Military Appeciation Event

[sparks1093]

10 hours ago, Barry ATL said:

I wanted to be clear.  This event is appropriate for anyone to attend?  My DH (of 30 years) is from a military family.  His father retired from the Army as an Sergeant Major (E9) and served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.  His mother was a war bride from Austria.  This would be meaningful from him, but when I mentioned it he seemed to feel it would not be appropriate for us to attend.

Anyone may attend to show their appreciation for our vets.

[Organized Chaos]

On 9/25/2019 at 6:40 AM, louanne93 said:

Having shared my husband and two sons, we are a huge military family. I always get emotional when the response is "it was an honor".

 

I like the way you worded that...you shared them. It’s important to call attention to the other half of the equation. Those at home are making their own sacrifice while their husband/wife, their dad/mom, or their own child serves our country. It’s something they should acknowledge during the appreciation gathering. Give the ones who “shared” a round of applause. 

[lobo55]

1 hour ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

I like the way you worded that...you shared them. It’s important to call attention to the other half of the equation. Those at home are making their own sacrifice while their husband/wife, their dad/mom, or their own child serves our country. It’s something they should acknowledge during the appreciation gathering. Give the ones who “shared” a round of applause. 

 

They did at the ones I have attended. A very nice touch.

[PhillyFan33579]

2 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

I like the way you worded that...you shared them. It’s important to call attention to the other half of the equation. Those at home are making their own sacrifice while their husband/wife, their dad/mom, or their own child serves our country. It’s something they should acknowledge during the appreciation gathering. Give the ones who “shared” a round of applause. 

 

I have attended approximately 20 of these events. They have acknowledged the family of military members at everyone without exception. 

[sparks1093]

57 minutes ago, lobo55 said:

 

They did at the ones I have attended. A very nice touch.

 

4 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

I have attended approximately 20 of these events. They have acknowledged the family of military members at everyone without exception. 

My experience also. At the event on our Royal cruise they even asked the vet to introduce their spouse and any family members present.

[PhillyFan33579]

On 9/22/2019 at 12:28 AM, Zingy2 said:

They are very moving moments, during which our military members and their spouses/significant others/family members/friends share their experiences during their times of service.  CCL also has a slide show, which is presented during the events. 

 

By far the best part of this event is when people share experiences like you mentioned. I have attended approximately 20 of these events, and the highlight of every one has been the open mic portion of the event, with two exceptions. 

 

On two cruises this year (Horizon and Breeze) the CD did not allow anyone attending to talk, which was very disappointing to both my wife and I. It was the same CD for both cruises, Steven Schwartz. I talked to him about this after the second time it happened and told him he was cutting the best part of the event. His response was that in the past some of the open mic sessions took too much time  due to too many people talking, so he decided to eliminate that part of the event. 

[Palmetto Pilot]

I've gone a few times on various cruises. A few things have stood out to me, service members from other nations have come to the event and it was really nice getting to chat with our allied partners. The second thing that stands out for me was one of the CDs, I can't remember which one his father or grandfather was a Spitfire pilot in WW2. Very cool to hear him talk about that. 

[Organized Chaos]

A few years ago on the Conquest, that military appreciation gathering was quite minimal. Very little effort was put into it. The CD, I can't remember his name, was retiring that year and I think that was his last (or close to last) cruise. He didn't acknowledge spouses/kids at all. My wife & I were talking about it and she recalls Dustin aboard Glory last year casually mentioning family making sacrifices too, but didn't have them stand or receive applause. That's what I'd like to see. It's good to hear that some CD's do include them. We have a couple cruises coming up and if the CD's don't mention it, I might say something to them.

[sparks1093]

15 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

A few years ago on the Conquest, that military appreciation gathering was quite minimal. Very little effort was put into it. The CD, I can't remember his name, was retiring that year and I think that was his last (or close to last) cruise. He didn't acknowledge spouses/kids at all. My wife & I were talking about it and she recalls Dustin aboard Glory last year casually mentioning family making sacrifices too, but didn't have them stand or receive applause. That's what I'd like to see. It's good to hear that some CD's do include them. We have a couple cruises coming up and if the CD's don't mention it, I might say something to them.

It's probably because they don't truly understand or appreciate what those back home sacrifice and contribute to the equation and if that's the case then their appreciation, if expressed, will probably be halfhearted and end up sounding insincere. I'd almost rather they remain silent then have them sound insincere. I'm trying to remember if Dustin said anything about the families when we sailed Glory and my memory is blank but I'm thinking that he didn't say a lot about them.

[MNLIvin]

I'd like to share a story. Several years ago on a Hawaiian cruise they had a Veterans gathering that had maybe 70 or so Vets. They passed the microphone and each person gave their name, state, branch where served etc.One old boy said he landed on Normandy Beach and of course got a quite an ovation. After the microphone got almost halfway around the room it came to another older gent. He said "My story will be different than anyone else in this room. I was for 5 years on a German submarine in World war 2. I fought you Americans. After the war I come to America, I am worried how I will be treated. I am treated wonderfully. I marry an American girls and we have family. When I am told of this meeting I am worried how I will be treated by the others Veterans but I am Treated wonderfully." He rubbed his 2 pointer fingers together and said "after the war we all became brothers" The place went nuts, and 2 young submariners almost ran people over to visit with this guy and the Normandy guy.

[pacruise804]

On 9/25/2019 at 6:42 AM, RWolver672 said:

 

I know what you mean.  I never know how to react to the thanks.  "Your welcome" always seems lame but it's the only thing I can come up with.

 

I've often heard "thank you for your support" as a reply when I thank others for their service.

 

On 9/28/2019 at 7:31 AM, MNLIvin said:

I'd like to share a story. Several years ago on a Hawaiian cruise they had a Veterans gathering that had maybe 70 or so Vets. They passed the microphone and each person gave their name, state, branch where served etc.One old boy said he landed on Normandy Beach and of course got a quite an ovation. After the microphone got almost halfway around the room it came to another older gent. He said "My story will be different than anyone else in this room. I was for 5 years on a German submarine in World war 2. I fought you Americans. After the war I come to America, I am worried how I will be treated. I am treated wonderfully. I marry an American girls and we have family. When I am told of this meeting I am worried how I will be treated by the others Veterans but I am Treated wonderfully." He rubbed his 2 pointer fingers together and said "after the war we all became brothers" The place went nuts, and 2 young submariners almost ran people over to visit with this guy and the Normandy guy.

 

That's a beautiful story ❤️ 

 

Thank you OP for asking the question. I also assumed the gathering was for service members and there families, not necessarily for all passengers.  Since it doesn't sound like we would be intruding I will plan to attend on our next cruise.

 

Thank you all for your service and sacrifice.