Best cruise ever?

[DISNEY1975]

Last one they get better each time we go.

 

I totally agree....better every time.

 

My last cruise was Boston to Bermuda on NCL Dawn. It rained hard for 6 days. When it wasnt raining, it was pouring.

 

Obviously, we stayed inside all the time. It kind of forced me to relax! It also forced me to do activities I wouldnt normally do..like trivia! I never laughed so much. 6 of us in my family, all educated, and we struggled to get a couple answers right..out of 20! The couple we did get correct, nobody else did :confused:. Digital scavenger hunt was fun too..taking funny pictures of passengers and crew members. The nightly game shows were hilarious!

 

Normally I would be in port all day, come back for dinner then maybe a show and to bed. NCL did a fantastic job keeping us all entertained. It also helped that 90% of the passengers were from New England and the Celtics were in the playoffs. Every other night, they would have the game playing in a few bars/lounge areas. If anything can be said about Bostonians, its that we are sports fanatics! Watching the games on the ship had the same vibe as watching the game live at the Garden.

 

All I can say is it was a great vacation, fantastic cruise, fabulous staff and fellow passengers, and I would do all over again...in the rain!

[SmoothFlying]

If I had to choose one cruise to pick as favorite it would be Alaska. The entire family went (18 of us) and the excursions were AMAZING! I still look at my scrapbook from that trip and smile :)

 

OMG !! How I agree with YOU !! My wife and I did the 7 day inside passage out of Seattle, on the Carnival Spirit in June of 2010. The food, ship and the crew were GREAT !! But THAT scenery !! :))) was BEAUTIFUL !! We've taken a total of 10 or so cruises, so far, but the Alaska cruise s the ONLY cruise she's said in a heartbeat, she'd do again ! I hope everybody who enjoys cruising can and will take a Alaskan cruise someday. That trip will stay with you forever.:eek:

[OCruisers]

We've been so blessed to sail a very large number of cruises which means we have a great many 'bests'. There were the 'bests' because of how much we laughed, there were the bests because of how great our time together, there were the bests because of friends we met aboard or traveled with, there were bests because of the sights........

 

I only hope we have more 'best' cruises awaiting us. :)

 

Well said Sail! :)

 

Will also mention that some of our best cruises were not on the best of ships! The pax base means lots to us.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[JimAOk1945]

We sailed on the Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas last August on the southbound route. We loved it! We had four ports of call, Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Icy Strait Point located in the Alaskan town of Hoonah.

 

When we booked the cruise, we arranged to have transfers through RC and I'm glad we did. We didn't have any trouble at all.

 

When we flew into Anchorage, we asked for the RC representative. We were directed to a kiosk where the friendly RC staff checked us off their list, and then told us when the next bus was leaving for Seward. I think we had about a one hour wait.

 

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the food court, then went back to the waiting area at the RC desk. When the bus arrived, we got in along with several other people and the driver loaded up all the baggage.

 

I'm not sure how long the drive was but it seemed to pass quickly. The scenery was fantastic and the driver gave information about what we were seeing from time to time.

 

Before we knew it, we had arrived at the Seward terminal. The Radiance was the only ship there! Check in at the terminal was a breeze. We walked right in, went up to the counter to check in, and went right on to the ship!

 

The quickest embarkation we have ever had.

 

The ship is fantastic and the cruise was the best we have ever had. The itinerary includes 4 ports of call. Icy Strait Point was and still is our favorite. We went on the Bear and Whale watch combo excursion through RC. We saw two bears catching Salmon and countless whales! It was absolutely breathtaking!

 

When we went through the Hubbard Glacier area, we witnessed numerous "calving" which is when great chunks of ice break off with loud cracking and rumbling then fall into the water.

 

I could go on and on. As you can see, even now I get excited just thinking about it and trying to describe what we saw.

 

We went in August and had beautiful weather all week, even in Ketchikan where it rains so much.

 

At the end of the cruise, going through the Vancouver terminal was no trouble at all. We also had a transfer through the Princess cruise line that took us to the Vancouver airport.

 

You might be interested in seeing my wife's picture slideshows. Here is a link to the page where you will see slideshows about the different ports of call as well as the ship. The slideshow will start when you click on the link, but you can also go through the pictures if you want to by clicking on the thumbnails one at a time.

 

2012 RC Radiance of the Seas ~ Alaska Southbound

 

HAPPY SAILING! It's a great way to explore the world!

[Davechipp74]

mine was on NCL Jewel it was 17 days from n.y. to l.a. through the panama canal. it was amazing. after disembarkation we flew to las vegas for a week best vacation ever

[cjm66]

Our best cruise ever was on the Pacific Princess around New Celdonia and Vanuatu. It was our first cruise on a large (for us) cruise ship with a balcony cabin, nightly entertainment and an ever helpful crew on a ship that for us was just the right size. We were enthusiastic newbies and loved evrything - especially the lunch time buffets with open air tables on the aft deck and the company at dinner. We were blessed by the weather gods with the tail end of a cyclone but that lead to finding a wonderful french provincial restaurant for lunch in Noumea where we put in for shelter. Since then we have cruised every year. sometimes twice but it was the first one that got us addicted.

[Sequim88]

I tend to agree with "last one" but attribute that to experience gained from the prior cruises.

 

Our "last one", the Transatlantic from Miami to Rome was best of all benefited most from fanatical planning in the year plus time from booking to sailing. Same as right now for the next one to Copenhagen. Reasearch, research and more research - books, videos and web. GoogleEarth is indispensable. Spent many summer evenings at table on our deck pouring over maps and descriptions in books. Over time developed a zippered three-ring binder with itinerary pages for every day (even sea days) with activities, sights to see and reservation details for hotel and transport. Pockets collected cruise docs and maps. Even contingency plans for weather (swap days of inside touring with outdoor) that we never needed. Fortunately last cruise weather was rain free after record downpours for three days right at Miami right up to sailing when it cleared up.

 

Cruise was perfect. Seven sea days on calm seas (like a lake) with lots of activities orgnized by very active Roll Call group. Then Tenerife at Canary Is. with touring excursion organized privately by a Roll Call member for 140 of us. Weather was sunny and warm. Then two sea days through Strait of Gibralter to Mallorca. Same person who organized Tenerife tour did so for Mallorca with bus to Soller and incline rail to Port de Soller for lunch and then old time train across the mountains (and through many tunnels) back to Palma.

 

Barcelona we did on own with guidance from all that research. Metro to Sagrada Familia where we planned just to tour outside but found due to wife's wheelchair we were brought inside via another entrance and a free pass. Spectacularly beautiful cathederal. Amazing. Then cab to Parc Guel and later walked to metro to Placa Catalunya for walk & roll on Las Ramblas (with lunch on the way) back to shuttle bus to ship. All according to plan except bonus inside view of Sagrada Familia.

 

Villefranche (for Nice/Monaco) was plan perfect too except a little cloudy. Took train to Monaco in morning and walked to the casino then took cab back to train and went through to Nice. Got off a station too soon but lucked out as this allowed walking by the marinia (nice boats) and finding a nice place for lunch (Nicoise Salad in Nice, go figure but it was in the plan) with wine (of course). Then walked the Promenade des Anglais to center of town and took street rail to train station and train back to Villefranche. All better than planned.

 

Livorno took cab to train and train to Pisa. Needed a little help getting to right platform but it worked out. Buying round trip tickets was easy. Pisa was amazing - walked form train through town to the Campo de Miracoli area and the leaning tower. Sctach one bucket list item. Unexpected find was the Camposanto Monumentale - sort of indoor graveyard with some notable "residents". The Duomo di Pisa was beautiful as was the Baptistry. Walked back to train with lucnh stop on the way and back to Livorno like clockwork.

 

Rome... to much to tell but it was all perfect. Saw everything we wanted to see. Pleasant surprises (not in plan) were the little Cafe up high on Castle San Angelo and the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius - stumbled upon this and it was amazing for the art alone. With research found great hotel - Albergo Cesari - which was good price and very central, a block from Pantheon. Nice rooftop patio & bar for evening relaxing.

 

Biggest hiccup of the trip - plane change at Amsterdam and passport control. We had no entry stamp for EU. :eek: Passport never checked at Tenerife (EU entry) since we arrived by ship. Had to show our cruise docs to prove where we entered and then they gave us exit stamp for flight home.

 

Moral of the story - plan, plan plan. And when that fails an attitude of, "Oh well, it's an adventure!" never hurts.

[ccruisequeen]

Most memorable would be our Alaska cruise. Weather was nice, ship was beautiful and it was my first time exploring a new part of the world.

[candeygirl11]

The best cruise I've ever taken was also the worst cruise that I've ever taken. It was on the Enchantment of the Seas in August of 2011.

 

It was good because the friends that I met on the cruise, I talk to almost every day. They are like my family, I spent every moment of the cruise hanging out with them. I met my best friend on that cruise, who I talk to everyday about everything, even though I don't get to see her in person. They were just the best group of friends ever, I could actually be myself while with them.

 

It was bad because the ship was kind of trashy, the people were not very good at cleaning up the place. also, I was seasick for about two days because we were in the middle of two hurricanes. The maid of my cabin would not stop bothering me while I was sick in the cabin, and I thought it to be very annoying, since when I told her the first time to stop bothering me.

[bean24]

My best cruise ever was a family trip on NCL Dawn. We got visited by the upgrade fairy and my brother and his family and me and mine wound up in the Garden Villa. What an amazing experience from embarkation till the end. This was also the first cruise for most of them. One brother and his family are ho-hum about cruising. The other will be joining us again in Oct.

[Seago2]

I tend to agree with "last one" but attribute that to experience gained from the prior cruises.

 

Our "last one", the Transatlantic from Miami to Rome was best of all benefited most from fanatical planning in the year plus time from booking to sailing. Same as right now for the next one to Copenhagen. Reasearch, research and more research - books, videos and web. GoogleEarth is indispensable. Spent many summer evenings at table on our deck pouring over maps and descriptions in books. Over time developed a zippered three-ring binder with itinerary pages for every day (even sea days) with activities, sights to see and reservation details for hotel and transport. Pockets collected cruise docs and maps. Even contingency plans for weather (swap days of inside touring with outdoor) that we never needed. Fortunately last cruise weather was rain free after record downpours for three days right at Miami right up to sailing when it cleared up.

 

Cruise was perfect. Seven sea days on calm seas (like a lake) with lots of activities orgnized by very active Roll Call group. Then Tenerife at Canary Is. with touring excursion organized privately by a Roll Call member for 140 of us. Weather was sunny and warm. Then two sea days through Strait of Gibralter to Mallorca. Same person who organized Tenerife tour did so for Mallorca with bus to Soller and incline rail to Port de Soller for lunch and then old time train across the mountains (and through many tunnels) back to Palma.

 

Barcelona we did on own with guidance from all that research. Metro to Sagrada Familia where we planned just to tour outside but found due to wife's wheelchair we were brought inside via another entrance and a free pass. Spectacularly beautiful cathederal. Amazing. Then cab to Parc Guel and later walked to metro to Placa Catalunya for walk & roll on Las Ramblas (with lunch on the way) back to shuttle bus to ship. All according to plan except bonus inside view of Sagrada Familia.

 

Villefranche (for Nice/Monaco) was plan perfect too except a little cloudy. Took train to Monaco in morning and walked to the casino then took cab back to train and went through to Nice. Got off a station too soon but lucked out as this allowed walking by the marinia (nice boats) and finding a nice place for lunch (Nicoise Salad in Nice, go figure but it was in the plan) with wine (of course). Then walked the Promenade des Anglais to center of town and took street rail to train station and train back to Villefranche. All better than planned.

 

Livorno took cab to train and train to Pisa. Needed a little help getting to right platform but it worked out. Buying round trip tickets was easy. Pisa was amazing - walked form train through town to the Campo de Miracoli area and the leaning tower. Sctach one bucket list item. Unexpected find was the Camposanto Monumentale - sort of indoor graveyard with some notable "residents". The Duomo di Pisa was beautiful as was the Baptistry. Walked back to train with lucnh stop on the way and back to Livorno like clockwork.

 

Rome... to much to tell but it was all perfect. Saw everything we wanted to see. Pleasant surprises (not in plan) were the little Cafe up high on Castle San Angelo and the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius - stumbled upon this and it was amazing for the art alone. With research found great hotel - Albergo Cesari - which was good price and very central, a block from Pantheon. Nice rooftop patio & bar for evening relaxing.

 

Biggest hiccup of the trip - plane change at Amsterdam and passport control. We had no entry stamp for EU. :eek: Passport never checked at Tenerife (EU entry) since we arrived by ship. Had to show our cruise docs to prove where we entered and then they gave us exit stamp for flight home.

 

Moral of the story - plan, plan plan. And when that fails an attitude of, "Oh well, it's an adventure!" never hurts.

 

Gorgeous!!! And I bet you paid as much as I'm about to pay for my 7 day concierge class extended aft on X! Will you have me in Steerage Society after this? I'm really born to be a member- it's my husband's claustrophobia. But the pocketbook is smacking the claustrophobia right out of him. ;)

[Assateague Island Princes]

Hands down, HAL's 14 day Alaska itinerary. Loved it so much on its maiden voyage in 2010, then I did it again in 2011 (this time leaving DH home to dog sit while I shared a cabin w/my niece and her boyfriend). Loved THAT so much that I'm doing it again on May 18, 2014 - this time sharing a cabin with one of the wonderful friends I met on the 2010 sailing!:)

 

Best memory of the 2010 cruise was sailing up Cook Inlet toward Anchorage, after just picking up the pilots outside Homer. It was approximately 11:30PM, yet the sky was bright, the mountains and volcanos bathed in pink alpenglow, and suddenly - everywhere we looked - whales! Blows, humps, and tails as far as the eye could see. We were on our "secret deck" with other folks from our Roll Call (Rhodi, Sue, Jill, Michelle, Kim and Mary - you know who you are;)) - each of us in awe of what we were seeing! Binoculars glued to our eyes, cameras whirling, it was an amazing never to be repeated moment that we all shared and still talk about to this day! BEST. MOMENT. EVER.

 

Alaska has become my heart song, my Calgon-Take-Me-Away place, and the place I dream about often. It calls to me. First visited in 2006, then again in 2008, then in 2010, 2011, and now my 2014 trip planned. Plus in about 60 days, DH and I are headed back to Alaska for a 17 day self-planned land only trip. Alaska obsessed? You bet;).

[skrufy]

Our best cruise ever is a tie. Hawaii and our transit of The Panama Canal. Both were great for different reasons. Hawaii is paridise and the canal is history.

[Bescotti]

Hands down, this was my best cruise ever because of the destinations. I stayed at Iguazu Falls before joining the cruise in Buenos Aires for 17 nights on the Veendam down to the Falkland Islands and then onto Antarctica, and finally disembarking in Valparaiso. We had a great CC roll call and fantastic weather.

 

I loved going from the colour and heat of Iguazu and BA to photographing the king penguins at Volunteer Point and then the pristine environment of Antarctica.

 

All up, just a magic cruise which I want to repeat!

[Taxguy77]

On the Royal Clipper.

Sailing ships can go into the harbor and anchor or dock, while big ships stay at other locations or miss the stop. Example; Dubrovnick! We anchored within swimming distance, with a magnificent view. I didn't know until later that cruiseships stopped there, well out of sight from the old city, and used busses to get to the city.

We stopped at one port in Greece or Croatia, and bought apples from the back of a boat and ate them there.

We anchored at Capri about 1,000 yards from the dock; big ship pax came over on another ferry from Naples, as big ships are banned from the harbor.

[Sailor_Sally]

My best cruise ever was probably the cruise to Bermuda I took with my sisters ,my daughter ,my aunt & my mother . It was for my Mom's 88 th birthday . We had a blast . We even won a free cruise playing bingo . Weather was perfect . Just a bunch of women having a great time !

[Seago2]

My best cruise ever was probably the cruise to Bermuda I took with my sisters ,my daughter ,my aunt & my mother . It was for my Mom's 88 th birthday . We had a blast . We even won a free cruise playing bingo . Weather was perfect . Just a bunch of women having a great time !

 

How come I never win a free cruise anywhere, ever?? Haha!

 

Congrats and it sounds like a great cruise!!

[DISNEY1975]

How come I never win a free cruise anywhere, ever?? Haha!

 

Congrats and it sounds like a great cruise!!

 

Last year on NCL Dawn, I saw a woman win a free cruise while spinning the "Big Wheel" before Bingo. Coincidentally, she was on a free cruise from the last time she won! Some people have all the luck! :rolleyes:

[Seago2]

Last year on NCL Dawn, I saw a woman win a free cruise while spinning the "Big Wheel" before Bingo. Coincidentally, she was on a free cruise from the last time she won! Some people have all the luck! :rolleyes:

 

Wait- I know someone that happened to! I wonder if it's the same person...? I'll have to ask if it was the Dawn. OMG.

[luvscruising2007]

It really is difficult to pick one best cruise.

For Itinerary, definitely Alaska Cruise/Tour.

For tablemates, our last cruise on Explorer to the caribbean.

For crew it really is difficult to choose between Explorer or Jewel

I also think that as I cruise more I become more comfortable meeting

new people and that so enhances the cruise experience.

[snowskier]

Small ship (less than 100 passengers) through the Drake passage to Antarctica was and always will be the best for me. We made 8 unique landings where we walked with the penguins and 2 incredible zodiac tours through the icebergs. We saw whales, seals, wandering albatros, glacier's calving, awesome scenery and so much more.

 

The ship and crew were first class.

 

No shopping, no crowds -- penguins don't harrass you or try to sell you something when you climb out of the zodiac and walk onto the shore.

[Seago2]

Small ship (less than 100 passengers) through the Drake passage to Antarctica was and always will be the best for me. We made 8 unique landings where we walked with the penguins and 2 incredible zodiac tours through the icebergs. We saw whales, seals, wandering albatros, glacier's calving, awesome scenery and so much more.

 

The ship and crew were first class.

 

No shopping, no crowds -- penguins don't harrass you or try to sell you something when you climb out of the zodiac and walk onto the shore.

 

My dream cruise! I don't even care how small the ship is- I mean I do but it doesn't have to be 100 pax! I would love a mid sized HAL ship. Truly on my bucket list. What were your embarkation/disembarkation ports?

[snowskier]

My dream cruise! I don't even care how small the ship is- I mean I do but it doesn't have to be 100 pax! I would love a mid sized HAL ship. Truly on my bucket list. What were your embarkation/disembarkation ports?

 

There are no ports in Antarctica -- we went to areas the expedition staff knew were safe. If the weather is right and no other ship is there, you get in a zodiac and go to the shore. It's just you and the penguins, seals, birds, glaciers and maybe the remains of a whaling station or wrecked whaling ship.

 

There is no chance a "mid-sized" HAL ship could go where we went. The ship needs an ice hardened hull and to be small enough to get into the coves.

 

If you do go -- you will care about the size of the ship as only 100 pax can be on land at any one time. You go to shore via a zodiac. If the ship is larger you will not be able to do as many landings as the group will be divided up and time on shore will be short.

 

If you truly decide to do Antarctica -- do your research. This wasn't a cruise to the Falklands, etc. -- it was a cruise to Antarctica.

[PEB]

The best cruise we have had so far was a 33 day repositioning cruise on the Coral Princess. We saw much of the Caribbean, Panama Canal, the west coast and Alaska. The ship was great, the crew was great and we made some good friends. I would love to do it again.

[lady_cruiser]

Our best one was our B2B this past December on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas. I have no idea why but we had more fun on this cruise than the previous 13 we had been on.