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

[Angua]

2 different experiences at opposite ends of the ship we were on, both on the Carnival Splendor.

 

1) We had an aft wrap balcony for a western Caribbean cruise in October of 2017 (was supposed to be eastern bur Hurricane Maria had a different idea).  Almost every night we saw spectacular lightning storms in the distance.  Those wrap balconies give a panoramic view of the ocean and we spent several hours each night just sitting out there watching those storms.

 

2) On the Splendor's repo to Long beach in Jan 2018, we had an ocean view cabin at the very front of the ship, so the window was the whole wall. We had been on a whale watching tour in Cabo and we saw some whales but I am short and it was difficult for me to get close enough to see much off the sides.  While we were pulling away from Cabo, however, we saw a pod of whales in front of us breaching like crazy.  It was so awesome.

 

Our second celebrity cruise is next month so hope to have a wow moment coming up soon!

[vtcruising]

2 minutes ago, Angua said:

2 different experiences at opposite ends of the ship we were on, both on the Carnival Splendor.

 

1) We had an aft wrap balcony for a western Caribbean cruise in October of 2017 (was supposed to be eastern bur Hurricane Maria had a different idea).  Almost every night we saw spectacular lightning storms in the distance.  Those wrap balconies give a panoramic view of the ocean and we spent several hours each night just sitting out there watching those storms.

 

2) On the Splendor's repo to Long beach in Jan 2018, we had an ocean view cabin at the very front of the ship, so the window was the whole wall. We had been on a whale watching tour in Cabo and we saw some whales but I am short and it was difficult for me to get close enough to see much off the sides.  While we were pulling away from Cabo, however, we saw a pod of whales in front of us breaching like crazy.  It was so awesome.

 

Our second celebrity cruise is next month so hope to have a wow moment coming up soon!

Glad those whales gave you a second chance. I would love to see something like that from my cabin.

[vtcruising]

41 minutes ago, son3cruisers said:

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

Very professional, but fun-loving crew - so much fun! I think they gave us the recipe for the rum punch too - I need to look for that! 😉

Edited October 16, 2019 by vtcruising

[Smmessineo]

4 hours ago, Alushar said:

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

 

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

 

1 hour 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 read the OP and thought " St.Petersburg". 

I agree , Alushar,  visiting there was in incredible experience. As someone who grew up during the cold war, it meant a lot being able to walk the streets of that beautiful city, see the incredible art in The Hermitage.

 

I was on that Equinox  cruise with you, Happy Cruiser. From the start, my emotions ran high on the trip. Worried about the sailing, worried about my house and pets in Florida.....then the horror and sense of helplessness when the storm hit the Bahamas. Our diversion to bring supplies was right and good. 

[Chrissi3010]

Our first cruise ever to Alaska:

1) Hubbard glacier

2) Whale watching in a spectacular scenery

 

 

[Cobeck1234]

Sailing into Charleston several years ago an caught this amazing sunrise!  

Edited October 16, 2019 by Cobeck1234
Spelling error

[Iamthesea]

Beautiful sunrise.  My daughter will be moving to Charleston soon.  We vacation at the beach there quite frequently.  Never tire of that view. 

 

Took a similar wedding shot, albeit not as fabulous as yours, on my second trip to Santorini. 

 

Ah, Normandy!   We were fortunate to be there during a reenactment in June of 2016. Very sobering. 

 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2019 by Iamthesea

[C-Dragons]

Sailing out of Venice on Connie at night: the entire city sparkling in the darkness from the street lamps and lights in the buildings as we silently sailed by... it was enchanting.

On another cruise, on Reflection, we were awakened on our first morning there by the call to prayer from the minarets around Istanbul. The sky was still dark and we could see the moon from our verandah. It was just magical.

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, lola2013 said:

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

 

I know.  While I'm retired I can still agree with you in principle.  This is a great thread.  

[vtcruising]

1 hour ago, Chrissi3010 said:

Our first cruise ever to Alaska:

1) Hubbard glacier

2) Whale watching in a spectacular scenery

 

 

Wow!

[vtcruising]

53 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

Sailing out of Venice on Connie at night: the entire city sparkling in the darkness from the street lamps and lights in the buildings as we silently sailed by... it was enchanting.

On another cruise, on Reflection, we were awakened on our first morning there by the call to prayer from the minarets around Istanbul. The sky was still dark and we could see the moon from our verandah. It was just magical.

I've been to Venice by train after a TA, and though had an amazing time, really regret not coming in by ship...

Istanbul is on the bucket list as well.

[Mr. Click]

Special sail away moments in Sydney with the sun setting and the sky filled with color on the Solstice. sail away from Venice on the Connie, even in the light rain it was a stunning sight and sail away from San Juan, so nice we did it 4 times before we retired and moved away from the winter cold on NJ.

[upwarduk]

 Midnight sun in the Baltic Sea at the end of June 2018.

Sun is setting, moon is rising.

 

Edited October 16, 2019 by upwarduk

[vtcruising]

5 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

 Midnight sun in the Baltic Sea at the end of June 2018.

Sun is setting, moon is rising.

 

Pretty spectacular!

[K&RCurt]

Some amazing experiences and photos.

 

Probably our best was on the Constellation, after a wonderful day in Samana, DR which included a whale watch trip where we saw many baby whales playing in Samana Bay, as we were leaving a very large humpback whale was pretty much swimming along with the ship about 400 yards off the starboard bow and breaching WAY up out of the water every 5 minutes or so.  It was breathtaking.

Edited October 16, 2019 by K&RCurt

[NCHPcruiser]

These experiences have made me smile!  I am remembering why I love to cruise and mentally trying to pick out our WOW moments! 

[the_dylaness]

Too many to count...

 

The ones that come to mind first are (in no particular order)....

 

-On HAL Eurodam, 2nd to last night, we went to the Neptune Lounge and found a huge wine party going on.  Come to find out, some California winery had booked a cruise and brought a lot of wine along... they hadn't drank it all... they couldn't take it back home... they treated us to some delicious glasses of wine and then sent us home with AN ENTIRE CASE OF WINE!  (We lived driving distance from the port so no transport problems.)

 

-On Seabourn Legend (very small perhaps 160 pax onboard?) we were on an outer deck watching a small bird who had landed on the railing.  The Captain happened by.  He took our photo, and the bird (with the bird? both? can't remember now...) and got our email address.  Sent us a lovely quick poem about us as a couple on the boat, and the bird missing land, etc. etc.  So fantastic.

 

-On X Mercury in Alaska, traveling with my husband, my mom, and her husband... out on the pool deck one day when it wasn't too cold, we suddenly listed VERY STRONGLY to one side... we watched an entire mobile bar cart, bottles, cans, glasses, etc go rolling across the deck and into the pool.  We slid several feet in our chairs.  It was incredible to see-- turns out there was a small fishing boat we'd nearly hit due to the fog and we listed sharply to avoid them.

 

-So many other amazing stories to write about!   What a great thread.  Thank you!

 

[vtcruising]

51 minutes ago, the_dylaness said:

Too many to count...

 

The ones that come to mind first are (in no particular order)....

 

-On HAL Eurodam, 2nd to last night, we went to the Neptune Lounge and found a huge wine party going on.  Come to find out, some California winery had booked a cruise and brought a lot of wine along... they hadn't drank it all... they couldn't take it back home... they treated us to some delicious glasses of wine and then sent us home with AN ENTIRE CASE OF WINE!  (We lived driving distance from the port so no transport problems.)

 

-On Seabourn Legend (very small perhaps 160 pax onboard?) we were on an outer deck watching a small bird who had landed on the railing.  The Captain happened by.  He took our photo, and the bird (with the bird? both? can't remember now...) and got our email address.  Sent us a lovely quick poem about us as a couple on the boat, and the bird missing land, etc. etc.  So fantastic.

 

-On X Mercury in Alaska, traveling with my husband, my mom, and her husband... out on the pool deck one day when it wasn't too cold, we suddenly listed VERY STRONGLY to one side... we watched an entire mobile bar cart, bottles, cans, glasses, etc go rolling across the deck and into the pool.  We slid several feet in our chairs.  It was incredible to see-- turns out there was a small fishing boat we'd nearly hit due to the fog and we listed sharply to avoid them.

 

-So many other amazing stories to write about!   What a great thread.  Thank you!

 

Great stories! I'm so jealous about the wine - talk about being in the right place at the right time. 😊

 

We had a little bird friend on our balcony far from land. I think he was waiting for the afternoon canapes to arrive!😉

 

[mek]

It has to be the day we sailed into Venice.  I was up on the open deck and a Pavarotti video was playing on the big screen - it was magical.

[Edinburghgirl1]

Dominica March this year. So lucky daw 6 breaches. 

[vtcruising]

1 hour ago, Edinburghgirl1 said:

Dominica March this year. So lucky daw 6 breaches. 

What a thrill that must have been!

[CruiseLifeIsTheBest]

On 10/16/2019 at 3:14 PM, son3cruisers said:

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

 

Totally agree! Favorite for us too! Can’t wait to get back to Barbados and do it again. 

[mailmama]

The quickest memories to come to my mind has to be Quebec City, Any time of the day! The chateau is fabulous to see all lit up.  Fall colored maple trees against the clear blue sky in Canada is awesome!  I also never get tired of leaving St. Thomas at night. Another beautiful sight. 

 

[musik07]

Cruising with my grandmothers over Thanksgiving when we were in high school. One of my grandmothers has since passed away and one is 90 and not doing so well. The memories of that trip are some of my fondest (even when we couldn't find one grandmother on CoCo Cay for 45 minutes). I wish I had digital pictures, I am going to have to dig them up at my parents on one of my next visits.  It was just awesome family time that I didn't quite appreciate enough as a teenager.

 

My first cruise as an adult with my best friend (on Carnival we were broke!). We went mid-May and went through the first two named storms of the season. I remember laying in our cabin one night and her going "Why are you slamming the drawers" and I thought it had been her, but it was the ship rocking. We played more cards and drank our fare share on that trip! Also got to swim with dolphins in Nassau which was a first and super cool.

 

Alaska on the Millennium this summer. It was just my mom and I and we made so many memories, like seeing bears in the wild eating salmon out of a stream, beautiful sunsets from Cosmos lounge most nights with a drink in hand, and seeing the northern lights (just a minor show). The most unexpected was when we went to the dining room on our last day after Hubbard Glacier and just as we were finishing the waiter came and told us to come to the window and there was a group of Orca out the window. One breached about 50 yards from the ship. I didn't get a great picture but it was magnificent! 

 

 

[DENIE]

On 10/16/2019 at 1:31 PM, C-Dragons said:

Sailing out of Venice on Connie at night: the entire city sparkling in the darkness from the street lamps and lights in the buildings as we silently sailed by... it was enchanting.

On another cruise, on Reflection, we were awakened on our first morning there by the call to prayer from the minarets around Istanbul. The sky was still dark and we could see the moon from our verandah. It was just magical.

C-Dragons...we will experience this in about 3 weeks.  Thanks for your comments...wondering what Venice would look like on an evening sail away!  Can't wait to see it.

 

We had some nice sailaways on our Caribbean cruises.  Especially enjoyed an afternoon departure from Bonaire - beautiful late afternoon sunlight, and the ships wake. 

 

On our Mediterranean cruise in 3 weeks, we have a 3:30 p.m. sailaway from Kotor, Montenegro.  Hope to have some beautiful pictures of the fjord as we leave!