Discussion Question - What Made Your Favorite Ship(s) Special?

Everyone has their favorite cruise lines and favorite ships. But what was
it about that favorite ship that made it so special?

Was it the food? Was it the service? Was it the ship's design, layout, and
amenities? A unique characteristic of that particular ship? Was it
something unrelated to the ship or cruise line, such as traveling with a
special group of friends or family? Was it the best itinerary?

So what makes your favorite ship (or ships) "so special" for you?

--Tom

-------------

For me...

I've had 4 ships that I've really considered special, with 2 becoming my
favorite ships still today.

The Century was always special to me. She was my first "nicer" ship. What
made her special was after going on the Nordic Empress and Royal Majesty,
where you had to carry your own and your kids' trays from the buffet line to
an empty table, on the Century, a waiter came over and took the kids' and
ladies' trays to an empty table. That happened the first lunch, on the
first day. To me that signaled a "step up" of sorts. Her food, pre RCI
ownership, was very special. And the dining room may have been the nicest
I've seen at sea. Met and became friends with John S. and his family on
her. I've been on her 3 times, including most recently to the Baltics.

Zenith was special because of her small size, and how she fit in the tight
channels of Bermuda, and looked on Front Street in Hamilton, and at the pier
in St. Georges all lit up at night. I've gone on better itineraries (like
the Fjords and the Baltics) but the Bermuda run is always special to me. I
love the golf in Bermuda (Mid Ocean Club and Port Royal)... probably more
than the beaches. Peg and Derek's friend Captain Adamidis called us once
and invited us up to the bridge for the ship's sail into Hamilton Harbor.
We had chairs up against the glass, and they brought Greek coffee and hot
chocolate for us. The Captain came by and visited with us. We did an SGC
on her. That was the first time I met many of the RTC gang (Sheree, Sue,
Jean, Lori C., etc.). And I remember the sailing when Charles and I were
seated at a table with 6 ladies in the dining room... we hung around all
week with them... though that was also the sailing when we came home sailing
through a Nor'easter for a half day... not pretty. I loved the Zenith and
miss her sailings to Bermuda. I sailed on her 7 times, and visited her once
with Peg and Derek. I even met Ken G. and Ben Smith, who came by to wish us
off one sailing.

Connie (Constellation) was special because of her Captain and her
itineraries. Captain Ioannis, another friend of Peg and Derek, always made
the sailing special with bridge tours, dinner at the Captain's Table, sail
away from St. Lucia with Ben Smith and executive chef Michel Roux up on the
bridge, etc. It was my first sailing with the Viking gang. I love the
AquaSpa on cool, chilly, windy days in places like Quebec and Geiranger.
Eating breakfast buffet at one of the outside tables with an umbrella,
watching the morning mist clear over the city of Copenhagen... coming back
to the ship after a chilly afternoon in Norway and being greeted with
Celebrity hot chocolate (they put ginger in it)... it doesn't get much
better than that. Captain Ioannis was, in fact, the person who first told
about the Norwegian Fjords itinerary. While were in St. Lucia, up on the
bridge, he showed us pictures of the ship up in Norway. He's the one that
said, of all the itineraries in the world, the Norwegian Fjords is the best.
When we did the Fjords sailing on her, Captain Ioannis was supposed to be on
vacations, but he came back from his vacation to do that sailing. I did an
oil painting of Connie anchored at Geiranger, and gave it to Captain
Ioannis. One of the junior officers later told me that he had the
maintenance people hang it on the bridge, but eventually he took it home to
his office back in Greece. Connie has been for years, and still is, one of
my 2 favorite ships. She's always been a rather ugly ship from the outside
(originally blue and gold... now white and blue)... the lines don't work...
but inside the ship is just wonderful to me. I've been on Connie 3 times.

I never really thought I'd like a ship like the Queen Mary 2. And I never,
ever thought I'd like doing a Transatlantic Crossing. But a couple of
summers ago Linda and the kids went on her. They all LOVED the ship. Linda
said that as a ship person, I really needed to go on her. So when I saw a
President's weekend mini sailing from NYC to Princess Cay and back, I booked
her. I've been doing oil painting for about the past 25 years... so as soon
as I stepped inside the QM2, and saw all the paintings... I was hooked. So
much so that a few months later I booked a Transatlantic on her. I love the
historical information on the panels in the 4 stairwells (it's called
Maritime Quest), like how they used to have live cows and live chickens on
the ships in the old days - so they could have fresh milk and fresh eggs
before refrigeration. How the Cunard ships helped win WWII by transporting
troops. How they had young boys on the ships because the older guys were
soldiers. There are large panels of famous people who crossed on Cunard,
like Humphrey Bogart, Elizabeth Taylor, Laurel and Hardy, Jackie Kennedy and
Bobby Kennedy, etc. She's a ship that still has lighted candles on each
dining room table on formal night. The food in the main dining room is IMO
a step up from Celebrity. I enjoyed the Chef's Galley presentation (it's
kind of like Emeril Live) for dinner one evening. The Mandarin Orange Crème
Brule in the Todd English specialty restaurant was the best dessert I've
ever had. The crossing itself was special because my son's college semester
abroad in Berlin ended exactly then, so he was able to come home on the ship
with me. Charles also came with us, as did my work friend Bill and his son
Michael. We even met MarkSF and his friend on board. And on our sailing
John Maxtone-Graham was the guest speaker. The whole crossing was special
to me... as was the ship. And I spent hour after hour looking at all the
paintings of the Cunard ships. She's like a floating museum... and she even
has a planetarium. I've been on her twice. And Kerry... I think the black
hull, with the red and white trim, looks great on her.

So my 2 favorite ships, for very different reasons, are the Queen Mary 2 and
Constellation.

On Apr 6, 10:24*am, "Tom K" wrote:
Everyone has their favorite cruise lines and favorite ships. *But what was
it about that favorite ship that made it so special?

Was it the food? *Was it the service? *Was it the ship's design, layout, and
amenities? *A unique characteristic of that particular ship? *Was it
something unrelated to the ship or cruise line, such as traveling with a
special group of friends or family? *Was it the best itinerary?

So what makes your favorite ship (or ships) "so special" for you?


The old Pacific Princess ... The intimacy throughout made the cruise
seem almost like an extended family getting together ...
One could talk with the entertainers before and after ... the Head
Chef and Maitre'd were front stage cooking for the passengers on deck
during barbeques ...
The staff were also very relaxed ... at ease ... but still giving
excellent service ...

and besides ... it was the Love Boat ...

In article , Tom K
wrote:

Everyone has their favorite cruise lines and favorite ships. But what was
it about that favorite ship that made it so special?

Was it the food? Was it the service? Was it the ship's design, layout, and
amenities? A unique characteristic of that particular ship? Was it
something unrelated to the ship or cruise line, such as traveling with a
special group of friends or family? Was it the best itinerary?

So what makes your favorite ship (or ships) "so special" for you?

My favorite ships are pretty varied. The old Pacific Princess, the
Celebrity Galaxy and RCI Adventure of the Seas.

The old Pacific Princess, the love boat was tiny (19,000 tons) and had
minimal amenities, but the crew made up for that with great service.
And the entertainment staff doubled as the cruise directors staff.
There were only about 600 passengers so it was very easy to meet
people. Both passengers and cruise staff. The bridge was open and you
could watch the Captain take the wheel and steer into the ports. It was
my first Bermuda cruise, it did all three Bermuda ports and I found I
really liked Bermuda.

The Celebrity Galaxy, I first took on an 11 day from Baltimore and
besides the itinerary I liked that ships design and decor. A bunch of
us from a Cruise Critic roll call which also included some r.t.c.'ers
got together onboard ad hoc, it was before the Cruise Critic official
meets, and we had a great time during the cruise doing things. It was
like a group cruise.

I also like the Royal Caribbean Voyager class a lot, I like innovation,
and that class was revolutionary. I am picking the Adventure of the
Seas out because it had a nice non port intensive southern itinerary
with Aruba, St. Thomas, St. Martin and Curacao and on the sailing and
because I was assigned to a table of solo travelers who had not met
each other before that had a lot of fun together on the cruise.

The experiences on the above three ships set me off on more Bermuda
cruises, having found a beautiful island with great beaches, and also
to look at group bookings, and finding the Viking group.

--
Charles

(Tom*K) wrote:

Everyone has their favorite cruise lines and
favorite ships. But what was it about that
favorite ship that made it so special?

Was it the food? Was it the service? Was it
the ship's design, layout, and amenities? A
unique characteristic of that particular ship?
Was it something unrelated to the ship or
cruise line, such as traveling with a special
group of friends or family? Was it the best i
tinerary?

So what makes your favorite ship (or ships)
"so special" for you?

I'd say two, the Enchantment of the Sea and the Star Princess.

The Enchantment was our first cruise, a Western Mediterranean cruise to
celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. What made it special was that it
was our first, and you cannot beat first love G. I also liked the
size, I felt it was not too small or too big. There was both plenty of
stuff to do, but not so large you got lost.

The Star Princess was our fourth cruise, a Baltic cruise for our 30th
anniversary. It was a little too large for my tastes, but several things
made up for that. One, the itinerary was fantastic. Two, we met
wonderful people on our cruisecritic roll call and toured with some of
them. We still sometimes visit one couple who lives one town away from
my mother-in-law. Finally, we also found John Lawrence to be a wonderful
cruise director. He focused on the ports and what could be done either
through ship excursions or on your own.

I'm hoping after this summer, the HAL Noordam can be added to this list
(eastern Mediterranean cruise).

I wrote:

I'd say two, the Enchantment of the Sea and
the Star Princess.

Oops, I meant the Splendour of the Sea, not the Enchantment.

They are actually basically the same ship, but the Splendour in the
Western Mediterranean was our first while the Enchantment in the western
Caribbean was our second cruise.

And I stand by the rest of my original post,just substituting Spledour
whenever I wrote Enchantment.

On Apr 6, 7:24*am, "Tom K" wrote:
Everyone has their favorite cruise lines and favorite ships. *But what was
it about that favorite ship that made it so special?

Was it the food? *Was it the service? *Was it the ship's design, layout, and
amenities? *A unique characteristic of that particular ship? *Was it
something unrelated to the ship or cruise line, such as traveling with a
special group of friends or family? *Was it the best itinerary?

So what makes your favorite ship (or ships) "so special" for you?

--Tom

-------------

For me...

I've had 4 ships that I've really considered special, with 2 becoming my
favorite ships still today.

The Century was always special to me. *She was my first "nicer" ship. *What
made her special was after going on the Nordic Empress and Royal Majesty,
where you had to carry your own and your kids' trays from the buffet line to
an empty table, on the Century, a waiter came over and took the kids' and
ladies' trays to an empty table. *That happened the first lunch, on the
first day. *To me that signaled a "step up" of sorts. *Her food, pre RCI
ownership, was very special. *And the dining room may have been the nicest
I've seen at sea. *Met and became friends with John S. and his family on
her. *I've been on her 3 times, including most recently to the Baltics.

Zenith was special because of her small size, and how she fit in the tight
channels of Bermuda, and looked on Front Street in Hamilton, and at the pier
in St. Georges all lit up at night. *I've gone on better itineraries (like
the Fjords and the Baltics) but the Bermuda run is always special to me. *I
love the golf in Bermuda (Mid Ocean Club and Port Royal)... probably more
than the beaches. *Peg and Derek's friend Captain Adamidis called us once
and invited us up to the bridge for the ship's sail into Hamilton Harbor.
We had chairs up against the glass, and they brought Greek coffee and hot
chocolate for us. *The Captain came by and visited with us. *We did an SGC
on her. *That was the first time I met many of the RTC gang (Sheree, Sue,
Jean, Lori C., etc.). *And I remember the sailing when Charles and I were
seated at a table with 6 ladies in the dining room... we hung around all
week with them... though that was also the sailing when we came home sailing
through a Nor'easter for a half day... not pretty. *I loved the Zenith and
miss her sailings to Bermuda. *I sailed on her 7 times, and visited her once
with Peg and Derek. *I even met Ken G. and Ben Smith, who came by to wish us
off one sailing.

Connie (Constellation) was special because of her Captain and her
itineraries. *Captain Ioannis, another friend of Peg and Derek, always made
the sailing special with bridge tours, dinner at the Captain's Table, sail
away from St. Lucia with Ben Smith and executive chef Michel Roux up on the
bridge, etc. *It was my first sailing with the Viking gang. *I love the
AquaSpa on cool, chilly, windy days in places like Quebec and Geiranger.
Eating breakfast buffet at one of the outside tables with an umbrella,
watching the morning mist clear over the city of Copenhagen... coming back
to the ship after a chilly afternoon in Norway and being greeted with
Celebrity hot chocolate (they put ginger in it)... it doesn't get much
better than that. *Captain Ioannis was, in fact, the person who first told
about the Norwegian Fjords itinerary. *While were in St. Lucia, up on the
bridge, he showed us pictures of the ship up in Norway. *He's the one that
said, of all the itineraries in the world, the Norwegian Fjords is the best.
When we did the Fjords sailing on her, Captain Ioannis was supposed to be on
vacations, but he came back from his vacation to do that sailing. *I did an
oil painting of Connie anchored at Geiranger, and gave it to Captain
Ioannis. *One of the junior officers later told me that he had the
maintenance people hang it on the bridge, but eventually he took it home to
his office back in Greece. *Connie has been for years, and still is, one of
my 2 favorite ships. *She's always been a rather ugly ship from the outside
(originally blue and gold... now white and blue)... the lines don't work....
but inside the ship is just wonderful to me. *I've been on Connie 3 times.

I never really thought I'd like a ship like the Queen Mary 2. *And I never,
ever thought I'd like doing a Transatlantic Crossing. *But a couple of
summers ago Linda and the kids went on her. *They all LOVED the ship. *Linda
said that as a ship person, I really needed to go on her. *So when I saw a
President's weekend mini sailing from NYC to Princess Cay and back, I booked
her. *I've been doing oil painting for about the past 25 years... so as soon
as I stepped inside the QM2, and saw all the paintings... I was hooked. *So
much so that a few months later I booked a Transatlantic on her. *I love the
historical information on the panels in the 4 stairwells (it's called
Maritime Quest), like how they used to have live cows and live chickens on
the ships in the old days - so they could have fresh milk and fresh eggs
before refrigeration. *How the Cunard ships helped win WWII by transporting
troops. *How they had young boys on the ships because the older guys were
soldiers. *There are large panels of famous people who crossed on Cunard,
like Humphrey Bogart, Elizabeth Taylor, Laurel and Hardy, Jackie Kennedy and
Bobby Kennedy, etc. *She's a ship that still has lighted candles on each
dining room table on formal night. *The food in the main dining room is IMO
a step up from Celebrity. *I enjoyed the Chef's Galley presentation (it's
kind of like Emeril Live) for dinner one evening. *The Mandarin Orange Crème
Brule in the Todd English specialty restaurant was the best dessert I've
ever had. *The crossing itself was special because my son's college semester
abroad in Berlin ended exactly then, so he was able to come home on the ship
with me. *Charles also came with us, as did my work friend Bill and his son
Michael. *We even met MarkSF and his friend on board. *And on our sailing
John Maxtone-Graham was the guest speaker. *The whole crossing was special
to me... as was the ship. *And I spent hour after hour looking at all the
paintings of the Cunard ships. *She's like a floating museum... and she even
has a planetarium. *I've been on her twice. *And Kerry... I think the black
hull, with the red and white trim, looks great on her.

So my 2 favorite ships, for very different reasons, are the Queen Mary 2 and
Constellation.

The Club Med II, now renamed the Wind Surf... a great week sailing the
Society Islands... from her teak decks, to her a own "marina" and
those incredible sails all with superior dining make (made) this my
favorite ship. The 200 or so mile leg from Bora Bora to Rangiroa Atoll
was done exclusively under sail power... it was awesome.... if it only
had balcony suites...

jay
Mon Apr 06, 2009

"Tom K" wrote:

Everyone has their favorite cruise lines and favorite ships. But what was
it about that favorite ship that made it so special?

Was it the food? Was it the service? Was it the ship's design, layout,
and amenities? A unique characteristic of that particular ship? Was it
something unrelated to the ship or cruise line, such as traveling with a
special group of friends or family? Was it the best itinerary?

So what makes your favorite ship (or ships) "so special" for you?

--Tom

-------------

For us, it hasn't been the ship or the itinerary that made it special. It
has been the entertainment.

We are music fans and discovered the Cayamo music cruise ( www.Cayamo.com )
that perfectly suites our interest. We were on the last two Cayamo cruises.
The next one has just been announced for February, sailing again on the
Norwegian Dawn. The organizers ( www.sixthman.net/ ) offers five other
music cruises with different themes and different ships to suit a variety of
musical preferences.

-Al

On Apr 6, 11:12*am, "Al Sherman" wrote:
"Tom K" wrote:
Everyone has their favorite cruise lines and favorite ships. *But what was
it about that favorite ship that made it so special?

My favorite ships list must have the QE2 and QM2 on the top of the
list. There was nothing like the QE2 or the QM2. Our first "good
cruise" was on the QE2, we fell in love with her and had the pleasure
of sailing on her three more times, most recently last May. Her
magnificent lines and personality is unique. Perhaps more than any
other ship we've traveled upon, she was changed and remodeled
extensively, yet was still unmistakably QE2.

I was not expecting to be so taken by QM2 - but once I stepped aboard,
I was hooked. She is magnificent. I will treasure the experience of
drinking my scotch in the Commodore Club hearing the timbre of the
ship's whistle while the ship calmly slices through 25 foot swells in
the North Atlantic.

Like Tom. I also loved the Zenith to Bermuda. There were so many
wonderful experiences on our first trip in '98 - and the ship was the
perfect size for that itinerary.

I loved the Rembrandt for her period furnishings and classic style.

A couple of years ago, we returned to Bermuda on the Voyager of the
Seas - but that ship would be an standout in most itineraries. This
was our first (and thus far only) exposure to the modern RCI designs,
and we were very impressed. I look forward to traveling on the Oasis
class. However, did I love VOS? Perhaps not. For some reason, it's
harder to love a ship when she has half a dozen nearly identical
siblings. I think it's more of a singular sensation.

Mark

"Mark (SF)" wrote in message
...

I was not expecting to be so taken by QM2 - but once I stepped
aboard, I was hooked. She is magnificent.

I wasn't expecting it either... but I was also hooked. That ship is quite
something.

I'm sorry I never got to go on the QE2, but I do wear the nice shirt you got
for me.

--Tom

Mark (SF) wrote:

On Apr 6, 11:12 am, "Al Sherman" wrote:

"Tom K" wrote:

Everyone has their favorite cruise lines and favorite ships. But what was
it about that favorite ship that made it so special?


My favorite ships list must have the QE2 and QM2 on the top of the
list. There was nothing like the QE2 or the QM2. Our first "good
cruise" was on the QE2, we fell in love with her and had the pleasure
of sailing on her three more times, most recently last May. Her
magnificent lines and personality is unique. Perhaps more than any
other ship we've traveled upon, she was changed and remodeled
extensively, yet was still unmistakably QE2.

I was not expecting to be so taken by QM2 - but once I stepped aboard,
I was hooked. She is magnificent. I will treasure the experience of
drinking my scotch in the Commodore Club hearing the timbre of the
ship's whistle while the ship calmly slices through 25 foot swells in
the North Atlantic.

Like Tom. I also loved the Zenith to Bermuda. There were so many
wonderful experiences on our first trip in '98 - and the ship was the
perfect size for that itinerary.

I loved the Rembrandt for her period furnishings and classic style.

A couple of years ago, we returned to Bermuda on the Voyager of the
Seas - but that ship would be an standout in most itineraries. This
was our first (and thus far only) exposure to the modern RCI designs,
and we were very impressed. I look forward to traveling on the Oasis
class. However, did I love VOS? Perhaps not. For some reason, it's
harder to love a ship when she has half a dozen nearly identical
siblings. I think it's more of a singular sensation.

Mark

I loved the QM2 even more than the QE2. I would be happy to sail either
one again and again. The Zenith was indeed a ship to love. We sailed
on her a few times and enjoyed all that the ship had to offer. The
ship and the food rated a high mark, the entertainment not quite as
much. But again, I would book her in a New York minute.
Another favorite of mine was Splendour of the Seas.

Ermalee