Favorite Cruise Story

[nu2sea]

What is your favorite cruise story? What adventure, mishap or delight have you encountered on board a ship?

 

I still have over two months to go until my next cruise, and I sure would appreciate it if you would share some memories to help tide me, and others, over until our next cruise...

 

Susan

[joramrose]

Good idea for a thread!

 

I have several stories to share. Let me think about them and I will get back here, if not tonight then shortly.

 

love

joan

[fridayeyes]

Here's mine: My parents cruise 2-3 times per year, 4 if they are lucky. One summer, my 2 year old kept asking if we could go to "Gramma's condo". Sometimes the answer was yes, and sometimes the answer was "Not this week. Gramma is on a boat ride." One day in fall, my son awoke to see Gramma's car in the driveway. He ran through the house calling for her, only to have me explain that Gramma wasn't here, she had just parked her car at our house so she could go on a 'boat ride'. DS heaved a dramatic sigh and sat down on the landing.

 

"My Gramma," he sighed. "She used to play with me every, every day. But now she just goes on boat rides."

 

I wasted no time relaying that tidbit to my folks, who were waiting in an embarkation line in Florida. :D

 

DS can't complain. He's been on 2 cruises and is about to be booked on his 3rd. :)

 

Cheers,

 

Friday

[joramrose]

This is NOT one of my favorites!!

 

The $192 I did NOT win at Bingo.

 

I am not really a bingo person in the first place, but the prize was a free cruise and what the heck, I felt lucky.

 

I got my six paper cards, the kind you have to bend down from the hole and sat down to win.

 

I was having trouble punching and folding back. On the seventh call, on the final card, I had a bingo! Me, who never wins. But by the time I got to it, he already was calling the next number. Sorry. No win for me.

 

No more bingo either.

 

The winner, as he was walking out, commented to me Tough Luck. But he did not offer to share.

 

love

joan

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Yes, we had a naturalist onboard in Alaska

On our 5/6/05 West Coast/Alaska cruise on Summit we had natutralist Dirk Younkerman on board. While on shore in Ketchikan, he spotted a pod of Orcas in the channel while riding in a jeep. He came to a dock where I was sitting and told me to look out for them. A few minutes later I spotted about 12 of them in the middle of the channel. Dirk negotiated with the driver of a water taxi that had just brought someone to the dock to take us after the Orcas. A local girl who was a friend of driver, Dirk's mother, Dirk and I went chasing Orcas.

 

We went past Summit, which was at anchor in the channel, and past where we guessed the Orcas were underwater. Shut off motor and waited. Four surfaced a couple minutes later within 30 yards of boat. They had split off from the other 8 or so. We moved ahead of them about four more times and waited for them to surface - sometimes within 10 yards of boat. We were able to get some great pictures of the 2 adults and 2 young Orcas.

 

While in the channel we also spotted a black bear on the other shore foraging for food. The water taxi driver had seen him there before and went looking for him. He took us to another spot where there were numerous bald eagles on shoreline and sitting on poles that were in the water.

 

Some people, including my wife, on Summit also saw the Orcas as they swam past the aft heading up the channel.

 

Dirk gave presentations on the Summit also. The next days was one on Orcas that had previously been scheduled.

 

 

 

 

__________________

[renebfl]

My story was not during the cruise, but in preparation for my Alaska cruise this summer. I had been reading posts on both Celebrity and Alaska, when 3 night ago, I recognized a name of a CC post. Usually, people don't use their real name,but this one was different. Also ,noticed home state was close to where I grew up. The name and state klicked in my head from 35 years ago. Could it be someone I once knew? I posted a response on her posting and sure enough, it was a friend from 1971!! How many people have we posted to and not known we know them or knew them from the past. Thanks Kate for using your real name. A renewed friendship thanks to CC message board and Celerity Cruiselines.

[Vistadeck]

My story that I usually tell is of the time we took the Enchanted Isle out of New Orleans - Hurricane Mitch was in the Caribbean. The Mississippi was bouncy but got quite rough out in the Gulf. Day at sea was like sailing on merange - all white whisps and sprays - along with heavy waves. I was very surprised we didn't switch itineraries like most ships, but since we were out of NO I'm guessing they decided to risk it.

 

The day we docked in Cozumel was sunny, but very choppy. Went snorkling at Chankanab but it wasn't for the faint of heart, very choppy as the storm was south and east of Grand Cayman.

 

We saw the dive boats etc. all being hauled out of the water, we got back to the ship and saw a Carnival ship depart early since conditions were getting worse.

 

We had a meeting in the lounge for one party from each cabin, the captain said not to worry, but GC was closed, and the ride would be too rough to go through to Montego Bay, Jamaica. He said we'd overnight in Cozumen and off to Key West instead. So people were free to head off the ship and enjoy an evening in Cozumel.

 

About an hour or so later, we received a letter under our door stating that the Mexican Government was demanding we depart right away as they did not want to be responsible for us.

 

Lol we were kicked out of Mexico!

 

I still have the letter somewhere, ... I'd bet there's a good chance some folks were out drinking and having dinner when we took off, since they all thought we were there for the night.

 

I had a blast since I enjoy a good bounce, and feel a bit dissapointed if we dont have at least one day when people are swaying side to side down the hallway in rough seas - this was tough on a lot of folks though. Once we rounded Cuba it calmed down quite a bit, had a fun 2 days and an over-night in Key West and a sunny trip home.

[RhondaPerr]

On our very first cruise on the Song of Norway many moons ago, we sat at a table which every night the Doctor joined us, and also an officer. The Doctor made a comment the first night that if he was ever late to dinner, he would buy a bottle of wine for the table.

 

My husband was playing basketball when he sprained his ankle....the doctor was late to dinner. The next day, my husband was walking on deck or rather limping on deck, and it was a little slick...He slipped went to catch himself ,and caught me in the mouth with his fist....the Doctor was late to dinner. The next day our tablemate got hurt (not seriously) during a snorkle tour...The Doctor was late to dinner... We bought him a bottle of champagne at the end of the cruise.

 

 

My 2nd favorite story is, we had a really animated table..10 of us...and every night we would just have so much fun at dinner...We were invited to the Captain's Table one night. So, here was another night we had to dress up which I was not prepared for. I had sunburn and there was no way I was putting on hose.. We were told to meet by the elevators. and were escorted to the table by an officer. I was seated next to the Captain, and my husband no where near me, because they wanted you to mingle.

 

I would say the wine and champagne glasses were 6 deep...I lost count! We had a special menu, but the regular menu that night had so many things we liked. Everytime I went to take a bite of food the Captain would talk to me, and so politely I would put it down, and take a drink instead....The dinner lasted hours...and I think I got about 2 bites of the food....but after all the drinks I really didn't care!

 

We ended up having to go to the midnight buffet because we were starved...but what a great experience it was.

[flashdog_1]

This is not a "favorite" but a horror. We were having lunch in the dining room and one of the table mates asked if any of us knew where the body was. What! She said just after boarding a man had died of a heart attack (Summit July 15, 2005) right in the lobby with his champagne.

[chessbriar]

My favorite story is Chesterh's review of the Galaxy back in 2002. His words put visions in my head and a chuckle in my heart.

[fridayeyes]

I guess if you have to go, on board with the taste of champagne fresh on your tongue is the way to go. Beats a hospital room any day.

 

Cheers,

 

Friday

[goldmom]

Also had a mini-reunion. Going on the NCL Dawn last fall we had a very active CC group and through chatting we discovered that out of the 40 people, 3 of us had all graduated from the same high school and another's father had graduated from it too.

 

But, here's my favorite story. We were on the Horizon many years ago. My daughter was about 5. We had an English waiter who was just the sweetest person. He had a daughter at home about the same age as mine, so needless to say he always made a big fuss over her every night. One night my DD, who was not an adventurous eater, asked the waiter if she could have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He looked confused and asked her again what she wanted. She told him again, then he looked at me, still confused, I asked him to bring some white bread and some of the packets of peanut butter (they had these out in the mornings so I figured it wouldn't be hard for him to get them) and some jelly. He still looked confused, but off he went. When he came back he had the bread, the packets of peanut butter and a dish of jello! Being English, he calls jello, jelly and jam is what we call jelly. Well we all had a good laugh, DD got her PBJ sandwich with a dish of jello for dessert. Guess those X waiters will bring you whatever you ask for even if they think you're crazy. We don't remember much else about the trip, but we always remember the peanut butter and jello sandwich.

[more mangos please]

I'll never forget starting a fire in my stateroom.

[Balamb]

One of my favortie stories took place three years ago on the Carnival Legend. My husband and I decided to eat breakfast in the dining room one morning and were randomly seated at a table with another couple. As we started to make "small talk", the man told us he and his wife had met because she was a postal worker who delivered his mail. He then told us that he would greet her at his front door everyday to get his mail. Nice story, right? Except when he added that he would greet her IN THE NUDE. You see, he was an enthusiastic nudist. In fact, he told us that the day before, in St. Maarten (I think), he couldn't even wait to get to the nude beach to take off his clothes. He got so eager that he stripped them off in the cab on the way to the beach.(I hope the cabbie kept his eyes on the road!) Anyway a couple of days later, my husband and I took our cruise companions around to the front of the ship because we had found this really neat area where we could look back and see the whole side of the ship. As we were doing that, we noticed a man on his balcony smiling at us in a really goofy way. As we gazed at him a bit more closely, we noticed that he was naked. And then, I guess because he had an audience, he started to get a bit frisky and press his you-know-what against the glass of his balcony. Yep, it was our nudist on exhibition, and he was, I must say, "Nuts!"

[nu2sea]

Friday, as a great-grandmother, I can imagine how your mother must have appreciated your phone call! A true sweet and sour experience for her.

 

JoAn,I too bought a Bingo card once - same reason as you - free cruise. Didn't even get close to a bingo. Guess I was just "lucky.":rolleyes:

 

John - Great good fortune for you to just be sitting at the dock when Dirk pulled up. Bet that turned out to be the best shore excursion to be had at any price!

 

renebfl: Sometimes the best part of planning for a cruise are the wonderful people you geet to meet, or re-meet, on this board.:)

 

Vistadeck, I've never met anyone who has been kicked out of Mexico! Congratulations

 

Rhonda, guess there is nothing like a bottle of wine a day to keep the doctor away!:D

 

Phyliss, have to agree with Friday, if you gotta' go...

 

Rick, I remember anxiously scanning the boards waiting for each new chapter to be posted. I went on my first cruise feeling like a seasoned pro. Thank you Chesterh, wherever you are!

 

goldmom, what a sweet story. But you were probably lucky he didn't bring out the maramite.:eek:

 

more mangos please: WHAT??????????????????

 

Balamb, euwwwwwwwgrosssssss. Sounds like your nudist was more of an exhibitionist!

 

Thank you all for sharing your memories. I wish there was someplace we could list all of them so we could page through them when the wait til our next cruise seems too long.

 

Susan

[excitedofharpenden]

One of my favortie stories took place three years ago on the Carnival Legend. My husband and I decided to eat breakfast in the dining room one morning and were randomly seated at a table with another couple. As we started to make "small talk", the man told us he and his wife had met because she was a postal worker who delivered his mail. He then told us that he would greet her at his front door everyday to get his mail. Nice story, right? Except when he added that he would greet her IN THE NUDE. You see, he was an enthusiastic nudist.

Love it! Kind of brings a new meaning to signing for a package:eek:

 

Phil