Your Favorite Cruise ... or one of them

[Mary229]

My all time favorite was the Voyage of the Vikings.   It definitely was not my favorite for the ship but as an avid outdoorswoman visiting the Canadian Maritimes, Greenland, Viking and the Fjords were wonderful.   The short 42 days came and went far too fast.  

[sullaRaffaello]

SS France r/t transatlantic 1974. Best dining at sea ever.

 

Crystal Serenity world cruise circumnavigation Miami-Miami 2015.

[John Bull]

28 days S.E. Asia,  Cruise-line "Voyages of Discovery", ship "MV Discovery"

 

You've probably never heard of the cruise line, only operated the one ship & went bust a few years back.

You've probably never heard of the ship either, but if you ever watched The Love Boat you'll know her. At that time she was the Island Princess, twin sister of the actual Love Boat - Pacific Princess - and was her stage-double for many episodes. She carried about 650 pax.

A rusty 40-year old tub by the time we sailed her, and she was scrapped a few years after the demise of Voyages of Discovery.

She didn't do round-trip cruises, instead she sailed the seven seas like a tramp, visiting ports off the beaten path & rarely repeating a port  Ours included Komodo, Semarang, Padang Bai, Port Klang, and up the Saigon River to berth in Saigon.

Passengers booked segments of 14 days or longer. Because fares were in the economy category, her clientele was mainly retired university lecturers, lawyers & such, who sailed her for many months at a time - when we next sailed her a year later we re-met folk who''d been on her the whole time!

Very limited ship - narrow twin bunks in the many cabins which were too narrow for a double, no casino, a swimming pool the size of a postage stamp, no premium-pay restaurants, a lounge-style theatre with many columns.

But a classic shape with tiered stern, a promenade deck separated from the bridge by just a wicket gate - you could hear the captain swearing at an incompetent pilot-boat helmsman. Free bridge tour - a proper ship's wheel & not a computer joystick, and a useful sign for the helmsman saying "keep ship upright"🙃

I recall departing a port past Queen Elizabeth - she blasted out a greeting on her horns, Discovery replied by an officer waving a big red-painted wooden hand from the flying-bridge.🙂

Hard-working entertainment team, including a "proper" murder-mystery. I say a "proper" murder-mystery because a few years later we went to one on an RCI ship - we were the only team who got that one wrong because the answer was so very very obvious that we'd over-thought it.

Port lectures - proper history and background information rather than an excuse to sell ship's excursions.

No live TV, but films (like the Bob Hope / Bing Crosby "road to ...." series) relating to the ports we were about to visit, local entertainers brought aboard at overnight ports.

Frequent deck barbies, and proper sailaway parties.

Things that require effort rather than money.

 

But the biggest factor by far was the passengers & crew. Crew were all from one Philippine village, they knew our names, they knew our preferences, they knew how far they could josh us. We dined on a table of 8, hit it off with another table of 8 & went ashore mob-handed to bargain with van drivers & such. We'd beat their price down mercilessly, but make it all back up with the tip if it was worth it - which it always was.

 

A cruise we'll always remember, but a cruise which sadly has no equivalent in today's world - unless you know of one ??????????????????????????????????????.

RIP MV Discovery 😟

 

JB 🙂

Edited July 8, 2022 by John Bull

[BoatsandTrains]

2012 HAL Voyage I’d the Vikings.   Our second ever cruise, 35 days vs our first ever cruise of 4 days.    I thing like seeing your first iceberg.  

[rkacruiser]

9 hours ago, John Bull said:

A rusty 40-year old tub by the time we sailed her, and she was scrapped a few years after the demise of Voyages of Discovery.

 

Friends loved their Voyages of Discovery cruises as well as those on Swan Hellenic.  

[AKJonesy]

Hands down best trip was to Antarctica from Buenos Aires.  Bucket list trip.  I can't even put it into words.