What Is Your Favorite Memory Of Princess Cruising?

[Daniel A]

With so many negative postings lately with dire predictions and complaints, I thought it might be somewhat uplifting if we had a thread that demonstrated the positive aspects of having cruised with Princess.  With that in mind, what is your most memorable positive memory/experience sailing with Princess?  Please keep this thread upbeat so we can have a place to go to avoid the pervasive negativity on some of these threads.  So, here goes with my most memorable experience:

 

DW retired from her job after working 43 years.  I thought it would be a good experience for her to decompress by taking our first cruise ever.  So, four days after she retired in November 2006, we got on a plane and flew to Fort Lauderdale to board the Star Princess.  DW thought we were going to spend a week relaxing in Fort Lauderdale having no idea we were taking a Western Caribbean cruise.  The memorable experience was when we first laid eyes on Star – it was huge!  We couldn’t believe that something that big could float.  We went to the top of the parking structure to get a photo of this ‘massive’ cruise ship.  We felt like kids going to Disney for the first time!  When we got on the ship, we went up to Skywalkers and we were in amazement at the size of the Star Princess.  That first view of Star Princess is certainly our most memorable experience that Princess gave us.  On the negative side, I made the mistake of booking a minisuite for our first cruise.  Every cruise we’ve taken since, DW insists on a minisuite or deluxe balcony!  That view we first saw of the Star is so impressed on our memory, our personalized credit card has that photo of the Star we took from the top of the parking structure.

 

What’s your favorite memory?

Edited May 15, 2020 by Daniel A

[voljeep]

well … it does involve a balcony … 😍🚢🍸… an intimate , balcony dinner… and "dessert"  ...

[Daniel A]

42 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

Pics...or it never happened.

 

This must be the dessert??

 

[INeedAMaiTai]

My favorite memory is also a ritual.  Every morning on a ship I'll get up, grab one or two of my daughters, and we'll head to the International Cafe for coffee for me and what we call "first breakfast", which is usually a donut or pastry for them and a yogurt parfait for me.  Then we read our books, write in our vacation journals, or just chat.  It's quiet, fun, and a wonderful way to start the day.

[BabySarge]

Wow, seriously hard to narrow it down to one favorite memory but our "happy" place when on board a Princess ship that has one has to be Vines.  To be able to sit quietly at a corner table, sipping our favorite wine(s), meeting new people, sharing tales of our day, and reflecting on how incredibly lucky we are to be there is a memory we look forward to doing over and over again.   

 

 

[Daniel A]

27 minutes ago, BabySarge said:

Wow, seriously hard to narrow it down to one favorite memory but our "happy" place when on board a Princess ship that has one has to be Vines.  To be able to sit quietly at a corner table, sipping our favorite wine(s), meeting new people, sharing tales of our day, and reflecting on how incredibly lucky we are to be there is a memory we look forward to doing over and over again.   

😊

 

[voljeep]

Vines is definitely one of our go-to places also … always very well taken care of there 

[INeedAMaiTai]

1 hour ago, BabySarge said:

Wow, seriously hard to narrow it down to one favorite memory but our "happy" place when on board a Princess ship that has one has to be Vines.  To be able to sit quietly at a corner table, sipping our favorite wine(s), meeting new people, sharing tales of our day, and reflecting on how incredibly lucky we are to be there is a memory we look forward to doing over and over again.   

 

 

On my last cruise, I found this place on my last full day!  I was pissed!  I never went in because I didn't think they accepted the drink package.  I was wrong and plan on spending much more time in there on my next cruise.

[USCcruisecrazy]

There have been some great times, but I think #1 was back in February of 2010 when my #1 son and daughter in law were married on the Emerald Princess.  They were actually married on the ship...it happened to be a sea day enroute from Princess Cay to St. Thomas...and to top it all off, it was the first Formal Night and Captain's Champagne Pour!!  My daughter in law was brought up to do the first pour.  What an awesome day from start to finish!!  All the guys played Blackjack in the morning to "Keep Calm" (the bloody mary's helped)...wedding at 2:00 and it was beautifully decorated in the chapel...2 hours of open bar with food, music, and an awesome cake in a our own lounge...some time in Crooner's, the Champagne Pour, a great dinner with the entire Wedding party and then back to Crooner's for the remainder of the evening.  What a memory!!  And stories to tell!!

[PescadoAmarillo]

Favorite Princess memory? Any of the many days we spent on the Pacific Princess in French Polynesia. That ship, those ports...it really couldn’t get much better. 
 

 

[Ombud]

My personal best was Adventure Park Ziplining in Alaska. 1st time I went my sister hysterically hung onto a tree before walking the broken bridge. We all tried to hide our laughter as she was coaxed along. Took the older grandkids (9, 14, 16) back the next year and they loved it too. I'm taking one of the littlest next year (will be 7 & 15). 

 

My most memorial was (unfortunately) looking off my balcony at all the trash in the Pacific Ocean as we sailed along. Changed my behavior at home. We get by with contributing 20 gallons trash & 32 gallons recycling (understanding a lot of that becomes trash) a month. That's it. Would like to contribute less but we're getting there

[katisdale]

We have been treated wonderfully by the crew on the cruises we have taken. One experience stands out however, our granddaughter was 5 at the time, on her first cruise, and a very picky eater. She is 20 now and much more adventurous. We did a western Caribbean and chose anytime dining. When we arrived for dinner the first night she ordered chicken tenders but not an appetizer as nothing appealed. Our daughter asked is they had any raw carrots. Soon a small bowl of shredded carrots appeared. The amazing part is that every night after that a small bowl of carrots appeared even though we never had the same waiter. She absolutely felt loved during that cruise.  

[SIMMY67]

My favorite memory has to be a 2013 transatlantic Fort Lauderdale to Rome on the Ruby, backed up with a Med Cruise.  26 days of absolute bliss, celebrating life with newly discovered cruise critic friends, in an upgraded suite!!!!  The seminars on sea days, port talks, and local entertainment, were fantastic.  Francesco our maitre d never ceased entertaining. We ended in Venice and then began a 28 day tour of Italy, then off to Paris and London, before sailing home on the Queen to New York.  Once in a lifetime and never to be forgotten.

[triple7tahoe]

First a little background-I was introduced to cruising by my parents in the 1950s as my mother would not fly so we took the Lurline to Hawaii. When I married I wanted to introduce my wife to cruising and took her on a Sitmar cruise in Australia. That cruise was a disaster and I never thought I would get her on another ship. A few years later and we tried again with a Princess cruise from Hong Kong to Australia and back. We have now taken almost 100 Princess cruises and if asked which was the best, we would say that cruise but the one we took on the old Regal to Midway Island, as part of a Hawaiian cruise would certainly be right in line. We met the folks that we consider our BFFs and have taken some 20 cruises with them since. We are so ready to get back aboard! Posts like this one are helpful in most ways but do remind me of just how much I miss being on a ship!

[kdkcruiser]

Our first overseas cruise - my parents met up with us in Belfast - where I was born before coming to Canada- it was my birthday.  Drove by our old home and went to Bangor / our old holiday spot and where my folks were staying.  Had fish and chips / of course!  After an awesome unbelievable day with them and Tearful  goodbyes back on the Grand to the amazing crew who treated us like family.

off to Vines where  we had Jack and Andrew serving us the best wines ever...

lifetime memories and the crew was such an amazing part of it!

Almost forgot to mention the most amazing Raffi - he went to his cabin on his break and made me a bunch of paper flowers to celebrate my special day!!  The crew on that ship were truly amazing!!!!!!

 

 

 

[EDVM96]

Barrel chairs

[Tapi]

Celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary aboard Golden Princess.

 

We weren’t expecting much, considering that it was a short, inexpensive cruise, but it turned out to be one of our most memorable cruises ever. 

[Thrak]

28 Day Hawaii & South Pacific cruise. Great cruise. Great people. Great CD and staff. All around just a truly great trip.

[Daniel A]

8 hours ago, Thrak said:

28 Day Hawaii & South Pacific cruise. Great cruise. Great people. Great CD and staff. All around just a truly great trip.

Good to hear!  DW & I are hoping to be able to take that one next March.  🤞

[ontheweb]

Our first Princess cruise was a Baltic cruise for our 30th anniversary. It brings back so many fine memories, and is in my opinion still our best cruise.

 

Bonding with the people on our roll call who did the Alla tour in St. Petersburg was a wonderful experience as well as of course the tour itself.

 

Talinn Estonia was a true gem.

 

On the date of our actual anniversary when we first sat at our anytime dining table, I introduced us and said "Today is our 30th anniversary, and that's why we are on this cruise.". And then the person to my right asked that I tell the story of how we met, and I got to share that experience with our tablemates.

 

So many fine memories!

[LT Hambone]

Here's mine -

 

Northbound Alaska on the Coral, June 2012 with my wife and two sons (ages 8 and 10) - our first cruise!

 

So many great memories from the cruise, hard to pick just one. So I'll share two, one from the sea, and one from the land.

 

Last night of the cruise, we're sailing around College Fjord. It's dinner time, we're in the dining room, cruise director announces we're at the end of the fjord and ahead of us are five (!) glaciers. I run from the table up on deck, and was able to take a picture of all five. My kids stayed at the table - by this point the only ice they wanted to see was in their cups! Hard to tell in the picture below, but yes, all five glaciers are there.

 

 

First day of our land tour, on the train to Denali. An amazing eight hour adventure that tests the limits of small children's patience. As we're approaching Denali, the conductor announces we're coming up to a bend where we "might" see Denali "if" the clouds cooperate. Once again I make a mad dash for the open air viewing platform, jostle for a spot at the rail, and as the train lurches I snap a picture off and hope for the best. Wasn't until we returned home did I realize - I got the shot! Turns out it was the ONLY picture I would be able to take of the elusive Denali - our tour into the park next day was a bust for seeing the peak (but we did see a lot of wildlife).

 

 

For me, Princess is special because not only was it our first family cruise, but also one of the most spectacular cruises we've taken. Next summer we're going to take what "might" be our last family cruise on Princess around the British Isles. I say "might" because our older son will be in college, and our younger son will almost be graduating high school. How time flies!

 

Enjoy!

[JEH]

Our first land/cruise to Alaska . It gave us the time to relax , discuss  retirement  and experience  the wonderful  world  of  Princess . We both retired  within the year and have never stopped  

[AF-1]

Have only been on two Princess cruises.  Both were memorable.  Our first cruise was on Emerald to Alaska.  We took two of our teen grandkids.  Watching them order their meals in the dining room and they asking us " what was the price for the food".  That was fun. They ate in Crown Grill; and watching their faces and reaction as the wait staff spoiled them; Again, worth the price of admission.  Second and only other Princess cruise which was memorable. Feb 2019 Rock and Roll Oldies cruise on Caribbean Princess.  She was first ship retrofitted with ocean medallion.  So getting to play with all the new tech for me was a ball;  and getting to meet all the bands from the 50's and 60's and chatting up stories was very memorable for me.  That's it;  have a great weekend

[1965]

The sail away from Venice. 

[Jasperdo]

Cruising through the Panama Canal on the Coral Princess. A bunch of the crew members went up to the bow of the ship and posed for some photos. The passengers on deck all applauded them and thanked them for the great job they were all doing for us. It was magical.