What was your best cruise and why ?

[lenquixote66]

My first cruise was my best cruise because it “introduced” me to the world of cruising.It was in 1973 on the Cunard Ambassador a 7 night cruise from NY to Bermuda.Every evening there were A list entertainers The food was delicious ,the best I ever had on a cruise.The crew were wonderful .

[SPacificbound]

Our very first cruise was a 2013 TP Sydney to Honolulu. We only booked it because I didn't want another long flight to get back to the US, I don't like flying.

 

I can't say I have a favorite, I have many favorites, here are three.

 

We had never considered cruising before, we had always thought it would be claustrophobic. We booked a grand suite on Rhapsody of the Seas. Rhapsody was part of the Vision category.

 

After we boarded we looked all over the ship, got our luggage in, then went up on deck and I started taking pictures. By the time we pulled out of Sydney I was totally hooked. Jim liked it also, what an easy way to travel. That cruise completely changed our thoughts of travel.

 

A couple of other favorites were a

2015 B2B2B on Celebrity Infinity out of Buenos Aires, South America, Antarctica, US

2016 B2B2B2B2B2B on Royal Caribbean, this is when I discovered aft facing cabins. These cruises were a wonderful taste of Europe. We have done land trips since to many places we discovered on these cruises.

 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by SPacificbound
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[mom says]

Our first cruise, which got DH hooked on cruising, was a 7 N Eastern  Caribbean on the QM2. It met all our expectations and more.

 

But it isn't our favorite. That would be the pre pandemic B2B on the Celebrity  Connie from Abu Dhabi  to Singapore via India and Thailand. Then from Singapire to Shanghai via Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong. Culminating  with experiencing Chinese New Year in Shanghai. Why? The itinerary, the ship, and the camaraderie amongst the very large group of B2Bers on the cruise.

[Mike981]

It would be our first cruise (7 nights) on Celebrity Mercury. I had never traveled and my wife only did some car trips growing up but nothing big, AND, this was our honeymoon 10 years late. The only thing I knew about cruising was the TV show Love Boat and thought I would never experience a cruise like that. Well my first cruise was light years better than the TV show. Hook-line-&-sinker, they got me. 

 

*side bar*

We were so broke when we got married that my sister who was a business traveler had a lot of hotel points and gave us enough to book a hotel in Milwaukee for two nights. That was very nice, but what to do? At the time we both liked to have a beer and I found out that the Pabst brewery had free historic tours and free samples 365 days a year, perfect! We finally find the brewery (this is way before GPS), walk to the front door and there is a sign that says "closed for remodeling for the near future." WAWAWaaaaaaa.

 

[DarrenM]

4 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

My first cruise was my best cruise because it “introduced” me to the world of cruising.It was in 1973 on the Cunard Ambassador a 7 night cruise from NY to Bermuda.Every evening there were A list entertainers The food was delicious ,the best I ever had on a cruise.The crew were wonderful .

Only been on 4 cruises, but I have thoroughly enjoyed all of them.

 

But last years cruise on celebrity reflection would have to be my favourite.

 

The itineraries were just as good this year on Celebrity beyond, but there was just something about reflection.

 

I just lived the ship and miss being on it.

 

I don't really miss being on edge or beyond. As fabulous as they are.

 

Just felt like I belonged on reflection.

 

A home from home.

[sprint180]

Baltic and Alaska.  I can't choose.  I loved Alaska because it is absolutely beautiful,  I loved the Baltics because of the history.  Especially Russia as I used to have a pen pal from there.

[ontheweb]

Baltic cruise in 2007 for our 30th anniversary. There were great ports and wonderful fellow cruisers. We especially got to know the ones who went on a private tour in St. Petersburg that I set up from our roll call. We also got to meet another couple from the cruise and our roll call since they lived only a few miles from DW's family, and we got to meet them on a visit to Long Island.

[Honolulu Blue]

18 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

My first cruise was my best cruise because it “introduced” me to the world of cruising.It was in 1973 on the Cunard Ambassador a 7 night cruise from NY to Bermuda.Every evening there were A list entertainers The food was delicious ,the best I ever had on a cruise.The crew were wonderful .

Thank you for the topic and thanks for sharing your views on it.  

 

I have to say I found it impossible to choose between the four music themed charters I did last year and this year.  The top five reasons why:  MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC, the other passengers, and everything else.  They were four of my most expensive cruises ever, but they were absolutely worth it.  So much so that I have three scheduled for next year.  Here's a random photo from one of them:

 

Ranking close behind them were the two 80s themed cruises I took on Princess.  They weren't charters (Princess chose the theme and was in charge of it), but ordinary and short cruises that didn't dent the pocketbook too much.  They packed a lot of fun in each one.  I'm anxiously waiting for them to announce another group of them for late this year and early '24.  But instead they make a stupid announcement about some stupid stuff.  But I digress... Here's another photo from one of them:

 

Beyond that were the other cruises I've taken, each of which were special in their own ways.  I won't pretend to rank them; it was tough enough splitting off the other six from these.

[trish1c]

NCL Gem 14 days to Southern Carribean over Christmas & New Years 2019 - 2020.  I got to avoid the worst parts of those stressful holidays.  

[SelectSys]

23 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

My first cruise was my best cruise because it “introduced” me to the world of cruising

I think there is a lot to be said for this opinion.  I still remember being "wowed" by the experience.

 

If I exclude my first cruise, my "best" cruise was a summer cruise out on the Mediterranean when my kids were still pretty young.  It was at the very beginning of summer and the weather was amazing and the crowds weren't too bad.  A truly great family memory!

Edited July 28, 2023 by SelectSys

[lynncarol]

I have been on many cruises in my time.  The best for me, are the ones that visit the most interesting ports.  Years ago, my mother (then in her late seventies) took me with her on a Marco Polo Africa/Indian Ocean cruise which included a 5 day safari in Kenya and Tanzania, as well as cruising to the Seychelles (pre-casino and crowds), Zanzibar, Madagascar and other islands.  Quite an experience.  Years later my mother, two days before she died at age 98, asked me to bring to her bed my scrapbook of that cruise, and we shared those wonderful memories together again. 

[Aquahound]

My favorite was a 2-week cruise on HAL Nieuw Amsterdam from Venice to Barcelona.  Best sailaway ever, and a fantastic itinerary through Croatia, Greece, Italy, and Spain.  

[ldubs]

Our first cruise experiences were shorter Mexican Riviera itineraries, longest being 7 days.  Most all were family/friend group cruise.  Then about 20 years ago we pulled the plug and did a terrific two week "Grand Mediterranean" cruise.  That opened up a whole new world of cruise opportunities.  

[Heidi13]

On 7/27/2023 at 8:46 AM, lenquixote66 said:

My first cruise was my best cruise because it “introduced” me to the world of cruising.It was in 1973 on the Cunard Ambassador a 7 night cruise from NY to Bermuda.Every evening there were A list entertainers The food was delicious ,the best I ever had on a cruise.The crew were wonderful .

 

Great question, but really hard to answer, as our priorities have changed significantly since my first cruise in 1976.

 

From my younger days, the best cruises were any of the 14-day South Pacific cruises from Sydney during the Aussie cruising season. It was the ultimate continuous party atmosphere, with some great activities in port - Lautoka (Fiji) we loaded a lifeboat with beer and packed lunches and headed over to an island beach for the day, Suva (Fiji) we broke out the BBQ's built on board and had a huge BBQ on the Well Deck, washed down with more than a few beers. Also had some great groups of young pax about the same age as us (18 - 21). Flew home to UK from Sydney and slept for a week.

 

Latterly, our best cruise was our last COVID shortened World Cruise with Viking Ocean. We experienced numerous schedule changes and even had a stretch of about 50 sea days in a row, but the Master, Officers and crew were amazing. When the cruise ended and 8 Canadian pax could not be flown home, as the airlines shut down, we were kept aboard the ship - 8 pax and 465 crew.

 

All 4 couples were provided with a top suite and dined with various officers and members of the crew daily. We could invite our favourite cabin stewards, waiters, bar stewards, etc to join us for lunch and/or dinner. We shared the entire ship with the crew, having spent many hours in the pool with many of the crew. In the evenings, we shared the Theatre with the crew, as the entertainment staff performed on stage. We were invited by the crew to join them up by the pool during their nightly disco.

 

They arranged daily tours of all areas of the ship and we could request anything for lunch/dinner and it was made the following day. They organised a inter-department baggo competition, with us pax combining with the officers. Two matches held daily, with some great atmosphere and rivalry.

 

We disembarked in Gibraltar while the ship was at anchor and almost the entire crew lined the ship's side waving and cheering us off the ship.

[Mike981]

@Heidi13 That is a great story, thank you for sharing.

[dmrrn73]

I have been on multiple cruises to Bermuda (all but 1 on Celebrity) out of both NYC and Philly (I don't think they do cruises from there anymore) and as a whole they are my favorites. But the one in 1999 on the Zenith (Gosh I Miss that ship, cruised on her 3 times) was the best of the bunch. Probably because it was with my 2 friends vs with my Parents. I did love traveling with the parents but it was something different with the friends. It was also only my 2nd time traveling without them and there was a freedom to it, lol. We met some great people, we got along well with most of our dinner tablemates, we had a great dining staff, we even had some interaction with the waiter and busboy at the next table (the 2 waiters were good friends). Plus of course all the amazing food and overall service on Celebrity and Bermuda itself is an awesome place.

[Toofarfromthesea]

Mine was the Western Med in the MSC Yacht Club.  What made it the best was that our 2 daughters and my son-in-law came with us.  Family has always been the most important thing to me so getting to gift and share their first cruise, and in the Yacht Club no less was, as the credit card commercial says, Priceless.

[9tee2Sea]

my last one, because i can still remember the great times

[lenquixote66]

18 hours ago, dmrrn73 said:

I have been on multiple cruises to Bermuda (all but 1 on Celebrity) out of both NYC and Philly (I don't think they do cruises from there anymore) and as a whole they are my favorites. But the one in 1999 on the Zenith (Gosh I Miss that ship, cruised on her 3 times) was the best of the bunch. Probably because it was with my 2 friends vs with my Parents. I did love traveling with the parents but it was something different with the friends. It was also only my 2nd time traveling without them and there was a freedom to it, lol. We met some great people, we got along well with most of our dinner tablemates, we had a great dining staff, we even had some interaction with the waiter and busboy at the next table (the 2 waiters were good friends). Plus of course all the amazing food and overall service on Celebrity and Bermuda itself is an awesome place.

We have cruised to Bermuda 12 times,4 times on HAL out of NY,once on Cunard also out of NY,the rest of the time on Celebrity out of NJ.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

We have cruised to Bermuda 12 times,4 times on HAL out of NY,once on Cunard also out of NY,the rest of the time on Celebrity out of NJ.

Bermuda is very nice, but I hope you realize there is a much larger world out there than just Bermuda!

[lenquixote66]

4 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Bermuda is very nice, but I hope you realize there is a much larger world out there than just Bermuda!

Yes,however,my thinking was to travel to as much of the US ,Canada and  Caribbean as possible .If I could go back in time I would have gone to Europe and possibly Asia .Instead I see the places I missed through my children who are world travelers and reading about the experiences of those on CC .

[easternLIers]

Every cruise before about 2005 when they started eliminating things like the "midnight buffet". Cruising pre 2005 was a pleasure, you were treated great, your server knew everyones name at the table before you sat down. It was a great luxury experience. Today it is herding cattle, thats why we stay with the smaller ships. My first cruise was Celebrity Zenith 1992.... nothing has matched it since. 

 

Jim & Cathy

Edited August 2, 2023 by easternLIers

[AKJonesy]

Antarctica.  Bucket list once in a lifetime trip.  The why is obvious.  It's Antarctica.