Special First Time Cruisers con't

There is not much else to say about my brother and sister-in-laws first cruise experience if you read their comments to the previous posting. They had a blast! I did get to talk with them last night and once again, we receive the one benefit that is really "neat" about being a cruise specialist.

Even with approximately 50 cruises now (long and short)under out belt, we do still think about our first cruise experience in Dec 1997 on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas to the Western Caribbean. It was an incredible experience and I remember waking up on Monday morning (cruise started on Sun) and Helen and I saying "Oh, we will do this again!"

Little did we know we would become cruise specialists 4 years and 9 cruises later. So what is the benefit? It's reliving our first cruise experience through other peoples eyes after their first cruise. And we get to do this every time we book a "first timer" when they get home. This is why we really do love working with people in helping them plan and experience what we have come to love.

One of Don's comments was they were thinking Mon morning while waiting to disembark was "I wonder if we could get a cabin and stay onboard?" They told me something last night that I hadn't heard before and I had to chuckle. This says it all - they had decided to take their own luggage off the ship which would entitle them to get off earliest. But they had number 14 for disembarkation and tried to change with someone who had number 24. they just did not want to leave.

So welcome home bro and we are glad you now understand why we love cruising.

Special First Time Cruisers

Although we love first time cruisers, why would this one be special? Simply because it is my brother and sister-in-law!

We did our first cruise 12 years ago next month and always enjoy re-living that experience through the eyes of those we book on their first cruise. We have been in the business of professional cruise specialists for 8 years now. Yesterday, my bro and sister-in-law, who have heard us talk about our wonderful experiences, embarked on a ship - the Carnival Elation - for their first cruise experience.

They have been on the water in small (48-80 foot boats) so that part was not new. But Gloria's comment when we talked to them a few hours after they boarded, had lunch, explored the ship, etc., was "This is HUGE!" We laughed because at only 70,000 GT we consider this a small ship these days.

Gloria had set this up as a special birthday present for Don's 60th and since he is the one who is always creating surprises for others, when they sprung this trip on him (at a surprise party in Sept, too I might add), he was surprised. He hadn't thought too much about it until they arrived at the port in San Diego yesterday but once on board, he did realize "this is going to be a very relaxing and fun weekend." I will continue this one when we speak on Monday after they get back.