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

[JLC@SD]

Our favorite was our first visit to Dubrovnick in 1989........no internet research back then ..........and then walking through the town to discover...........what a beautifl place it was. I took this photo in 1989.

 

Edited November 2, 2010 by JLC@SD

[mr green]

One memory stands out in Scotland. We were taking a 'bus tour, and, regulations state that for safety reasons the guild has to remain seated. However this does not apply when on a ferry boat. As soon as we drove onto the ferry, the elderly Scotsman, rose and reached for his fiddle! It seems that at one time he had his own band, and even took it 'across The Pond'.

Anyway, for the best part of an hour we had a really great 'sing along'.:)

 

john

[jaxkai]

not to hijack it but for those who cruise to alaska, here are some ideas when i lived there and i wasnt snowed in or felt i wasnt we traveled lots , im curious by nature.

 

if you go to seward and i know a lot of the ships do, there is a national park outside there, one of the really kewl things about it is, as you drive in, you will see date markers, every year they put one of those in the ground showing where the glacier was that year and how it shrinks, its utterly fascinating, oh yea and the kids love the ice worms lolol .

 

another fun trek some who spend more time there is to take the train to denali, its a wooden track the best pictures ever and its like seeing real alaska

can dog sled there too snow or no snow.

 

i cant wait to get my own first memory but for now im soaking in the ones you shared and in awe.

[bellybutton530]

One year, while walking to town in Barbados, I came across a telephone company work crew near the entrance to the port. I just happened to mention that I was a telco engineer. They stopped what they were doing and called their supervisor, who arrived a couple of minutes later. I was whisked off to the company headquarters, where I met many employees. They took me out to eat, and the supervisor took me on a tour of the island.

 

Totally unexpected.... Totally enjoyable....

 

PS: I never got to shop that trip.

[cruisingiscool]

DH and I did a med cruise a few years ago. We visited Rome and we both agreed that it is the most beautiful city in the world in our opnion.

Everything from the colosseum to the Trevi fountain is stunning and memorable, but St Peter's Basilica brought tears to my eyes with its beauty and stunning architecture.

Are we not very lucky people to have these memories? :)

[Snorkel Dawg]

A couple of years ago in St. Thomas having been there several times, we looked for a different beach to chill out on & do some snorkeling. We decided on Secret Harbor & after snorkeling a while my DW & I were relaxing on loungers taking in the sun and some pina coladas, and watching our two dds who were fearlessly snorkeling all by themselves, having a great time exploring and seeing all the underwater life. I remember talking with my wife how happy we were that the girls were doing great snorkeling and finally "got it". Hard to describe but maybe I was feeling just the pride of being a father? It was a wonderful moment...& many more to come! :)

[Snorkel Dawg]

DH and I did a med cruise a few years ago. We visited Rome and we both agreed that it is the most beautiful city in the world in our opnion.

Everything from the colosseum to the Trevi fountain is stunning and memorable, but St Peter's Basilica brought tears to my eyes with its beauty and stunning architecture.

Are we not very lucky people to have these memories? :)

 

 

 

Yes we are lucky

[cruisin'tex]

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.

 

Most memorable: first visit to Egyptian pyramids (from Port Said)!

[cperk97]

Both were on our honeymoon. The first is Sting Ray City in Grand Cayman. I has to be one of the coolest things I have ever done. Trying to hold a stingray bigger then my outstretched arms was awesome. The next is the day we spent at RCI's island Cocoa Cay. We were on the 2nd tender to the island. We put our stuff down on a chair got into the water to snorkle. We came out of the water to each lunch and went right back into the water. We came out and got back on the tender to go back to the ship. We live in upstate NY and we never had a chance to snorkel in the ocean before. So we wanted to do as much of it as we could. And we did!

 

Jo Anne

[Snorkel Dawg]

Both were on our honeymoon. The first is Sting Ray City in Grand Cayman. I has to be one of the coolest things I have ever done. Trying to hold a stingray bigger then my outstretched arms was awesome. The next is the day we spent at RCI's island Cocoa Cay. We were on the 2nd tender to the island. We put our stuff down on a chair got into the water to snorkle. We came out of the water to each lunch and went right back into the water. We came out and got back on the tender to go back to the ship. We live in upstate ey NY and we never had a chance to snorkel in the ocean before. So we wanted to do as much of it as we could. And we did!

 

Jo Anne

 

 

 

Hi Jo Anne-I totally agree about the stingrays, one of the coolest things I've ever done too. Did you kiss one? It's supposed to be 7 years og good luck kissing a stingray.

 

You should consider doing a snorkel with turtles (we did this in Barbados) & a swim with dolphins (we did this in Curacao) both were also incredible adventures on par with Stingray City. If you get the chance & have the resources I highly reccomend doing both!

 

Ain't snorkeling in the ocean grand? :)

Dawg

[cperk97]

Hi Jo Anne-I totally agree about the stingrays, one of the coolest things I've ever done too. Did you kiss one? It's supposed to be 7 years og good luck kissing a stingray.

 

You should consider doing a snorkel with turtles (we did this in Barbados) & a swim with dolphins (we did this in Curacao) both were also incredible adventures on par with Stingray City. If you get the chance & have the resources I highly reccomend doing both!

 

Ain't snorkeling in the ocean grand? :)

Dawg

 

 

I have swam with dolphins at Discovery Cove. We just happened to be there on 9/11 except we didn't know what happened until 5:00pm when we left. Swimming with the dolphing was awesome too.

 

I would love to swim with turtles! Someday!

 

Jo Anne

[Scorpiorose]

The day we bought my engagement ring at diamonds internationa in Cozumel.

 

We came into port walked by diamonds international and my now husband said, I think it's time to go in there. We went in, found a beautiful 1 ct. diamond and simple setting, got in a taxi and headed to paradise beach for the day.

 

We sat on the beach for 5 hours, sipping melon drinks and swimming, climbed in a taxi went back to port and my beautiful ring was ready!!!!

 

He wouldn't let me wear it, he later took me to the top deck with a bottle of champagne and asked me under the moonlight of the beautiful ocean.

 

We've been married (2nd for us both) for 4 years now! LOVE him!:p

 

Here he is, Paradise beach Cozumel waiting for my ring!!!

 

[Celandine]

There are some wonderful stories and memories in here. Thank you for sharing, several have brought tears to my eyes.

 

 

I can't pick one, but my top 3 port days are as follows:

 

 

My first cruise back in 1999 with my mum. We were on the Carnival Sensation, everything was amazing and overwhelming. We went to New Orleans, my mum and I had a fabulous day. We did a city tour in the morning, and then went to the aquarium (yes I try to go to everyone I can find) then we just did some shopping and took silly photos. Such a beautiful city.

 

Last year in Marseilles, I just went and wandered around myself. found Les Petite Train, and took 2 tours around Marseille. I was able to converse enough to get around with my french and I was ready to move to Marseille that day.... I just found everything about it to be beautiful and that whole cruise is full of good memories.

 

December 2009, my dad and I took our first cruise together (having pets, we often take vacations as pairs so someone watches the pets). Earlier that year he had open heart surgery and knee surgery, and there were some scaryish times, he actually needed more open heart surgery 2 months later to re-do the first operation..... anyways, we were at Royal Caribbean's island in the Bahamas and swimming in the ocean.... we had left all our brand new snorkel gear at home because we weren't sure if he would be able to do much and I wasn't going to go alone.... we spent a full hour just relaxing in the ocean and managed to see some fish (little schools of minnows, a needle fish and some little yellow ones by the rocks)... it was very special.... he is still in my life with a potential for more surgery to come, but we still talk about how beautiful it was to be in the ocean and we will go snorkeling one day.

[thepoint]

May sound silly, but what we love the most is ----- getting up early, putting on lush bathrobes, sitting on the balcony having a wonderful breakfast which has been delivered exactly at the time requested, while watching the ship dock at the day's port of call. Makes you feel like you won the lottery!

[Happy ks]

So many to choose from.

 

Helicopter ride around Kauai.

 

The day we got off the ship in Venice and just got lost, wandering around just my husband and I, we had such a great day.

 

Our last day of our Med cruise, we got off the ship and had a private tour guide take us to Tivoli for the day.

 

Again, on our Med cruise, the day we got off the ship, hired a taxi driver and went to Pisa/Lucca. Pisa was great, Lucca was magical.

 

The one and only time we ziplined in Puerto Vallarta. Great memory but I was scared to death.

 

My favorite cruise memory is from boarding day on our first cruise, Disney Magic in 1999, who knew what a monster it would create?

 

We look forward to more, our next big cruise will be Canada/New England and we are mostly excited about our first trip to Quebec, Canada, our disembarkation port.

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

Last year on my cruise, I visited Isla Roatan. We docked in Mohagany Bay and visited the beach that is right there at port. It was such a beautiful beach (& yes I know it's man made). The water was so crystal clear and warm. The sand was basically white & so soft. It was so relaxing to just drift in the water and see our big ship off in the distance. Made great pictures also! :) I was there with my son & fiance, and they enjoyed the beach as well. My son was 9 months old, and it was just so cute watching him play in the sand & sit in the calm shallow water. :) That was our best day in port!

[STARFISH*4]

Whale Watching in Cabo--AMAZINGLY AWESOME to see these creatures like this!!

[RunningGirl]

It's between our wedding in St. Thomas or the nachos in St. Marteen.

 

Ok, our wedding overlooking the beach..... but they really were very good nachos. :)

[bonsai3s]

Reading everyone's post makes you feel good...lot's of great memories. There are so many, but our top 3: (my DW may have other ideas)

 

1. Visiting a motu (small island) in Bora-Bora and had it for ourselves for swimming and snorkling. My wife cut her knee cap snorkling and the scar often becomes a nice topic of conversation.

 

2. Doing DIY from Civitavecchia to Rome. I took 10 of my family members...all senior citizens, on a train ride to Rome. They thought I was crazy. We managed to walk close to 6 miles around Rome and barely made it on the last train back. (My ankle got caught while the train door was closing...I had the old folks running to make the train!) My mom and mother-in-law both endearingly talk about how far they were able to walk. They are unable to walk anymore.

 

3. Hiring a rickshaw driver for the day in Na Thran(sp), Vietnam. Using simple hand signals to communicate, we managed to visit a local fish/poultry/vegetable market, swam the China Sea, a church and massive Buddha statue, a monastary,...all the while traveling carelessly between buses, motor scooter, and car while on a rickshaw being pulled by a bike! The driver only wanted $10...we gave him $50 instead.

 

I only said 3, but I have to include our trip to Ephesus and the house of Virgin Mary. My dad had always wanted to visit the House of the Virgin Mary. While there, he wanted a local souvenir but couldn't find anything he wanted. He whispered to me and said, "Could you help me find a small rock?" The grounds were immaculately clean but I managed to find a small rock and handed it to him without even looking. During our dinner, my dad was teary-eyed and asked all of us to really inspect the small rock we found. Without hesitation, the rock appeared to look like the figure of the Virgin and the child. My dad made a wish to live a few more years. He did. That was in 2000, he passed away in 2005.

[esgwat]

I took my daughters to Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel. We had massages on the beach and they were AMAZING! Two for $60 and they lasted an hour. Very professional and set the bar high. We can't wait to go back!:D

[Athankfulheart]

We've gotten to do lots of great excursions in just 3 cruises, but the best memory was from the smallest boat and potentially no funnest trip. It was a charter on RC Majesty for a work thing. The whole ship was chartered but the passengers numbered 3-500. Lots of old, boring, traveling single, work minded passengers and maybe 20% of them were there to have fun. We got off the ship at cococay and there MAY have been 100 people there total all day long. You know what ? This little, unamazing island is a very different place when there are no people to be found :D Its my best memory of a cruise stop because we walked to the end of this seemingly deserted island and enjoyed eachothers company ;)

 

My second most favorite stop was on Maui. We left our (then) 7 children on the ship with family members and spent the day in a rented convertible just having fun together and seeing the island. Amazing.

[UlvaZell]

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.

 

Renting ATV's on Mykonos and crusing around the island visiting various beaches and sites. What a great day!

[MrsNancyG]

My favorite port day memory is my daughter then 11 pretty much sleeping through the entire bus excusion of the volcano things. I planned for over a year, just about every day doing something towards the cruise, and she slept. I laughed my a&* off

[brianlojeck]

After running ourselves ragged in 3 previous ports in Hawaii, my wife and I had a lovely morning snorkeling in Maui. We didn't want to walk too far, so we just ducked into a cheesy place called "Cheeseburgers in Paradise".

 

We lucked out. We got seated right by the ocean side windows on the second floor. The service wasn't great, the food was moderate, but having drinks with my wife, exhausted, with that amazing view, looking forward to 4 days at sea...

[Sancho_proudfoot]

Exploring San Juan in Puerto Rico, by defeat. We got to the fort at the hilltop at sunset, which was gorgeous and at cool breeze was blowing which was so welcome after the Caribbean heat. Then scooting back to the ship on the website, zipping in and out of the gridlocked traffic.