Cruising Moments That Take Your Breath Away: What Floats YOUR Boat?

[vtcruising]

Sitting here on a cool Fall day in VT, I am dreaming of cruises for which I have to wait a few months, due to work, family commitments and land travel. I started to think about some of those "AHA!" moments (defined in Webster's dictionary as “a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension.” ) I have had while cruising and thought people here must have great stories to tell. Please share with those of us who are dreaming about the next cruise! 🙂

 

Here are a few of my AHA! moments:

 

Sharing a poignant ceremony at American Cemetery in Normandy for my great uncle with other roll call members, all crying along with us

 

 

 

Looking out the balcony door as we sailed into Valletta, Malta - I yelled to my DH who was showering, saying "You need to see this!"

 

 

The view from deck 6 in Eden on the Edge - we were having cocktails and listening to a great duo and I suddenly saw the wake in the background - it took my breath away - I pointed it out to my DH, who had been concentrating on the music - we looked at each other and smiled and were so happy in that moment.

 

 

On a catamaran trip with our cruise buddies that we had met on a TA a couple of years before (9 of us), we had a day of eating, drinking, relaxing, chatting on a perfect day in Barbados - we laughed so much that day - I just felt in the zone and felt a special bond with these people who all loved cruising as much as I do.

 

 

Our private tour guide in Santorini wanted to get us to Oia before the crowds arrived. She brought us up the hill for the money shot and we just happened to get the bonus money shot. This took my breath away - I couldn't believe I was actually seeing this scene.

 

 

 

There are so many more - we have new breathtaking moments on every cruise! 🙂

 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2019 by vtcruising

[Mynki]

Millennium cruise 2015 to Komodo Island, 2015. I was so determined to creep up on a large dragon to get a good picture I completely missed a smaller animal that I would have tripped over if the tour guide didn't thrust a broom handle in front of me. I'd just not seen it and felt pretty dumb afterwards. Recently I learned that the Indonesian authorities are stopping tourism to Komodo in an attempt to prevent poaching of the komodo dragons so I feel lucky we went when we did. 

Also, no pictures but sailing out of Reykjavik, Iceland earlier this year on Silhouette. Sat by the window in Blu enjoying dinner when I turned my head and saw humpback whales diving alongside the ship. We'd actually done a whale watching tour on the same cruise but seeing them whilst having dinner was great.

[vtcruising]

1 minute ago, Mynki said:

Millennium cruise 2015 to Komodo Island, 2015. I was so determined to creep up on a large dragon to get a good picture I completely missed a smaller animal that I would have tripped over if the tour guide didn't thrust a broom handle in front of me. I'd just not seen it and felt pretty dumb afterwards. Recently I learned that the Indonesian authorities are stopping tourism to Komodo in an attempt to prevent poaching of the komodo dragons so I feel lucky we went when we did. 

Also, no pictures but sailing out of Reykjavik, Iceland earlier this year on Silhouette. Sat by the window in Blu enjoying dinner when I turned my head and saw humpback whales diving alongside the ship. We'd actually done a whale watching tour on the same cruise but seeing them whilst having dinner was great.

Amazing shot!  Wow, can't imagine watching the whales while eating at Blu - so cool!

 

So many places we have yet to see...

[Alushar]

Standing on the Aurora in St Petersburg feeling the history come alive.

 

Fulfilling a boyhood dream of visiting the NASA Space centre

 

Sitting on the back of the boat for any sailaway drink in hand

[vtcruising]

5 minutes ago, Alushar said:

Standing on the Aurora in St Petersburg feeling the history come alive.

 

Fulfilling a boyhood dream of visiting the NASA Space centre

 

Sitting on the back of the boat for any sailaway drink in hand

More things we will need to see - I'm getting inspired! 🙂

[helen haywood]

On my balcony and suddenly a pod of dolphins appeared and swam alongside us...leaping up out of the water and twisting in acrobatic spins before crashing back down...and doing it all again.  It absolutely looked like they were simply doing it for fun...it looked like they were all grinning.

[Mynki]

December 16th 2017. We were onboard Summit in the Caribbean. Captain Kate announces over the tannoy that the ship will be diverting course in response to a distress call. An hour later the ship slows to a crawl, everyone on the ship it seems is up top looking for 'something'....

Twenty minutes later a sailboat comes into view. I heard at least three old dears ask words to the effect of "could they be pirates". Summit stops a distance from the boat and they're clearly taking a very long hard look at the boat. Eventually they launch a lifeboat. It takes a while before they can pull along the boat and rescue the passengers due to the waves, but they got them. We watched the passengers being rescued. It turns out they'd been adrift for a month after they experienced issues with their rudder on their way from Haiti to Guadeloupe. They had been adrift for almost one month and had been without food for several days. It also transpired that two of the women rescued were pregnant too. 

They disembarked the next day in Curacao safely. It was quite heartwarming to see. :) 

 

[vtcruising]

7 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

On my balcony and suddenly a pod of dolphins appeared and swam alongside us...leaping up out of the water and twisting in acrobatic spins before crashing back down...and doing it all again.  It absolutely looked like they were simply doing it for fun...it looked like they were all grinning.

It must have been quite a sight!  Where did that happen?

[vtcruising]

7 minutes ago, Mynki said:

December 16th 2017. We were onboard Summit in the Caribbean. Captain Kate announces over the tannoy that the ship will be diverting course in response to a distress call. An hour later the ship slows to a crawl, everyone on the ship it seems is up top looking for 'something'....

Twenty minutes later a sailboat comes into view. I heard at least three old dears ask words to the effect of "could they be pirates". Summit stops a distance from the boat and they're clearly taking a very long hard look at the boat. Eventually they launch a lifeboat. It takes a while before they can pull along the boat and rescue the passengers due to the waves, but they got them. We watched the passengers being rescued. It turns out they'd been adrift for a month after they experienced issues with their rudder on their way from Haiti to Guadeloupe. They had been adrift for almost one month and had been without food for several days. It also transpired that two of the women rescued were pregnant too. 

They disembarked the next day in Curacao safely. It was quite heartwarming to see. 🙂

Great story! I remember when that happened - so glad there was a happy ending.

[Pickels]

Standing on our balcony one night, when I asked my wife to marry me, and she said yes!

[vtcruising]

Just now, Pickels said:

Standing on our balcony one night, when I asked my wife to marry me, and she said yes!

How wonderful!  I guess you have me beat!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Recently diverting the Equinox to Freeport instead of Nassau to deliver water and food to those without after the hurricane.  The crew and the passengers all worked together to make this happen.  Money and clothes were also donated.

[vtcruising]

4 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

Recently diverting the Equinox to Freeport instead of Nassau to deliver water and food to those without after the hurricane.  The crew and the passengers all worked together to make this happen.  Money and clothes were also donated.

I loved that - it must have felt good to be a part of that operation!

[chemmo]

Getting up really early prior to arriving in Bora Bora seeing whales...Just stunning.

 

Historical experience, visiting Pearl Harbour pre TP Cruise. Despite our family WW2 experiences being in Europe, just so memorable...

 

Cruising from Flam in Tuscan on a beautiful spring evening. Long dusks, amazing views, food was pretty good too!

 

Getting on the Eclipse in Southampton wearing an orthopaedic boot knowing that both my husband and I would enjoy 12 nights of pampering after a very difficult couple of months. Sincere thanks to Captain Leo who further made our cruise special by inviting us to dine with him. I dressed in posh frock plus posh shoe on one foot and enormous boot on the other!!!

Edited October 16, 2019 by chemmo

[lola2013]

Slow sail into Venice on Equinox...Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman singing "Time to Say Good-bye" over the loudspeakers.  I get chills just thinking about it.  

 

BTW, we also did Calabaza in Barbados...by far, the best catamaran experience ever!

Edited October 16, 2019 by lola2013

[oneputt18]

Ours was also a rescue, we were about 12 miles off the coast of Puerto Rico when a passenger with binoculars spotted an overturned sailboat. They had been in the water , hanging on to the boat , for about 10 hours.

[bebe08]

3 hours ago, vtcruising said:

Looking out the balcony door as we sailed into Valletta, Malta - I yelled to my DH who was showering, saying "You need to see this!"

Just got off the Reflection and did exactly the same thing!!! What a treat Malta was!!

 

A few other ah ha moments:

 

On our first Med cruise we did the Cannes film festival...made me feel like royalty:)

 

Sail in and out of Kotor is breathtaking!

 

 

[vtcruising]

8 minutes ago, oneputt18 said:

Ours was also a rescue, we were about 12 miles off the coast of Puerto Rico when a passenger with binoculars spotted an overturned sailboat. They had been in the water , hanging on to the boat , for about 10 hours.

Kudos to the passenger's sharp eyes. I would bet that they weren't using the ship's loaner binocs in CC, AQ or suites.

[son3cruisers]

Our Alaskan Cruise did it for me. So many breathtaking moments in those 7 days.

 

The “pin-drop” quiet ( everything turned off on the open decks) so we could actually hear the iceberg pieces falling into the water ( calfing I believe it’s called). 

 

A private floatplane into the Misty Fiords. Our three boys were speechless ( and that’s so rare!) 😂

 

The private whale watching tour with just our family. Whale watching, didn’t sound very exciting to me, until one large whale swam closer and closer and was almost under our small boat ( the boats need to stay a certain distance away from the pods- but this one swam to us!!!) Hearing the breathing, see their tails, the sounds the whale was making , the water moving. Just wow. To top it off, a family of porpoises chased our boat for about 15 mins and it was magical. 

  

Just breathtaking.

 

 

[son3cruisers]

We also did the Calabaza Catamaran in Barbados. Best tour in the Caribbean, for us. Amazing sites, and wonderful service. 

[lola2013]

5 minutes ago, son3cruisers said:

We also did the Calabaza Catamaran in Barbados. Best tour in the Caribbean, for us. Amazing sites, and wonderful service. 

Reason enough to return to Barbados someday soon!

[Edinburghgirl1]

Sail aways from Sydney Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore Venice and Manhattan.  Seeing whales breaching in Dominica. Komodo Dragons on Komodo Island. The Sounds New Zealand. 

[lola2013]

Just now, Edinburghgirl1 said:

Sail aways from Sydney Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore Venice and Manhattan.  Seeing whales breaching in Dominica. Komodo Dragons on Komodo Island. The Sounds New Zealand. 

Any idea how hard it is to concentrate on my job when these images are in my head??? 🥰

[vtcruising]

13 minutes ago, son3cruisers said:

Our Alaskan Cruise did it for me. So many breathtaking moments in those 7 days.

 

The “pin-drop” quiet ( everything turned off on the open decks) so we could actually hear the iceberg pieces falling into the water ( calfing I believe it’s called). 

 

A private floatplane into the Misty Fiords. Our three boys were speechless ( and that’s so rare!) 😂

 

The private whale watching tour with just our family. Whale watching, didn’t sound very exciting to me, until one large whale swam closer and closer and was almost under our small boat ( the boats need to stay a certain distance away from the pods- but this one swam to us!!!) Hearing the breathing, see their tails, the sounds the whale was making , the water moving. Just wow. To top it off, a family of porpoises chased our boat for about 15 mins and it was magical. 

  

Just breathtaking.

 

 

Sounds like a great family trip that your children will remember forever.

[son3cruisers]

2 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

Sounds like a great family trip that your children will remember forever.

 It really was. They still talk about it, almost 10 years later. 

Funny thing was, I was NOT sold on going. It was expensive, especially with the excursions we booked, but most of all, it was going to be cold. We live in Canada. Why in the world would I want to spend money to be cold on vacation???? After a lot of convincing, we decided to do it  and it would be our last cruise vacation as a family  as our oldest was going off to university. So, why not try something different? Best decision. I highly recommend seeing it once in your lifetime.