What Made Your Best Cruise "The Best"?

[ExpatBride]

Ours was a 7 night fjords cruise on the Star in 2014. I really can't say why it was so special... maybe it was the scenery or maybe the stars aligned. The ship is our destination, we rarely get off in ports and the MDR was open on port days, so we got into the habit of a sit down lunch most days, which we now know isn't the norm and has completely spoiled us. There was no problem getting a veggie burger in O'Sheehans and one of the waitresses even brought me a chair for my handbag one afternoon because she said, "you can't put a Louis Vuitton on the floor!"

 

We enjoyed that cruise so much that we booked another one shortly after on the Epic and had such a horrible time that we looked into leaving the ship and flying home early! One of the O'Sheehans servers actually told me that they didn't have anything for vegetarians and that I should've gone to the buffet or MDR. I'm self-employed and sometimes I have to work on vacation, so DH is left on his own from time to time as he was on the Epic. He decided to grab a beer and one of the bar crew asked where I was, when he told here I was working and would probably be down later, she said, "you've had a fight!" What if we had? People go on holiday for all sorts of reasons, including trying to save their marriage (been there, done that with my 1st husband), so we found that to be completely out of line.

 

Disenchanted by our experience on the Epic, we thought that maybe NCL wasn't for us, so we sailed the Baltics last summer with HAL and while we loved the onboard experience, we felt like we spent most of our time in port and very little time sailing.

 

We're trying to recreate the magic of the Star, so we're cruising the fjords this summer in the Jade out of Hamburg. I hope if comes close because DH thinks it's getting a bit silly to keep spending money on trips we don't especially enjoy.

[Seminole1975]

I too am enjoying this thread! I have to say my fav cruise was on the Wind Spirit from Istanbul to Athens! The ship had about 180 passengers and about 90 crew-talk about service! The crew seemed happy and were a lot of fun.

 

My best friends were celebrating their 35 wedding anniversary. She had always wanted to cruise on a Wind Star ship with sails. I was celebrating my 60th birthday.

 

My DH had never been out of the US (we don't count Nassau) and we kidded him that he was going to "start" in Istanbul!! It was fun watching him. He took to "foreign" travel like a duck takes to water and now wants to go everywhere! Yay! (He has traveled extensively in the US)

 

The Wind Spirit's Sailaway is magical. They play magnificent music and raise the sails one by one. It gives me chills thinking about it. Everyone is on deck having cocktails. The Turkish and Greek Isles are so beautiful and historic. One of my fav places was Ephesus in Kusadasi. I am also dreaming of the day I can go and stay in Santorini, one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

 

Honorable mention goes to the awesome Getaway last June. We cruised with the family, stayed in the Haven, and got to see our son, Kurt, play Carl Perkins in Million Dollar Quartet! It does not get much better than that! (Looking forward to the Baltics on the GA in September)

 

Cheers everyone! Have a good day!

[pickle11]

Alaska southbound. I was able to establish a conversation with a couple of ladies on vacation the first sea day. During the cruise they were one of those few people who missed the boat when leaving Skagway. They took a private tour. I was able to hook up with them again in a bar in Ketchikan where they finally caught up with the boat. They told me of there adventure on how they lost track of time, had to go from here to there by boat and plane to reach the ship. I invited them dinner, they accepted and let just say they made me feel special those last two days. Thank you Tiffany and Anastasia

[terri910]

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!

I'm going to ask -- since we have never (and don't really anticipate ever) stayed in a haven suite -- what sort of whims and cares do the butler and concierge take care of?

 

I always feel as though we are fairly pampered on any cruise we take, but apparently there is a level up that I can't really imagine.

 

 

But.....we retired to Ecuador and remember being told, you can live like royalty on a tiny budget. And I think it is probably true....our problem is that apparently, my husband and I do not know how to live like royalty. Even when we have guardias in our condo to do things for us, we still usually do things for ourselves. I would make a lousy Queen. :D

[Two Wheels Only]

so glad we got to Istanbul (not Constantinople).

 

They Might Be Giants reference? :cool:

[norhel]

For me it would be the transatlantic cruise with Norwegian Star from Miami to Copenhagen in 2015. Basically the best entertainment I've seen onboard cruise ships, the fact that we got really good contact with some of the crew, the best cruise director, won at the deal or no deal show (my mom twice!) and made some new friends. It's a cruise I still think about now and then.

[BEACHBARB]

Upgrading to Haven 2 weeks prior to 2 week southern Caribbean cruise, and making forever friends onboard and having so much fun. Best food and service and cabin was fantastic.

[jskinsd]

I have been fortunate to have cruised many times over last 28 years. I do not have the memory to remember all of them in detail to say it was the "best" but can truthfully say I have never had a bad cruise. What I do have is many fantastic memories: my first cruise to the Mexican Riviera which got me hooked, my first Alaskan northbound (25 years ago) and Mendenhall glaicer where I saw and filmed (VHS) my first bear and the glacier being so close to Nugget falls, and Icy Strait 2 years ago) where I was taken on a Mister Toads wild boat ride with Captain Chris who I met at the Icy Strait Lodge picking up his crab traps in the bay and nature quest journey. And my first Icy Strait (Hoonah) visit where I remember a mother duck and her ducklings walking across the road to a small pond. Just a few of my good times. And hopefully many more memories ahead in 4 weeks on my Alaskan cruise on the Sun.:D