Share an interesting Cruise Story with Everyone

[Paulette3028]

We were on our very first cruise on Navigator, back in 2004. We had packed formal wear....and were looking forward to the 'dress up' nights. First one was wonderful. Getting ready for the 2nd formal night, he breaks his shoe laces. It isn't long enough to just use the lace without the broken piece....he is not one to wear his 'sneakers' with his tuxedo.

 

Down to the onboard store, but alas, they did not carry shoe laces of ANY kind or color. Walking back to our cabin, DH sees our cabin attendant, who asks what he needed....DH related that he was searching for a pair of shoe laces since his shoe lace broke.

 

Five minutes later, the cabin attendant returned with a new pair of black laces....he said, they have a special supply of things for unexpected situations.

[mermaidgal]

I have a story to share. My father passed away in 2005. His wish was to be cremated and his ashes were to be taken out to sea, my Dad was in the Submarine service in WW2 so we definitely wanted to fulfill his wish. We initially planned to charter a boat after his memorial service since we had the entire family together, but that didn't work out because of a storm. My Mother had his ashes which were actually in a block of salt so when placed in the sea it would be biodegradable. Each time I mentioned that we needed to "go to the sea" she was hesitant because she's 82 now and wasn't thrilled about the idea of going out in the Atlantic 12 miles to drop Dad off, so to speak. Fast forward to 2013. I am a frequent RCCL cruiser and live in South Florida and I read a blog about someone who passed away and the wife was about to cancel their planned cruise when she determined that she could go on the cruise anyway and have her husband's ashes put in the sea while on the cruise, which like my Dad, was his wish.

I contacted the nice people at RCCL and they arranged a ceremony for us and my Mother and my siblings booked a cruise for Thanksgiving weekend on the Enchantment. My Mom loved the idea and so off we went to Port Canaveral ! We joked about Dad's last cruise and in fact it was a wonderful experience for my family. The Guest Services Manager and the Environmental Officer arranged the ceremony for the last day once we were 12 miles out from Coco Cay about 7:30pm .

We gathered together and an officer took us down to deck three in the bow in a private room where the ropes are kept on those big spools. We each spoke briefly about our memories of our Dad and then the officer said a few words and we tossed Dad thru an opening where the ropes go out to tie up the boat when in port, then the officer gave us each a rose to toss in as well. It was such a wonderful experience for my family and RCCL helped make it so special. We all went back to the Schooner Bar and had a final toast for the Old Salt! My Dad loved it I'm sure. When we tossed in the ashes, the officer called up the bridge and recorded the coordinates and they will be sending us a certificate with the coordinates in about 6 weeks, how cool is that?

We hear a lot about what goes wrong when on a cruise so I am happy to share a heartwarming story!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[OCruisers]

We were on our very first cruise on Navigator, back in 2004. We had packed formal wear....and were looking forward to the 'dress up' nights. First one was wonderful. Getting ready for the 2nd formal night, he breaks his shoe laces. It isn't long enough to just use the lace without the broken piece....he is not one to wear his 'sneakers' with his tuxedo.

 

Down to the onboard store, but alas, they did not carry shoe laces of ANY kind or color. Walking back to our cabin, DH sees our cabin attendant, who asks what he needed....DH related that he was searching for a pair of shoe laces since his shoe lace broke.

 

Five minutes later, the cabin attendant returned with a new pair of black laces....he said, they have a special supply of things for unexpected situations.

 

That's great to know and better than what I'd have done.

I would have tried to sew the broken piece back with the tiny sewing kit I always take along. :rolleyes:

 

LuLu

~~~~

[silygirl77]

We were on our very first cruise on Navigator, back in 2004. We had packed formal wear....and were looking forward to the 'dress up' nights. First one was wonderful. Getting ready for the 2nd formal night, he breaks his shoe laces. It isn't long enough to just use the lace without the broken piece....he is not one to wear his 'sneakers' with his tuxedo.

 

Down to the onboard store, but alas, they did not carry shoe laces of ANY kind or color. Walking back to our cabin, DH sees our cabin attendant, who asks what he needed....DH related that he was searching for a pair of shoe laces since his shoe lace broke.

 

Five minutes later, the cabin attendant returned with a new pair of black laces....he said, they have a special supply of things for unexpected situations.

 

I broke a shoe lace myself and I never thought to ask the room attendant... good tip. We were looking around cozumel and belize looking for shoelaces... couldn't find them. In cozumel we found a shoe store, but they didn't sell shoelaces only shoes...

[Wilda]

What a thoughtful cabin attendent:)

[lovesthebeach2]

I have a story to share. My father passed away in 2005. His wish was to be cremated and his ashes were to be taken out to sea, my Dad was in the Submarine service in WW2 so we definitely wanted to fulfill his wish. We initially planned to charter a boat after his memorial service since we had the entire family together, but that didn't work out because of a storm. My Mother had his ashes which were actually in a block of salt so when placed in the sea it would be biodegradable. Each time I mentioned that we needed to "go to the sea" she was hesitant because she's 82 now and wasn't thrilled about the idea of going out in the Atlantic 12 miles to drop Dad off, so to speak. Fast forward to 2013. I am a frequent RCCL cruiser and live in South Florida and I read a blog about someone who passed away and the wife was about to cancel their planned cruise when she determined that she could go on the cruise anyway and have her husband's ashes put in the sea while on the cruise, which like my Dad, was his wish.

I contacted the nice people at RCCL and they arranged a ceremony for us and my Mother and my siblings booked a cruise for Thanksgiving weekend on the Enchantment. My Mom loved the idea and so off we went to Port Canaveral ! We joked about Dad's last cruise and in fact it was a wonderful experience for my family. The Guest Services Manager and the Environmental Officer arranged the ceremony for the last day once we were 12 miles out from Coco Cay about 7:30pm .

We gathered together and an officer took us down to deck three in the bow in a private room where the ropes are kept on those big spools. We each spoke briefly about our memories of our Dad and then the officer said a few words and we tossed Dad thru an opening where the ropes go out to tie up the boat when in port, then the officer gave us each a rose to toss in as well. It was such a wonderful experience for my family and RCCL helped make it so special. We all went back to the Schooner Bar and had a final toast for the Old Salt! My Dad loved it I'm sure. When we tossed in the ashes, the officer called up the bridge and recorded the coordinates and they will be sending us a certificate with the coordinates in about 6 weeks, how cool is that?

We hear a lot about what goes wrong when on a cruise so I am happy to share a heartwarming story!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Thanks for the wonderful story!

[harry0]

Mermaid-nice story -we have a similar story and Celebrity was very accommodating too.

But the story I will share is another cruise:

We were to sail out of Miami the next day and we were staying downtown at the Sheraton(I think that was it) We were given a room that we did not like because it reeked of cig smoke. I accidentally left my backpack with all of our credentials in the room somewhere. I realized it at about 10 pm when I was getting prepped for boarding the next day.

I asked security if they could look in the room but they said they could not because it was occupied. So he called the room and was told no back pack. I was up all night trying to figure out what to do. At 7 am I finally got through to a Royal Rep at the pier. She instructed me to file a police report stating it was stolen and bring it to the pier and she would see what she could do.

At 8 am she called me and told me we could not get on the eastern cruise on the Adventurer(could be wrong on ship) but we could get on the Explorer and do the western. We filed the report and met her at the pier at 10 am, we received VIp treatment embarking and were upgraded from a outside Cabin to a Aft balcony.

We spent a good part of our first day cancelling credit cards and things like that but it was an awesome cruise.

We sent a letter of recommendation to Royal about the woman who helped us.

Here's where it gets weird-2 years later the Hotel sent me my passport with a note that said we are knocking down the hotel and my passport was in a drawer at the counter.

Thanks for reading-I think this is my longest post ever.

[Paulette3028]

I broke a shoe lace myself and I never thought to ask the room attendant... good tip. We were looking around cozumel and belize looking for shoelaces... couldn't find them. In cozumel we found a shoe store, but they didn't sell shoelaces only shoes...

 

We did not think to ask the cabin attendant. I am sure my DH looked annoyed/angry when he passed the attendant as he headed back to our cabin. He probably looked funny wearing his formal pants, shirt and tie, and his sneakers. The attendant ASKED HIM, what he needed.

 

My original suggestion to my husband was take the laces out of your sneakers....but the holes in his dress shoes were much smaller and it was impossible to get the sneaker laces to work.

[critterchick]

Guest Services are a good source of emergency items, too. DH once forgot his tuxedo studs and they had a set there for him to borrow.

[jmf123]

Guest Services are a good source of emergency items, too. DH once forgot his tuxedo studs and they had a set there for him to borrow.

 

That's what I was thinking, critterchick. Guest Services on the Paul Gauguin actually had one of those tiny screws handy, and fixed my glasses! I was very surprised and grateful!

 

Mermaidgal, that is a wonderful story!

[pepsicruiser]

We were on the Legend of the Seas years ago when it did the first sailing to Hawaii from Vancouver. After 2 days at sea (and it was a rough crossing) the ship came to a stop in the middle of the Pacific. A sailboat about 32 feet long was in distress. A solo sailor had been at sea for over 20 days was out of fuel and low on water and food. The main sail was broken the young man didn't look to good either. He was offered a ride to Hawaii but did not want to scuttle his boat (actually his dads boat and he was sailing it to his father in Hawaii). He was given supplies, fuel and water. The captain called his dad and he got to Hawaii about a day or so after we got there (captain kept us up to date). While we were stopped in the Pacific for this it was amazing to see the beautiful fish up close. It was really something to talk about the rest of the cruise.

[Gabling]

Wonderful stories!! We vividly remember our one and only 14 day Transatlantic journey on Grandeur of the Seas. This cruise left September, 2001 from Rome, Italy and returned to the USA in Boston.

 

When we left Rome to begin our journey across the Atlantic there was a very large storm brewing. We could see the white-capped waves in the bay, crashing against the Grandeur before we even boarded. Not a good sign at all!! My wife's comment which I remember like it was yesterday was a resounding I'm not going on that ship!!! Needless to say, we made it aboard...

 

Once settled, we had a wonderful time (though a bit green around the gills) visiting all of the European ports until we neared Azores. It was here that we both were hit with the Norovirus. Not a fun thing to have on the high seas...

 

We were holed up in our Stateroom watching a movie on TV (Vertical Limit) when the Captain stopped the movie and made an important announcement on the PA system. It was September 11th, 2001 and he declared that the US was just hit by a devastating terrorist strike and no one knew when or if they would continue. Words cannot describe what everyone felt; in the middle of the Atlantic, no easy way to contact anyone on shore and our family is from New York and New Jersey. There were a lot of emotions on board and the crew did the best they could to keep everyone informed. The internet cafe was opened to everyone with no charges on usage. I remember the horrible emotions as people found out family members were directly affected by the attacks - it was one of the hardest days... ever.

 

We managed to contact my parents (thru instant message!) who would drive from Virginia to meet us in Boston. A lot of people would be stuck because there was no way to fly back to their homes.

 

All of this would have been enough, but we had to add on Hurricane Erin that was churning directly in our path to HOME. I don't remember details of the hurricane's impact on our voyage but we managed to navigate around it. (Add some more green gills to our already green Norovirus gills) There was definitely a lot of talk about how we may have issues returning to port.

 

Finally we arrived in Boston. My parents had made the long drive and were at the pier welcoming us home with a huge sign. There were very long delays before anyone was allowed off the ship because there were rumors there could be explosives on board. We heard that they were searching the ship and even that there were scuba divers that had to search below the water line, but we could not verify this. We had to wait a LONG time to get off that ship... We finally got off on September 15th.

 

Driving home we saw tons of American flags flying everywhere. On all of the highway overpasses there was American spirit and it felt so great to be on terra firma back in the USA. Once home we watched the attacks for the first time 'live' on TV (the ship did not have live TV coverage and we only saw pictures the crew provided and on the internet). It was odd to be experiencing everything on 'real' TV for the first time when our family had seen the devastation live days earlier.

 

Luckily no one in our immediate family was hurt but our hearts go out to our friends, family and everyone else that was. It definitely was the cruise of our lifetime; one that we will never forget (but wish we could :()!!

 

Glen & Laurie

[Familygoboston]

That's what I was thinking, critterchick. Guest Services on the Paul Gauguin actually had one of those tiny screws handy, and fixed my glasses! I was very surprised and grateful!

 

Mermaidgal, that is a wonderful story!

 

PG is very prepared; when I was holding the menu out longer than my arm in order to read it, the PG concierge showed up with a box of reading glasses, which he brought by each evening!

 

But that's not my Royal Story-

 

I was on Allure last April. I was active on he Roll Call; but only exchanged names and emails and shared my name with only one couple (Rsharp) with whom we planned to share a sailing charter for 6 people.

 

After much coordination and planning my family arrived at the pier, dropped 5 bags, tipped the guy for 4 people and boarded. When I got to the embarkation lounge, I checked CC to see who from our RC had posted. There was an urgent message from Rsharp that when he arrived at the pier after us, there was a bag on the curb. The porter asked if the bag was one of his party's. He said no, but took a peek at the bag tag and saw my name on it! Then he said "but I know that woman is on board- we have an excursion planned together!" They checked and then placed the bag on board.

 

I still marvel at the idea that exactly ONE passenger out of 6000 knew my name; and that coincidentally, that one person would happen to see my bag had not been placed onto the luggage cart!

Edited December 20, 2013 by Familygoboston

[Gabling]

Amazing right? It's truly a small world - LOL!

 

Glen

[mermaidgal]

Wonderful stories!! We vividly remember our one and only 14 day Transatlantic journey on Grandeur of the Seas. This cruise left September, 2001 from Rome, Italy and returned to the USA in Boston.

 

When we left Rome to begin our journey across the Atlantic there was a very large storm brewing. We could see the white-capped waves in the bay, crashing against the Grandeur before we even boarded. Not a good sign at all!! My wife's comment which I remember like it was yesterday was a resounding I'm not going on that ship!!! Needless to say, we made it aboard...

 

Once settled, we had a wonderful time (though a bit green around the gills) visiting all of the European ports until we neared Azores. It was here that we both were hit with the Norovirus. Not a fun thing to have on the high seas...

 

We were holed up in our Stateroom watching a movie on TV (Vertical Limit) when the Captain stopped the movie and made an important announcement on the PA system. It was September 11th, 2001 and he declared that the US was just hit by a devastating terrorist strike and no one knew when or if they would continue. Words cannot describe what everyone felt; in the middle of the Atlantic, no easy way to contact anyone on shore and our family is from New York and New Jersey. There were a lot of emotions on board and the crew did the best they could to keep everyone informed. The internet cafe was opened to everyone with no charges on usage. I remember the horrible emotions as people found out family members were directly affected by the attacks - it was one of the hardest days... ever.

 

We managed to contact my parents (thru instant message!) who would drive from Virginia to meet us in Boston. A lot of people would be stuck because there was no way to fly back to their homes.

 

All of this would have been enough, but we had to add on Hurricane Erin that was churning directly in our path to HOME. I don't remember details of the hurricane's impact on our voyage but we managed to navigate around it. (Add some more green gills to our already green Norovirus gills) There was definitely a lot of talk about how we may have issues returning to port.

 

Finally we arrived in Boston. My parents had made the long drive and were at the pier welcoming us home with a huge sign. There were very long delays before anyone was allowed off the ship because there were rumors there could be explosives on board. We heard that they were searching the ship and even that there were scuba divers that had to search below the water line, but we could not verify this. We had to wait a LONG time to get off that ship... We finally got off on September 15th.

 

Driving home we saw tons of American flags flying everywhere. On all of the highway overpasses there was American spirit and it felt so great to be on terra firma back in the USA. Once home we watched the attacks for the first time 'live' on TV (the ship did not have live TV coverage and we only saw pictures the crew provided and on the internet). It was odd to be experiencing everything on 'real' TV for the first time when our family had seen the devastation live days earlier.

 

Luckily no one in our immediate family was hurt but our hearts go out to our friends, family and everyone else that was. It definitely was the cruise of our lifetime; one that we will never forget (but wish we could :()!!

 

Glen & Laurie

 

Your story gets my vote, very touching, thanks for sharing...

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Familygoboston]

In the 90s DH and I had one baby daughter, who the doctors assured us was something of a miracle based on their empirical data. :rolleyes: We hoped for another child and they suggested a large menu of interventions to assist. We decided to take a nice 7 day cruise before embarking on that road.

 

While in St Maarten we decided to do a bit of shopping after being at the beach. In one shop the clerk touched my hand while I was trying on some piece of jewelry (that i dint purchase!)He said to me "are you expecting a baby?" And I was somewhat insulted, standing there in my bikini and cover up. "No, that's not really possible!" I told him thinking of the upcoming indignities we would have to face just for chance to get pregnant.

 

When I arrived back home the very first stop before any treatment was a pregnancy test; a formality, just a precaution. Imagine my shock when the happy nurse called with the results of that test! No treatments for me- the jeweler had somehow known, just by touching my hand!

[JimAOk1945]

Here's where it gets weird-2 years later the Hotel sent me my passport with a note that said we are knocking down the hotel and my passport was in a drawer at the counter.

Thanks for reading-I think this is my longest post ever.

 

This is an amazing story. Thanks for posting.

[Paulette3028]

Wonderful stories!! We vividly remember our one and only 14 day Transatlantic journey on Grandeur of the Seas. This cruise left September, 2001 from Rome, Italy and returned to the USA in Boston.

 

When we left Rome to begin our journey across the Atlantic there was a very large storm brewing. We could see the white-capped waves in the bay, crashing against the Grandeur before we even boarded. Not a good sign at all!! My wife's comment which I remember like it was yesterday was a resounding I'm not going on that ship!!! Needless to say, we made it aboard...

 

Once settled, we had a wonderful time (though a bit green around the gills) visiting all of the European ports until we neared Azores. It was here that we both were hit with the Norovirus. Not a fun thing to have on the high seas...

 

We were holed up in our Stateroom watching a movie on TV (Vertical Limit) when the Captain stopped the movie and made an important announcement on the PA system. It was September 11th, 2001 and he declared that the US was just hit by a devastating terrorist strike and no one knew when or if they would continue. Words cannot describe what everyone felt; in the middle of the Atlantic, no easy way to contact anyone on shore and our family is from New York and New Jersey. There were a lot of emotions on board and the crew did the best they could to keep everyone informed. The internet cafe was opened to everyone with no charges on usage. I remember the horrible emotions as people found out family members were directly affected by the attacks - it was one of the hardest days... ever.

 

We managed to contact my parents (thru instant message!) who would drive from Virginia to meet us in Boston. A lot of people would be stuck because there was no way to fly back to their homes.

 

All of this would have been enough, but we had to add on Hurricane Erin that was churning directly in our path to HOME. I don't remember details of the hurricane's impact on our voyage but we managed to navigate around it. (Add some more green gills to our already green Norovirus gills) There was definitely a lot of talk about how we may have issues returning to port.

 

Finally we arrived in Boston. My parents had made the long drive and were at the pier welcoming us home with a huge sign. There were very long delays before anyone was allowed off the ship because there were rumors there could be explosives on board. We heard that they were searching the ship and even that there were scuba divers that had to search below the water line, but we could not verify this. We had to wait a LONG time to get off that ship... We finally got off on September 15th.

 

Driving home we saw tons of American flags flying everywhere. On all of the highway overpasses there was American spirit and it felt so great to be on terra firma back in the USA. Once home we watched the attacks for the first time 'live' on TV (the ship did not have live TV coverage and we only saw pictures the crew provided and on the internet). It was odd to be experiencing everything on 'real' TV for the first time when our family had seen the devastation live days earlier.

 

Luckily no one in our immediate family was hurt but our hearts go out to our friends, family and everyone else that was. It definitely was the cruise of our lifetime; one that we will never forget (but wish we could :()!!

 

Glen & Laurie

 

Your story, probably brings back memories to everyone of that 'terrible day' -- you shared a unique experience, with almost total strangers. Have you remained in contact with some of the people who were on that cruise with you?

[Gabling]

Your story, probably brings back memories to everyone of that 'terrible day' -- you shared a unique experience, with almost total strangers. Have you remained in contact with some of the people who were on that cruise with you?

We're strangers with a common love - cruising!! Yes, we still remain in contact with one of the couples we met on that cruise! :-). Was definitely a unique bonding experience...

[maureencruiser]

No treatments for me- the jeweler had somehow known, just by touching my hand!

 

That is freaky! It gave me chills! :eek:

[drarill]

I have a story to share. My father passed away in 2005. His wish was to be cremated and his ashes were to be taken out to sea, my Dad was in the Submarine service in WW2 so we definitely wanted to fulfill his wish. We initially planned to charter a boat after his memorial service since we had the entire family together, but that didn't work out because of a storm. My Mother had his ashes which were actually in a block of salt so when placed in the sea it would be biodegradable. Each time I mentioned that we needed to "go to the sea" she was hesitant because she's 82 now and wasn't thrilled about the idea of going out in the Atlantic 12 miles to drop Dad off, so to speak. Fast forward to 2013. I am a frequent RCCL cruiser and live in South Florida and I read a blog about someone who passed away and the wife was about to cancel their planned cruise when she determined that she could go on the cruise anyway and have her husband's ashes put in the sea while on the cruise, which like my Dad, was his wish.

I contacted the nice people at RCCL and they arranged a ceremony for us and my Mother and my siblings booked a cruise for Thanksgiving weekend on the Enchantment. My Mom loved the idea and so off we went to Port Canaveral ! We joked about Dad's last cruise and in fact it was a wonderful experience for my family. The Guest Services Manager and the Environmental Officer arranged the ceremony for the last day once we were 12 miles out from Coco Cay about 7:30pm .

We gathered together and an officer took us down to deck three in the bow in a private room where the ropes are kept on those big spools. We each spoke briefly about our memories of our Dad and then the officer said a few words and we tossed Dad thru an opening where the ropes go out to tie up the boat when in port, then the officer gave us each a rose to toss in as well. It was such a wonderful experience for my family and RCCL helped make it so special. We all went back to the Schooner Bar and had a final toast for the Old Salt! My Dad loved it I'm sure. When we tossed in the ashes, the officer called up the bridge and recorded the coordinates and they will be sending us a certificate with the coordinates in about 6 weeks, how cool is that?

We hear a lot about what goes wrong when on a cruise so I am happy to share a heartwarming story!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Beautiful story!!

[Paulxyz2004]

Wonderful stories!! We vividly remember our one and only 14 day Transatlantic journey on Grandeur of the Seas. This cruise left September, 2001 from Rome, Italy and returned to the USA in Boston.

 

When we left Rome to begin our journey across the Atlantic there was a very large storm brewing. We could see the white-capped waves in the bay, crashing against the Grandeur before we even boarded. Not a good sign at all!! My wife's comment which I remember like it was yesterday was a resounding I'm not going on that ship!!! Needless to say, we made it aboard...

 

Once settled, we had a wonderful time (though a bit green around the gills) visiting all of the European ports until we neared Azores. It was here that we both were hit with the Norovirus. Not a fun thing to have on the high seas...

 

We were holed up in our Stateroom watching a movie on TV (Vertical Limit) when the Captain stopped the movie and made an important announcement on the PA system. It was September 11th, 2001 and he declared that the US was just hit by a devastating terrorist strike and no one knew when or if they would continue. Words cannot describe what everyone felt; in the middle of the Atlantic, no easy way to contact anyone on shore and our family is from New York and New Jersey. There were a lot of emotions on board and the crew did the best they could to keep everyone informed. The internet cafe was opened to everyone with no charges on usage. I remember the horrible emotions as people found out family members were directly affected by the attacks - it was one of the hardest days... ever.

 

We managed to contact my parents (thru instant message!) who would drive from Virginia to meet us in Boston. A lot of people would be stuck because there was no way to fly back to their homes.

 

All of this would have been enough, but we had to add on Hurricane Erin that was churning directly in our path to HOME. I don't remember details of the hurricane's impact on our voyage but we managed to navigate around it. (Add some more green gills to our already green Norovirus gills) There was definitely a lot of talk about how we may have issues returning to port.

 

Finally we arrived in Boston. My parents had made the long drive and were at the pier welcoming us home with a huge sign. There were very long delays before anyone was allowed off the ship because there were rumors there could be explosives on board. We heard that they were searching the ship and even that there were scuba divers that had to search below the water line, but we could not verify this. We had to wait a LONG time to get off that ship... We finally got off on September 15th.

 

Driving home we saw tons of American flags flying everywhere. On all of the highway overpasses there was American spirit and it felt so great to be on terra firma back in the USA. Once home we watched the attacks for the first time 'live' on TV (the ship did not have live TV coverage and we only saw pictures the crew provided and on the internet). It was odd to be experiencing everything on 'real' TV for the first time when our family had seen the devastation live days earlier.

 

Luckily no one in our immediate family was hurt but our hearts go out to our friends, family and everyone else that was. It definitely was the cruise of our lifetime; one that we will never forget (but wish we could :()!!

 

Glen & Laurie

 

 

I was on that cruise as well. I found out about the attacks around midday, as I went to the Internet cafe after lunch (this was way before wireless was available) when another guy at the Internet cafe told me what was happening I could hardly believe him until I saw it online myself. He was communicating at the time with someone in the WTC. :eek::( I don´t know what happened to the Person he was communicating with.

All this happened hours before the announcement of the Captain. It was actually from there the News spread around the ship already.

 

I was due to fly out the same evening we arrived in Boston. The Situation was quite unclear upon our Arrival, after some detours I will spare you the Details I finally made it to the Airport to be on one of the first flights out of the US towards Europe after 9/11. The flight crew was the one that got stuck in the US and all were happy to get home. It sure was a trip never to Forget. I´m still in touch with some People I met on that cruise.

[Paulette3028]

Wonderful stories!! We vividly remember our one and only 14 day Transatlantic journey on Grandeur of the Seas. This cruise left September, 2001 from Rome, Italy and returned to the USA in Boston.

 

When we left Rome to begin our journey across the Atlantic there was a very large storm brewing. We could see the white-capped waves in the bay, crashing against the Grandeur before we even boarded. Not a good sign at all!! My wife's comment which I remember like it was yesterday was a resounding I'm not going on that ship!!! Needless to say, we made it aboard...

 

Once settled, we had a wonderful time (though a bit green around the gills) visiting all of the European ports until we neared Azores. It was here that we both were hit with the Norovirus. Not a fun thing to have on the high seas...

 

We were holed up in our Stateroom watching a movie on TV (Vertical Limit) when the Captain stopped the movie and made an important announcement on the PA system. It was September 11th, 2001 and he declared that the US was just hit by a devastating terrorist strike and no one knew when or if they would continue. Words cannot describe what everyone felt; in the middle of the Atlantic, no easy way to contact anyone on shore and our family is from New York and New Jersey. There were a lot of emotions on board and the crew did the best they could to keep everyone informed. The internet cafe was opened to everyone with no charges on usage. I remember the horrible emotions as people found out family members were directly affected by the attacks - it was one of the hardest days... ever.

 

We managed to contact my parents (thru instant message!) who would drive from Virginia to meet us in Boston. A lot of people would be stuck because there was no way to fly back to their homes.

 

All of this would have been enough, but we had to add on Hurricane Erin that was churning directly in our path to HOME. I don't remember details of the hurricane's impact on our voyage but we managed to navigate around it. (Add some more green gills to our already green Norovirus gills) There was definitely a lot of talk about how we may have issues returning to port.

 

Finally we arrived in Boston. My parents had made the long drive and were at the pier welcoming us home with a huge sign. There were very long delays before anyone was allowed off the ship because there were rumors there could be explosives on board. We heard that they were searching the ship and even that there were scuba divers that had to search below the water line, but we could not verify this. We had to wait a LONG time to get off that ship... We finally got off on September 15th.

 

Driving home we saw tons of American flags flying everywhere. On all of the highway overpasses there was American spirit and it felt so great to be on terra firma back in the USA. Once home we watched the attacks for the first time 'live' on TV (the ship did not have live TV coverage and we only saw pictures the crew provided and on the internet). It was odd to be experiencing everything on 'real' TV for the first time when our family had seen the devastation live days earlier.

 

Luckily no one in our immediate family was hurt but our hearts go out to our friends, family and everyone else that was. It definitely was the cruise of our lifetime; one that we will never forget (but wish we could :()!!

 

Glen & Laurie

 

Crews try to prepare for every possibility; I wonder what the Captain was thinking when he made the announcement.....it is like no other announcement he has ever prepared to make....and unsure if the announcement he is making is the start of 'something more terrible' to occur. His tone, helps the crew react and his passengers whose safety is his concern.

[Paulette3028]

DH and I generally cruise on Majesty over the Thanksgiving weekend. Thursday, we spend with family....and then Friday we board Majesty for a little weekend away...it is easy for us, we live in S. Florida.

 

One Thanksgiving weekend we are seated at dinner with a very nice couple. We had a lovely weekend with them. We had mentioned that we often take this weekend cruise, and they mentioned that when they can, they do as well. The following year, we are seated with them AGAIN. It felt like 'old home weekend' -- great time AGAIN, with them.

 

There are thousands of people on the ship, what are the odds of that happening.

Edited December 22, 2013 by Paulette3028

[vlynn]

Our first cruise we had no idea what to expect. We got to port at about 10am. Went through security and sat down waiting to board. A couple sat next to us and my husband struck up a friendly conversation (about football of course) with the gentleman.

 

When we went to the MDR that night we were seated at a table for four and being newbies we had no idea until that moment that we would be sharing a table. We looked at each other a little apprehensive about this development; until we saw out table mates. Yes it was the nice couple we had met while waiting to board. :D

 

We would happen to run into them over and over again during the cruise and it was wonderful. It really made our first cruise memorable. What are the chances. :o