What Nice Things Have You Seen Or Heard?

[babs135]

Yes, it's one of 'those threads' again, but it's Sunday morning and I'm bored.  Lots of negative type threads here at the moment which seem to get a lot of replies; someone recently did a quick add up of answers to positive and negative posts (awful tablemates, rudeness, etc) and the negatives won so let's try and redress the balance.  I sometimes wonder what 'newbies' to this site/cruising think when they read some of the topics.

 

On the QM2 dinner in the MDR when suddenly a hush comes over the area in which we are seated.  I looked up and saw a young man down on one knee, ring in a box and the young lady he was with looking rather startled.  There was a collective holding of the breath while he 'popped the question' and a huge cheer and much clapping when she said Yes!!  (Part of me did wonder what would have happened if she had said no!).  

 

Again on the QM2 there had been a wedding earlier in the day but the bride and groom and party chose to eat their evening meal in the MDR.  She was still in her wedding gown and it was just a lovely sight to see.

 

Over to you.

Edited August 18, 2019 by babs135

[tallnthensome]

3 hours ago, babs135 said:

Yes, it's one of 'those threads' again, but it's Sunday morning and I'm bored.  Lots of negative type threads here at the moment which seem to get a lot of replies; someone recently did a quick add up of answers to positive and negative posts (awful tablemates, rudeness, etc) and the negatives won so let's try and redress the balance.  I sometimes wonder what 'newbies' to this site/cruising think when they read some of the topics.

 

On the QM2 dinner in the MDR when suddenly a hush comes over the area in which we are seated.  I looked up and saw a young man down on one knee, ring in a box and the young lady he was with looking rather startled.  There was a collective holding of the breath while he 'popped the question' and a huge cheer and much clapping when she said Yes!!  (Part of me did wonder what would have happened if she had said no!).  

 

Again on the QM2 there had been a wedding earlier in the day but the bride and groom and party chose to eat their evening meal in the MDR.  She was still in her wedding gown and it was just a lovely sight to see.

 

Over to you.

delete

Edited August 18, 2019 by tallnthensome

[lifes-a-beach]

I too saw a gentleman take a knee and propose to his lady.  It was aboard Vision in Chops just a few months ago.  

 

I was in the chapel aboard Liberty early one morning when a woman who had been at our lunch table the day before with her two boys came in and laid down on the floor in back of the pews to pray.  During our conversations at lunch I had come to know she was a woman of great faith and it was pretty moving and inspirational  to see.  I was honored to pray with, and for her.

[yorkshirephil]

Just being on the ship and visiting new places is good enough for me. I always try and be a glass half full type.

[lenquixote66]

Not in the same vein but not a negative thread. In 2010 I was on a cruise and began a conversation with a couple.They were professors at Penn State,a college in Pennsylvania. They both had accents. It turned out that he grew up in a very small town in Texas and never met anyone on a cruise from that town. My friend who was listening to the conversation remarked that his father was from that town,Beaumont.

I jokingly said to the wife,you must be from Brooklyn. She began to laugh.She and I attended the same high school at the same time but never knew each other.

 

Have a wonderful day,everyone.

[cruisemom42]

A positive story about table sharing:  On one of the first cruises I took solo on Aegean Odyssey (very small ship of 350 pax), I went down to the dining room for dinner and asked to share a table. The maitre d' placed me at a table for 6 with 5 other women traveling solo, and boy did we have a great time.

 

Thereafter we tried to gather for dinner together every night (there is no fixed seating on this ship). The "spark plug" was a 91 year old woman who had traveled all over the world on her own, starting when she was young and was a single mother with one son. She had thrilling stories about traveling the Silk Road in days when that was actually quite difficult and dangerous. She had also been in diplomatic service for quite a while.

 

We broke all the cardinal rules of ship-board table sharing and talked about everything from world and local politics to religion, our jobs, feminism (including some horrific practices against women in some places of the world), and past travel experiences. I was the youngest, but there was a range of ages and countries represented including Britain, Australia, Canada, and US. 

 

This woman was such an inspiration to me -- I saw her on strenuous shore excursions, leaping about from rock to rock to visit a partially flooded site in Turkey, for example. I hope I am that agile and open-minded at that age!  And I won't forget the great laughter and conversation we had every night. 

 

[gooch47]

I was really, really sick when we were in St. Petersburg, Russia.  There was just no way I could go to the dinner outing that night.  The cruise tour people couldn't refund my money but said they would try to find someone to "buy" it from me.  They did find someone and saved us a pretty good chunk of change.

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Not in the same vein but not a negative thread. In 2010 I was on a cruise and began a conversation with a couple.They were professors at Penn State,a college in Pennsylvania. They both had accents. It turned out that he grew up in a very small town in Texas and never met anyone on a cruise from that town. My friend who was listening to the conversation remarked that his father was from that town,Beaumont.

I jokingly said to the wife,you must be from Brooklyn. She began to laugh.She and I attended the same high school at the same time but never knew each other.

 

Have a wonderful day,everyone.

And that high school was....?

[julie3fan]

I've seen so many nice things, it's hard to pick out any one thing to mention.  People holding doors for others.  People picking something up that another has dropped.  People complimenting someones jewelry/blouse/backpack, etc.  I've seen way more nice things than negative things!

[LandlockedCruiser01]

My own example was just a few of encouragement that saved my day in port.  I remember it very clearly.  

 

It was my second day on my Imagination cruise.  The ship just pulled into Key West.  That's where I found a note slipped under my cabin door: my pre-booked Hemingway Museum excursion was canceled.  I got really bummed out, because I was looking forward to it for months.  I still SS&S, and went to the Lido buffet for breakfast, looking really bummed out.  As I stood in line to get food, a woman recognized me.  (I possibly talked to her the night before, or maybe even danced with her, but my memory for faces and names was never very good.)

She said: "You looked down in the dumps.  On a cruise, of all places.  What happened?"

Me: Blah-blah-blah, excursion, Hemingway, canceled.

Her: "So what do you plan to do?"

Me: (apathetic) "Don't know.  Stay on the ship, I guess."

Her: (shocked) "What?  Hell no!  That museum is very easy to walk to, and Key West is very safe.  Just pick up a map at Guest Services, then follow it."  (She explained how Key West is laid out on a grid and easy to navigate; maybe she knew the town.)

 

I thanked her, and decided to take her advice, purely out of the "it can't be worse than staying on the ship" mindset, even if I don't find the museum.  Sure enough, I found the museum.  The history and the friendly cats were awesome.  I even checked out quirky shops and tried frozen key lime pie on the way over.  I also stopped at Sloppy Joe's  for a beer on the way back.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't run into that woman again.  Which is kind of a shame.  I would have liked to personally thank her for saving my day.

Edited August 18, 2019 by LandlockedCruiser01

[lenquixote66]

10 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

And that high school was....?

Erasmus Hall .I took advanced Spanish in two consecutive summers.

My school,Wingate,did not have summer school

[Nebr.cruiser]

We've actually had a lot of nice things happen to us on cruises, but one stands out.

 

My husband and I were sailing with 7!!! grandchildren ages 5-11 (without their parents).  It was a wonderful experience in many ways, if not exactly relaxing.  I did tend obsess about the kid's behavior just because there were so many of them and so few of us!

 

They are nice kids and pretty well-behaved, but still they were kids and could get noisy and excited.  We tried very hard to keep them in line.  I mostly worried about the evening meal.  We all sat at a large round table with quite a few other tables close by. 

 

We talked about manners and noise level, etc. before each dinner but I know they were not as quiet as, say, a table of four adults, and we had our mishaps like spilled milk, etc.

 

The last evening one of the ladies who had a table very near ours came over and told us how nicely behaved the kids were and how much they envied our being able to take such a trip with them and enjoyed sitting near us.

 

That meant a lot--I teared up--because I had been so afraid others dreaded seeing us come in.  Also the wait staff were phenomenal, singing, laughing, magic tricks, mind benders, each night besides great service (chocolate milk ready and waiting!)

[SRF]

22 hours ago, babs135 said:

Y(Part of me did wonder what would have happened if she had said no!).  

 

A VERY awkward rest of the cruise. 😄

 

I think the smart move would be to do this on the last night. 😄

 

[SRF]

Plenty of good things.

 

Mainly meeting some nice and interesting people.

 

Some just for a few minutes, some for several times on board.

 

Although the funniest was a couple we met at the Meet and Mingle.  She was wearing a t-shirt that said, "I'm with Dumb A**."  So I asked if he was Dumb A**, with a smile.  He said yes, and to please call him that.

 

We saw them a number of times on the cruise, and I could never remember his real name. Only DA, and yes, he answere to that with a smile.  We even partnered with them for trivia (between he and my SO, they KILLED the "Beatles or Queen" trivia).

Edited August 19, 2019 by SRF

[LandlockedCruiser01]

4 hours ago, SRF said:

Although the funniest was a couple we met at the Meet and Mingle.  She was wearing a t-shirt that said, "I'm with Dumb A**."  So I asked if he was Dumb A**, with a smile.  He said yes, and to please call him that.

 

The name is "doo-mahs". 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2019 by LandlockedCruiser01

[ldubs]

16 hours ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

 

That meant a lot--I teared up--because I had been so afraid others dreaded seeing us come in.  Also the wait staff were phenomenal, singing, laughing, magic tricks, mind benders, each night besides great service (chocolate milk ready and waiting!)

 

Been a while since we cruised with young children.  But, I remember the wait staff would go out of their way for the youngsters.  Spinning plates of ice cream, doing tricks with pitchers and glasses, yellow mustard faces on hot dogs,  etc, etc.  Kids loved it.   Glad to hear they still do things like that.   

 

 

 

[Nebr.cruiser]

Well, since the 11's are now 20, it has been a while, but I am confident that kids are still well entertained.  This was on RCL.

[clo]

20 hours ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

and told us how nicely behaved the kids were

When I see something like that I try to comment the same.  Even at Costco 🙂  But, wow, I can't imagine that many.  Whew.

[808lady]

I was newly divorced, turning 40, and taking an 11 night cruise on my own.  I figured I could make it ok if I had nice people to sit with at dinner each night, so I requested late seating and a table for 12.  On the first night I came down and there were only three of us.  Two good looking gentlemen and me.  Near the end of the meal the head waiter came around and asked us if we wanted to be moved to another table with more people for the next night.  How I dreaded having to move to a new table with new people and be brave all over again.  One of them men told him, "Only if you can move all three of us to the same table."  My hero!  We stayed at our table.  I later realized the two of them were a couple, and we were joined on subsequent nights by others.  We were often the last three in the dining room, talking and laughing.  Their kindness meant so much to me.

[squick64]

I've not seen a proposal, but on one of my last cruises, this guy borrowed the guitar from one of the musicians who was going around and played and sang for his table--I think to his girlfriend, although I couldn't really see properly.

 

One sort of wacky and fun experiences was when one of the solo group (NCL) volunteered to do hypnosis. She'd clearly done it before. She was by far the best entertainment of all the people on stage, doing these huge performances under hypnosis, really energetic. Afterwards, we struggled to even leave the theater because so many people were stopping to praise her performance or take selfies with her and stuff.

 

Another situation that was nice and kind of odd was when I sat with a few other people--a woman traveling solo and a couple from Canada--for the muster and we didn't end up leaving the muster station for like 3 hours, ordering drinks and chatting away. I hardly ever saw them again, though, although the solo woman was on my next (?) cruise and I recognized her in the check-in hall.

[Mike981]

Good thread. We also try to be positive and go with the flow and we see wonderful things each trip.

 

We were in the auditorium waiting to go on our tender, after a bit they let us out to the boats. We were standing waiting for our turn when a kind woman ran up to us and asked if we lost our credit card. My wife had it in her pants pocket and somehow it fell on the auditorium floor. This sharp eyed angel saw and it took the time to save us. We are still amazed how she figured out it was ours,  the place was packed and I know I didn't recognize her. Let's just say, she was easy on the eye's and I would of.

[Joebucks]

My favorite thing is simple: people just having a good time. Imagine cruising with people who have 100+ days at sea, who aren't complaining about cutbacks, Nassau, food, lines, etc etc and instead they are smiling and having a great time, enjoying the entertainment, being friendly, etc.

[getting older slowly]

I interesting one.. on our first cruise to New Zealand... we were staying on top of the bridge looking over the port and I have my camera over round my neck and this lady asked us if we would like our photo taken....

 

Any she did,, it was a good shot......

 

Anyway 14 months later on our second cruise... we were walking along the foreshore of the this small town in New Zealand.... And this voice called out would you like a photo taken.....

 

It was the same Lady on her second cruise... we all laugh about the odds of this happening..

 

Yes she took our photo another

 

Cheers Don   

[4x4bob]

Close to our table in the MDR was 6 top table.   The first night we saw a lady roll up to the table in her wheel chair.  No one else joined her.  Same thing happened the 2nd night.

Then I saw a young man get up from the table he was sitting at with a group of other people.  He walked over to the Lady, introduced him self and sat down.  He joined her every night for the remainder of the cruise. 

The mother of that young man did an outstanding job in teaching good manners and how to help other people. 

Bob

[bonsai3s]

1. Sprained my ankle on a cruise.  Mentioned it to our waiter during dinner.  When we finished eating, our waiter gave me a nicely packed of ice for my ankle...I didn't even ask...very thoughtful...I was grateful.

 

2.  Lost my glasses on a cruise.  Again I mentioned it to our waiter.  The next day, he had it on our dining table...I was again grateful.

 

3. On a transatlantic crossing, we found out that a crew member's wife passed away.  It was difficult for the crew member not only because of the horrific news, but also because he would have to wait 6 more days to reach the next port and fly home.  Our group decided to take donations and give it to the crew member.  Just before the next port, the crew member, still dressed in his dishwashing uniform, came out to tell us a tearful and heartfelt "thank you".