Whats the nicest thing that ever happened

[Happy ks]

I'm always so impressed with the staff onboard cruise ships, they are always so kind and attentive.

 

We still talk about a few of the crew from the old American Hawaiian Independence. Out of all our cruises, we probably had the most personable service on that ship, I attribute it to being a smaller vessel, less pax and many of the crew had worked on her for years. Our assistant server in the dining room, Mila, would always make sure we were at her table at breakfast and talk to us about our plans for the day and make suggestions if we weren't sure of what to do.

 

Our cabin attendant, John, was always so sweet. They had self serve laundry on that ship and while we had plenty of clothes, we did want to wash our unmentionables and pajamas mid-week. Well, we were a bit late because the clothes dryer was not very hot and had to dump the stuff off into the cabin to make it to dinner on time. When we returned later, John had folded up all our things, even sorted them into piles (2 adults, 2 children) and had our jammies laid out for us. I know it's not a big deal, but we were so touched by this, he didn't have to do it, we never expected it from him. Whenever he would be in the hallway and see us returning, he would always unlock our door and hold it open for us.

 

The staff in the lounge and gift shop always remembered our names (how do they do that?) and we were greeted every time we walked by. We all expect good service from staff, the little extra things they can do is the most memorable.

[misfit cruiser]

This is probably something that only would have impressed a first-time cruiser, but it did. Our steward was a really sweet young lady named Diana, who was from Hungary, and she seemed overworked and homesick but never let it show in her work. At the time I'd never had any kind of concierge/steward type of service on a vacation; I hesitated to ask her for anything and tried to make her job as easy as possible, because it seemed like she did way too much already.

 

One night, I couldn't find my glasses - I knew I'd had them when we'd come back to the ship, so they were somewhere around the ship. I called Diana simply to ask her if she'd seen them during her duties that evening, expecting her to say no, and that would be fine, and they'd turn up eventually; after all if they were on the ship they'd turn up. Well, Diana practically mobilized an army of housekeepers to look for my glasses. She turned up at our cabin, barely suppressing her panic, to say that all the linens had been searched and my glasses were nowhere to be found. I reassured her that it was okay, but she seemed to think it was anything but okay, like I'd go all ape and run screaming to the purser's desk and get her fired.

 

Of course, the next morning, where did I find my glasses? At the very bottom of our beach tote. I wanted to die of embarrassment that Diana had gone through all of that, and I had to tell her that moron me had just misplaced them in my own tote bag. She couldn't have been nicer about it, though I could tell that in there somewhere she'd liked to have slugged me (can't blame her). :p Maybe she was "just doing her job," but I've never had anyone go so far out of their way like that for me, and it left a real impression on me.

[kakalina]

Hi all, just got back from our 45 days on the Veendam. Had a wonderful time, thanks for all your posts while we were gone, it was great to read them.

Trisha

[dfd22120]

Last October I was on the Radiance coming back from Alaska. On the last night my wife and our friends were in the hot tub and since I do not like hot tubs was floating around in the pool. I noticed a guy looking around with a flashlight in the pool. I asked if he was looking for something and if he wanted help. He said no!! After a few minutes my friend joined me in the pool and we were talking and he asked the guy what he was looking for. Finally he told us his wife lost her 1 carrot diamond out of her wedding ring in the pool. They were both very upset as would be expected, it was their anniversary cruise.

 

We tried to help him look for about an hour with no luck of course. They gave up and called the desk and reported it then went to their room. About an hour later I stepped on something but every time I tried to go under to get it I would loose it. I had my friend go under water and get what ever it was under my foot. Who would have ever thought in that whole pool he would have came up with the diamond. We called the front desk and had them call his room and retrieve the diamond.

[kakalina]

Last October I was on the Radiance coming back from Alaska. On the last night my wife and our friends were in the hot tub and since I do not like hot tubs was floating around in the pool. I noticed a guy looking around with a flashlight in the pool. I asked if he was looking for something and if he wanted help. He said no!! After a few minutes my friend joined me in the pool and we were talking and he asked the guy what he was looking for. Finally he told us his wife lost her 1 carrot diamond out of her wedding ring in the pool. They were both very upset as would be expected, it was their anniversary cruise.

 

We tried to help him look for about an hour with no luck of course. They gave up and called the desk and reported it then went to their room. About an hour later I stepped on something but every time I tried to go under to get it I would loose it. I had my friend go under water and get what ever it was under my foot. Who would have ever thought in that whole pool he would have came up with the diamond. We called the front desk and had them call his room and retrieve the diamond.

WOW! What a great tale. Did they at least treat you dinner at the Pinnacle?:rolleyes:

[dfd22120]

Actually it was about 11 at night on the last night of the cruise. He brought us a bottle of wine but we did not want anything for it.

[mandm33]

Once, on the Enchantment, I got drunk and passed out on a lounge chair at the bow. Some nice lady woke me up and let me know I was drooling all over myself. :)

[picruiser]

I was escorting a group of people on a cruise on the Carnival Triumph. Since this was considered a "working" cruise, I traveled alone. The first night out, during dinner...again, I was odd man out, sitting at a table of "couples" from the group, and the Maitre' de came up to me and handed me an envelope. It was an invitation to join the Captain for dinner the next night at the Captains table. That was a great time, and a surprise. I still have the invitation!! And that was 3 years ago!!:p

[morticia52]

I've really enjoyed reading through this thread. It just goes to show this world isn't as bad as some would make it (obviously we Cruisers should take over running it!)

 

I have to say that every cruise has had it's moments for us (meeting new friends, exceptional kindness from the staff etc.), but without doubt our best experience was getting to know Margie & Sam, who are entertainers on the Norwegian Dream these days.

 

When we first met up they were on the Crown and it was during a particularly bad storm coming up the coast of Chile. We were the only ones in the Lido Bar by then and when Margie came in to set up, we said no need to play just for us so pull up a chair and chat.

 

To cut a long story short we have become great friends. We sailed on the Crown again later that year and they showed us a lot of the sights at various ports. We were invited to their wedding, but unfortunately couldn't make it (work got in the way). Then they came to stay with us last October for a week and we had a great time.

 

The Dream is sailing out of Dover this summer, so we will get to enjoy time with them again (can't wait) and cruise again (can't wait - last one already seems like a lifetime ago!!).

 

(Remember, Friends are the Family you choose for yourself)

 

Trish

[berniemom]

DH/I went on Voyager in July to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Since our wedding day we spoke/dreamed about renewing our vows at sea. Finally... that day came. I wore my wedding gown/veil/jewelry once again. This was a dream come true and I was so honored that my gown still fit me after ten years! (Trust me I busted my butt at the gym!). We found rings to exchange in Jamaica and Grand Cayman to symbolize our special day. Our vow renewal was perfect, it was on our actual wedding anniversary and we had about a dozen friends attend that I met on CC. Shannon who took care of us on Voyager was wonderful and she made our dream come true. We had an extra hour of photos on the ship and it was well worth it. Seeing the pictures made my eyes water. Besides the days events two things that happened blew my mind. Let me explain the first one.

 

At the Repeat Passenger party I ended up speaking with the Captain and we were discussing the vow renewal, Voyager, etc. For the heck of it I asked him that if he wasn't busy around 4pm on Friday he is more than welcome to attend the vow renewal. This was the second time I spoke to him (first one was the Welcome party). I didn't think he would come.. the joke was on me. DH/I were late to the ceremony due to pictures and Shannon told me that the Captain was there, had a meeting to go to and will be back. I nearly fell on the floor! Shannon didn't expect that either so she was as shocked as I was. At the reception the Captain showed up and we were so honored and stunned at the same time. I gave him a huge hug and I didn't care if he was the Captain or not. He spoke to us for a while, had our picture with him and then he left. Captain Pettersen was the kindest man and for him to stop by for a little while meant the world to DH/I. That was such a wonderful feeling.

 

The second one wasn't as exciting but it was pretty cool. We ate dinner at Portofino and stopped by our table to say Hi to our tablemates since some of them couldn't make the vow renewal. We decided to go down the stairs in the dining room since I wanted to see a few friends that were sitting in the center section of the dining room on Deck 3. People congratulated us, etc. and while we were walking down the stairs the entire dining room clapped for us. I turned red and I never turn red. For that minute we felt famous. The high we got from that can't be explained but it meant so much for us.

 

Overall, we had a wonderful cruise, our vow renewal was fantastic, met great friends via CC, had great tablemates and enjoyed every second of our dream vacation. This was the best cruise with RCI that we've ever been on and we are so grateful to those that made it special.

 

 

this just gave me a chill and a great memory of my 10th anniversary(the best one so far, i'm about to have my 21st.):D THANKS FOR SHARING THIS DAY WITH US.

[kimegge]

Well I just want to say that nothing really nice happened to me on a cruise, like it happened to yall, (except for the staff just outdoing theirself were possible, Rhapsody of the Seas, 2004), but I did something nice to someone else. Our cabin steward was the best.:D So one night I asked him what his favorite desert was on the ship and he told me choclate chip cookies. So the next night after we had come back from dinner I left him some choclate chip cookies with vanilla icecream (another favorite) and I asked someone at the buffet if I could take one of the choclate decorations off of one of the cakes and decorated a bowl for him with his favorites in it.;) He loved every minute of it (in our cabin of course) and kept outdoing himself even more for us. This was our first cruise and we loved giving him what he gave us, the best service ever.:) They deserve it just as much as we do and it really shows them how much we appreciate what they do for us, especially since they get paid crap.:eek:

 

Now to get off the subject, someone had mentioned paying it forward. I had someone once pay my toll at a toll booth and instead of taking the money, I paid for the next person behind me. It really made my day that someone had done that for me, so I did it for the next person. Hopefully they passed it on. I guess that's why I did what I did for the cabin steward, afterall they are the ones in your cabin at all times watching your things, so why not give it back.

 

Kim:p

[artk]

I'm not sure if this qualifies... but.. well.. it was nice... About 5 or 6 years ago, the ex and i cruised the Navigator... i was busily posting away here on the boards.. especially on the roll call boards, and made friends with some of the people on the board. This was the year of the blackout that affected the entire east coast... and i actually met some of the people from the board at the airport when we were all scrambling to get down to Miami. We arranged to meet in the Schooner Bar on embarkation day ( why wait for the meet and mingle when we can do it ourselves...lol)... and it was just nice to have familiar faces throughout the ship... meeting people that you "know" at karaoke, in various bars....and yes... as i'm sitting quietly reading my book poolside on the sea day... sure enough... we put together a team of CCrs to challenge the staff in pool volleyball. And yes... we've remained in touch with some of them to this day...

 

Again... not exceptional... but just a nice feeling whenever i think about it.

[tahitidreamz]

*sighs*.. You all make me wanna cry... and who says Humanity has died out eh?....You all are so wonderful for what you do, and it does come back around................

Happy sails.

tahiti:D

[LBB]

We were assigned a table with two couples who were our parents age. It seemed odd at first, but we ended up getting along really well (and are going on another cruise together later this year). We went to eat at the specialty restaurant one night and they sent us a bottle of wine with a note saying they'd miss us at dinner. It was really sweet of them.

[gg3]

Since we all need to hear postive things about our fellow man, I want to share w/you the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me on a vacation - 'though it wasn't a cruise. 4 years ago we went back to the town of my birth, in Oregon, to show my husband a part of our great Northwest that I loved so much, that was so dear to my heart. I did not remember my Grandparents address (they had passed away years ago), but even though I had not been to their homeplace since early 1960's, I hoped to find it. We drove right to it - without going even one block out of the way - fate. Before taking snapshots in the front yard, I decided to knock on the door and ask permission. An older fellow came out, I introduced myself and discovered he had bought the house from MY GRANDMA, he KNEW who my mom was and who I was. He invited us in for a tour, I cried as I took pictures of my beloved grandparent's home. Then he took us outside and pointed out all the trees and flowers my grandma had planted. THEN, he asked if I would like to pick some and he would show us the way to the place my grandparents were buried and we could place the flowers there. Needless to say, I sobbed the whole time - tears of joy - tears of remembering the precious times of my childhood - tears of appreciation that this man could be so kind. What a trip - it is the small things in life that are so special. Was this wonderful or what ???

[passaporta]

Last February my sister & I along with our husbands & stepfather, celebrated my mother's 80th birthday on the NCL Sun.

 

My sister was recovering from cancer surgery, chemo & radiation. This was her first cruise & a memorable one it was.

 

The wonderful people we met on our Roll Call helped make this a great cruising experience. The dining room staff were outstanding & their smiles little extras make such a difference.

 

:) :) :)

[sweetpea-2]

I got proposed to on a cruise back in 2003 :D

[passaporta]

I got proposed to on a cruise back in 2003 :D

 

and, what did you say???

 

:) :) :)

[eghtball14]

This did not happen on a cruise, but it was very sweet and wonderful. Last year my fiance and I (now my wife) went on a trip tour to China. While we were in Shanghai, one of the older couples (retired teachers) asked us if they could hang out with us for the night. We had went out the night before to the bars in Shanghai, while they had stayed at the hotel. The next night we went took them on a river cruise with us and out to a restaurant that was on the water. The trip was in late May and we were married in August. Right before our wedding, we got something in the mail from Missouri. My wife and I knew that we both had no relatives in Missouri, so we were both pretty puzzled. We opened up the package and it was a small beautiful oil painting of a rose that she had painted for us, along with a note saying how much fun they had with us in Shanghai. It was really sweet and very unexpected.

[antmintj]

:D The love story: 3 yrs ago on RCI's Brilliance my DH & I accidentally discovered that our head waiter was dating the mait're d (sp?) from another section of the dining room, a very beautiful young lady--Apparently, this is a big no-no on the ship. We would watch them exchange looks when they passed one another in the dining room & throughout the ship. We even caught them snuggling together on shore leave with dark glasses on :cool: ! He introduced us to her & asked us not to give them away. Ahh, to be young & in love! The last night at dinner I purchased a rose & gave it to our waiter along a long note thanking him for such a wonderful dining experience (his attention went well above & beyond, including more than 80 ways to fold a napkin!) & wishing him & his girlfriend a world of happiness. I told him the rose was for him to give to her. He seemed extremely touched by this simple gesture (it even brought tears to his eyes). He said couldn't read English & was going to have her read the note to him when they were alone that night. Then he told us that on their next hiatus from the ship that they would be getting married! We watched as he walked over to her & handed her the rose & her face just lit up! It made for one heck of a cruise just watching love in bloom! ;)

[meggie711]

On the Enchantment a few years ago, we had a brand new busboy. Unfortunately, I don't remember his name or his country, but he barely spoke any English. He was very young and very homesick, but you could tell he wanted to make a good impression. Every day, he would memorize a verse and a chorus from an American song and sing it to us at dinner as best he could. The waiter would tell us how the busboy would carry around the song in his pocket to practice and that he only sang it for us at second seating. The first seating guests weren't particularly nice according to the waiter. One the last night, the busboy sang you light up my life and came around and hugged each one of us goodbye. We all started crying. It was so very special.

 

HOW SWEET!!!!! I hope we're blessed with as charismatic people on our cruise (I know we will be)!! It's always so great to meet the staff and see their personality come out. :)

[3crazyboys]

My DH and I were celebrting our 5th wedding anniversary last August on the Carnival Conquest. His mother had been sick and in and out of the hospitial all year long. We had been given the alls clear to get on the ship, she was doing okay and would be going home soon. So we boarded the ship. We boarded Sunday and had an amazing day! Monday our day at sea was fantastic we met up with fellow cc members and had a blast then Tuesday morning we got a shore to ship call saying my husbands mother had passed away Sunday night. We had not purchased the vacation Insurance or anything, We were obviously devistated, we still had the rest of the day and night before we docked in Jamaca. We were so destrought it was the worst scenario anyone could imagine. We went down to the pursers desk to explain we would need to disembark in Jamaca and the purser said do you have the insurance and we said regretfully no, he then continued ,"I cannot talk to you until you sign these papers". so we signed them, it turned out to be the insurance. They gave it to us for free. Then he continued to tell us that the telephone at the end of the counter was for us to consider our own personal telephone and to use it as often as needed with no charge. We spent a total of at least 10,000 dollars on the phone alone then they flew us from Jamaca to Houston then paid for us to get to our car in Galveston and paid for our tickets to New York (where his mother lived) and back to Houston. It was definately way above and beyond the call of duty. They were so kind to us it was amazing. I have never felt so much compassion and warmth from complete strangers ever before in my life. It truely touched our hearts and from this point forward we will never cruise with any line other than Carnival for this one experience alone.

[meggie711]

My DH and I were celebrting our 5th wedding anniversary last August on the Carnival Conquest. His mother had been sick and in and out of the hospitial all year long. We had been given the alls clear to get on the ship, she was doing okay and would be going home soon. So we boarded the ship. We boarded Sunday and had an amazing day! Monday our day at sea was fantastic we met up with fellow cc members and had a blast then Tuesday morning we got a shore to ship call saying my husbands mother had passed away Sunday night. We had not purchased the vacation Insurance or anything, We were obviously devistated, we still had the rest of the day and night before we docked in Jamaca. We were so destrought it was the worst scenario anyone could imagine. We went down to the pursers desk to explain we would need to disembark in Jamaca and the purser said do you have the insurance and we said regretfully no, he then continued ,"I cannot talk to you until you sign these papers". so we signed them, it turned out to be the insurance. They gave it to us for free. Then he continued to tell us that the telephone at the end of the counter was for us to consider our own personal telephone and to use it as often as needed with no charge. We spent a total of at least 10,000 dollars on the phone alone then they flew us from Jamaca to Houston then paid for us to get to our car in Galveston and paid for our tickets to New York (where his mother lived) and back to Houston. It was definately way above and beyond the call of duty. They were so kind to us it was amazing. I have never felt so much compassion and warmth from complete strangers ever before in my life. It truely touched our hearts and from this point forward we will never cruise with any line other than Carnival for this one experience alone.

 

Although late, my condolences to your family.

I'm way too hormonal to be reading this thread right now! ;) It's so touching, and is especially after reading a lot of other threads that contain a lot of negativity. I think your story says a lot for the cruise industry, particularly since people usually hear so many stories about how the big cruiselines don't care about the customers or their needs. Kudos to Carnival!

[yakdaddy42]

on june 14 i had a 4 wheeler wreck, needed to have a total new joint in my sholder

we were booked on the valor for june 23 no insurance of course, carnival managment gave us a full credit to use in one year.

carnival steps up to the plate for the customer when the reasons are true

[lostie]

I was on a back to back and at the end of the first cruise I had regretted not buying some photos. When I saw the ship's photographer taking photos on the 2nd cruise, I asked him if I could see the photos from the first cruise. He let me go to the darkroom and TAKE what I wanted. He said they throw them out anyway.:)