What Made Your Best Cruise "The Best"?

[Two Wheels Only]

Most people who post here have been on multiple cruises. Everyone seems to have a "best" cruise experience. What made it better than the rest?

 

Special occasion? (Birthday, wedding, anniversary, etc)

Outstanding service?

New friends made?

Spent a little extra on a higher stateroom?

Great excursion?

Conception of a child? (guilty, in my case ;))

 

It can be any line, not just NCL. Tell us the ship and when.

[miataman19]

I have a tie. A transatlantic on the QE2. Food and service was amazing. Same with my stay in The Haven on Getaway. Service was amazing also. Have to give the top spot for Food with the QE2.

 

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[buchman67]

Mine would be by first solo cruise. You learn so much about yourself.

 

I also made some great friends on that trip so that helped as well.

 

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[2Cruise4Ever]

Best cruise? When DH and I got engaged... on board the Pacific Princess (THE Love Boat!).

Next: Honeymoon on the SS Norway... 'nuff said

Next: Our Breakaway Cruise to Bermuda. Staff and food amazing!

[QueenOfZoom]

Celebrated our 15th anniversary on Epic in January. We got married in Jamaica, it was nice to have the opportunity to go back :)

[www3traveler]

I am about to head out for my 35th Norwegian cruise. All are "special" because of the people I have met both passengers and staff.

[spanishguy1970]

My very first Cruise in 2009. It was new, exciting, It was a Transatlantic. It was a 14 day cruise and just being on the ship for the very first time made it exciting. It was on the NCL Gem therefore the GEM will always be my favorite ship.

[terri910]

It is now difficult to say which of our cruises we would term our "best cruise ever"

 

 

Up until 2015 & 2016, our 2007 12-day Mediterranean cruise was our best cruise ever. At that point, it was the longest cruise we'd ever taken, and was the first trip to Europe my husband and I had taken together (first trip to Europe for my husband). Until that cruise, I actually had never dreamed I would travel to Florence, Pisa, Rome, Naples, Rhodes, Ephesus, or Istanbul!! We were suddenly "in" all the photos we'd seen in history books and scenes from movies -- it was fascinating, amazing, unbelievable. Additionally, we had a group from our Roll Call that all took private shore excursions/tours together, and it was just the best, most friendly bunch of folks....we all just clicked! 10 Years later, and we are still friends and all still cruise as often as possible!

 

In 2015, we did our first Trans-Atlantic cruise....and that was pretty special, especially spending about a week in Barcelona before embarking on the cruise. We fell in love with Barcelona. The weather during that whole vacation was perfect -- even during the TA crossing! I loved that cruise because it made real my dream of crossing the Atlantic on a cruise ship.....a dream I'd had since I was a little girl, watching Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr falling in love in the movie "An Affair to Remember."

 

But, last year.....we did 3 cruises back to back....first a western Med, then a TA, then a Caribbean. 28 consecutive days cruising. Even though we'd already done a Med cruise, and a TA, and plenty of Caribbean cruises....that was special because...well, almost a whole month cruising!! Plus, we had such a great group we'd put together. The weather wasn't as great on these cruises, as the one in 2015, but still......28 days with someone else cooking, cleaning, making my bed, entertaining me. Heaven, if you ask me!

 

So.....those three cruises are clustered at the top of my list, all for slightly different reasons....now I'm hoping that the next cruises we've booked will be nudging their way to the top of my list! We are booked on 4 back-to-back-to-back-to-back cruises for a total of 47 consecutive days cruising. It will start in Venice and cruise the Adriatic, which we have never been to....new ports, new adventures, always special! Then a TA. Then a southern Caribbean to ports we've never been to. And then, a Panama Canal transit, which we also have never done. So, more days cruising than we've ever done, AND plenty of new ports. I won't be surprised if it goes to the top of the list!

[songlady]

Mine was hands down an extended family cruise with my parents, (70's) siblings (40's-50's) and our kids - late teen's, early 20's. It was our first time on NCL, having been strictly Princess and RCCL cruisers, but the service was over the top wonderful. An English young lady concierge named Julie (NOT the Love Boat one!) took a fancy to our entire group, and we found constant little surprises in our rooms - canapés, chocolate covered strawberries, etc, and for the tender stops she took us down back secret elevators to avoid the crowded stairways so my parents would not have to walk. We never asked for special service; she would just show up anticipating what we might need. We wanted to adopt her and take her home with us! She smoothed the way on every aspect of our trip, and it is a family memory we still talk about today, and a yardstick by which we measure the service on all our other past and future cruises.

[QueenOfZoom]

My first cruise was on Carnival's Mardi Gras way back in 1980 so that was memorable. Just after high school I went on Costa Riviera, first time traveling alone. At that time it was the only ship that offered a single room with no surcharge and there was only one.

[CrabbyPatti]

Our first cruise on the NCL Pearl in 2008 was so great we developed a bad habit......................now we want to cruise all the time. Our other cruises have been great, but that first one has been the best! But anymore any cruise to me can't be a bad cruise because I am cruising! We are off again in 17 days and can't wait!

[lmcgrail]

My best cruise was the best because I met my future husband. Second best was getting married on the same ship we met on and spending our honeymoon on a TA.

 

 

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[xcell]

Any cruise with my friends are the best cruise --- add the haven suite and it was AWESOME!!!!

[biker@sea]

Our's was more than " A " Cruise!

We got a one way, one week rent a car.

Drove from Boston Mass. to The Florida keys for a 5 night stay. Then one night in Tampa returning the car there.

A 7 night western carribean cruise b2b with a 12 night repo cruise ending up back in Boston finished up a great summer vacation tour. :cool:

 

.

[CRZR58]

Our best cruise by far was our first cruise on Windstar. Small ship. Took 5 minutes to embark/debark and tendering only took a few minutes. Amazing service and food. Turned the engines off one night and we actually sailed for a while. It was magical.

[DMH15]

My favorite ship is the NCL SUN. And I love the aft PH. Add to that 14 nights from Santiago to Buenos Aires. But wait, there's more. An excursion to Antarctica! What a cruise! What a memory! Six continents down, one to go.

 

 

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[morningstar4]

My absolute favorite cruise was on the Disney Fantasy two years ago. It was my kids' first cruise and there was nothing like experiencing it through their eyes for the very first time. It truly was magical, and I'm not sure if any cruise could ever top it. With that being said, we are booked on another family cruise at the end of May so you just never know! [emoji4]

 

 

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[marianneyaya]

Our favorite was our first and it was to Alaska and the weather was unseasonably beautiful! (70s & sunny every day!)

We'd love to go back, but we're afraid we'll be disappointed.

[buggins0402]

My favorite ship is the NCL SUN. And I love the aft PH. Add to that 14 nights from Santiago to Buenos Aires. But wait, there's more. An excursion to Antarctica! What a cruise! What a memory! Six continents down, one to go.

 

 

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I was just going to post one word to answer OP...itinerary.

 

But, your cruise is my next cruise, (booked for itinerary, so I have to ask))...what was the Antarctic excursion you took?

[sailandcruise]

My favorite was on Orient Lines' Marco Polo from Buenos Aires to Antarctica, including the Falklands, Patagonia, Uruguay and Ushuaia. Not the best food, nor the best entertainment, but the absolute best cruise ever because of the itinerary -- including several shore expeditions by zodiac -- and especially because of my fellow passengers, all of whom were interesting with an "explorer's" mindset. 15 nights on the ship, with pre and post stays in BA, many species of penguins, whales at 11pm circle feeding, sea birds of various kinds, and a great expedition staff who guided us ashore, told us about the flora, fauna, sea, history, etc. And all sorts of scenery and icebergs. Captain Blomquist joined Norwegian after this last season of Orient Lines and I had the pleasure of sailing with him again on the Sky and the Sun several years later. We both remembered the Marco Polo fondly.

[poona1]

awesome posts and even better memories shared by all...for me, its likely when I was on the Breakaway Haven, essentially a ship within a ship...Imagine being tended to every whim and leave all the care in the world to your butler and concierge...Heaven on the high seas!

[DMH15]

I was just going to post one word to answer OP...itinerary.

 

 

 

But, your cruise is my next cruise, (booked for itinerary, so I have to ask))...what was the Antarctic excursion you took?

 

 

Booked it through NCL. Bit the bullet. Really wanted to go. Then I saw the price of $1,499. I was shocked. Called my level-headed attorney brother. He asked me if I could afford to do it. With a lump in my throat I said y,y,yes I guess so. He then asked me if I thought this was my chance, how soon would I get back to southern Chile. So, I booked it.

 

Silly me. I had heard these excursions have a 50% chance of happening since it is a gravel airstrip and there is weather concers. But, there is actually more of a 30% chance.

 

I heard the two cruises before us and one after it did not happen.

 

In case NCL no longer does this perhaps there is an independant option. We took a bus in Punta Arenas to the airport. It was about a 2.5-3 hr flight if I recall. Small plane good food.

Small group. We hiked and took zodiacs to see penguins. Saw the small Russian church. It was pristine. It was quiet. There were barracks. Even the air seemed different. It was an experience I will always remember. Flight back we had awesome dinner on the plane

 

 

Other than those folks I have never met anyone else who has been there.

 

Oh, yeah. Included in the price was a red parka with a NCL Antarctica patch. My mom says it was an expensive jacket. I know she would have liked to go but she just walked around port as she thought it was too physical for her. It was a lot of walking and tiring for some.

 

 

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[newmexicoNita]

OP, thanks for starting a really fun thread!!

 

It is hard to say, "my favorite" because we have had so many, but 2 stick out in my mind:

Of course our first cruise: it was on a budget line now defunk: Commodore. We went with our daughter and sil, and my mother in law. Just because it was our first made it special, like anything "first" We couldn't believe how quickly the wait person learned mom wanted coffee the minute she sat down, or our drink of choice was a glass of wine with dinner. Of course the ship only had 1 dining room and a very small outdoor grill.

Our second one that sticks in our mind was the first Atlantic crossing on the Jewel. That was a vacation like no other period. We flew overnight to London, spent a day there, then to Poland for 5 days where our daughter and sil worked at the time, then back to London for 2 nights and on to the ship leaing out of Dover. The ship was amazing to us: brand new, great crew, outstanding ports, very active M&G group that we did a lot of things with and on and on. What a wonderful time we had. ;p;):cool:

[mugtech]

It is now difficult to say which of our cruises we would term our "best cruise ever"

 

 

Up until 2015 & 2016, our 2007 12-day Mediterranean cruise was our best cruise ever. At that point, it was the longest cruise we'd ever taken, and was the first trip to Europe my husband and I had taken together (first trip to Europe for my husband). Until that cruise, I actually had never dreamed I would travel to Florence, Pisa, Rome, Naples, Rhodes, Ephesus, or Istanbul!! We were suddenly "in" all the photos we'd seen in history books and scenes from movies -- it was fascinating, amazing, unbelievable. Additionally, we had a group from our Roll Call that all took private shore excursions/tours together, and it was just the best, most friendly bunch of folks....we all just clicked! 10 Years later, and we are still friends and all still cruise as often as possible!

Our 12 day Grand Med was a sensory overload, first time either one of us was in Europe, loved it all, Spirit a wonderful ship, so glad we got to Istanbul (not Constantinople). I agree with the long cruise approach also, second for us was 19 days on the Sun through the canal and 10 days in Alaska.

[Knobhdy]

My first cruise was on the Sky. We were invited to the Captain's cocktail party and were escorted up by the concierge. When we arrived, the concierge told the Captain it was my birthday (actually the date I was born) and right in front of everybody, the Captain sang happy birthday to me.

It was rather special.

 

 

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