Your Personal Traditions When Cruising

[ShipWalker]

What personal traditions do you have when cruising?

 

-Dining at a particular restaurant every trip?

-Walking 50 miles around the ship?

-Relaxing in the same lounge chair?

-Having at least one drink in every bar?

[iancal]

Sitting on the verandah on a warm afternoon. Reading a good book and cracking open a decent bottle of Merlot of Malbec.

 

Or...coffee and fruit in the morning, on said balcony.

[ellieanne]

We always buy a ship t-shirt as a souvenir of the cruise. We prefer the ones that have the ship's name and something to do with the itinerary, but we'll settle for just a nice ship design.

We always wear the shirt from the previous cruise on boarding day, especially for the group photo when we board.

Also we have one night when we get hot cocoas from the Explorations Cafe, even on hot Caribbean itineraries and spend the evening in the Crow's Nest or one of our cabins talking or reading together.

And we have to check out the new initial call plaques from our last time on the ship.

[msmayor]

Umbrella drink after boarding. Tells me I am finally on vacation.

 

Sailaway on our balcony, sipping cocktails as we watch the US coastline disappear. Tells us we are no longer tethered to the 'real world' and can just have fun.

 

Morning walks for exercise...at least three miles a day. There is nothing like briskly walking the deck in the sunshine seeing nothing but water...we love it.

 

Before dinner drinks in the Crow's Nest (not sure how this one will change now that Explorations has taken over that space on a lot of ships).

[navybankerteacher]

Usually a sailaway drink with the mandatory paper parasol - and, if on a ship we've not previously sailed, a quick walk-around to get the " lay of the land"; on a ship we know, we'll check out our favorite spot.

[bigwally]

I like to do my full gym workout in the mornings, and include some extra strength training. Quite often my treadmill time at home gets cut short by waking late, losing track of time, or having to leave for work earlier than normal (or any combination of the three).

 

We will also partake in a Martini tasting, if one is offered. We never drink Martinis anyplace else, but on a ship - oh, yeah!

[taxmantoo]

Embarkation lunch in the MDR with a bottle of Moet & Chandon Imperial :champagne-toast::champagne-toast::champagne-toast:

[3rdGenCunarder]

Sailaway champagne on our balcony. Last-minute calls home before we're out of range. Room service breakfast on the last morning (on the balcony if it's a warm port). That's about it

 

Back when we used to sail QE2, we had an embarkation-day routine.

Go to the library to get a book or two.

Go to Sundeck and reserve our deck chairs in our favorite spot (recommended as a good spot by the steward in charge on our first transatlantic).

Back to our little porthole cabin to open our sailaway champagne. (in the pre-Carnival days it was good, sometimes we got Dom!) Fill out the excursion form (before the days of pre-booking).

When all of that was done we were "home."

[cruisemom42]

Walk around the ship -- if it's a new ship to get the 'lay of the land'. If it's a ship I've been on before, to see what's changed.

 

I always like to be on deck for sailaways. There's something about watching the land slipping away that really gets me into the spirit of being on vacation.

[airlink diva]

First sea day, I get up early,before sunrise and walk the ship. Very quiet and peaceful. The head to watch the sun rise. Often the only person,sometimes one or two others. Then head back to the cabin. This been a cruise tradition for awhile.

[Irish Eyes Are Sailing]

Walking all over the ship to try to learn where everything is.

Depending on the size of the ship, this may take several days....will make "wrong turns" for awhile. By the time I get really good at it, it's time to leave! (If it's a 7 day cruise).

Looking forward to knowing my way around for a longer time on a longer cruise!;)

[Cruising-along]

Lunch in the Pinnacle at least a few times per cruise. I much prefer Pinnacle's lunches over dinners.

 

Afternoon canapes and wine on the balcony on sea days.

 

Room service breakfast on the last morning and mornings of early excursions.

 

Walk a minimum of 2 miles (preferably more) every day on the promenade deck.

[Irish Eyes Are Sailing]

Oh, and room service breakfast every day we can...love that!

Drinks on the balcony every evening, gazing at the ocean!

[VennDiagram]

A glass of wine on the aft deck at sailaway.

Lunch the first sea day in the PG

Airlink diva, we do the same -- up early, walk the deck, watch the sunrise

First breakfast and second breakfast a few times each cruise :)

Toasting the sunset each night from the Promenade Deck

[Krazy Kruizers]

Lunch in the MDR on embarkation day with a Grey Goose.

Confirm all Pinnacle and Tamarind (on ships that have this specialty restaurant) dinner reservations.

[Caribbean Chris]

My HAL tradition for years has always been to get a Latte at the Explorations Cafe and find a chair in a quiet place to sip it and read a good book. Ideal spot has a sea view, especially the Eames chairs with ottomans on the smaller ships.

[DaveOKC]

First day right after boarding:

 

Embarkation lunch in the MDR followed by a search for our assigned dinner table (if we have fixed dining).

 

If we are in a Neptune, exchange the gifted bottle of champagne for a bottle of house Chardonnay.

[AD5ZA]

Intimate adult fun in every new country or port.

 

 

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[rafinmd]

I very seldom use ship's elevators. When I get on a new ship I try to ride each elevator ONCE for it's entire route from top to bottom.

 

Roy

[highscar]

Sending my family a selfy "honey I'm home"

[rkacruiser]

Prior to retiring for the first night at sea, I find a spot on an open deck, as dark as possible (which has become a challenge). Gazing out at the ocean and what I hope will be a clear star-studded sky, I thank God for a Mother that taught me the love of travel and thank God that I am still able to sail on another cruise.

[Navybikermom]

Find my room, stow my gear, locate my lifeboat, procure a nice adult beverage or two to be able to tolerate those awful lifeboat drills. Can’t stand being crowded into those small areas waiting for the inevitable “lost sheep” who can’t read their key card to figure out where they need to go, and those horrid alarm tests that remind me of combat ... then go watch the sail away from the Crow’s Nest!

[Irish Eyes Are Sailing]

Prior to retiring for the first night at sea, I find a spot on an open deck, as dark as possible (which has become a challenge). Gazing out at the ocean and what I hope will be a clear star-studded sky, I thank God for a Mother that taught me the love of travel and thank God that I am still able to sail on another cruise.

 

Isn't that the truth? I am, and we should all be, thankful we have the means and the ability to travel. It is one of life's most wonderful gifts.......

[Robin7]

My favorite tradition is to be on deck (or a verandah if we have one) for every sailaway (from each port too). We used to need to eat early seating due to my health problems, and I was always so disappointed when we had to miss sailaway due to getting ready for dinner. (I've lost 90 pounds AND a few heath concerns so now we can eat whenever. Yay!)

 

We also love to watch the "pier runners" in the Caribbean.

 

We like to eat in the MDR as often as possible, including some breakfasts and lunches.

 

We always walk around the Lower Promenade after the nighttime entertainment when we are on a HAL ship. (We like other cruiselines, but that deck? No other line comes close.)

 

We also like to find the darkest spot on a ship and star gaze.

 

So many more that I can't think of!!!

 

~Robin

[bluegiraffe]

Prior to retiring for the first night at sea, I find a spot on an open deck, as dark as possible (which has become a challenge). Gazing out at the ocean and what I hope will be a clear star-studded sky, I thank God for a Mother that taught me the love of travel and thank God that I am still able to sail on another cruise.

 

Lovely tradition!

 

My tradition is the ceremonial putting all devices in airplane mode. Woo-hoo! No one can reach me! And that's when the relaxation starts. :)