Cruise superstitions

[Shoppie124]

I’ve read that many sailors have superstitions.  I’m curious do cruisers have superstitions?  Things that guarantee a great trip?🤔😊

[Kingkonig]

Don’t read reviews on here beforehand.  I don’t want to go in expecting a bad cruise.

 

It works!

[Sauer-kraut]

Some cabins on some ships are supposedly haunted.....BEWARE!

[All-ready2cruise]

Shoppie, not sure exactly what you're referring to, however, I always try to go into a cruise with a positive attitude... if someone else is following me, they'll be hardpressed to find anything negative in my spirit. My GM sailed from Ireland in the early 1900s, it was obviously a positive adventure. 

 

Have a great refreshing, positive cruise. 

[AlexandNessa]

If I don't start the cruise with a Bloody Mary... Well, let's just say one time I didn't and it was on the infamous Breakaway Bomb Cyclone cruise. 🤔

[Seawoff]

WELL IN THE DARK OLD DAY  Woman on board a ship were thought to be bad luck 

YOU WANT TO SEE BAD LUCK  TRY TO LEAVE YOUR WOMAN HOME

[crystalspin]

Don't forget your passport/essential documentation.

 

Make checklists and DO LOOK AT THEM. I am famous for getting half-way to the airport and remembering something I forgot, even though it was on my list. Things you use right up to the night before are prime suspects for this. So check the list, right up to leaving the house. (Having duplicates of dental appliances and electronics' chargers is a good thing, too.)

 

Not exactly superstitions, but they could affect your "luck"!

[brillohead]

Not a superstition, but I always fly in a day in advance.  That's my "trip insurance".  

A couple years ago, the airplane had mechanical issues and the flight was cancelled.  This was on Good Friday and coincided with spring break week for much of the Midwest... all other flights were full. 

Airline offered us a flight that would land in Miami at 1:30pm the next day, with an all-aboard of 3:00pm in Fort Lauderdale.  Needless to say, I was NOT feeling at all comfortable with that!  I asked if there was any way they could get me in the state of Florida that day.  They were able to find a flight that landed in Tampa at 11:00pm, and I rented a car and drove across the state in the middle of the night, stopping periodically for cat-naps along the way.  

I was absolutely knackered for my first day of the cruise, and I had extra expenses for a rental car and gasoline, but we were on that ship well before sailaway!

[MicCanberra]

I always avoid redheads that whistle while carrying bananas.

[Aplmac]

Ancient Greek Mythology relates

that the River Styx is a barrier that separates us mortals

from a successful transition to the afterlife.

If you don't successfully transition, you'll be stuck in 'limbo' for eternity.

 

Charon provides a ferry service across the River Styx

but he requires some small payment in the form of coinage.

He is described in the literature as having transported the souls of the newly dead

across this river into the afterlife.

 

This small financial requirement ties in

with a very old maritime tradition in sail-boating and shipbuilding,

when Mast Stepping is the process of raising the boat's mast.

It also refers to a ceremonial occasion which occurs

when the mast is 'stepped' towards the end of a ship's construction.

The ceremony involves placing or welding one or more coins

into the mast step of a ship, and is seen as an important ceremonial occasion

in a ship's construction which is thought to bring good luck.

 

Although such coins were originally placed under the main mast of a ship,

they are now generally welded under the radar mast (sometimes in a protective box)

or laid in the keel, as part of a keel laying ceremony.

 

That coin under the mast likely will never see the light of day again.

Its dual-purpose is both to ensure good luck

-and also to provide the emergency availablity of some sort of cash payment

when Charon calls for his ferry fare

not to cross the Mersey, but to cross the River Styx!

______________________________________

Charon is the guy draped in red. Notice the desperate souls at bottom right.

They walked with American Express. They're not going anywhere!

.

 

 

[Aplmac]

Lucky coin location revealed on Carnival ships.

 

[evandbob]

Try not to book a cabin on the 13th deck - (most lines don't have one!)

 

For good luck, start your cruise with some loving as soon as you can enter your cabin.

[ldubs]

On my small fishing boat some of the superstitions to avoid bad luck are no tuna sandwiches, no bananas, and no whistling.  Oh, and a dragon fly landing on your fishing rod is good luck. 

 

I like tuna sandwiches.  I like them a lot.  Many years ago one of my fishing partners chided me for bringing one.  Says it is bad luck to eat fish when trying to catch fish.  It stuck.  The banana thing I picked up watching a show about fishing.  It has to do with the ramshackle reputation of banana boats.  It stuck.  Whistling being bad luck is one I also picked up from a TV show about fishing.  It stuck.  Maybe I should stop watching TV shows about fishing. LOL

 

When I was a kid fishing with my Dad, a dragon fly landed on my fishing pole. My Dad said that is good luck.  It stuck and has been passed on to all my kids.  All these years later I still believe it probably because of the good memories associated with it.    

 

Kind of hard to apply these to a cruise ship.  😀

[Heidi13]

8 minutes ago, ldubs said:

Whistling being bad luck is one I also picked up from a TV show about fishing.  It stuck.  Maybe I should stop watching TV shows about fishing. LOL

 

Whistling on board is bad luck, as it is considered to be encouraging the onset of storms.

 

Colour of the sky at sunrise/sunset - Red sky at night sailors delight, red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.

[Bizmark'sMom]

Every cruise starts off with a drink as soon as possible. Whether that's the welcome glass of champagne on embarkation on some lines, or a cocktail from the closest bar on the mass market lines. 

[Shoppie124]

4 hours ago, Aplmac said:

Ancient Greek Mythology relates

that the River Styx is a barrier that separates us mortals

from a successful transition to the afterlife.

If you don't successfully transition, you'll be stuck in 'limbo' for eternity.

 

Charon provides a ferry service across the River Styx

but he requires some small payment in the form of coinage.

He is described in the literature as having transported the souls of the newly dead

across this river into the afterlife.

 

This small financial requirement ties in

with a very old maritime tradition in sail-boating and shipbuilding,

when Mast Stepping is the process of raising the boat's mast.

It also refers to a ceremonial occasion which occurs

when the mast is 'stepped' towards the end of a ship's construction.

The ceremony involves placing or welding one or more coins

into the mast step of a ship, and is seen as an important ceremonial occasion

in a ship's construction which is thought to bring good luck.

 

Although such coins were originally placed under the main mast of a ship,

they are now generally welded under the radar mast (sometimes in a protective box)

or laid in the keel, as part of a keel laying ceremony.

 

That coin under the mast likely will never see the light of day again.

Its dual-purpose is both to ensure good luck

-and also to provide the emergency availablity of some sort of cash payment

when Charon calls for his ferry fare

not to cross the Mersey, but to cross the River Styx!

______________________________________

Charon is the guy draped in red. Notice the desperate souls at bottom right.

They walked with American Express. They're not going anywhere!

.

 

 

 

 

I love it!!!!

[Aplmac]

31 minutes ago, Shoppie124 said:

I love it!!!!

 

When I go now to funerals of people who were close

I place a few misc. coins on the coffin before it is lowered.

 

Better the person has ferry fare for Charon, and doesn't need it

- than the other way around. Just in case *wink*

 

____________________________

See what is said here...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mast_stepping

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

All kidding aside. yes. make a list. Keep it handy so when you think of something you must take. Jot it down.

We have a very long one. On one side is everything we need to do with the home before we leave. On the other is everything we need to take. As for a list for clothes. That is short. Mostly things you may forget. PJs, socks, belt, handkerchief, dress pants, dress shoes, dress shirt, swim suit. Most everything else like all the casual clothes you will remember.

[davekathy]

No superstitions for us. 

[SRF]

4 hours ago, evandbob said:

Try not to book a cabin on the 13th deck - (most lines don't have one!)

 

For good luck, start your cruise with some loving as soon as you can enter your cabin.

 

That depends on your culture.

 

In Asia, it is the number 4 or any number with a 4 in to.

 

In Asian, many hotels do not have floors 4, 14, 24, 34 and ESPECIALLY not 44.

[jocap]

Aplmac's post about the coins- that's something to do on sea days- hunt the coin!

We searched everywhere on P&O's Ventura, and in the end had to ask- and were taken to the box on a wall containing a special euro for Italy, where the ship was built, and a sovereign for the UK.

[Aquahound]

On ‎6‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 8:04 PM, Shoppie124 said:

I’ve read that many sailors have superstitions.  I’m curious do cruisers have superstitions?  Things that guarantee a great trip?🤔😊

 

Not so much a superstition as it is tradition and respect....but I never wear a hat in a ship's dining facility.  In war time, many sailors died on Ward Room and galley tables, and removing a cover in the dining facilities is a sign of respect for those who we lost. 

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, SRF said:

 

That depends on your culture.

 

In Asia, it is the number 4 or any number with a 4 in to.

 

In Asian, many hotels do not have floors 4, 14, 24, 34 and ESPECIALLY not 44.

 

When we were house hunting, Mrs Ldubs refused to even look at a house that had the number 4 in the address. 

[MicCanberra]

Don't pay the ferryman until he gets you to the other side.

https://www.bing.com/search?q=don't+pay+the+ferryman+youtube&form=EDGNB2&mkt=en-au&httpsmsn=1&refig=c1bc407636fd43c5e860dd1541af52aa&sp=2&qs=AS&pq=don't+pay+the+ferryman&sk=AS1&sc=8-22&cvid=c1bc407636fd43c5e860dd1541af52aa&cc=AU&setlang=en-US

[tip]

I never watch "Faux News."  It keeps my blood pressure from going up and helps me to avoid indigestion.