Coolest Thing You've Seen at Sea

[Wennfred]

Seeing Flying Fish and Dolphins while out at sea rates high on my list. And once in the Indian Ocean we had a massive Whale Shark that wouldn't leave our side, we were onboard a Naval Destroyer. Some of the idiot sailors on our ship was throwing hotdogs at it LOL...

 

 

 

Fred

[clackey]

I was running on a treadmill on the Grand Princess and watched a pod of 6 dolphins swim by the ship in the gin clear water. I will remember it as long as I live. Then there was a severe thunderstorm in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico at midnight. The lightshow was absolutely awesome.

[dorisday]

Im a massive wildlfe nut and to see whales, dolphin, eagles and bears in their natural habitat humbles me, I worked onboard for 7 yrs and was blessed with too many amazing sights to mention.

 

Two that come to mind are: -

 

Helping to rescue a manatee who had become trapped between the ship & the quayside in Fort Lauderdale, I was working on the original Star Princess and it was having a 5 day refit, the poor animal was stuck. The officers loosened the ropes & 3 of us helped it to move away in the right direction.

 

Cruising down the Amazon a very large bat took refuge above the deck buffet drinks station it was there for about a week and it had everyone fasinated, they're amazing close up.

 

The one sight I miss more than any of them though is sitting on the aft deck seeing the moonlights reflection shining on the wake of the ship, its the most calming sight in the world for this old seawitch

[mumofsons]

Our very first cruise was the Disney Magic. We happened to be on when they had fireworks off the ship for the very first time. That was really cool. Before our first cruise I had read somewhere that it was good luck to see Dolphins swimming along with the ship. We look for them everytime we leave the port. Saw tons of them going out of Cape Canaveral both times we have left from there. We have also experienced them out of Miami and Ft Lauderdale - come to think of it everytime we have cruised - and I always think - this is going to be a great cruise!

[DOTTE]

We were out on our aft balcony while ship was docked in St. Thomas and saw a rainbow over the moon.

[CruizinBabyGirl]

Sometimes it's easy to forget what a wonderous and beautiful world we live in.

 

How lucky we are to be able to go on these adventures and witness these wonderful things.

 

 

As for my most wonderous moments...among them is pulling in to Cozumel very early in the morning, right at sunrise, with my coffee and camera in hand. To this day, I still get wistful when I hear the song "Mexico" by James Taylor.

 

BEAUTIFUL PICS!!!!

[snc421]

When I think of the coolest things I saw on my one and only cruise, these things stand out:

 

The very first light of day over Grand Cayman:

 

 

Another Carnival ship passing us while we were at dinner:

 

 

A random island off the coast of Belize:

 

 

An abandoned 'refugee raft' 170 miles off the coast of Sarasota:

 

 

But the coolest thing by far, ME!:

[allgeeteredup]

I am looking forward to adding to this as we are yet to make our first cruise, September 7, 2008, on the Conquest. This thread is fabulous. I can't believe all the wonderful things everyone has seen. I can't wait!!!!

[G'ma]

Anytime there are dolphins with the ship.....

 

Waterspouts. Once saw 6 of them...they danced all over the sea for a coupla hours. Glad they were far away!:eek:

 

My very favorite are those times during the midnight hours when the sea is full of phosphorus and each wave, ripple and shipwash glows that ghostly green....as far as you can see.

 

Now, that's magic.

[Debbierpof]

So many to choose from...

 

Leaving Venice -- you're so much higher than the city it is really amazing to see St. Mark's Square and the other beautiful sites...

 

In Venice, at midnight, watching an amazing hour-long fireworks display that would rival the 4th of July display in DC... (Festa del Redentore)

 

The port in Barcelona is huge and the commercial side is extremely busy. As we were leaving, the cranes, trucks and cargo/pallet loaders, for about 20-30 minutes, honked their horns and basically "danced" for the cruise passengers... not a beautiful natural site, but one fun sailing I will not soon forget...

 

Seeing camels in the port in Tunisia... that was a new one...

 

The most beautiful port to sail into in the early morning was, without a doubt, Valletta, Malta. It was like time stood still and the limestone color changed with the sunrise...

 

Somewhere in the Med watching a whale breach... I thought I was going to have to wait until we did an Alaskan cruise to ever see that! Amazing!

 

Of course, you can't beat the sunrises, sunsets, or moon from a cruise... :)

 

I'll try to post pictures of some of these... if I can figure out how you post pix...

[Debbierpof]

So many to choose from...

 

I'll try to post pictures of some of these... if I can figure out how you post pix...

 

I hope I did these right! :o

 

Venice Fireworks, Camel in Tunisia, Valletta, Malta - entering harbour, Venice Panorama

[Debbierpof]

Okay, here are three more photos...

 

Valletta, Malta; Sunsets over the Med...

[ruskatab]

The coolest thing I ever saw was a meteor shower last August. We were far from land and you could see it so good. We had the corner aft so the view was wonderful.

[Jenbo57]

Everything we saw in Alaska (and on the way up/back) was stunning, but there was something about sailing into Cabo San Lucas at sunrise, as the fishing boats were all heading out for the day, that was just as breathtaking. The sunlight on the rock formations...the clouds...Pictures don't do it justice, but I kind of like this one.

 

[Wennfred]

But the coolest thing by far, ME!:

 

I would have to agree too !!! :D

 

 

Fred

[taszmom]

A helicopter landing on the Liberty of the Seas helipad to p/u an injured crew member. It happened off Key West. An important reason to have travel insurance. It must have cost a fortune.

[snc421]

I would have to agree too !!! :D

 

 

Fred

:D:D :D :D

[angelsx4]

I love my sunrise walks. Just nothin' like it! Two years ago we were on the NCL Star, and I was very religious about my walking and would get up and start walking before the sun came up. I was coming around when the sun was just coming up and I could see little dolphins jumping in the sun beams, and some other early risers were just sipping their coffee enjoying the warm breeze and view too. Add the smells, like the baking croissants & pastries, coffee, and suntan oil, and a faint smell of pipe tobacco(can't stand cigars, but pipes bring back warm memories of my grandfather). It's just absolutely my most favorite way to get in a much needed workout.

[MMoore1851]

Viewing the coast of Cuba from our balcony on the Glory last September. It was a gorgeous clear day, calm seas, and DH and I were having a relaxing afternoon sitting in the sun. I would have killed for some binoculars to get a closer look at the buildings in the cities we saw.

 

I'm not sure why I was so enthralled by it, perhaps it's because I know I can't see it up close, and this was probably the closest I would ever be to it.

 

[cruzinfamilyof4]

The coolest thing hasn't happened for me YET. We are taking our kids on their first cruise (Conquest) in 10 days and the excitement they are going to be experiencing is going to be the coolest thing for me.

 

I love sunsets/sunrises, dolphins, whales, etc...but I don't think anything is going to compare to the kids. Unless it is my kids riding on dolphins, chasing whales during a sunset. :D

[cathyoo]

I've seen many a beautiful sunrise, many a breathtaking sunset, oceans of blue with diamonds dancing on the waves. I've seen crystal white beaches, mountains of every shade of green, rainbows that had to be painted by angels. All of the sights are memories I will have forever. '

 

But the two most wonderful sights for me:

 

1- the look on my husband's face when he looked around the ship and realized -it was us standing there, not some tv show we were watching, not someone else's vacation pictures we were looking at.. we actually were standing there. After years of "someday" our "someday" had arrived.

 

2- My mom's smile in the picture with all three of her daughters on a cruise with her.

[cat94]

 

In 2006 we were on the Norwegian Dawn and watched the space shuttle take off from our balcony.

 

The kids saw a submarine on our first cruise to Canada. They tried to tell us a couple of times in the restaurant but no one believed them at first. It was an amazing sight when we finally turned around to see it.

 

We also love sailing to/from the port of NY and San Juan is beautiful as well.

 

Looking forward to more beautiful views in 7 days!!

[saltmom1]

Dolphins following us out of PR port..the babies/pups, twirling as the came out of the water

 

FYI- they are called calves.

[TakeMeAway1001]

Coming across a small fishing boat with 4 passengers (3 alive/one passed) that had been missing for about three weeks from the Caymans. It was scary when the horns blew on the ship (just after 9/11) but pretty cool to be the one to rescue these men. We were told that a couple of other ships went by but didn't stop :( It was very cool to see how happy their families were when we brought them back home :) Very memorable first cruise!

[suzski]

First off....what a great thread!

 

Some of my favorites:

 

- Sailing (as a young Navy Sailor on my first ship) at night past the Big Island of Hawaii, an AM radio broadcasting beautiful Hawaiian music, when suddenly, a shooting star shot across the star-filled sky. It's still a vivid memory, 25 years later.

 

- The joy on the faces of my family as they boarded their first cruise ship.