Small action, special memories

[Carol51]

Sometimes small actions by crew members give us special memories. I'd like to start a thread that share special memories - resulting from relatively small, but really nice things that happened on a cruise.

 

Two of them for me:

Norwegian Dream in Norway - we always travel with one of my small stuffed animals - a little purple moose. Our cabin steward would have the moose "doing" something special everytime we came back to the cabin - such as reading the Financial Times, watching TV with the remote in his lap, or gazing out the window. Still smile when I think about it.

 

the other one was an Alaskan cruise on the Infinity - asked for fresh berries for dessert. My waiter immediately asked if I wanted them every night. I agreed, and they were wonderful. (I'm not really that much of a dessert person, so I had something for dessert while everyone was enjoying theirs.)

 

I'd like this to be a positive thread - good memories only, please.

[Prphan2]

This didn't happen to us, but to one of our tablemates, a young woman who was doing a "girls" cruise with one of her friends. On the first night, she saw a diner at another table get what appeared to be an "adult" drink that from a distance looked like Kahula and Cream or something similar. The server asked her what she wanted to drink and so pointed at the other diner's drink and said, " I want what they're having." Our server brought the drink, and when our new friend took a drink she realized that it was chocolate milk, with the chocolate settled in the bottom of the glass and the milk on top. Every night the same drink was sitting at her place when she walked in. She never told the server that she really wanted the alcoholic version because he was so thoughtful and sweet for remembering her choice from the first night. As a sidebar, we ordered iced tea the 1st night and also had it waiting for us each night after.

[luvlake]

On Alaska family cruise in 2007 my grand daughters (5 & 10) were with us. We were on Princess and they are not usually animal towel oriented, but our stewart made sure that every night they had animal towels waiting for them. I thought it was a very nice gesture.:) He told my daughter he was from the Phillipines and had 3 daughters at home and he really missed them.

[Infi]

We sailed on Costa when my DD was about 4. One of the highlights was returning from dinner to see the chocolate on her pillow each night. One night the chocolate was missing and she was disappointed. I casually mentioned it to the cabin steward, who apologized profusely. The next morning before he brought our breakfast, he said he had a surprise. DD was still sleeping, and he came in with no less than 50 chocolate candies and poured them all over her bed. She woke up to a shower of chocolates. This is still one of her fondest memories of cruising, even now that she's older. Costa really treated kids like royalty back then.

[Azure Moon]

I like my salads without dressing. Instead I prefer squeezing fresh lemon over them.

After the first night of ordering them, the wonderful waiters on three of our Carnival cruises had a small plate with lemon wedges waiting for my arrival. Truly sweet of them!!!

[Assateague Island Princes]

On our first Alaskan cruise in 2006, we made friends with our bar staff on the Lido - particularly Chris, a lovely young man from the Phillipines with a beautiful wife and baby (he shared photos and stories with us). To this day, Chris still regularly emails us with photos from his homeland, and stories of his life on HAL (currently on the Westerdam in the Phillipines - shout out to you, Chris, if you're reading this!). One evening, about halfway thru our cruise, an Orca breached outside the dining room window as we were having a late dinner - EVERYONE at our table (and probably all in the dining room at the time!) saw this amazing sight - EXCEPT ME....:(. I was soooo disappointed and told Chris about it later in the evening. As were were getting ready to leave the Sea View bar to head back to our cabin, one of our other favorite bartenders, Leland, handed me my last drink and a folded slip of paper. Puzzled, I opened it to see a very detailed handdrawn picture of a whale breaching the water, with a note from Chris that he didn't want me to be disappointed, so he drew me one! What a guy! A simple, sweet gesture that probably wouldn't mean much to anyone but me. I still have it and carry it in my wallet to remind me of my first glimpse of the great land and a terrific crew member we'll never forget! BTW - we're headed back to Alaska for our third trip in 2010, and hoping Chris is once again on our HAL sailing. Gotta love the crew! None better than those on the HAL Oosterdam, I might add!:D

[morecruise4me]

On our last cruise, I lost my wedding band. I take it off at night, and ran out in the morning for an excursion without putting it on. When we got back in the afternoon, I couldn't find it. The room had been cleaned and vacuumed. I was sooo upset. I told our room steward how upset I was, that we had been married 28 years. He shared that he was also married with 3 children. While we went to dinner, he tore the bed apart, separated the mattresses, remade everything. Still no ring. When we returned, he told me he would empty out the vacuum that they use on the floor that night when they had finished for the day and see if it had been vacuumed up. I decided to make one more complete sweep and found it in a shoe! I looked out the cabin door and found our steward. He was just as excited as I was that I had found the ring. I will never forget the trouble he went to to help me find something that is so irreplaceable!

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

Our son was about 7 when we went on the Carnival's Jubilee to Mexico. He was a very responsible person even at that age, and we would let him go play with his friends by himself. He knew where our cabin was, and so on.

 

However, when we docked in Puerto Vallarta and we were getting ready to leave the ship I looked all over and could not find him. It wasn't panic time but we wanted to get off the ship. My wife, daughter, and I went to look for him again when we saw the Captain (he was in very casual clothes as he was on his way to the beach). I told the Captain that we could not find our son and the Captain went into action. He made several calls including one over the ship's loudspeakers. And sure enough we headed back to our cabin and there was our little guy. He looked a little sheepish as if he knew that he had caused some hassle but we were not angry with him in any way.

 

I will always remember that the Captain of the Jubilee was kind enough to personally take charge and helped us.

 

Fred

[Two@Sea]

On our Westerdam cruise several years ago we enjoyed our pre-dinner cocktails in the Ocean Bar each evening. The HAL staff are so attentive they will begin to prepare your favorite libation as soon as they see you approaching. One evening I decided to be daring and try my very first Cosmo, but the server was already on his way with my usual champagne. DH casually mentioned, "Well, dear, it seems you will have to wait until tomorrow night to try your first Cosmo."

 

The next evening, the entire bar staff encircled our little cocktail table, presented that long-awaited Cosmopolitan with a flourish, waited in anticipation as I took my first sip, and applauded loudly when I smiled and pronounced it to be worth the wait!

 

I seldom indulge, except on a cruise, but have had one or two Cosmo's since, and always smile when I remember that first one, made so special by such kind HAL bartenders. :D

[cruizinwithkids]

I with a girlfriend of mine to Bermuda and we had 5 kids between us. We were docked overnight in Hamilton and one night two of the boys, about 13 year olds decided to go for a walk at about 2AM. The bartender and bar waiter who my girlfriend and I had gotten friendly with told them to get back on the ship. We could have killed the boys when they told us that story, but were grateful to the bartender and waiter.

 

Another time we were on the Majesty and my daughter was about 9. She wasn't feeling well after dinner and went back to the room. She threw up and when my husband thought she was done, he closed the toilet. Unfortunately she wasn't done so ended up throwing up on the outside of the toilet. My husband got the room steward who cleaned it up. We gave her some dramamine which knocked her right out. She fell asleep and wet the bed. She NEVER wet the bed. We had to call the room steward again. He was so sweet to my daughter and told her that he used to wet the bed when he was her age. He was just so good to her.

[Megdgr8]

Several years ago we took our first cruise on Carnival. I was a little nervous since I was traveling with my 15 yo son who has a speech problem and mild CP. We got on the top of the ship to watch it leave port and he wandered away. I was starting to panic when I saw him walking towards us from the other end of the ship-With a virgin pina colada, and a bread bowl of soup on a tray- coming towards me. He was grinning ear to ear! A few minutes a waiter came to us and asked "Sean, how's the soup?" He had stopped to talk to everyone he could. By the end of the cruise he know everyone, and everyone knew him. All the bartenders had pina coladas waiting for him and spoke to him by his first name! He has become a cruise addict! Several cruises later, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess.....He is a world traveler!:D

[Eeyoregon]

Two days into a 7 night cruise on board the Disney Magic, my sons lense popped out of his glasses. He is nearly blind without his glasses. I never even thought to pack one of those repair kits and we couldn't find the original screw.

 

We ran down to guest services where we met a wonderful castmember. She found an eye glass repair kit. Then she proceeded to spend over 20 minutes working with the smallest of screws and a tiny screwdriver. When the only screw that would fit in width wise was too long, she took it to the maitenenance person who cut off the excess screw so that it wouldn't scratch my son.

 

They wouldn't even let me pay for the repair kit!! I will never forget their kindness. She easily could have given me the kit and helped the next guest behind me.

[cruiserbryce]

like you said its the small things that make a difference for us. Someone mentioned dining room service and beverages...it is always amazing to us that after just one night the servers have everyone's drink orders memorized. With the number of people that they work with every week they really have an amazing skill to be able to consistantly do that

[Iris5383]

Some of the posts brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing:).

 

On our cruise to Alaska in 07-2007 we met the dining room steward, Superman, in the Lido at our first meal even before the Amsterdam left port in Seattle. He asked our names and after that called us by name for the whole week! And during the week when I showed up alone, he would ask about the rest of my party by name. I am always amazed at the memory of HAL employees!

 

On that same cruise, my DH and I made friends with one of the directors who ran some of the Sports at Sea events. She gave us each a Dam Sweatshirt, so we could use our Dam Dollars for other prizes!

 

By the way, my DH and I love HAL!

[gail811]

I took my mom on a cruise to Alaska. She started having cluster headaches a few days before we boarded the ship. For some reason, holding something cold to her head helped. Our cabin steward, Suwanna, kept two ice buckets full daily for my mom, and checked in often to see if there was anything she could do. She really cared about my mom, her other passengers, and doing her job well, but her compassion really showed when she was with my mom.

 

[saltmom1]

This is a great thread ! In general, it amazes me how these people can make each cruise new and fresh when they work 10 hour days 7 days a week and do it with a smile on their face every time.

I have been on 2 cruises. On my first cruise, it was our bar waiter ,Agas, who made the difference im our cruise. And he always called me Miss Anne (my first name). NOBODY can ever call me Miss Anne again ! He was always entertaining us and we still have Agas-isms and things or songs that will remind us of him.

We said there will never be another Agas. We found him in our headwaiter, Yotsa, on the Legend. We taught him how to do the "YMCA". One night I ordered beef and he knew I did not like beef as well as seafood, so he brought another meal of seafood " just in case". There are too many times to mention. But on one of our last days on the ship, we were in the dining room for breakfast and not seated in his section. He saw that we had not been waited on and he took over serving us. He showed us pictures of his 2 children and said that he has 5 months to wait to see them.

It is even more amazing how these people can touch the lives of so many. I hope they realize they do far more than their job and I hope Carnival reads this thread.

[NorbertsNiece]

Wonderful thread. Thank you everyone for sharing. I have a story about ear plugs..... and another about me being 19 and my father trying to stop the ship from sailing from Gibraltar as he couldn't find me at midnight.... but I'll keep those for another time.... your stories are far more heart warming!

[HappyStamper]

I love this thread! I am sitting here with a big smile as I read everyone's stories and remember my own. On our first cruise four years ago on the Explorer of the Seas our youngest DD was 13 (and like another poster's child she has mild CP). At dinner the first evening she chose an entree from the menu that she thought she might like but did not. Our waiter asked her if something was wrong with the food when he saw that she wasn't eating it. DH and I assured him that there was nothing wrong with the food, it just wasn't what DD was used to, and she would probably just have some pizza or something later. His response was "Oh no! She will not have pizza later, she will have pizza now!" Our daughter continued to eat in the main dining room (because she enjoyed getting dressed up and spending time with the adults) but our waiter served her pizza and chocolate ice cream each evening. The one evening that she did chose to eat at Johnny Rockets with her older siblings and cousins our waiter insisted that she not miss out on the special chocolate dessert being served that night and sent a covered plate with us for her. :)

[Happy ks]

We have so many fond memories of our cruises, it's hard to choose just one.

 

On our last cruise, I asked our waiter if I could order dinner to take back to my husband, he wasn't feeling well enough to come to dinner (we were with a family group, DH wanted me to go so he could sleep). I placed the order and fully expected it to be brought to me on a tray.

 

A few minutes later, he told me not to worry, it was all taken care of. When I went back to the cabin later I found out that not only had dinner been delivered, but with a choice of desserts and a few extras. I thought our waiter had room service deliver but my husband said no, our waiter himself brought it up to him.

 

I'll never figure out how he did that and never did we realize he wasn't around serving us!

[janabm81]

On our last cruise on RCCL Majesty of the seas we met the best bartender ever. His name was Virgilio Morales and by our first meeting he knew us by name. He had the best demeanor and always had something special for us. One day we had come back from our excursion and had mentioned to him that we had a horrible margarita while on shore. Quickly he made us a Perfect Margarita that was to die for and while he was at it he made me a rose out of a cocktail napkin. It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen it looked like a real life rose only all white. We will never forget the special service we received from him.:)

[lannp]

I have a favourite waiter on the QM2 and was seated as his table for dinner every night. I rarely order dessert and have only tea. Then later in the evening I drop by the buffet for chocolate chip cookies and a cup of tea. One of the supervisors who originally was a waiter and trained my fav told his buddy and from then on I received a plate of chocolate chip cookies with my tea after dinner. My tablemates were delighted and the plate would be emptied every night.

[size0wannabe]

We sailed on Costa when my DD was about 4. One of the highlights was returning from dinner to see the chocolate on her pillow each night. One night the chocolate was missing and she was disappointed. I casually mentioned it to the cabin steward, who apologized profusely. The next morning before he brought our breakfast, he said he had a surprise. DD was still sleeping, and he came in with no less than 50 chocolate candies and poured them all over her bed. She woke up to a shower of chocolates. This is still one of her fondest memories of cruising, even now that she's older. Costa really treated kids like royalty back then.

 

 

This post has really made me smile, purely because we have a DD the same age and i know she would of loved that. :)

 

 

Our fondest memory of cruising is one specific barman on the Mariner of the Seas. He made our cruise so much we sailed on the Mariner for a second time within 6 months. If anyone is familiar with the ship his name is Asep Budiman and he's from Indonesia.

Our first cruise was our honeymoon and when we boarded we headed straight for the Wig and Gavel pub to grab a quick drink, this was around 11:30am and we ended up staying in the bar with him right until the muster drill. He was a truely lovely man and could never do enough for us, at the end of the cruise he gave us his email address and asked if we would keep in touch which we did and still do to this day.

Our second time on the Mariner he had been moved to work in a different bar the day we got on the ship and we couldn't find him. We asked at guest relations if they could tell us where he was working and they did better than that, they actually called his cabin and let us talk to him so we could arrange to meet up. Within 30 minutes he met us at the pool bar and remembered what we liked to drink from the previous cruise 6 months earlier!

There really is too many things to mention that he did for us but i think what makes this man so special is he trusted us enough to show us pictures of his children and tell us about his life back home. He asked if we minded him coming ashore in Mexico with us which unfortunatly he couldn't make in the end as he had to work so after an hour in Cozumel we decided to get back on the ship and spend the day at the bar he was working at. At the end of the cruise he even invited us to stay with him and his family when he next goes home.

We send gifts from the UK to Indonesia for his children and are really looking forward to getting on a ship again and seeing him. We have definatly made a friend for life in him :D