were booking a 14 year old kid as it all transpired over the phone. When I told my parents what I had done my dad booked to go with me.

I still have my ticket and for a texas deck room with extra wide berths, carpeting, and a shower and toilet the whopping fare was $77.00 double occupancy.

Posts: 577 | From: Covington, Kentucky, U.S.A. | Registered: Dec 2000 | IP: Logged

desirod7
First Class Passenger
Member # 1626

posted 02-05-2002 12:57 PM

Anymore stories?
Anymore thoughts?

Posts: 5727 | From: Philadelphia, Pa [home of the SS United States] | Registered: Oct 2000 | IP: Logged

Namlit
First Class Passenger
Member # 1940

posted 02-17-2002 10:19 AM

When I was nine or ten my parents took the family on a transatlantic crossing aboard the Mikhail Lermontov. She sailed from new York to Bremerhaven. My favorite of many fond memories of that trip was sneaking around the ship "spying" on the East German crew with several other kids my age. We had the run of the ship, including many areas that were clearly not intended for passangers. The crew was absolutely terrific, and seemed to enjoy the fact that we were having so much fun exploring every nook and cranny of the ship. I don't remember anyone ever being cross with us, as so often happened when I snuck into verboten areas at home. It was a great experience, and definitely got me hooked on ocean liners.

Desirod6 may have something on the sea-sickness immunity angle. I have never been seasick, even in fairly rough seas (which I enjoy).

Posts: 309 | From: Greene County, Indiana, USA | Registered: Apr 2001 | IP: Logged

Guest
First Class Passenger
Member # 1157

posted 03-22-2002 10:40 AM

[ 07-28-2021: Message edited by: Guest ]

Posts: 1888 | From: Earth | Registered: Mar 2000 | IP: Logged

desirod7
First Class Passenger
Member # 1626

posted 07-06-2002 12:57 PM

for Potadoughs

PS: I love Rehoboth Beach, and the various DuPont Estates in Delaware

Posts: 5727 | From: Philadelphia, Pa [home of the SS United States] | Registered: Oct 2000 | IP: Logged

Barryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 33

posted 07-28-2002 05:05 PM

As a youth my cruising experience was mostly on the ferries in Seattle. When I was in highschool I made trips to Miami to visit the ships, but didn't take my first cruise till 1984...which is when I was actually a stow away on the Caribe I, which is now the Regal Empress.

Posts: 1851 | From: Bloomington, Minnesota (Home to the Mall of America) | Registered: Mar 99 | IP: Logged

cruiseny
First Class Passenger
Member # 2928

posted 07-28-2002 08:55 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Barryboat:
which is when I was actually a stow away on the Caribe I, which is now the Regal Empress.

A stowaway? Please do tell more ...

Happy Cruising,
Cruiseny

Posts: 4730 | From: New York, USA | Registered: Mar 2002 | IP: Logged

Barryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 33

posted 07-28-2002 10:16 PM

In the older days your pass or ID to get on and off the ship in ports was your room key. While visiting the Caribe I in Miami I went to the least likely cabin to be rented out and grabbed the spare key on the desk...(there were three keys total) Then I ended up flying to St Thomas to stay with friends for a few days. I noticed that the Caribe I was in port and used my Caribe I key as my pass to board the ship...it worked no problem. Then I went down to see if that cabin was in use and it was not. On the Caribe I's itinerary...her next stop was San Juan, and my goal was to hitch a ride on a cruise ship to San Juan where I had planned to stay with more friends for a few days. So I gathered my traveling bag, said goodbye to the friends I was staying with in St Thomas and I stowed away on the Caribe I from St Thomas to San Juan. I made a ship to shore call to my friends in San Juan who were expecting to pick me up at the airport, but instead I instructed them to pick me up at the cruise ship terminals. As we arrived in San Juan it was fun to see my friends on the pier watching as the Caribe I was docking. I ended up getting visitor passes for my friends to board a Costa ship...which one I don't remember. We had dinner together (pizza) on the Costa ship and then went home.

During my crossing from St Thomas to San Juan, I took a shower in my cabin and even had cocktails with the Captain on the bridge....no one suspected a thing. It was funny to tell people that I'll see them later in the cruise....to think that they will never see me again. I'm sure there were a number of people who wondered where that mystery guy went???

That's my story...my first cruise on a cruise ship. I was so desperate to experience a cruise that I seemingly had no choice at the time. I could fly free all over the country because my father was an airline pilot. But cruising was expensive and my family never could justify a cruise vacation...so I took it upon myself to sneak in a cruise even if was for only a few hours.

Posts: 1851 | From: Bloomington, Minnesota (Home to the Mall of America) | Registered: Mar 99 | IP: Logged

cruiseny
First Class Passenger
Member # 2928

posted 07-29-2002 09:02 AM

Hello,

Good story Barry, amazing that you could do that back then and nobody caught on!

Happy Cruising,
Cruiseny

Posts: 4730 | From: New York, USA | Registered: Mar 2002 | IP: Logged

Barryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 33

posted 07-29-2002 01:24 PM

I was a student of how the cruise industry worked...I was careful not to be spotted by the steward in that area of cabins.

Posts: 1851 | From: Bloomington, Minnesota (Home to the Mall of America) | Registered: Mar 99 | IP: Logged

PamM
First Class Passenger
Member # 2127

posted 07-29-2002 02:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Cruiseny:
Good story Barry, amazing that you could do that back then and nobody caught on!

A great story to relate. It wouldn't work these days unfortunately, with the cards etc. But if you had an hotel room key for QM it would still get you aboard

That's all they check for when you go in.
[No CruiseNY I didn't keep mine! I suspect some people leave with them inadvertently though]

Pam

Posts: 12176 | From: Cambridge, UK | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged

Barryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 33

posted 07-29-2002 06:46 PM

Actually on the Queen Mary they issue a special little button that has a crown on it....I have about 20 of them. This little button is what distinguishes paying hotel guests from the tourists.

Posts: 1851 | From: Bloomington, Minnesota (Home to the Mall of America) | Registered: Mar 99 | IP: Logged

PamM
First Class Passenger
Member # 2127

posted 07-30-2002 03:41 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Barryboat:
Actually on the Queen Mary they issue a special little button that has a crown on it....I have about 20 of them. This little button is what distinguishes paying hotel guests from the tourists.

When Barryboat? We didn't get anything in Feb. We were only asked to show the room key, and then only once to each person on the entrance, as they remembered faces. Could have checked out and still gone on thereafter.

Pam

Posts: 12176 | From: Cambridge, UK | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged

Barryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 33

posted 07-30-2002 07:19 PM

At least 8 years ago they had the special pins.

Posts: 1851 | From: Bloomington, Minnesota (Home to the Mall of America) | Registered: Mar 99 | IP: Logged

Green
First Class Passenger
Member # 171

posted 07-30-2002 10:06 PM

My Mum's diary records that we had lunch on board the Queen Mary in New York in June 1939 - 'Marys' friend', nice fellow - very posh' is how the entry reads -- my mother was never one to elaborate! - I have only a very vague memory of walking up a gang plank and an even more vague memory of seeing (from my Dad's shoulders) the Queen Mary slip into the River Clyde in Glasgow a few years earlier.

Is it any any wonder I'm hooked on cruising?

Posts: 2913 | From: Markham, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Jul 99 | IP: Logged

Barryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 33

posted 08-01-2002 04:03 PM

I would give my left little toe to have had the opportunity to visit some of the ships on ocean liner row in New York in the 30's!!!!

Posts: 1851 | From: Bloomington, Minnesota (Home to the Mall of America) | Registered: Mar 99 | IP: Logged

Onno
First Class Passenger
Member # 3071

posted 08-02-2002 06:13 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Barryboat:
I would give my left little toe to have had the opportunity to visit some of the ships on ocean liner row in New York in the 30's!!!!

That leaves you nine other wishes!

Onno

Posts: 3583 | From: the Netherlands (Berenbotje ging uit varen...) | Registered: May 2002 | IP: Logged

miami cruiser
First Class Passenger
Member # 3117

posted 08-06-2002 12:02 AM

As a teenager I sailed for the first time on the ss Norway back in March of 1981. Twenty years later I sailed on her again. It was strange seeing the same public rooms all these years later and noticing that so little had changed. It was almost like going back in time and seeing things through the eyes of a 16 year old again. Maybe because she was my first ship the memories of that cruise are still so very clear. It is a bit hard to explain, but I think perhaps those who had sailed years ago on the old Rotterdam and came back many years later might understand that feeling.

Posts: 158 | From: Miami | Registered: Jun 2002 | IP: Logged

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