What's it like during sailaway?

[cruisin' scrapper]

I keep picturing that moment in my head too! A few years ago, my DH & I were in Galveston when one of the cruise ships left. We heard the horn blast & we went over by one of the piers so we could wave to them! Ever since I found out I was going cruisin', I've been imagining what it'll be like to be on the other side of the coin. I'LL be the one on deck, waving good-bye to everyone on the docks!!! I can't wait!!! :D :D :D

[ozcaz]

Hi everyone,

 

 

Being a first time cruiser, this hadnt even entered my head!

It sounds like so much fun. Gives me the goose bumps just thinking about it!

 

Whoooooooooooooooooo!

 

Have a great trip everyone.

 

Caz

[Sunrise]

My dream is to one day be one of those retirees standing on their balcony in the high-rise condos that surround the port in Ft. Lauderdale waving to the cruisers on the ships as they sail away!! Sail away is truly one of the most exciting parts of the cruise -- not to be missed!

[MrsPete]

Perhaps we're different, but we don't enjoy the sailaway parties. They're so crowded! In fact, we don't enjoy whole-ship events (deck parties, midnight buffets) because of the crowds.

 

What we do love is being on our balcony or at the extreme back or front of the ship so that we can see the ship is finally moving! It's exciting to bid goodbye to land.

[CruiseFever]

The above are such great responses!

 

I think sailaway is a special part of the cruise for most everyone. We like to start on deck, watching the ship pull away from the dock then head to our balcony to watch that land fade into the distance as we head out to sea. Behind us are all our land-bound cares and concerns and ahead lies the vast ocean and the relaxing, fun vacation to come.

 

Here's some video of what it looks like to sail away from the Port of Miami which features some of those high rise condos that I too dream of living in some day, waving to the cruise ship passengers as the set out to sea like Sunrise (above).

 

For us, the feeling never goes away either, no matter how many cruises we go on!

 

Thanks everyone for the awesome responses to this question!

[Deb in Cali]

We will sailing out of SF in June 05. I have heard that they blast the horn while the ship is passing under the Golden Gate bridge. I am soooo looking forward to that expereince.

[breeding]

This is so exciting - Our family will be on it's first cruise in June on the NCL Wind. I will have to share all this wonderful information with them.

[beaming90]

We got a great tip about Sailaway, we were told to keep the bottles of bubbles that we get at weddings and use them. They are very small, and take up no room. I cannot wait!