Has Anyone Met Their Partner/Spouse At Sea?

[CCAubs]

I know there are plenty of couples out there who found love at sea, and would love to hear your stories! Bonus points if Cruise Critic also helped play matchmaker in your love story ❤️

[evandbob]

There may even be a story or two about a couple or 2 who thought they were going on separate vacations, but wound up on the same ship or resort each with their secret amours.

 

I'd be very interested in hearing those stories as well.  Divorce Court??  🥴🥶🤡☠️

[Heidi13]

Back in my days on the ships, many of us met our wives at sea, propably about 50% were pax and 50% were fellow crew. I'm in the pax camp, as I was a cadet on SS Oriana bound for the Aussie cruising season, when future DW boarded in Vancouver, bound for Sydney.

 

DS also met his wife on cruise ships when he was 3rd Officer and she joined as a Steiner. 

[Essiesmom]

On my very first cruise, in 1972, I was traveling solo, as were a great many ....   There was only traditional dining, and we had quite a large table of singles.  Most were youngish, but there were two who may have been retired, or nearly.  Both with white hair...  and they were the ones who married.  EM

[neverbeenhere]

Does spouse for a night count?

[rkacruiser]

Without naming the individuals, I am aware of at least one HAL officer who met his spouse when she was a staff member aboard one of his ships.  

 

I don't think this is uncommon.  

[lenquixote66]

The CD on our NCL cruise several years ago met his wife on a cruise.He was from Turkey and she from the USA.

[Heidi13]

56 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

Without naming the individuals, I am aware of at least one HAL officer who met his spouse when she was a staff member aboard one of his ships.  

 

I don't think this is uncommon.  

 

It definitely isn't uncommon.

 

In addition to DW and I, our neighbours 2 doors up also met at sea when both were working on a HAL ship. He was an Dutch Engineering Officer and she was a Canadian dancer.

 

Most of the officers I worked with married pax or crew members.

[MBP&O2/O]

One 2nd engineer I knew met a woman at sea and later married her .... the problem was, that at the time they met (on board) she was another officers wife !

Naughty.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, MBP&O2/O said:

One 2nd engineer I knew met a woman at sea and later married her .... the problem was, that at the time they met (on board) she was another officers wife !

Naughty.

 

On a cargo ship, with small crews that can really cause bad feelings and serious problems.

[sydbarrett]

On 1/31/2021 at 6:24 PM, neverbeenhere said:

Does spouse for a night count?

What is spouse for a night? You argue about what to what on TV for an hour then pass out on the couch in your housecoat? 😝

[MBP&O2/O]

I only saw three mid-voyage ‘unexpected’ transfers .... this was one.🙄

 

Strictly speaking it was two transfers ... the third was an on the spot dismissal and pay your own fare home ...... from Freeport, Bahamas 🤭 One of the remaining two was involved in the same incident and he was confined to quarters until a qualified replacement was found. 👎🏻

[chengkp75]

Quite a few of NCL Norwegian officers are US Green Card holders or US citizens, having met and married a passenger onboard.  These were the days when fraternizing with the passengers was not prohibited, and officers were actually given a stipend to spend on buying drinks for themselves and passengers, so that they would mingle.  After the drug and alcohol testing came in in the 90's, the officers were not allowed to drink, so they spent less and less time mingling with the passengers.  After passengers complained that they "never saw any officers" around the ship, NCL put the hotel supervisors in whites and stripes, so that they were "officers".

[Aquahound]

23 hours ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

I would think this would be extremely uncommon unless you actually work for the cruise line.  

 

Tell that to the Navy and Coast Guard.  😉

[sparks1093]

39 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

 

Tell that to the Navy and Coast Guard.  😉

I knew a Master Chief who married one of the pilots in our squadron. She went on to become a Vice Admiral. I expect those dining ins were interesting with him as host.

[navybankerteacher]

Reading OP's question literally, I met my wife at sea.  She returned to the ship early for a spa appointment, while I hung around in San Juan to pick up a few bottles of wine.  When I ran into her later, the ship had already sailed -- so, yes - I did meet my wife at sea.

[Heidi13]

On 2/2/2021 at 12:50 PM, CarelessAndConfused said:

I would think this would be extremely uncommon unless you actually work for the cruise line.  For guests, there aren't that many singles to begin with and then even if you hit it off with someone, you're very likely starting out in a long distance relationship. Of course maybe that matters less today than in the past due to FaceTime, etc. but still, not be able to touch one another and go out together on a regular basis is kind of a big hurdle.

 

Might not be many singles onboard these days, but when I worked aboard we had lots of singles.

[rkacruiser]

I was on one really great cruise when one in my group tried to "fix me up" with a lady guest in our group who also was a single.  It was an uncomfortable situation for both of us.  The woman who initiated this eventually realized the error of her attempts and she did apologize to me.  What she told the lady, I don't know.  

 

That episode did not impact my friendship with her.  We still maintain e-mail contact and I have sailed with her husband and her since.  

 

I don't cruise with the objective of being on "The Love Boat". 

Edited February 5, 2021 by rkacruiser

[George C]

way back in my single days I used to travel with single world and I know two from one of my cruises did get engaged not sure if they got married another friend I met on single world cruise got engaged with a entertainer she met on a cruise again not sure if they got married. This was in 70’s and 80’s .

[oceanblue11]

Our daughter's high school band teacher was a trumpet player in a Princess Cruise band and during their set breaks, when canned music was played, they were encouraged to go and dance and mingle with passengers. He met a lovely American gal and eventually she became his wife!! Love can happen aboard!!

[Smokeyham]

On board a HAL ship there was a singles get together.  A guy from Australia and a woman from Kentucky met each other and had moved in together by the end of the cruise.   A few months later she flew out to Australia and they then moved to Kentucky and were married.   25+ years later they are still happily married.

I met my girlfriend on board a cruise ship in 2007 through other friends that I met through a CruiseCritic roll call.   

[julesdb99]

Yes -- It does happen!  My (now) husband and I met on a 27 day cruise from Rotterdam to Singapore aboard HALS Rotterdam in 2014.  We each were traveling solo and met at sailaway.  A somewhat whirlwind romance developed.   I made it clear that I wasn't interested in a long-distance relationship and I was not going to move away from the city where my elderly parents and all my grandchildren lived.   So... within a year he had immigrated from Canada and we were married.  We recently celebrated our 6th anniversary -- and you can probably guess our favorite activity...  Cruising of course!