What is your absolute most favorite moment of being on a Disney ship?

The second my foot steps off the gangway and hits the actual ship on embarkation day. Of course, when driving to the ship and you round the corner and see the ship is a close second! Oh, and the embarkation lunch at Cabanas overlooking Port Canaveral until the ship leaves. I could go on and on!
 
The second my foot steps off the gangway and hits the actual ship on embarkation day. Of course, when driving to the ship and you round the corner and see the ship is a close second! Oh, and the embarkation lunch at Cabanas overlooking Port Canaveral until the ship leaves. I could go on and on!

These actually are my three too! Sorry I'm a copycat!:thumbsup2
 
After muster drill when the vacation truly begins. (Although depending on the itinerary, there may be a specific sight or activity that surpasses the feeling of "my vacation is still all ahead of me" that I have on the first day of a trip. In Alaska, nothing beat Tracy Arm for me even though sailing out of Vancouver was gorgeous).
 
Just casually walking around. Stairs, decks, hallways. Working from home and sitting all day, this is welcomed change of pace. I try not to spend too much time in the stateroom during the day.
 


SO many good ones!

For Alaska I always jog to the pier and watch the Wonder come in, that's my moment. Otherwise, it's the moment we board. It's just so magical.

A close second would be meeting my servers, or seeing if it is the server I asked for. We have had the same one on 3 cruises and it's like seeing an old friend, because he IS an old friend now!
 
Being disconnected from the 'real' world. I didn't realize how wonderful it was until we were on our way home, sitting at JFK with the news on TV. It was so great to NOT have the news even available to us for 10 days. I realized just how relaxed I had been on vacation despite having a very full and busy trip!
 


The ships have a special smell ( OMG I'm weird) and as soon as we board I inhale and say "Ahhhh There's that smell"...... I love that smell!

Not weird at all! I was going to answer this as well. There are even times at home when we walk through a store or something and ds and I look at each other and say: "Smells like the cruise." Not sure what it is, usually a mix of smells.
I also love just sitting on the veranda and watching the port bustle and inhaling that first breath of true relaxation.
 
For me it's when we sit down for dinner. There's a lot of activity getting on the ship, the excitement of walking around the ship, unpacking clothes in the cabin. But when I arrive for dinner and sit down, I can truly relax since I know I'm going to be taken care of for the rest of the cruise. I can't wait until our next one, just 63 days away!!!
 
Mine is hearing the horn too! I had it as a ringtone on my cellphone and it drove my kids nuts! I couldn't understand it!
I have it as my reminder sound in Outlook at work. It drives everyone crazy but makes me smile every time. And the closer I get to cruise time.... the bigger the SMILE!!!!!!!!

I get butterflies when we come over the bridge and I can spot the ship from the highway the first time... and those butterflies just get crazier as we get close, and once we are checked in they calm down until we make that first magical step onto the ship when all the worries in the world start to lift off my shoulders. BTW DH doesn't like the name announcement for some reason, and likes tease them and give them goofy names, then say... only kidding. One time they didn't even blink and we were announced as the Ish-kabibble's. LOL :laughing:

But as the OP said - the minute that horn plays I feel like I'm a little kid, and don't have a care in the world! It is a week of no stress, no electronics and nothing but fun.
 
I have it as my reminder sound in Outlook at work. It drives everyone crazy but makes me smile every time. And the closer I get to cruise time.... the bigger the SMILE!!!!!!!!

I get butterflies when we come over the bridge and I can spot the ship from the highway the first time... and those butterflies just get crazier as we get close, and once we are checked in they calm down until we make that first magical step onto the ship when all the worries in the world start to lift off my shoulders. BTW DH doesn't like the name announcement for some reason, and likes tease them and give them goofy names, then say... only kidding. One time they didn't even blink and we were announced as the Ish-kabibble's. LOL :laughing:

But as the OP said - the minute that horn plays I feel like I'm a little kid, and don't have a care in the world! It is a week of no stress, no electronics and nothing but fun.

We love the horn too! Oh, and the little dings before the Captain makes announcements every morning.
 
Tough to narrow down to one. The few that instantly come to mind are any meal (brunch and/or dinner) at Palo. The moment the muster drill ends as that is when the cruise really begins - up until then, you're often taking care of logistics, getting settled in stateroom, perhaps making plans/reservations at guest services, etc. Lastly, walking around the ship - particularly up on deck - late at night (well, as a night owl, not really that late at all IMO as it is a ghost town even before midnight) when I have the ship practically to myself.
 
My favorite thing is sitting on the verandah in the morning when the ship is in port getting a first glimpse of the fun that is in store. (Also seeing how much more awesome our ship is than the others)
 
Tough to narrow down to one. The few that instantly come to mind are any meal (brunch and/or dinner) at Palo. The moment the muster drill ends as that is when the cruise really begins - up until then, you're often taking care of logistics, getting settled in stateroom, perhaps making plans/reservations at guest services, etc. Lastly, walking around the ship - particularly up on deck - late at night (well, as a night owl, not really that late at all IMO as it is a ghost town even before midnight) when I have the ship practically to myself.

The late night walks is another one for me too. We often stay forward so when we come out of the bars at night we have the walk by D Lounge, then through Shutters, getting a view of the mostly deserted atrium. A couple years ago we stayed aft, which was convenient of course as we just hopped in the elevator, but I remember mentioning to DH that I missed that walk back to the room at that time. It's the little things. :goodvibes
 
I've sailed on many other ships, but only Disney gives you that magic feeling when you corss that bridge to enter the ship -- it never gets old! Love our first dinner onboard -- the restaurants and servers are always so special. And finally, sitting on our verandah looking at the stars. And as everyone else has stated -- that glorious sailaway horn!
 
I have couple - that first step on board the ship, the When You Wish Upon a Star from the horn and, when we're on the classics, our first dinner in AP (always requested for embarkation day). When Sorcerer Mickey comes out, I feel like it sets up the magic the for the rest of the trip. I love that show!
 
These are my three most memorable moments:

Went on the Magic the very first year of service back in '98. Everyone was checking in but no one was getting in-line, this was back before the boarding numbers. I told DW that at a certain time if no one was going to start the line I would. At that time I went to the head of the line, DW had the video running, and you should see the line form, people running from all over the terminal to get in-line. DW and I were the first people introduced on that cruise.
Anytime we want a good laugh, we bring up that video.

At CC-SB, DW is on a raft about 20 yards out, I take the camera and start walking out to take her picture. I see all the little fishes scatter, look around and see a 2-3 foot Black Tip Shark swimming around. DW is using her hands to move the raft creating small splashes. The shark turns toward her, I tell DW to stop cause I see a shark. What does DW do? She jumps off the raft causing a bigger splash! I have to run to get between her and the shark.

For our 25th anniversary someone put up decorations on our door announcing our celebration to everyone else onboard. We do not have any idea who did this. We came back from breakfast the second day of a seven day cruise and there they were. What a surprise and a welcome pixiedust: moment.
 

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