Most Memorable Cruise Moment

[mdwstcruiser]

I do have to agree with most of you. When my husband and I saw our first cruise ship (Mariner of the Seas) we were in awe. I'm sure our mouths were hanging open. That has to be our top memorable moment.

 

I have two others - dancing with our Mexican tour guides on the all you can drink party catamaran in Cozumel. Nothing more memorable than flying over the waves while you're jumping up and down with your margaritas sloshing all over the place. I must have been memorable because some people approached me on the ship the next day who I don't remember meeting saying you sure had fun yesterday!!

 

My husband and I have cruised by ourselves on our first two cruises. Some of our most memorable moments have been from meeting new people and making new friends. On our most recent cruise we met a wonderful couple from Texas and they are going with us on our next cruise. Hope you read this Tammy and Scott - glad we met you!!!

 

Carol

[ondeckatsea]

Mine was about 18 months ago when we took our first (and only, so far) Hawaiian cruise. I had recently found a long-lost childhood friend through the internet. We had been friends since the first grade and after highschool I got married and had four kids. She went on to a brilliant career in show business and had won an Oscar, all kinds of awards and had a very exciting life. Anyway, we agreed to meet in Kauai. I had got together with her at one of her concerts about a year before. We got into Kauai early and I was so nervous! From the 10th deck I looked down and saw my old friend standing there waiting with her arms loaded with leis. It was so nice!! She and her husband took us all over the island, to her home, to all the specials places on that island and to lunch at the Princeville Resort. It was a perfect day and I'll never forget it as long as I live. This past weekend we were invited to another of her concerts and took our youngest daughter. It's amazing how all the years we lived our separate lives just fell away. That moment looking down from the high deck is something I'll treasure always.

[BonnieNYTX]

Mine was about 18 months ago when we took our first (and only, so far) Hawaiian cruise. I had recently found a long-lost childhood friend through the internet. We had been friends since the first grade and after highschool I got married and had four kids. She went on to a brilliant career in show business and had won an Oscar, all kinds of awards and had a very exciting life. Anyway, we agreed to meet in Kauai. I had got together with her at one of her concerts about a year before. We got into Kauai early and I was so nervous! From the 10th deck I looked down and saw my old friend standing there waiting with her arms loaded with leis. It was so nice!! She and her husband took us all over the island, to her home, to all the specials places on that island and to lunch at the Princeville Resort. It was a perfect day and I'll never forget it as long as I live. This past weekend we were invited to another of her concerts and took our youngest daughter. It's amazing how all the years we lived our separate lives just fell away. That moment looking down from the high deck is something I'll treasure always.

 

I gotta ask.. Who is your friend? LOL

[patrice1]

Ah...will never forget. Maiden year of the Nordic Empress, reserved our first cruise for the least possible money - lowest inside. Got paperwork and it said TBA. Ok, we'll see; TA told us we'd probably go up a floor. Got to dock and never realized first number of room is the floor. Was puzzeled when we embarked & the first person who looked at our ticket told us to go up to "8". We were supposed to go down to "5"??? When we arrived on "8" and looked at the sign, we realized we had a window room!!! When we got to the room, we hugged & danced, laughing at our good fortune - even ordered hors d'oerves for the sail away. We felt so "front row", lol. Nothing has equaled it since.

[Sheffie]

 

2) Being on the Dance Floor without my pants on during the Quest! What in the world was I thinking:eek:

 

I don't know Budaman, but my DH was thinking the same thing! But then there was the pole dance he did! What WAS he thinking!

 

Michelle

[Jacquelyn11]

My very first cruise was on the SS Norway, on of the biggest ship afloat at the time. I went with my college roommate and I was scared to death! Ater a week in the eastern carribean, I was ready to take on a 3 month contract to work on a cruise! If I had not already had a pharmacist job lined up I would have! Nearly 25 years later, I still regret I didn't take the plunge!

 

Ever since our Disney cruises we have had a balcony. I love sitting out on it at night when the moon is out, seeing it glisten on the water and listening to the ship cut thru the water, it sounds like the ocean on the beach. My dad died 5 years ago, and one of his favorite things to do was sit and watch the waves and listen to the ocean. When I'm on the balcony at night, I feel close to my dad again! :o

 

My third was after our first DCL 4 day cruise, when my then 5yo son was being tucked into bed at home he asked "Mommy, can we go on a cruise again next week?" I think he's "hooked" too! :)

 

Can't wait to "get the feeling again" in 11 days!

 

Jacquelyn :D

[Broach]

When I saw the ship for the first time it was the Serenade of the Seas, like ckrobyn said it gave you goosebumps. Also when we were in St. Lucia and leaving port and cruising by the Grand Pitons at sunset it was awesome. Most of all meeting all the people that we communicated with on line at the Meet and Mingle and getting to know them and just having fun with them.

 

Barbara

 

Serenade of the Seas 2/04

AOS 2/19/06

Freedom of the Seas 4/15/07

[cincicruisers]

My most memorable moment was actually the end of our family cruise. Mom, Dad, all my sisters and sister in laws. They called us the spoiled girls all cruise long as Dad took all the grown daughters on this cruise for bonding with Mom, even treated everyone to either JR suites or Grand Suites. Dad showed up as surprise! At the end of the cruise the looks of everyone, tears of departure, and the renewed closeness that we share after that week on board. For the first time in many years I weekly talk now to all sisters and sister-in-laws because of this trip. Too many memories to share, but that day I realized for certain that family is #1 in my life. We are all 40+ and closer than ever before. Love you Dinni, Ellen, Angie, Nancy, Tina, and Dear Mom and Dad.

[Cruise Craver]

I remember waking up to find our ship going into our first port. I threw on some clothes and to the top deck with my camera. I didn't even take time to put on make-up. Watching the ship go into the harbor with the sun just coming up was amazing.

 

Then there was singing karaoke with my sisters... We were on a family reunion trip with about 40 relatives we mostly hadn't met before. They heard we were going up to sing karaoke and they all sat in the bar and waited for us. Lucky for us they were a friendly audience...

[jsemonik]

I think that the "First Time" on a cruise ship would be pretty standard for just about all of us - so, that being said...

My most memorable moment was renewing my wedding vows on the Enchantment of the Seas with both of our grown daughters in attendance (see pictures in signature!) -

The best part of the story is that I was trying to surprise my wife with the ceremony but I was away on business in Florida when the Visa bill arrived - There was no excuse/story that I could come up with that was going to justify a charge out of Miami for something called "Royal Romance" that wasn't going to get me in trouble:eek:

 

Jim

[colette5479]

I agree that seeing your first cruise ship up close is overwhelming. It's hard to believe it's THAT big:p

 

I lost my dad to kidney failure two months before our first cruise. It was really good to get away for awhile for a change of scenery. One evening, I was walking through a lounge to get to the aft and there was a small C&W band playing San Antonio Rose. Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys were my dad's favorite western swing group and San Antonio Rose was the first song we played at his funeral. It was a very bittersweet moment but I knew my dad would have been happy that Bob Wills' music was being played in the middle of the Caribbean:)

[Son of a Cruiser]

Most memorable - always seems to go back to that first cruise - For us it was April 1980 on Holland America's SS Veendam. We flew to Aruba and were taking the second week of a two week Caribbean itinerary back to Miami. Couldn't believe how huge she was - all 600' and 15,250 tons of her (LOL - very small and intimate by today's standards) As we boarded we must have had that deer in the headlights look, because a gentleman who had already been onboard for a week approached us with the question - "Have you ever cruised before?" Of course we said no and he said "Let me tell you what cruising is all about! You do exactly what you want to do as long a you want to do it - and NOTHING ELSE!!" My wife I have took his advice and have been hooked ever since. The ships have changed dramatically, but I find that first piece of advice from a veteran cruiser still applies:)!!

[brn2crz]

I feel so left out of the "first time I saw the ship thing".

 

My first cruise,I was 18...forced to go,with my parents and their "SQUARE DANCIN" group.Ripped from my boyfriend...I really did not care what the ship looked like.Then living in Galveston.....I saw all the ships before I was on them.

 

I have been docked next to my next ship (Mariner) 2 times in Coz....So..that thrill is gone:(

 

However..I will say my most memorable are,..

First time on the balcony...Watching my 4 yo snorkling in the deep blue ocean.

Watching my 4 yo cry as we watched 30 ft waves during Ivan.

And our entire family gathered on deck for our first sailing together.

[Lamar Cheeks]

My DW and I took a little stroll around the ship early one morning and let the kids sleep in. After about a half-hour of walking, we went to the Windjammer and they were sitting in there, stuffing their faces, ready to terrorize all the other people on the ship another day!

 

Hey, just kidding about the terrorizing part. But it was fun to see them so excited that they got up to have more fun. Especially since they had been up quite late the night before, running amok, punching all the floors on the elevators and sneaking up behind older people and screaming at them!

 

Hey, just kidding again!

[Past it]

I have one, on my last cruise the gorgeous entertainer was doing an Elvis impersonation and he came down off the stage and came right up to ME got on one knee took my hand and with all the spot lights on us serenaded me. The only problem was, I had earlier lost my glasses on an island and couldn't see him very well. Thats why I was sitting in the front row! Trust that to happen to me LOL!

[whitshel]

My most memorable cruise experiance was on the legend of the seas in 2003 going to hawaii, waking up on day 5 supposed to be in Hilo, hearing the captain on the loud speaker saying " we will not be able to dock in Hilo due to a terrorist threat to the ship":eek: . We missed that port as well as half a day on Kona, it was a long 6 days on the ship before we could get off,:( but we made the best of it and had a great time!:o We do have great pictures though!!:D

[M. St. Louis]

Let's see, memorably moments for me? Only been on two cruises so far, so there's not a lot of choice, but here are the moments that immediately spring to mind:

1) Looking down from the Empire State Building, and spotting our ship, leaving in only a few hours...

2) Being ecstatic to get my camera back from lost and found on the Victory, then several hours later trying to take a photo, but finding out some passenger had stolen the digital memory card, and all my trip photos of New York were gone forever :(

3) Hearing my wife squeal when the cruise director on the Celebration read "784143", and winning that New York cruise... :)

[VibeGuy]

The first cruise with my favorite great-aunt is the one that started it all - I was hooked from the get-go (I thought bunk beds were just super-cool).

But my most memorable moment was a *perfect* April night, sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar around midnight, with a full moon, the twinkling lights, an amazingly fresh Cuban cigar (it's not supporting a totalitarian regime - it's burning their crops!) and a Lovely Beverage, then suddenly realizing that exactly 15 years before, I'd gotten my last dose of chemo. I'm not the maudlin sort, but it was vaguely overwhelming, and it made me really appreciate the series of events that had brought me to a point where I could take off for three weeks at a time while I was still young enough to enjoy it.

Eric

[MrsFixitCT]

First Cruise on Rhapsody-like everyone-the "awe" factor of how big and beautiful she was. I cried when we got on-couldn't believe we were finally there. Spending Thanksgiving sailing the America's Cup in St. Maarten-I've been sailing since I was 10-that was a MAJOR rush.

Second Cruise on Grandeur-watching the couple with us experience the "awe" factor...her hubby was a bear-kept saying he wasn't going...up to and including the morning we flew out...grumbling all the way. We get on board, find our rooms, and meet up on deck...he's sitting on a deck chair...and the first words outta his mouth..."When we go on our NEXT cruise..." and we hadn't even left port yet!!!

Third Cruise on Inspiration-My 80 something y/o parents, my 2 sisters, my brother and all their spouses, hubby and I..my parents first cruise...my mom wouldn't leave her room without someone with her-she was afraid she'd get lost!!! Just all the memories from spending time with family we don't get to see often enough-parents, bro & wife are in Florida, the rest of us are in CT. (I guess my parents got the bug...they're on the Oosterdam right now, sailing in Alaska....)

[Nliedel]

Just being with Gene, alone, reading, or walking or talking. It's heaven for me. Anytime we can be together, just spending time with one another is precious. I am a very lucky and blessed woman to have him (yes we can be nauseating, even after 11 years of marriage. We don't get to spend much time together tho unless it is vacation, kids).

[ckrobyn]

[font=Arial Narrow][size=3][color=navy]Thanks for the great stories :) [/color][/size][/font]

[font=Arial Narrow][size=3][color=#000080]One common thread for sure: We all are in awe of the ship ;) [/color][/size][/font]

[Luna]

I have two that come immediatley to mind:

The first was on my first cruise with a dear friend for her 40th bd. On our 1st morning, we were the only ones at the table in the dining room, so we sat next to the window. I looked down and saw dolphins playing in the water. I was so excited, I couldn't speak, so I just pointed. She looked down and together, we managed to blurt out "dolphins!" Several of the wait staff came running to the windows to look out, but it was too late, the dolphins were gone. We didn't hear about anyone else seeing them, so it was as if we had our own special display for her birthday!

The other was very romantic. On the eve of our 25th wedding anniversary we met a couple from another state who got married the same day, same time we did. Our anniversary was on our first day at sea and they planned on renewing their vows. They asked us if we would be "witnesses" and take pictures, which we did. It was romantic, celebrating our anniversary helping someone else celebrate theirs.

[Travelgrrl]

Two stories come to my mind, one very special and one rather mundane:

My second cruise was on the Rhapsody to celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I prepared quite a lot for the cruise: making Mardi Gras masks for my friend and I, buying a couple gross of beads to give out on board, bringing a Medieval Princess outfit to wear to Mardi Gras, getting Valentine's Day things ready in advance (as it was V-Day that week too).

The first formal night, they announced they would choose a King and Queen of the ship by having a "King Cake Party", whereby the one who gets the baby Jesus in the cake is King for the night (and I think has to throw the party next year). They implied it was random, but said that they would choose one person from early and one from late seating, which made me wonder how they could guarantee a man and a woman!? (Later, when I saw the man they had chosen to be King from the 2nd seating, I figured it wasn't random at all - he was right out of Central Casting, with the Henry VIII beard and everything!!!)

So at dessert time, I was all concerned with the Grand Marnier souffle and didn't pay much attention to my slice of King Cake. I did wonder why no one was hollering "Cherry!" (as it was a cherry in the cake to represent the winner). I should also point out that I was wearing a particularly princessy dress, and also that we had tipped our waiters with some of their $ and with phone cards that night (as I believe in greasing the skids early).

Anyway, I was so full of my souffle I barely touched the cake, but I jokingly picked it up and moonched it between my fingers, saying "Where's that cherry?" (It was more like a piece of raisen bread, that's how I was able to pick it up, if you're thinking of me mashing an actual piece of cake at the table!)

Of course, there it was! I was brought up on the staircase, and crowned with a really stupid looking Parkay Margerine type of crown. I also won all kinds of prizes, from shore excursions to spa treatments and so on. Also, I got to judge a costume contest later in the week. And, they brought fancy hors' doerves to our room every night - even though we were in an inside, steerage room. So that was a very fun, special memory.

Since then, I have cruised many times, and will be going on my 13th in 3 weeks. One of my favorite things to do is to get up early, get ready in the dark so I don't disturb my traveling companion(s), and go up on deck to have a cup of hot tea, a smoke (only on vacation, so no scolding me), and read a book. The last cruise I was on, sitting there the first morning, I thought to myself that I was so lucky to be able to live my dreams in this way, I just burst into tears.

[MAO]

[color=darkred]I thought I'd say "My First Cruise" and be at least somewhat original...who was I kidding! I'm hooked along w/ the rest of you:D [/color]

[mom2hac]

mine and dh's second cruise together 2 years ago...for some reason our table mates never showed, so on formal night the maitre'd comes over and says "the Captain would be honored if you would join him at his table" where we proceeded to go and dined the rest of the cruise! Very "Love-Boat", exciting stuff to me!!!

Jen