Do you have any pre-boarding rituals?

[Staceman225]

We usually stay the night in our port town and we usually wake up early that day.

In Jacksonville, we like to drive around and look at some of the beaches. Watching the sun rise over the Atlantic is amazing. There are some beautiful state parks near there too.

In NOLA, we eat breakfast at the Ruby Slipper. Pig candy is amazing!

 

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[h_blond2]

We always drive into port a day or two early and find something to do...makes our vacation start early! This year, we are cruising out of Mobile and going to take the ferry from Dauphin Island to Fort Morgan.

[bury me at sea]

I literally jump onto the ship at the end of the gangway.

 

Startled the heck out of my granddaughter on her first cruise. She now stops and is ready to grab me if I stumble, which is admittedly more likely with each passing year.

 

It's symbolic for me, leaving everything behind and eager for new adventures.

[nhsails]

We have a couple. Before we leave home: change linens in master, be sure laundry caught up. Hate coming home to "dirty". We use a housesitter for the pups, day return she runs dishes and does a quick pick up, picks up something fun for dinner and cream and fruit for morning breakfast. So much easier.

Pre-Boarding: we have a nice cappuccino, pack up to go to ship and take a bon voyage picture. No ship San Pellegrino for him, Mimosa for me and find a great place to watch sail away. Done them for all 62 cruises.....

Dee

[tennboy1981]

Mine is get on the boat asap, go to lido, grab a bucket of beer and a guys burger and finally soak in that im on the ship. Lol

 

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[Saint Greg]

Rituals? Just as I step on the ship, I stop and recite a little prayer aloud. It goes something like this:

 

Poseidon, dark-haired god of all waters,

by whose will alone do sailors fare in safety.

Lord of the black sea depths, swirling dark and deep,

swift in thought, sure in deed, fervent in feeling,

the ocean's caprice is yours, O Poseidon;

overwhelming one, I praise and honor you.

Mighty Poseidon, unfathomable one,

I pray to you. You at whose touch sweet water springs forth,

at whose whim the earth breaks open beneath our feet,

whose pure power we feel in our bones and our blood,

show me life's essence, life's rage; pull me like the tide;

grant me safe harbor at last, shield me from storms

[Drazil65]

We always get to port of departure 1 or 2 days prior to cruise and have a nice dinner somewhere to make the first toast to our vacation. It depends where we leave from but always try to get oceanfront room at hotel in port of where ever. Take a walk on the beach to watch the sun go down then back to the room to go through the paperwork and my checklist one last time to make sure all is well and in order one last time before cruise.

 

We get up very early (too excited to sleep later and we love to board very early anyway), grab our coffees and sit out on balcony of hotel room and watch for the ships coming into port that morning. As many times as we have done this, it still gets so exciting when we see a ship on its way back and wonder if that one is ours (smaller ports like Charleston we know it is our ship as they only have one).

 

We are at the port parking as early as we can get in and in line for security and check in as soon as they let us. We dont want to waste a moment of that first day and we typically have FTTF to help with that.

[Davey Wavey]

Rituals? Just as I step on the ship, I stop and recite a little prayer aloud. It goes something like this:

 

Poseidon, dark-haired god of all waters,

by whose will alone do sailors fare in safety...

 

Isn't that how the Poseidon adventure starts? :D

[dad son team]

Not totally a pre-cruise ritual, but I always touch the outside of the ship the first time I walk onto it. I do the same with planes when I am boarding.

[Saint Greg]

Not totally a pre-cruise ritual, but I always touch the outside of the ship the first time I walk onto it. I do the same with planes when I am boarding.

 

That sounds kind of crazy to me.

[HawkIVette]

Rituals? Just as I step on the ship, I stop and recite a little prayer aloud. It goes something like this:

 

Poseidon, dark-haired god of all waters,

by whose will alone do sailors fare in safety.

Lord of the black sea depths, swirling dark and deep,

swift in thought, sure in deed, fervent in feeling,

the ocean's caprice is yours, O Poseidon;

overwhelming one, I praise and honor you.

Mighty Poseidon, unfathomable one,

I pray to you. You at whose touch sweet water springs forth,

at whose whim the earth breaks open beneath our feet,

whose pure power we feel in our bones and our blood,

show me life's essence, life's rage; pull me like the tide;

grant me safe harbor at last, shield me from storms

WOW! That is EXACTLY what I do, too. Except, I get down on my knees and say it.

[Saint Greg]

WOW! That is EXACTLY what I do, too. Except, I get down on my knees and say it.

 

One knee

[Lori Dobson]

Not totally a pre-cruise ritual, but I always touch the outside of the ship the first time I walk onto it. I do the same with planes when I am boarding.

 

 

Same thing here! :D

[stargate fan]

Rituals? Just as I step on the ship, I stop and recite a little prayer aloud. It goes something like this:

 

Poseidon, dark-haired god of all waters,

by whose will alone do sailors fare in safety.

Lord of the black sea depths, swirling dark and deep,

swift in thought, sure in deed, fervent in feeling,

the ocean's caprice is yours, O Poseidon;

overwhelming one, I praise and honor you.

Mighty Poseidon, unfathomable one,

I pray to you. You at whose touch sweet water springs forth,

at whose whim the earth breaks open beneath our feet,

whose pure power we feel in our bones and our blood,

show me life's essence, life's rage; pull me like the tide;

grant me safe harbor at last, shield me from storms

 

I always try to watch the original Poseidon Adventure before each cruise :eek: as well as Titanic and Jaws. :o

[cynt]

I scream WE'RE GOING ON A CRUISE while I'm walking the gang plank on my way to board the ship. It relieves all that nervous energy that has built up while going thru the boarding process.

 

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[SadieN]

The morning of the cruise I:

 

........

2. Pack

........

 

We mostly cruise from Long Beach. If we have to fly, it's a whole different ball of wax.

 

 

Thought we were the only ones who packed a few hours before leaving.

 

Ask DH how long he needs in the office day of the cruise. Major negotiations to get him to leave early. On the drive to port have the CHP website up checking for traffic issues. We're in the Greater LA area, always something going on.