Have you ever seen someone famous while cruising?

[AndreaDH91483]

Okay, so here's a random question: have you ever run into someone famous while cruising? I am just curious, because the other day my husband and I were discussing some of the details of our upcoming cruise (we sail two months from tomorrow!) and out of the blue, DH says, "Do you think we'll see anyone famous on the ship?" He's cruised twice before, and I've cruised once, and neither of us recall seeing any celebrities we recognized on the ship, and I don't recall reading any stories about any celebrity sightings on the forums. I'm thinking that most high profile celebrities choose not to cruise on large cruise ships. I personally think it would be rude to go up to someone famous and interrupt them or take pictures while they were eating, relaxing by the pool, or in other situations where it's apparant that they may be trying to enjoy some time to themselves and with their family, but I know some people would have no problem doing this, and I imagine this would happen quite often with a celebrity on a large cruise ship unless they stayed in their room a lot of the time.

 

But does anyone have any stories to share? I'd be interested to hear them. :)

[Capt_BJ]

yes

[Flatbush Flyer]

First, you need to define "famous." If you're talking about "media" celebrities, I think there would be the irony of the celebrities traveling only on luxury cruise lines where their celebrity would not be a big deal for most passengers.

I've run into professionally famous people at sea. But most people would not recognize their names unless they were history buffs or students of particular academic disciplines.

That said, and because I am interested in cooking, I am looking forward to this summer's med cruise on Oceania with Jaques Pepin on board for his 80th birthday. Maybe he'll show at our cooking class.

[CRUISEWITHH]

Several years ago, we were on a very small (800 passenger) cruise ship. It was a fairly long cruise also. Our VIP was Judge Judy. Everybody knew who she was but didn't say anything to her.

 

We happened to be on the same flight home and while walking thru customs we acknowledged her but she said she wasn't Judge Judy, she was Mrs. Sheindlin. Of course that is her real last name.

[Husky61]

I'm one who doesn't care if someone famous is on the cruise, so I don't look.

[pseudoware]

Mickey Mouse

[Illyria]

Never on cruises...I'd imagine that celebrities have better ways of spending their vacation than mass-market cruise lines (and I don't have money to throw on luxury cruises).

 

I see celebrities occasionally at ski resorts here in Colorado. And saw Mike Tyson once at the Bellagio buffet in Vegas :)

[zqvol]

Sailed with a famous TV celeb and her daughter once, and as someone mentioned it was on one of the luxury lines.

[AndreaDH91483]

I guess by famous I mean anyone who is largely recognizable by the public, whether it's from TV, film, music, sports, politics, authors, etc. I'm not going to be actively looking for celebrities while on the cruise (I've much better things do be doing on a cruise than trying to scan thousands of people for a recognizeable face), but we've randomly run into a few famous people in other places without expecting it. We saw Randy Travis a few years ago at a restaurant here in Albuquerque, and I'm not a big country music fan so it wasn't a big deal to me, but my cousin's wife was and she was pretty excited to see him, although none of us approached him or took any pictures as he was with a large party and eating dinner. My favorite was a few years ago, when DH and I drove from Albuquerque to El Paso for a Michael Bublé concert (I'm a huge fan) and met up with some friends of ours. After the show we stayed and chatted with our friends for a bit, but after a while we needed to go and started walking back to the parking lot. We were crossing the street leaving the venue and ran right into Michael Bublé. I was genuinely surprised as I had expected that he'd be ushered off right after the show and not just walking around outside. I didn't get to chat with him at length as as soon as he appeared, so did a small mob of excited fans, but he was signing autographs and posing for a few quick photos so I did get to interact with him briefly.

 

If I did happen to see anyone famous/recognizeable on a cruise, I may or may not approach them depending on the situation and whether or not it was someone I'd be genuinely interested in meeting, but even if it was someone I'd love to meet, the situation would still dictate whether or not I would approach them at all. But I know not everyone has that filter and I wonder how many celebrities would want to risk being stuck at sea with some overzealous fan who takes it upon themselves to follow them around the ship. I knew someone once who had a "hobby" of finding out when various celebrities were going to be in town (for concerts, filming, etc.) and somehow finding out where they were staying, and then would literally go and sit in the hotel lobby all day figuring that these celebrities would have to walk by sometime, and would then run up to them for pictures and autographs when they did. To me that's a little extreme (and maybe borderline stalkerish). They have met some pretty big names that way, but they've also stepped on a few toes and ticked off some people for not leaving them alone when they declined to take a photo. "Oh please, oh please, just one quick picture!" If you do approach someone for an autograph or photo and they decline because they're busy or want to be left alone, the proper thing to do is respect their wishes, not keep badgering them. I could never understand why this person would want to risk making these people they claimed to admire so much mad.

 

But we are sailing on Disney so I think it's safe today Mickey Mouse is a definite possibility. And even though Captain Jack Sparrow is most likely not really going to be Johnny Depp in costume, I can pretend. :D

[Scrapnana]

Larry Hagman was a guest speaker on the Celebrity cruise I was on. There was a thread on here a while ago about famous people sightings. As I recall, Neil Patrick Harris and family were spotted on one of the Disney cruises.

Edited March 29, 2015 by Scrapnana

[Flatbush Flyer]

While it was ashore on Saipan during a working cruise, I did once meet (and chat with) a most unusually "famous" person. His name was Paul Tibbits. Google him if his name draws a blank for you.

[cb at sea]

I'm famous...in my own mind! Lol!

[Langley Cruisers]

There was a thread on here a while ago about famous people sightings...

 

Yes, here is a 9 page thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=189572&highlight=famous

 

.

[AndreaDH91483]

Never on cruises...I'd imagine that celebrities have better ways of spending their vacation than mass-market cruise lines (and I don't have money to throw on luxury cruises).

 

I see celebrities occasionally at ski resorts here in Colorado. And saw Mike Tyson once at the Bellagio buffet in Vegas :)

 

I was thinking basically the same thing, that most would prefer a more secluded type of vacation, or one where they could escape an overzealous fan if need be. We've seen a few celebrities in Vegas as well. Hulk Hogan walked past us in a restaurant in the Venetian once. We didn't get to talk to him (he was coming in as we were leaving) but my DH couldn't get over how much "shorter" he was than he thought he would be. DH is 6'2" and Hulk Hogan was still quite a bit taller than him. LOL On a separate trip, my MIL saw one of the cast members from MASH (can't remember which one) at the baggage claim in the airport, and I believe it was the same trip that DH and I ran into Newt Gingrich. This was at the Venetian, also. We were staying there for my husband's birthday along with several of his family members, and the DH and I had walked across the street to the Mirage to get tickets for "Love". We stayed over there to eat lunch, and then walked back to the Venitian. Except now there was a large crowd of people gathered outside our hotel, and we could see cameras and news trucks and wondered what was going on. We had to go that way anyway, so we joined the crowd to see who it was, and it was Newt. It was during the 2012 primaries, and he was still in the running and campaigning in Nevada. He was just wrapping up when we got there, and then he starts walking through the crowd and shaking hands and posing for photos. We just happened to be standing right where he decided to exit through the crowd. He walks right up to DH and me, shakes our hands, and then stops and puts his arm around me and DH and a bodyguard motions for me to give him my camera. I had my camera in my hand because I'm a total tourist and had been taking pictures before all of this happened, so I handed it to him and he took our picture. So now we have this totally random photo with Newt Gingrich and my DH is like, "Why did we just take a picture with Newt Gingrich?" I told him, "I don't know, but if he gets elected we'll have a picture with the President!", which of course didn't happen. But the funny thing is that it turned out to be a really good picture.

 

I think that random celebrity encounters can make for some interesting memories, even if you don't get to interact with the person.

Edited March 30, 2015 by AndreaDH91483

[AndreaDH91483]

Yes, here is a 9 page thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=189572&highlight=famous

 

.

 

Thanks! I did a search to see if there was already a similar thread, but for some reason this one wasn't listed.

[AndreaDH91483]

Larry Hagman was a guest speaker on the Celebrity cruise I was on. There was a thread on here a while ago about famous people sightings. As I recall, Neil Patrick Harris and family were spotted on one of the Disney cruises.

 

NPH is from my hometown. There used to be a little locally owned restaurant here that DH and I frequented for lunch. We had been eating there for quite some time and had no idea that the owners were NPH's parents. I admired that they never used their son's fame to promote their restaurant, and we only found out by word of mouth from someone else.

Edited March 30, 2015 by AndreaDH91483

[Scrapnana]

While it was ashore on Saipan during a working cruise, I did once meet (and chat with) a most unusually "famous" person. His name was Paul Tibbits. Google him if his name draws a blank for you.

 

Wow! Now that is someone I would have liked to have a conversation with!

[Lerin]

On a few luxury cruises we've run into politicians, well-regarded lawyers as well as outstanding researchers, authors, media personalities, and scientists.

 

But if you're talking TV, movie, rock star people that are in those tabloid magazines, no, haven't run into them. Probably wouldn't know who they were anyway.

[AndreaDH91483]

While it was ashore on Saipan during a working cruise, I did once meet (and chat with) a most unusually "famous" person. His name was Paul Tibbits. Google him if his name draws a blank for you.

 

That name sounded really familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place it so I did in fact Google it. Now that must have been an interesting encounter, though I admit I don't think I would have been able to pick him out of a crowd.

[zqvol]

While it was ashore on Saipan during a working cruise, I did once meet (and chat with) a most unusually "famous" person. His name was Paul Tibbits. Google him if his name draws a blank for you.

 

 

That must have been an interesting discussion, especially if he wanted to talk about what made him famous. (and I didn't have to google him)

[marco]

A LONG time ago....aboard the "Norway". When it started sailing they booked well known celebs to perform. Vic Demone was performing. When he was not performing, he was approachable and friendly. Then on a "QE2" cruise, one of the Andrew sisters (don't remember her first name) was performing. Again, when not performing, approachable and friendly. However, never ran into anyone "famous" sailing only as a passenger.

[Swampbabe]

That must have been an interesting discussion, especially if he wanted to talk about what made him famous. (and I didn't have to google him)

 

I didn't have to google him, either. Trivia, where did General Tibbets attend college? The University of Florida

[buckeye rob]

While it was ashore on Saipan during a working cruise, I did once meet (and chat with) a most unusually "famous" person. His name was Paul Tibbits. Google him if his name draws a blank for you.

 

Enola Gay. His B29 is on display at the Air Force museum in Dayton.

[scottbee]

While it was ashore on Saipan during a working cruise, I did once meet (and chat with) a most unusually "famous" person. His name was Paul Tibbits. Google him if his name draws a blank for you.

 

Sure it was Saipan and not Tinian?

[Flatbush Flyer]

Sure it was Saipan and not Tinian?

 

 

Definitely Saipan though the event was a 60th anniversary memorial for the "battle of Tinian and Saipan." Also, met one of the last living Navajo Code Talkers. I think it was Chester Nez. Hearing Tibbits talk about the story of (and around) the Enola Gay and also visiting the banzai/suicide cliffs brought history to life.