All of our cruises have been great in one way or another...

Best...would have to be the first week of our B2B to Polynesia in March of 2003...great weather, great people, ports...laughs

Worst...there really isn't one of late...There have been highlights on each that I wouldn't have wanted to have missed. If pushed, I probably would say our first on the Home Lines in 1980 since we refused to cruise for another 20 years after that cruise. That says something.

Oh my, so many wonderful cruises and memories...

My first cruise on the Song, Greek Islands, has such sweet memories as does my last on her, SSS, although a tad bittersweet.

VOF brought so many of you into my life that it deserves a mention.

CAMEL was stellar for itinerary and fellow LCT'ers. AND, my new kitten, Natalya the Magnificent, will always remind me of our favorite bar waitress.

FJORDS, well...I'm with Suzie on that one. GONG!

Oh boy, Our favorite was this year's Antarctic cruise on Explorer II for many of the same reasons Fred and Pat stated but without the Germans . Second is Regent Tokyo to Hong Kong with the overnight to Beijing and Xi'an. Third would be Regent Baltics with overnight to Moscow. Never had a bad cruise. I guess Disney would have to be least favorite and that would only be because it was too short!
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Helen

I have to go along with Andi. French Polynesia in March 2003 just assaulted our senses in a most positive way....the people, the scenery, the laughs, etc. It was truly magical and Penny and I dearly needed a break and to top it off, it was our first luxury cruise.

And what can I say when it comes to a World Cruise. WOW!

Worst...it aint gonna happen.

Cheers! Ray & Penny
Andi: I posted photos of French Polynesia today just for you :>)
Also, MINT. Eventually I'll put all our cruises here.

http://Ray-Penny.smugmug.com/
click on vacations

I only have 4 so far, but my favorite would have to be New Years on the Voyager. We had such a marvelous time being together and everyone on the ship was there to have a good time. The ports weren't memorable (western Caribbean) but who cared?

Second would be our trip this past Dec to French Polynesia (PEARLS) with the likes of Russ and Debbie and the rest of the gang. A highlight was meeting up with the folks on LAMB and getting to chat with everyone. Between snorkeling, good food and buying pearls, what could be bad?

Ray, thank you. I forgot just how beautiful that cruise was. Ahhh...

Pat, yes, Gibraltar! That was a thrill, was it not? Sure hope we get to cruise with you guys again. Thinking of Rio to FLL in early December 2009. On Voyager. A different kind of "crossing". Hmm???

Interesting thread.

Many of your comments made us so happy that we cancelled FJORDS last year.

Amongst our favorite cruises:

1999 Baltics on Diamond (our first cruise ever)

2001 Rome to Istanbul on Diamond (right after 9/11 so only about 125 on board)

2003 VOF (where we met many of you for the first time)

Least favorites:

MUSH - I guess we're not really nature people but had a nice time with LCTers and got Alaska off the list

2002 - Song Lisbon to Nice (got seasick - bad cabin etc. - even though one of the stops was Gibraltar)

We just got back from a riverboat cruise on the Rhone & Saone rivers in France (Marseille/Arles up to Chalon/Paris). Definitely not as good at the Danube (Prage to Budapest in 2005 was). Kind of sad when the highlight of the trip was the hotel post-cruise (we got a huge upgrade on an award points stay to a huge 1 BR suite which would sell for over $2,000 a night at the Park Hyatt Paris on a night when they were sold out with dignitaries including the Spanish, Greek, Polish & Luxembourg Presidents/Prime Ministers attending the Paris Summit - see http://www.flickr.com/photos/45305718@N00/sets/72157606190684238/ for pictures).

Wow Peter, very nice!! You and Mark are LCT dignitaries and got what you deserved!

Well, we are going to figure out our favorite tonight......but I will weigh in on Fjords. Yes, the weather was miserable....but since it was our first LCT cruise, we loved it. Meeting everyone made it so memorable. We talk all the time about walking through Copenhagen pre-cruise and spotting Joanna in the street with Marcie, Tom and Tony. then meeting Olivia in the bar...then off to the ship. We also got to meet our friends in Captain Dag's hometown, and that was great. It WAS a very expensive cruise, and with really bad weather (think of all of us at the pool bar, freezing but sitting there in gloves and hats), but we had so much fun. I did have an unfortunate issue with my foot............. but we still think of it as one of our favorites. Guess we will have to find a new favorite! Like so many have said, it is right around the corner.

Cindy, you're so right about having fun with everyone on FJORDS. It was the most expensive we've ever been on and the worst weather BUT in spite of that....it was so fun because of being with LCTers. The scenery sure was pretty.

Cindy the people on Fjords were great and we had so much fun with you and David!!!! XXOO

Cindy, I agree. With LCT people on a cruise, there's always fun. The weather on FJORDS wasn't great but the rest of the experience was Regent quality. Can't wait to see you and David on SAMBA. I've never had a bad cruise on Regent.

Hmmmmmm. Well probably B2B, that was so special, in spite of being port intensive. The weather, food, LCT'ers, it was magical.

Our other favorites would be a tie between CROSS and WINE - which was our very first trip to Europe.

As to worst, can't really say, we have had some that we said we wouldn't do again, but as Frank always says "I've never met a cruise I didn't like, I just like some better than others".

I've been mulling on this ever since the thread started, and I just can't pick a favorite. Our first cruise (Silver Wind) was our favorite, well, because it was our first cruise, and that new discovery (love of cruising) was such a thrill.

Our second cruise (Silver Whisper) might be our favorite because we were in a Silver Suite that was to die for.

Our third cruise (Silver Whisper) might be our favorite because we surprised our friends who we'd met on our very first cruise. They went on to become our dearest friends ever.

Our fourth cruise was on the Paul Gauguin - our first Regent cruise - and we celebrated our anniversary in paradise. That needs no words!

Our fifth cruise (Silver Shadow) we splurged for a grand suite that was OVER the TOP, and we were fortunate enough to be sailing with several other friends of ours, so we enjoyed entertaining.

Our sixth cruise (Navigator) was our first trip to the Med (and Europe, for that matter). And again, we were with our dearest friends. We discovered just how much we love Athens!!!

Our seventh cruise was on NCLA which doesn't hold a candle to Regent or Silversea, BUT we got to cruise the Hawaiian islands and it was our first time to Hawaii.

For our eighth cruise, we returned to PARADISE on the Paul Gauguin and celebrated New Year's. I cannot tell you how much fun it is ringing in the New Year with the AWESOME PG crew and staff.

Our next cruise will be our favorite because we're trying Voyager at last. (And returning to Athens.)

Is it obvious that we love to cruise???????
:D

Kristin what a sweet post - loved reading about your cruises and all the fun you had for various reasons - Joanna

Yes Kristin it is definitely obvious. I think you have some of the same thoughts we do, see my post above about what Frank says, and basically he says it for both of us. We just love cruising and we manage to have a great time no matter what cruise line, no matter where, no matter who we cruise with!!

But I must say that we have been spoiled the last few years by Regent, not to mention the wonderful LCT'ers we have cruised with/met on those.

But times change, circumstances change, and sometimes you do things with Kids/Grandkids that you would not do/ or friends that you would not do on your own, and guess what, it still turns out great.

Cruising in general is a great way to see a lot in a short (or long in some cases) time that would not be as great packing and flying to/from.

Thanks, Joanna and JoAnn :hug: - you know the only thing that would make ALL those cruises better is to meet you both, Tony and Frank and a bunch of other LCT'ers on a cruise. Now THAT is what I am missing!!!

Ahh, something for Greg and I to strive for! :ch:

Well, I can vouch for how wonderful that is, we have made some of the best friends on this board and and on cruises, and I wouldn't trade any of them for anything in the world.

Hopefully someday, somewhere Kristin it will just come together, and thats just how it happens.

Without a doubt, B2B was our best cruise. I honestly cannot say we ever had a bad cruise. The weather will be what it is - - you can not control that, but the ports and the LCT'ers really madke the cruise

Hi Rod and Cynthia - yes, b2b was special but aren't they all????? We are a fortunate group of cruisers - Regent, LCT and great friends -

Gretchen and I talked a bit about this while I was in Germany last month. It's hard to sort out; all have highlights. After all the discussing it seems our top three are:

Auckland to LA on Mariner 2005
Tahiti B2B 2004 and
Tahiti to Fiji 2007

It seems there might be a theme here
Greg

Oh my goodness. I do not understand these terms.....FUN PANDA, CAMEL...etc. What does all this mean? Karen

These are acronyms for the names we've given to some group cruises.

Editing to add - here is a link to the name of the 2008 cruises.....

http://www.luxurycruisetalk.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=000004

Thank you ChatKat

Don't worry Karen, I get confused too, and I've been on a couple of "acronym cruises"! I have to refer to the list frequently.