Most Memorable Cruise

[DrewCC2225]

This is something I thought would be pretty fun. What was your most memorable cruise? I know it’s hard to narrow down to just one but I figured we could give this a try. It could be memorable for any reason such as an island you visited, last cruise with a loved one before they passed, first cruise etc…. 

[1emerald1]

Of course there have been so many great cruises, but I'd have to say my most memorable was my very first cruise on Sitmar's FairSky, subsequently the Sky Princess after Sitmar merged with Princess.  

[Thrak]

28 days Hawaii and South Pacific on Emerald Princess in 2017.

[2 cruises a year]

I would have to say our 64 day "World Cruise Liner" on the Sea Princess in 2015.  It was booked as one cruise, but it was three segments of the World Cruise.  We flew from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia.  We spent four days in Sydney, pre-cruise. Then around southern Australia up through the Suez Canal, Eastern and Western Mediterranean, British Isles, Iceland, trans-Atlantic, ending in New York.  Then flew back to San Francisco.

We love repositioning cruises, adding an itinerary or two B2B2B before hand on both Atlantic and Pacific crossings.  This was that on steroids!

Edited February 19, 2023 by 2 cruises a year

[2 cruises a year]

1 hour ago, DrewCC2225 said:

This is something I thought would be pretty fun. What was your most memorable cruise? I know it’s hard to narrow down to just one but I figured we could give this a try. It could be memorable for any reason such as an island you visited, last cruise with a loved one before they passed, first cruise etc…. 

What was yours?

[OccasionalSanta]

Probably the best was when we flew to Auckland, NZ for a trans-Pacific cruise back to L.A. Our flight over included an 8-hour layover in Sydney which allowed us time to visit the harbor and the Opera House. Then we had 2 days in Auckland to see some sights. The cruise was filled with sea days (19 days, 4 ports - Tahiti, Moorea, Hilo and Oahu) which we love, including the "Crossing the Equator" ceremony. 

 

Recently, we took a Ft. Lauderdale to L.A. cruise through the Panama Canal, which is probably 2nd place at this point.

 

In both cases, one of the perks is flying out to the embarkation port, but being an hour from home when we arrive in San Pedro. 

[nasa1974]

They are all memorable. But I would have to say our 3/3/7 b2b2b Inaugural Caribbean on the Sky Princess December 2019. This would turn out to be the last cruise with my wife. 

[DrewCC2225]

10 minutes ago, 2 cruises a year said:

What was yours?

Has to be the Xmas/NYE cruise on the Grand Princess in 2008. It was just such a special experience. The ship sailed to Hawaii so every port was incredible and just so many memories. 
It was between this one and my kids first cruise this past summer. They had a blast. 

[ontheweb]

Baltic cruise on the Star Princess for our 30th anniversary. St. Petersburg was magnificent, and the private tour I set up through our roll call with Alla worked out very well. Not only for all we saw, but also for the fine group of 10 who worked out so well together. Tallinn, Estonia is a gem. Stockholm, Sweden had one problem, there was just too much to do. Very few Baltic cruises visit Oslo, but ours did and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

It is unfortunate that no one will be going to St. Petersburg on a cruise any time in the near future or possibly ever.

Edited February 19, 2023 by ontheweb
added second paragraph

[BobAnne]

Antarctica in 2010 on Princess was easily the best cruise I’ve ever taken and will be hard to beat. I made amazing friends, had incredible experiences, and the whole thing was kicked off two days prior to departure when I logged into the Princess site to discover I had been given a complimentary (and highly unexpected) upgrade from a lower deck room with an obstructed view to an aft cabin with a massive balcony. Best. Trip. EVER.

[karatemom2]

So many great ones and great memories, but if I had to narrow it down I would pick our very first ever Christmas/New Years  cruise with our kids - it was on the Diamond Princess, a 15 day roundtrip LA to Hawaii. It was the last time Princess did 5 ports in Hawaii and included Kona, so we got a really amazing itinerary and the whole Christmas celebration with all the decorations, entertainment and happy families traveling together was just special and magical. We did again for the next few years on the Golden, and they were all amazing, but that first one on the Diamond was extra special.

 

And, tied would be our 12 day roundtrip Alaska cruise out of Vancouver on the Royal last May. Not only was it a spectacular cruise and itinerary, but we had the awesome forward balcony cabins which provided such beautiful scenic views and wildlife watching, and the icing on the cake was that our daughter and her boyfriend got engaged on the trip and the entertainment crew was so wonderful to them and our whole family. We felt like we were celebrating the entire time and people all around the ship were congratulating them - it was lovely and something they will always remember! 

[memoak]

Manaus Brazil to Fort Lauderdale on the Pacific up the Amazon. So glad I got to do it since no large ships, even the size of the R classes are allowed there now

[PescadoAmarillo]

Easy question!  Any one of our several cruises on the Pacific Princess in French Polynesia. 

[tonit964]

I have so many but it would be my first 16 day RT from Los Angeles to Hawaii with my dad before he passed. We had done many cruises together but this one was very special and lots of fun and I’m so thankful I got to do this one with him. 
 

My second one was my first solo cruise last November. I had the best time! 

[marden1970]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

28 days Hawaii and South Pacific on Emerald Princess in 2017.

we'll be doing this is a few weeks (3/17/23) and it may turn out to be our favorite.  But for now it is an Alaskan cruise tour we did on Holland America about 10 years ago.  It was my husband's retirement present.  Flew into Fairbanks a few days early and rented a car and went exploring.  Met up with the group, train to Denali for 2 nights, train to Anchorage for 1 night and train to Seward to board the ship. I'll never forget the amazing scenery; just beautiful.

[cruzin4us]

Well, four score and twenty years ago when I went on my 1st cruise around the Greek Islands (don't even remember the cruise line or the name of the ship.  A couple of the things I do remember is sharing a bathroom with a bunch of people down the hall and dancing to Donna Sommers on the dance floor.    But the standout was this:

 

I was with a group of just freshly graduated kids from High School.   The drinking age was 18 and our chaperone allowed us to split a bottle of wine between all 8 of us sitting at our dining room table.   Afterwards, we would take the empty bottle back to our cabin and painstakingly write a note, cram the cork back in the bottle and then we'd head aft and fling it off the ship.  (No lectures required, this was 1979).    Fast forward 6 months and I was away at college and I received some mail from my mom.   With it was a letter from a man that found my bottle while visiting his mom on Santorini.    We kept in contact for years and then time moved on.

 

This was my most memorable cruise and it's what got me hooked.

[Steelers36]

Number 1 is easy for me as well.  60 nights around South America (PE to PE circle, including Panama Canal transit). 

 

Next, I would say Baltic.

[Thrak]

21 minutes ago, marden1970 said:

we'll be doing this is a few weeks (3/17/23) and it may turn out to be our favorite. 

 

Our favorite port on that cruise was Bora Bora and they have since stopped letting the Princess ships port there. It was a major bummer. On our cruise they advertised Apia but they knew in advance it wasn't available as they had been working on the port for a couple of years. I think it's pretty tacky to sell a cruise with an itinerary that they absolutely had to know couldn't be done.

[DrewCC2225]

44 minutes ago, tonit964 said:

I have so many but it would be my first 16 day RT from Los Angeles to Hawaii with my dad before he passed. We had done many cruises together but this one was very special and lots of fun and I’m so thankful I got to do this one with him. 
 

My second one was my first solo cruise last November. I had the best time! 

That’s awesome, it was have been really special to share that time with him. How soon after did he pass if you don’t mind me asking?

[Ken the cruiser]

Our favorite Princess cruise so far was a 25-day cruise in 2019 on the Island in an aft-facing vista suite from Ft Lauderdale through the Panama Canal, then down to Lima and over to Easter Island and before finally disembarking in Santiago, Chile. 

 

Our favorite all time cruise so far is listed below in the Live From thread in my signature area. 😁

[gottagocit]

My favorite cruise would have to be our voyage in January 2020 Antarctica from Buenos Aries to Santiago. I say that because it was so amazing to see the huge penguin colony up close (very close) at Volunteer Point in the Falklands and the four incredible days sailing in the awe inspiring Antarctica among the icebergs and whales with waters as smooth as glass.

 

Antarctica is such a stunningly beautiful place that is so inhospitable most of the time and is therefore visited by so few people that it was difficult to believe we were there when we first laid eyes on it. 

Edited February 20, 2023 by gottagocit

[rdsqrl]

Has to be my first Princess cruise, on the original Island Princess (identical twin of the Love Boat ship!).  Firstly, it was totally exciting to be on a ship that looked just like it did on the television show!  Then, it was also my first Med cruise, so that was thrilling (Normandy beaches!  Gibraltar!  Rome!  Lisbon!  Monte Carlo!  Tangier!).  And lastly, there was the on-board romance with the ship's officer assigned to dine at our table . . .  I've been on 20+ voyages since that one, but none, not even a Grill suite on the QE2, is as special a memory as that cruise. 

[tonit964]

1 hour ago, DrewCC2225 said:

That’s awesome, it was have been really special to share that time with him. How soon after did he pass if you don’t mind me asking?

Thank you for asking.
It was 7 months after this cruise, which was his last. We actually had another one booked with my brother that was to sail 2 days before he passed, of course we canceled but he was so sweet because he said we should still go without him.

He and my mom cruised about four times a year and when she passed, he didn’t think he could ever go again without her but I booked one for us about 8 months after and we had a blast and then we did two a year from then on. 
 

He was a Navy guy so he loved the sea.
 

[tawlaw1526]

3 hours ago, marden1970 said:

we'll be doing this is a few weeks (3/17/23) and it may turn out to be our favorite.  But for now it is an Alaskan cruise tour we did on Holland America about 10 years ago.  It was my husband's retirement present.  Flew into Fairbanks a few days early and rented a car and went exploring.  Met up with the group, train to Denali for 2 nights, train to Anchorage for 1 night and train to Seward to board the ship. I'll never forget the amazing scenery; just beautiful.

Marden1970…….I will be on the 3/17/23 cruise also and as I was reading through everyone’s favorite cruise, I thought the same as you, it may turn out to be my favorite.    With that said, to date, I have to say my favorite cruise was in 2002 when my hubby and I got married on Celebrity Summit and cruised on through the Panama Canal.    We’ve since been on 29 Princess cruises and they have all been wonderful but my most memorable was our first Princess cruise on Ruby in 2015 and that was a RT out of LA to Hawaii.   

[tawlaw1526]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

Our favorite port on that cruise was Bora Bora and they have since stopped letting the Princess ships port there. It was a major bummer. On our cruise they advertised Apia but they knew in advance it wasn't available as they had been working on the port for a couple of years. I think it's pretty tacky to sell a cruise with an itinerary that they absolutely had to know couldn't be done.

Hi Thrak, They dropped Bora Bora off our itinerary after we had this booked and our hearts set on going.   I am very bummed about it but I understand.     I am still very excited.    From my research, it does appear that cruise ships are getting to dock in Apia now but I would take Bora Bora any day.