LOOKING AHEAD

[poorer]

Ok the situation is not great for us cruisers.

 

But let's talk about the five things we love about cruising and hopefully we will be able to enjoy them again soon.

 

My top 5 (no particular order)

1. Embarkation - I love it it on top deck, people watching especially when it is their first time

2. At sea no care in the world having that glass of dry rose in the afternoon.

3. Speciality restaurant -love them

4.Arriving in a new port ,exploring  then departing again waving goodbye

5.Dressing up ready for the evening.

 

What's yours

[moonstone01]

1. Arriving in Southampton and seeing the ship...love it, even at 53 we still get excited by it.( my wife thinks we own it...there is our ship)

2. Standing in line waiting for the car to be taken and for the porters to arrive.

3. Sitting in the terminal and seeing all the excited people

4. Going to the cabin for the first time and exploring the ship

5. The Sindhu...say no more

[Britboys]

1.  The sociable atmosphere on board, especially when I sail solo

2.  The range of entertainments available every evening

3.  Being out at sea with nothing to see except the sea, some wild-life and maybe another ship

4.  The chance to dress formally, which I don't get anywhere else

5.  Being in nice surroundings all evening and not having to go far to get 'home' at the end of the night.

[AndyMichelle]

The things we love about cruising are the things we don't often do at home. 

1) Meeting new people, chatting to complete strangers and hearing their stories, good and bad. 

2) Dressing for dinner and being waited on every night. 

3)Drinking fancy drinks with an umbrella and a straw. 

4)Relaxing, finding a quiet spot and reading a book without worrying about anything at home. 

5)Staying up late, nightcap or 3 in Anderson's after watching the show. 

 

The list could go on... 

Andy 

Edited March 26, 2020 by AndyMichelle

[Son of Anarchy]

1.  Stepping from the airbridge into the ship;

2.  Looking towards the shore when we're past Portsmouth and wondering about the thousands and thousands of people over the centuries for whom that was their last sight of Britain;

3.  Crows Nest or similar at the other end;

4.  Mojitos!

5.  Dressed crab salad for lunch in the MDR.

[madison quest]

1.  the journey down to Southampton

2.  the departure lounge and the excitement. (will not mention the panic at the desk,  as I search for the passports even though I have checked they are there at least twenty times since we left home! )

3.   sea days say no more.

4.   the first formal evening and seeing everyone In their finery.

5.   the shear bliss of knowing that I have nothing to do apart from enjoy it.

[kalos]

1/ The Hotel the day before the cruise,we start to unwind.
2/ Boarding the ship
3/ Having a drink on our cabin balcony
4/ waking up to a new destination 
5/ The ship going  where we booked it to go.
and many other reasons.

[Josy1953]

1) Seeing the ship as we approach the docks

2) Sitting on the balcony in the sun with a nice glass of wine on sea days

3) Speciality Restaurants

4) New places to explore ashore

5) Dressing up 

[newbie cruissy]

1. Don't know as we are booked on our first ever cruise in July 

2, 3, 4 & 5 - ditto

All of the above sounds great though 

[Peanut006]

1. First time you hear “dink” of your cruise card in the machine as you board

2. First cocktail after you board - I am on my holidays!!!

3.Seeing your cabin for the first time

4. Leisurely breakfast in the main dining room

5.Seeing everyone dressed up on formal night

 

Michelle

[Presto2]

First of all, what a GREAT idea for a new thread. Just what is needed.

 

Our 5 favourites:

 

1: Embarkation day and stepping foot on the ship for the first time

2: Opening your cabin door for the first time and stepping foot on your balcony and feeling like a child at Christmas

3: The first sailaway when everyone is in such a good mood and it is the start of the holiday - Pina Colada in hand

4: On the balcony after a sailaway in port somewhere, book and glass of vino in hand listening to the sound of the sea swishing and watching the port disappear in the distance

5: Seeing everyone on formal night in their posh clothes strolling on deck like a 1920s film--- are these really the same people we saw getting on yesterday?

[poorer]

Let's keep it going these favourite things will soon be a reality again xx

[Catz24031]

1.  Being waited on for breakfast. (Hubbys choice)

2.  Going to different places without flying.

 

3.  Getting dressed up, then going for drinks before dinner.

 

4.  Endless choice of food (hubby again) you can see a theme here.

 

5.  Choice of entertainment.

[lindyloo22]

Things I like best

1 stepping on to the ship from airbridge

 2 finding the cabin 

3 exploring the ship and getting lost even if I have been on before

5 waking up in a different port

[lindyloo22]

I forgot no. 4  whenever I eat knowing I don’t have to cook or wash up

 

 

[happy v]

1. The planning before we go.

2. Seeing the ship.

3. Having someone else feed me every day - several times a day!

4. Getting the horizon and arranging what we are going to see and do.

5. All the different ports.

[Purdey16]

1. Seeing the ship on arrival and getting rid of our luggage 

2. finding our cabin and checking it over 

3. Having a cocktail in the crows nest on departure 

4. Dressing up for dinner every night wearing some of my nice clothes that don’t normally see the light of day and formal nights 

5. Seeing the sunrise every morning or sunset at sea is the best 

[Jennizor]

1. Boarding at Southampton or anywhere else we have flown too

2. Our first wander round the ship, even if we have sailed on her before

3. Our first dinner, meeting our new table mates. Always been good, recent Caribbean cruise, best people ever.

4. Waking up first morning, going on the balcony and gazing out to sea and feeling relaxed.

5. Dressing for dinner, formal nights and the rest.

[P&O SUE]

Great thread! Interesting how dressing up is mentioned by most.

 

1. Not being able to sleep the night before!

2. Seeing the ‘to the ship’ sign

3. Seeing the sea every day.

4. Seeing everyone dressed up.

5. Waking up somewhere different every day.

Edited March 27, 2020 by P&O SUE

[Pine Man]

9 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

Great thread! Interesting how dressing up is mentioned by most.

 

I share most cruisers top 5 and endorse the 'dressing up' choice as being valued.

 

Dining is another important aspect and, maybe not everybodies choice, but I really like Club Dining, sharing a table with a group of people you have never met before and ending up, in most cases, as the best of friends. I would have booked for Iona but for the fact it does not offer Cliub Dining.

 

17 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

Waking up somewhere different every day.

Presumably in the same cabin P&O Sue?

[ann141]

Love that this thread is so positive

1.The excitement that starts as soon as we have booked, continues as we plan what to do at each port and especially as we board the ship

2. The fact that we only have to unpack once

3. The social aspect- love meeting new people.

4.Opportunity to try new things (as well as visiting new places) classes, see new films, , try new foods etc

5.Being able to escape outside worries(I'm not paying internet prices on the ship!)

[DamianG]

Great thread, hard to pick only 5 though as I am sat here nodding my head at most of the suggestions so far. I reckon I could list 50 (not 5)!

Here's some alternatives:

1) Feeling the weight lift off my shoulders as I hand over the car keys for parking in Southampton.

2) Sailing in and out of rivers or channels into port when you can see so much of the shoreline, e.g. The Solent, Elbe (into Hamburg), Tagus (into Lisbon), Noordzeecanal (into Amsterdam) etc.

3) Looking out for and spotting sea life on a sea day (not seen a whale yet but one day Rodney, one day...).

4) Live music on-board (any).

5) Caribbean Tier lunch (much as we love our son this is a precious bit of "us" time for my wife and I while the in-laws look after him).

 

[Josy1953]

7 minutes ago, DamianG said:

Great thread, hard to pick only 5 though as I am sat here nodding my head at most of the suggestions so far. I reckon I could list 50 (not 5)!

Here's some alternatives:

1) Feeling the weight lift off my shoulders as I hand over the car keys for parking in Southampton.

2) Sailing in and out of rivers or channels into port when you can see so much of the shoreline, e.g. The Solent, Elbe (into Hamburg), Tagus (into Lisbon), Noordzeecanal (into Amsterdam) etc.

3) Looking out for and spotting sea life on a sea day (not seen a whale yet but one day Rodney, one day...).

4) Live music on-board (any).

5) Caribbean Tier lunch (much as we love our son this is a precious bit of "us" time for my wife and I while the in-laws look after him).

 

Your number 3 brought back memories of an Alaskan cruise that we did my husband and I stood on the promenade deck for hours whale spotting, he decided to go to the loo.  Less than a.minute after he went in a whale appeared fortunately he gave me the video recorder otherwise he never would have believed me. 🤣🤣

Edited March 27, 2020 by Josy1953

[DamianG]

1 minute ago, Josy1953 said:

Your number 3 brought back memories of an Alaskan cruise that we did my husband and I stood on the promenade deck for hours whale spotting, he decided to go to the loo .  Less than a.minute after he went in a whale appeared

Yep, chances are that will be me!

[brian1]

4 minutes ago, DamianG said:

Yep, chances are that will be me!

LOL,me too, in the Chilean Fjords,the Captain said "whales off the bow".I went running up on deck for half an hour,no joy.My Mrs said they popped up right outside our balcony.