What was your most memorable cruise?

[tallyho8]

My most memorable cruise after about 40 cruises was still my first cruise with my wife. She had been on a cruise before me but I wouldn't cruise unless she went on a cruise to Alaska with me because I had read fabulous reviews of Alaska cruises. Even though we had an inside cabin, which we have only had once since, when we got a free cruise, I will always remember this cruise as the one to compare all others with. 

I am so glad my first cruise was not a 3 or 4 day Bahama cruise because if it had been I probably never would have cruised again. We have had many great cruises since mostly in balconies and many longer repositioning cruises which I prefer best but i will still say that  first Alaska cruise was my most memorable.

Seeing all those whales and bald eagles and otters for the first time and the many glaciers and snow covered mountains was such a thrill for a Southern "boy" from New Orleans. 

Being addressed by Madame and Monsieur for the first time by the crew and having a glass of champagne offered to us upon embarking was an unforgettable moment, indelible in my mind, and forever leaving me wanting to cruise again. 

I always pity those who only remember the worst parts about their cruises and forget about the many pleasures they have experienced.

[CanobieFan]

A few years ago my travel friend and I booked a cruise that coincidentally fell over Valentine's Day with nither of us realizing it beforehand. Not that it mattered to us.... But what made it memorable was the fact that there was also an Elvis fan club / tribute on the same sailing ....so everywhere we went there were *hundreds* of people dressed like Elvis or wearing Elvis memorabilia. It was extremely bizarre but incredibly amusing! 

[Cruising Golfer]

Every cruise I take with my special lady, which is every cruise. She makes my life completely!!!😍

[clcjdn]

Mine would be our first move over to NCL.  We had done a few 7 day cruises out of LA to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas.  They were a great time as well, but something was missing.....I wanted to see the Caribbean in a major way!  All I could think about was those islands, and how great that would be.  So, long story short, we booked a 10 day out of Miami on the NCL Sun.  This was a perfect set up for us from Colorado (airfare for 5 makes us want to get our money's worth).  We did a 5 person inside for this cruise, and on the first night we all slept through until after 2:00 pm, since there was no outside light coming in.  We only woke when the room steward knocked loudly because her shift was about over.  I realized we missed a bunch of activities, so we didn't sleep that long again.  🙂  

 

Anyway, we went St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Barbados, St. Lucia, and Dominica.  Five islands in five days....every morning we would wake up in a new place!  We met a nice couple in Dominica and shared a tour bus, and discussed where we were going in Barbados.  They were on a P&O ship from Europe but were stopping the next day in Barbados as well.  Coincidence then ruled, because we were all going to The Boatyard!  We took their advice and got an early start so we could get prime seating on the beach.  We head down to the taxi stand, jump in a van, and guess who is already sitting in the back!  The same couple!  We hung out with them all day again!  It was just like it was meant to be!

 

Sorry to ramble, this just brings back found memories!  The best one came on day 7/8, when my wife and I reminded each other that if were just on a normal 7 day cruise, we would be headed home.  Instead we got to enjoy 3 more days!  We haven't been able to get back to a 10 day because they moved the Sun, and all the mega ships with 5 person ocean views just run 7 days, but believe me, when the time comes, we will be back on that 10 day voyage soaking up the sun and playing our tails off in the casino!  

 

Thanks for this topic!  It let me really go back and think about the past 15 cruises or so that I have taken, and it is helping me warm up for my next one in just over a week!  

[angie7911922]

Wow, hard question. Each and every cruise I have been on has been memorable for so many different reasons and in so many different ways. The first cruise I went on when the company I worked for took the whole staff, or the first one I took my kids on, or the first one across the ocean. Every place you go you get to meet new people, learn about different cultures, and different language. You get to see the world, including just time on the open water. Every place is so different, with it's own unique story. My favorite cruises are ones where I get to learn something new, and experience something that I haven't experienced before. 

[ski ww]

My most memorable would all ways be the last cruise we were on, which in our case was 9 Mar which was a 28 day on the Eurodam out of San Diego to the South Pacific. We always think that was great, then we do another cruise & that one was the best and so on. Enjoy what ever ship or cruise you're on.

[jean s]

We did a 14 day Baltic cruise on Sapphire Princess this past June and it was outstanding.   It was our 20th cruise and the very best cruise we have been on.  The ports and excursions were so interesting and all so different.  Sapphire Princess was exceptional and the crew and passengers were a delight.

[fla gang]

Proposing to my fiancé in the Main dining room on the Disney Magic !

[broadwaybaby123]

The bad cruise (I wish I was making this up!):

 

It would be the cruise I went on for my 13th birthday...that should have been an indication right there!  So before and during the cruise, my parents reminded the staff that it was my birthday on Disembarkation Day...keep this in mind for later.

 

Our embarkation day started at 4AM.  We had a connection flight in Atlanta to Aruba.  We made our flight from Boston to Atlanta just fine.  We arranged to have a limo pick us up and the driver asked if he could pick up another party along the way.  That's fine but all they talked about for the next 2 hours was their fishing trip they just went on.  That's expected but the last thing I want to hear about at 4AM is fishing!

 

We check into our flight and get into Atlanta at about 10AM.  That's fine, our connection was due in around noon, giving us plenty of time to board and explore the ship.  Then the fun begins!  We get checked in and then we get a page that our flight has been delayed because a crew member forgot their passport.  So now, they call in a second flight, due in around 6PM.  This flight is a no-go as well: the pilot forgot his passport!  Finally, we get news that a third flight is on its way in....from Turkey and won't be here until midnight!  Then we keep getting food vouchers we can't even use, so now we're starving!

 

Flight FINALLY comes in and we board the plane!  Now we are set to arrive 12 hours after our expected embarkation time....at 4AM.  So now my family and I have been up for 24 hours straight, and because this flight was booked through the cruise line, we met half the ship before we even got on it.  We were told by our cabin steward the next day that if we didn't arrive by 5AM, we would have had to make our way to our next port of call (St. Thomas) on our own as they wouldn't be able to hold the ship any longer.

 

So we get into the room and FINALLY get some sleep....until....WAKEY WAKEY LIFEBOAT DRILL!  That 5 hours was the most sleep we got the entire trip!  

 

Halfway through the cruise, on Formal Night of all nights, my friend and I are watching the show in the theater and I am being sung to.  Then all of a sudden the lights go out and we stop.  We lost power and an engine in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!  So as we're floating there, I make it back to my cabin....when I realized I forgot my key in my cabin so now I have to wait outside my cabin in a full Prom-style dress!  Finally, my parents let me in!

 

Now it's the second to the last day of the trip, and we are finally celebrating my birthday!  But the crew forgot, so no cake for me!  I got a call from the Maitre'd later apologizing, so now all is good.

 

On the last day, we had a late flight from Aruba to Atlanta, so we book an excursion to see the island.  Excursion goes off without a hitch and we are able to check into our flight.  But our flight is once again delayed...by 4 hours!  So we get into Atlanta and find out our connecting flight has been delayed too....but only by 15 min!  So we make a mad dash through Customs and arrive at the gate....only to waive BUH BYE to our bags which are now on the flight on their way to Boston!  So now we call the cruise line, explain what happened and they agree to put us up in a hotel for the night, hold our bags, and fly us FIRST CLASS back to Boston!

 

So my birthday present was an overnight stay in Atlanta (of which I am the only one who packed a change of clothes in her carry-on) and flying first class!

 

The good cruise:

 

My parents decided to take us kids on their 20th Wedding Anniversary trip!  We flew from Boston to London, caught a connection in London to Rome and spent 3 days in Rome before catching the Grandeur Of The Seas for a cruise to Santorini, Athens, and Ephasis!  Then after the cruise, we flew back to Rome, caught a connection back to London and spent 3 days in London before heading back home!

 

Edited February 7, 2020 by broadwaybaby123

[BklynBoy8]

Panama Canal and also Norway (Cruise to the Midnight Sun)

[BSR]

South Pacific - celebrating my birthday in Bora Bora

Edited July 3, 2020 by BSR

[Etta1213]

I would say my first cruise, because I was in awe of the entire experience. I remember how thrilled I was when I first felt the ship move. We sailed out of Galveston, and the dolphins played alongside. Sadly, I don't see them there anymore, not sure why.

Edited July 17, 2020 by Etta1213

[Mike981]

It would have to be our first cruise. It was our anniversary cruise, ten years late. We were both so green as neither of us had traveled before, let alone cruised. But we had a blast and splurged on anything we wanted because, "we'll never do this again!" We knew halfway into the cruise that we were going again the next year.

[rkacruiser]

On 6/30/2020 at 11:59 PM, BklynBoy8 said:

also Norway (Cruise to the Midnight Sun)

 

My trans-Atlantic cruise combined with a North Cape Cruise on Royal Viking Sky was for many years my #1 cruise.  (Sailing around the North Cape at Midnight shortly after the Summer solstice is very special.  As are all of the Norwegian ports I have visited then and since.)   My 2002 Asia Pacific Cruise aboard Volendam eclipsed that one.  Why?

 

This cruise was the Volendam's Maiden Voyage to the Asia Pacific region with special arrival ceremonies in several ports.  Entering Tokyo Harbor itself, welcoming helicopters (we were maybe on Good Morning Tokyo on their TV?) and fireboats spraying water, a large drum assemble on top of the pier playing as we docked, the welcoming ceremony between the Volendam's Senior Officers and the Port Officials (including the exchange of gifts) in the Wajang Theater to which we guests were invited to attend and the other arrival welcomes we received in other ports, although not as elaborate was what Tokyo did.

 

Other memories:

An arrival in Nagasaki passing the shipyard where the new build Diamond Princess was being fitted out just a couple of days after the fire that destroyed her upper decks.  (Seeing the damage, I thought she would never sail.  But, we also saw her sister Sapphire Princess under construction.  It turned out that the former "Diamond" became "Sapphire" and "Sapphire" became "Diamond".)

 

The arrival at Sydney entering passing the Heads and sailing through the harbor where there was a welcome waiting for us.

 

The challenges and irritations that the ship experienced with Chinese Customs and Immigration.

 

MDR menus that frequently reflected the cuisine of the region in which we were sailing, i.e. in Australian waters, local South Pacific fish/seafood entrees; even Kangaroo.

 

The unexpected (even by Captain Harris) and extraordinarily rough seas the day after leaving Vancouver; sailing through the tail end of a typhoon between the Aleutians and Russia; the Tasman Sea demonstrated it's deserved reputation.

 

All of the ports that I visited.  This was my first cruise to that part of our World.  

 

And, most importantly, I made friends during that cruise with whom I have sailed with since and maintain frequent, some almost monthly contact.  On several HAL cruises, I still encounter crew members from that cruise whom I remember and who remembers me.  

 

It was a great cruise!