What was your best cruise?

[TriGirl]

Did you go on a cruise expecting the worst and it turned out great? Or maybe you had a pleasant surprise that made it really memorable? Please share your best cruise memories.

[habenicd]

Our first cruise to Alaska (our third cruise) was perfect in every way. We took my parents as a retirement present. The weather was perfect... it never rained. The Ryndam was in great shape and the staff was excellent. I can not think how it could have been any better. Since then, my parents have been on more cruises than my DW and I.

[RuthC]

Can't say I ever had a cruise I didn't like, but the all-time best ever has to be the 2002 Ryndam South America w/ Antarctica.

 

The several lecture series were like being back in college---they were so comprehensive. The entertainment was excellent. There was a congenial, regular group in the Piano Bar, and an excellent entertainer in there.

 

South America was a unique destination, and then there was Antarctica itself. The absolute BEST part of the BEST-ever cruise.

I would do it again in a heartbeat.

The travel down and back was exhausting; the packing a challenge. It was expensive.

Absolutely, positively worth all of it.

[gizmo]

I would have to say the Mexican Riviera cruise on the Statendam. Everything was perfect on that cruise.

 

A cruise on the Norway comes in a close second. The entertainment was the best, Sam Moore, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Mary Wilson, and Paul Revere and the Raiders.

[FlorenceItaly]

So far, my Alaska cruise on the Veendam...I consider it a perfect cruise(despite having some minor med. issues)....The scenary was gorgeous, and I made lifelong friends.

 

Marie

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have been on so many cruises.

But it is a toss up between Alaska and the Baltic for our best cruises.

[ger_77]

Gizmo, you actually saw Paul Revere and The Raiders??? Oh my gawd, that's hilarious! I used to absolutely die for them when I was a pre-teen in the mid 60's. I particularly enjoyed Mark Lindsay and his then very avant-garde pony tail! Wish I could have been on that trip with you!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[gizmo]

Gizmo, you actually saw Paul Revere and The Raiders??? Oh my gawd, that's hilarious! I used to absolutely die for them when I was a pre-teen in the mid 60's. I particularly enjoyed Mark Lindsay and his then very avant-garde pony tail! Wish I could have been on that trip with you!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Yep, I saw him on 4 different cruises. The shows were fantastic. I sat next to Paul and his wife on a tender returning from Stirrup Cay, NCL's private island. We had a nice conversation. Nice people.

 

We shared a table in a lounge, with Little Anthony and the Imperials. They are a great group of guys.

[iluvcruzin]

I would have to say - hands down - 2000 Vision of the Seas C&A member cruise of the Hawaiian Islands. It was a trip I will never forget. Every port was fabulous, weather was fabulous. Met lots of CC & C@ folks on this sailing. Someday I hope to return to this itenerary. I would like to try it out of SF sometime.

[serendipity1499]

I second what RuthC said..We've enjoyed all of our cruises but the best one was our South American cruise on the "Amsterdam" last Dec. ...Did not get into the Antartic but hope to do it again with the extra days & next time go further into the Antartic..

 

Only problem was the weather going around Cape Horn..My DH & our friends DH expected it to be like the "Horatio Hornblower" movie..It was a beautiful, calm day... "TOO calm" for them...LOL...We'll just have to do it again!

 

Yes, it was expensive, packing was complicated & the flights down & back were jam packed...We were exhausted, but it was well worth it..

 

After we got back we followed BillS on the "Amsterdam" Christmas Cruise....

We re-lived the trip all over again & he made us wish that we were there with him....

[jhannah]

So hard to single one out. But I guess it would be Canada/New England on the Rotterdam. Perfect ship, crew, ports, weather ... everything was just spectacular!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I would have to say the Mexican Riviera cruise on the Statendam. Everything was perfect on that cruise.

 

A cruise on the Norway comes in a close second. The entertainment was the best, Sam Moore, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Mary Wilson, and Paul Revere and the Raiders.

I agree with ger 77, oh my gosh Paul Revere and the Raiders, they were one of my favorites also especially with Mark Lindsey. I saw them in person at the Iowa State fair in about 1968, then we saw them at the Sahara Hotel here in Vegas about 1978 or 1979.

 

As far as our favorite cruise it would have to be our last cruise on to Alaska on the Oosterdam. We were sure that we would probably never take an Alaska cruise again, we just going because some friends wanted to take their first cruise to Alaska. We ended up just loving it and hope to do it again in 2006.

[arzz]

Amerikanis, Christmas 1992-- definitely not my most luxurious, definintely not the best service, definitely not the best in many ways but boy did we have fun! Did not know until we got on board that it was doing the "cruise bus" itinerary -- passengers on and off three times during the week! (San Juan, Martinique and Caracas) -- Very few spoke English, every night was either a welcome dinner or a farewell (and the waiters only knew one parade and one song and they gave us the same "special surprise" with the dessert every other night). The entertainers were unbelievable -- a small ensemble who had a new show every night that was both funny and entertaining and not language dependent. The small combo on board who played in the bars knew only one Spanish Christmas song "Felice Navidad" which they played constantly -- I hesitate even to type the name of this song as it will now be months before my head is clear. We did not know each other's native languages but because the ship was small, and because of the unusual circumstances, we all got to know each other well, and we all had great fun despite all the drawbacks -- even our cabin was unusual - it was in the original first class section on the outside bulkhead of the ship, from the inside there were windows that opened directly into a solid bulkhead that had been added at some refit or other. As I cruise these days in the lap of luxury of the HAL ships, and today's cruising standards -- these new cruises are wonderful and I certainly love each and every one of them, but there was a special magic aboard some of those old, smaller ships that had an elegant past and a real history that you just do not find today.

[Bill S]

Once again, I will have to agree with RuthC. We did the South America and Antarctica cruise on the Amsterdam last December/January. I guess what made it the best for us was that the itinerary was entirely new to us, our first time south of the equator, and seeing South America, other than Cartagena, and really, not knowing what to expect, especially Antarctica: WOW! It was like Alaska times 100!

 

What really made it special and our favorite was the great ship and crew, and the absolutely spectacular weather and sea conditions that abounded during our 3 days in Antarctic waters, and for most of the cruise, as well. The conditions enabled our Captain to make a dash for the Antarctic Circle to see the sunset and then getting encircled by ice flows north of Elephant Island on our last evening down there. Seeing Cape Horn was a definite highlight with a rainbow in the distance. Also, the cruise spanned the Christmas and New Years holidays, a very special time. The lecturers were all excellent and entertaining and apporachable. Captain Peter Harris was charming and with a great wit. Packing and traveling to and from was challenging and arduous but all worth it.

[Kami's pal]

First, on Crystal, through the Panama canal because I was adopted by lovely couples and guided through the cruise rituals such as tipping, gratuities, dressing and so on. Of course Harmony a special treat in itself. And New Orleans, did pre-cruise there.

 

Alaska on Celebrity because my mother and daughter and I shared a balcony cabin. Great memories of pajama party atmosphere between 3 generations.

 

Around Horn with Orient's Marco Polo for all the reasons everyone else loved that itinerary, but also because of the ship. Crew and passengers really had a family atmosphere. They had an orphanage in Philippines that everyone supported. Raffled off donated items to raise money for it.

 

Baltic with RCCL for sheer beauty of the itinerary. We did have a storm delay and ran out of tea and eggs on the 11 night out. Entertainment flown in were two female musicians and they were excellent.

 

New Zealand with Celebrity because of the superlative sailing expertise that kept us safe through a category 9 gale. And for the efforts of the crew who carried on even though 75% of passengers and crew were sick. I was luckily in an inside, lower level cabin. Didn't really feel the movement during the night. But one cargo ship was lost during that storm; no lives, thankfully. Our ship was damaged. And our pier in Christchurch destroyed! Some passengers actually complained that the captain had altered the route! I wrote him a note, thanking him and he graciously invited me to his table one night! I bought the memories video of THAT TRIP!

 

And the western Med. last spring on HAL's NOORDAM.. That trip turned into a pilgrimage as we arrived in Normandy just a week before the 60th anniversary of D DAY.

 

I've also done 2 caribbean cruises at Christmas with my daughter, which made them special.

 

Happy to say that I've never had a bad experience. :D

[LizB1]

I think it would be easier to answer what has been my worst cruise as almost all have been wonderful. However, our three favorites were:

 

1) 35-day Grand Europe Cruise in '93 on the, then new, ms Statendam. Had

wonderful entertainment such as the Rockettes, June Allison, Regis, etc.,

etc. We also made many long lasting friends and sailed with a crew that

we knew well and couldn't be beaten, i.e., Hans Eulderink (Capt.), Dirk

Zeller (HM), Bert Boon (Chief Eng.), Didi Thatcher (Hostess). Also

enjoyed giving our private cocktail party in Amsterdam for 34 retired HAL

personnel which actually turned into a super buffet the Line did for us

and we ended up with about 65 people instead of 34 with a bar bill of

$1400.

 

2) Our 50-day So.America cruise on the Rotterdam V in '96 from LA to Ft.

Lauderdale. Many of the same crew were on this cruise as on the

one mentioned above, and we really enjoyed seeing So. America for the

first time. We were not scheduled to do Antarctica but did sail around

Cape Horn in lovely calm seas.

 

3) Can't forget our 2001 World Cruise on the Rotterdam VI as we thoroughly

enjoyed so many of the ports and particularly in New Zealand, Australia

and Hong Kong.

 

 

Thanks to HAL we have many wonderful memories of 99% of our cruises.

[Orcrone]

I've been on two cruises in my life. The first one was in 1990 with my now ex-wife. The other one was last year with DW. Give you a guess which one was my favorite.:D ;)

[localady]

I have to agree with RuthC, Serendipity and BillS, we loved our cruise around South America last December. Great itinerary, a wonderful CC group and a wonderful crew made for a most wonderful cruise!!!!!!:)

The cruise though that we were the most "surprised with" was our last cruise on the Ryndam in July. I had read the horror stories about the new tipping policy and the staff's upset over it, and also about "cost cutting" measures on HAL ships. To our absolute delight, we found our stewards and wait staff to be as friendly as ever and the service to be totally up to par!! We really were prepared for the worst, and what a pleasant surprise!!!:cool:

[Himself]

There was once a mother who had twelve children and was asked "which one of them is your favorite?" She was asked many time and it was always in front of one of her children. Her response was always: "the one I am with now!" So my response is my favorite cruise is either the last one or the next one. I like them all!! Now: I will rank the ships I have traveled on, and realize there was not a one I did not like.

 

1. Volendam

2. Rotterdam

3. Ryndam

4. Statendam

5. Veendam

6.Maasdam

7. Zuiderdam

8. The old Westerdam--the one HAL bought from Homeric and stretched.

9. The Nieuw Amsterdam (1980's version)

I have yet to travel on the Amsterdam, Zaandam, Oosterdam, new Westerdam and never had a desire to travel on the Nordam.

 

Slainte!

Himself

[obriendan]

I second RuthC, Serendipity1499, Bill S, and Locallady concerning cruising to SA and Antarctica. The scenery in Antarctica was spectacular, crossing the Drake Passage was exciting both ways, and the scenery in the Chilean fjords was so good that eventually it was, hohum, just another glacier!