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What Is Your Favorite Memory Of A Day Spent In Port?


cloudshoveller
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What is the best day in port you have ever had on a cruise?

 

I'm not asking for specific names of companies you went with on excursions with etc...(unless you want to) but I'm asking more for what the "experience" of it was like.

 

What port was it in? Did you go even go on tours or did you just spend the day relaxing in port? What made it so memorable?

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who feels like sharing their nice memories and experiences (and thus wisdom) :) with me.

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Asia was my last continent to visit on my goal of visiting all 7 by age 50 and wow, that was a tear-jerker for me. Just knowing that I could set a high goal and complete it was a wonderful experience for me and my husband who also has visited all 7. Walking around the small town of Vung Tau and meeting its wonderful people was great despite the unbearable heat and my very poor command of the Vietnamese language.

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Ours was our day in GC....no excursion...hubby rented a waverunner on the beach, I read and watched him....drinks and lunch on the beach...lovely weather...shopping a bit before heading back to the ship....it was a wonderful, relaxing day!

We've had some of the same type of days in Aruba...again...no excursion..just going it on our own.

 

There's really little need to pay someone to give you a good time...if you know what's available to you and how to go about getting there! Guidebooks!!!! I heartily recommend them!

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I think it was Sitka, where we went to the Raptor shelter. We were on the Oosterdam, (which had lovely artwork!)

 

Anyway, we would highly recommend going to see that home for injured birds of prey. Absolutely fascinating! We still talk about it!

 

Needless to say, we bought tons of souvenirs from them, (in order to help them pay for more rats & mice to feed the birds, of course!) I worry about how they can afford to feed the birds & pay the handlers when tourist season is over.

 

And Sitka was a beautiful little town! We actually had friends living there, whom we met up with at the tourist art shop they own. Nice memory!

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BookishAngel: That is amazing! I don't even know you and yet I am so proud of you for achieving that milestone and at such a young age! That was an incredible goal to set and reach. You must be thinking of new exciting thing to plan for now...

 

CB: That sounds heavenly. Being newbies my husband and I want to 'see the world' but we need to remember to stop and just "be" sometimes too. I wanted to know if 'no excursion days' brought people joy so thanks for answering.

 

BorisBuddy: I can see why you loved that day. I am an animal lover extreme so I would have found that so special too. I am glad you got to experience that. You motivated me to search it out, so I found the website: http://www.alaskaraptor.org/ It's neat because they have it so you can even donate online. Thanks for telling me about that!

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I did the typical excursions on GC... however my oldest son and I decided to stay on shore instead of returning with the rest of our family. We wandered the store fronts, and stopped in MargaritaVille just to say we went there... When they asked if we wanted to sit we hymned and hawed about it but said yes, decided to have a snack. The hostess took us to the 2 person balcony overlooking the street. AWSUME! We had hot wings and margaritas on that balcony. Sounds silly typing it out, but I loved that moment!

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Oh, that's an EASY one. We just cruised on Oasis of the Seas, with Labadee as one of our ports of call. We went with friends to Malfini Beach (excursion by speed boat). It was truly paradise - a secluded cove, immaculate soft sandy beach, and crystal clear water. We floated on rafts in the water, visited with our friends, and experienced the beauty and tranquility. What a perfect, perfect time!!!

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My favorite memory ... San Juan. I got to talk to my mom on the phone for (what I didn't know at the time) the last time. I'll never forget that. I know, it's not cruise or excursion related -- but important to me. :)

 

Other than that it would be the excitement spewing from my son going Parasailing in Labadee. :D:eek::cool:

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A favorite memory would be when we bypassed our private island stop because Hurricane Rita washed out the tender area so we spent a day and a half in Nassau. Being our first cruise we spent extra time at the Atlantis Resort checking out everything we could and had a great time going through the aquarium at our pace. Lots of great memories.

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Tammyrs: What fun to overlook everything from the balcony and create a special memory that you will always have between just you and your son. (You have me craving hot wings and margaritas, tee hee)

 

LynnAB: I have heard lots about Labadee, but hadn’t heard of Malfini. I just Image Googled it and the beach and water look amazing. I can’t imagine what it was like to actually be there!

 

Suenruss: Isn’t that one of the most beautiful buildings that exists? It must have been so breathtaking to see it in person and be where all that history actually took place.

 

Libertylover: Is there anything like the excitement of a child!?! Thank you for sharing that precious memory of your last communication with your Mom, it really touched my heart.

 

Mike: I loved the memory you shared because I always wonder about cruisers that experience hurricanes and here you really ‘turned lemons into lemonade’. My Husband and I have watched a couple shows about that aquarium on the Discovery channel and it looks absolutely stunning. The maintaining of it is fascinating… How wonderful you got to experience it up close!

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My favorite memory of a port day was on my honeymoon in Aruba. Our ship stayed in port until 2:00 am. After dark, we found a nice hotel that had a roof-top pool. It was practically deserted, so we took some drinks up there, and curled up in a huge lounge chair. The rail of the building was glass, so we could see our ship all lit up in the harbor. It was beautiful. Then the hotel started playing easy listening music, and they ran the music videos projected on the side of the building. It was so great to relax up there for a few hours and just enjoy the music and the sight of our ship. I will never forget it!

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  • 3 weeks later...

We opted not to take a tour in Sitka, instead we set out walking through the town, into the city park that runs along the shoreline, through the neighborhood, to the National Forest park, into the vistors center, through the park, up the hill to the Raptor Center then back down to ship. It was a misty July 4. We met the nicest people along the way and went at our own pace. Still one of my favorite memories. Makes me smile whenever I think of it.

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Asia was my last continent to visit on my goal of visiting all 7 by age 50 and wow, that was a tear-jerker for me. Just knowing that I could set a high goal and complete it was a wonderful experience for me and my husband who also has visited all 7. Walking around the small town of Vung Tau and meeting its wonderful people was great despite the unbearable heat and my very poor command of the Vietnamese language.

 

That is very cool. I hope to hit all 7 continents as well. Three down, 4 more to go!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Family cruise (Mom, Dad, Sister, Nephew, daughters, son-in-law and grandson) did the Hawaii cruise. On the day we boarded, we took the RCCL excursion to Pearl Harbor, and then on to the ship to Board. My Dad had ALWAYS wanted to go and his health had been declining. We were waiting to go out to the memorial and my Dad spotted one of the veterans of Pearl Harbor volunteering. My Dad (74 yrs old), my nephew (13 year old) and my Grandson sat down with this nice gentleman and struck up a conversation. Even my shy grandson asked him questions as he told them about where he was that day and what he experienced. There they were..3 generations and each was fascinated and I took pictures of him with our 3 guys. My Dad died 2 years later and whenever anyone talked about a vacation, my Dad's eyes would light up and he would tell them about Hawaii, Pearl Harbor and the veteran he met. We have wonderful pictures and memories of that trip.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Over 20 years ago my dh and I were on the Norway. Interestingly passengers could take a tender to St. John from the ship. If you took this tender you then needed to take the ferry over to St. Thomas to get back on the ship. Anyway we took the tender at 7AM to St. John. We ate a lovely breakfast at an outdoor restaurant and watched the sailboats in the harbor. We then rented a jeep with a couple we met in the restaurant and went to Trunk Bay Beach where we spent the most wonderful day on the beach. It was just a truely gorgeous day.

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  • 1 month later...

Absolutely no doubt...Juneau, AK. It was this past May and my husband and I were cruising with his parents. We all took the ship excursion to Mendenhall Glacier and I was completely blown away. It was the first time in AK for all of us. I stood on the beach looking at that gargantuan river of ice and understood the smallness of man and how insignificant we truly are on this magnificent earth. I'm so thankful for the opportunities we have had to travel...it hasn't been near as much as some but I feel blessed to see the special places I have seen with my husband.

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I've been lots of places and so many were really wonderful. But what really stands out for me was swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman. I've done it twice now and for me both times felt like a once in a lifetime (now twice) kind of experience.

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  • 3 weeks later...

There have been many wonderful moments, but I will mention 3.

 

In Juneau I took my sister on a non-ship's excursion. We helicoptered to Mendenhall Glacier and rode on the dog sleds through the snow and ice. It was a memorable experience and was even better because we were celebrating my sister's 50th birthday.

 

I love Magen's Bay in St. Thomas. I took most of my children there when we were on a cruise. (One son is in the Navy and wasn't able to come on the cruise.) I didn't plan it this way, but I was able to spend one-on-one time with each child (well, they're adults, but they're still children to me) just hanging out in the water. It was special for me.

 

Lastly, we went to Granada. The waters were rough and I chose not to tender in with the rest of my family, but just spent quiet time on the ship instead. It was special because very few people were around and I just relaxed by a quiet pool. You can't do that on a sea day.

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Taking the ferry from Tortola to Virgin Gorda and visiting the Virgin Baths. That day was PERFECT!!!! Great weather, beautiful scenery and amazing company...we met two other couples and sat on a huge rock for several hours just soaking it all in. Everyone else went to the beach so we had that piece of paradise all to ourselves - PRICELESS

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  • 1 month later...

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