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50 Years of Cruising on Royal -- Share Your Memories!


LauraS
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Ok, one more........there are so many.

 

2005 Adventure of the Seas. We had just moved into a new 55+ community and two of our new neighbors had never cruised before. We suggested a cruise and all 6 of us went to San Juan to board Adventure.

The first night in the MDR a staff person came up and asked if we would like to have dinner with the Captain this week. Of course we said yes!

The night came and we met for cocktails, then was escorted to the MDR after being  briefed on how we were to enter and how to stand when the Captain came in. The Ships Ambassador attended.

 

The best part of the night was when the Captain asked my friends how many cruises they had been on and when they answered this was their first cruise another couple at the table who had sailed on 30 prior cruises wanted to know how they were invited to the Captain table when they had never been asked before this night! 😂

 

The Captain invited us to the Bridge the next day to sail out of St. Marteen!

 

Lucky?

 

Cheers! 🍸

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2 hours ago, countess5 said:

Watching the Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl! Royal did a Fantastic Job providing food and entertainment during breaks!

 

Thanks Royal!

 

Cheers! 

 

 

 

We were on Navigator enjoying the Super Bowl in the  Viking Crown Lounge.....wonderful time had by all.....great job done by Royal i will agree.

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First cruise. Premier cruise line. $1.00 skeet shooting off port side bow of ship. With a very nice shotgun.

Around 1990.

I was 40. Every one else twice that age.

Very old mostly wooden ship. Swimming pool was so tiny about the size about current hot tubs. I was in heaven great food. And it’s only gotten better.

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On 2/21/2019 at 5:54 AM, LauraS said:

Royal Caribbean is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and we'd like to hear from you!  Please share your favorite memories of cruising on Royal Caribbean International -- perhaps you were celebrating a milestone event, or you have special memories of your first sailing long ago! 

 

What made sailing on Royal Caribbean special for you?

 

OK, go!

 

 

My husband and I started in 1997 and our total is 26 cruises on Royal and 15 on Celebrity.  We loved all these ships and these days I especially adore the Oasis class ships.  The entertainment is outstanding.  In the next few months, we will be on 2 more RCCL cruises, one to Alaska and then the Caribbean.   We are thankful for such wonderful ships.  Cruising is our main choice for vacations.  

Edited by CAforever
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First cruise on Vision of the Seas 2003 - inside passage Alaska.  It was so exciting to experience our first cruise with 6 new friends, 5 of whom were also on their first cruise!  We were likes kids in a candy shop - wide eyed and blown away by the fabulous food, service, and entertainment.  So many memories through the years - we've lost count of the number of cruises we've taken.  As others have mentioned, the crew and the friendships formed with other people are what keep us coming back for more.  Our favorite ships:  Empress, Monarch, Grandeur, Navigator, Enchantment, Splendour, and of course our first - Vision.  Our favorite Caribbean cruise - hands down - CUBA!  Did sailed twice on Empress last year - over July 4th and for Thanksgiving.  Empress is definitely a tiny ship with a BIG heart!    We did the last sailing of Monarch years ago and were sad to see her go as we had sailed on her three or four times prior.  Many have mentioned crew member who go out of their way for the passengers.  Brenda, who was our dining room waitress on Grandeur was so kind.  She not only personally brought dinner to the cabin of one of our tablemates who wasn't feeling good, but she also made a special effort to get vidalia onion tart (anyone remember that sinfully delicious appetizer that is no longer on the menu?) for us one night.  That was about 6 years ago, when the east coast as well as the Midwest were visited by the Artic snows and temperatures!  Brenda was SO excited because it was snowing as we pulled back into the port of Baltimore for disembarkation!  As we were getting off the ship, she stood there waiting with anticipation to get off the ship because she had never seen snow!  I asked her if she had any warm clothes (mind you, we are from Chicago, and I had 4 layers on at the moment and was freezing!).... she said - "Yes, someone gave me these gloves."  Well, they were those little "cheater" dollar store gloves that don't offer much warmth.  Anyway,  3 years later we were back on Grandeur.  As we stepped up to the check in potium at Chops, she looked at us and said "I know you!"  The moment I saw her nametag, I remembered her!  She had been promoted to maitre de at CHOPS!  I asked her if she actually DID get off the ship that year in Baltimore, and she proudly responded "OH YES!   I wouldn't have missed that for the world!!!!"   

We'll be on Explorer for the Snowbird Migration cruise in October - wondering what Royal is doing for it's 50th anniversary celebration?

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Out of 42 our cruises 14 were with Royal Caribbean.

 

   My first cruise was with Celebrity with our son but without my husband. He did not want to join us for a cruise as you know "being confined and such". I loved my first so much I started thinking long and hard about how to make my husband to try. I picked Splendor of the Seas Western Mediterranean thinking that if he did not like cruising at least Europe must impress him.

 

    Well... he loved beautiful ports, but even more he loved Splendor.  Huge MDR windows while sailing from Marseilles, wonderful service, Solarium, shows... everything. He got addicted right away.  Even though after that cruise we continued sailing with various lines (8 in total) and we still sail with some of them majority of our cruises lately were with Royal.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in 1990 on the Nordic Prince. We were invited to the Captains Table by Capt. Per Moen. Remember it like yesterday and we’ve been cruising ever since. Hats off to Royal Caribbean -  more invites to the Captains Table over the years, but never one more memorable than our first.

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10 hours ago, tiff2 said:

We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in 1990 on the Nordic Prince. We were invited to the Captains Table by Capt. Per Moen. Remember it like yesterday and we’ve been cruising ever since. Hats off to Royal Caribbean -  more invites to the Captains Table over the years, but never one more memorable than our first.

Great story....in all our cruises we have never gotten an invitation to the Captains table.  Hopefully ONE day it will happen....it surely would be fun.

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1 hour ago, Paulette3028 said:

Great story....in all our cruises we have never gotten an invitation to the Captains table.  Hopefully ONE day it will happen....it surely would be fun.

 

Lots of reasons

Nationality

Top suite

Top cruiser

Anniversary 

Military background 

Luck

Appeasement 

 

Not always the Captain, but usually Executive team member

Hotel Director

Staff Captain

Chief Engineer

Even saw Safety Director on our last cruise

 

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10 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Lots of reasons

Nationality

Top suite

Top cruiser

Anniversary 

Military background 

Luck

Appeasement 

 

Not always the Captain, but usually Executive team member

Hotel Director

Staff Captain

Chief Engineer

Even saw Safety Director on our last cruise

 

I am convinced LUCK, plays a tremendous part.  We were on a cruise and one of our tablemates was invited....they were in a regular balcony cabin, it was the wife's first cruise and his third.  But, viola.   I hope to be so lucky one day.

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10 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Nationality - Two of our table mates at Chef's Table spoke Norwegian and got invited to Captain's Table

Top suite - We got the invite when sailing in Royal Suite

Top cruiser - Most common for us, but depends on ship. Several times on Her Majesty, most recently Empress. Not necessarily the most points, but usually in the top 3 couples

Military background - Our son just left the Navy, he had an Engine Control Room tour with the Chief Engineer.  He got invited to dine with the Cheng, we didn't. 😱

Anniversary - Some Honeymooners were at the Cheng table with our son on Serenade

Appeasement - We did a B2B in 1995. 3/4 on Royal Majesty. The CD asked us not to play the pool games on leg 2 and said he'd take care of us. Staff Captain's table the next day. Our tenth overall cruise

LUCK - Never been just lucky, but I'm sure it plays into it.

 

 

5 minutes ago, Paulette3028 said:

I am convinced LUCK, plays a tremendous part.  We were on a cruise and one of our tablemates was invited....they were in a regular balcony cabin, it was the wife's first cruise and his third.  But, viola.   I hope to be so lucky one day.

 

I find luck to be very minor part of the equation.  

See above

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10 hours ago, Paulette3028 said:

I am convinced LUCK, plays a tremendous part.  We were on a cruise and one of our tablemates was invited....they were in a regular balcony cabin, it was the wife's first cruise and his third.  But, viola.   I hope to be so lucky one day.

 

Some are invited by pure luck, but not the majority.

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What a great group of interesting stories. Reading them brought me back to the interesting adventures that we had on RCI ships. We did not start cruising until September 1995. Since then we have enjoyed 49 cruise vacations, a majority of our vacations.  27 of them have been on RCI ships –Adventure; Anthem;  Brilliance; Explorer;  Freedom; Grandeur; Legend; Serenade; Navigator; Radiance; Sovereign]; Voyager; and Quantum of the Seas. Some have had more exotic ports of call but the one standard that has always held true: RCI has always had great entertainment, good food, and fabulous service.

Many things have changed over the years. No longer do we midnight buffets but we now have the flow rider. Even though the themes have changed to address more active activities on board, this old couple still makes cruising their number one choice in vacations and RCI is on the top of our list. We are sailing in January on the Anthem.

 

 

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My wifes first cruise was 40 years ago this month on the Song of Norway her 7 day cruise became an 8 day cruise because of hurricanes David and Frederick. They only made it to St Thomas that trip they spent most of the days running from the hurricanes. Royal was very nice and gave her 100% of her money back and when she got home she booked her second cruise with them. We are now scheduled for our 30th Royal cruise on the Symphony Nov 2nd.

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Wow!  This does take me back!  My first cruise was in 1987 on the Nordic Prince!  I was only 23 and had led a sheltered dining life.  My friend and I had Fettuccine Alfredo for the first time.  It was prepared table side and it was wonderful.  It was also the first time I'd ever had anyone take my lobster out of the shell for me!  I still have the coffee mug I bought (it's now a pen holder on the desk).

 

Thanks RCCL for starting me out in the cruising life!

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