The Cherry Blossom Cruise:
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After a long winter at home in Washington state, I was quick to say "yes" when my contact at American Cruise Lines wrote to me and asked me if I would be interested in going on an 11-day cruise that was timed to visit Washington DC at the peak of cherry blossom season. This was my fourth cruise at their expense... a good deal for both of us, since I like any excuse to go on a cruise and they like the publicity they get from my YouTube videos. They also get copies of all the photos and videos that I shoot during the cruise, which they can use in their marketing.
This was my 60th cruise overall. Unfortunately, my wife wasn't able to go with me this time... as our dog sitter was not available on this particular week. So, Kellyn and Carli stayed home... and I went off and spent the entire time shooting photos and videos.
The cruise line was promoting this as a "cherry blossom cruise" since the cherry trees would be in full bloom during the two days we would be in Washington DC. The Cruise Director of the ship announced a contest among the passengers to see who could get the best photo involving cherry blossoms. I took that as a personal challenge, and made it my goal to get a photo that would win the contest. I literally spent hours walking around the tidal basin in Washington DC, shooting photos of the cherry blossoms. When I got back to the ship and looked at my photos, this one stood out above the others:
My photo of the Washington Monument framed by cherry
blossoms at the tidal basin in Washington DC.
This photo ended up winning first place in the photo contest on our ship.
Another photo I shot that day, but which I did not enter in
the photo contest.
The cruise began and ended in Baltimore, Maryland. It was a cloudy day in Baltimore when I arrived and shot this photo of the ship from my drone... but the weather turned sunny the next day for our embarkation and sailaway.
When our ship visited Norfolk, we docked next to the Nauticus museum and the historic battleship, the USS Wisconsin. I had fun walking throughout the battleship one afternoon, and it was incredible to be aboard a ship that had not only fought in World War II and the Korean War, but which had also fired cruise missiles against Iraq in Operation Desert Storm.
A very scenic place we visited was Yorktown. Our ship docked at a little pier at beautiful Yorktown Beach... which I'm told is a very popular place during the summer months! Yorktown is fairly close to the historic towns of Jamestown and Williamsburg, and we were able to visit both while our ship was docked here.
In Washington DC, our ship
docked just a few minutes from the tidal basin, at a place known simply as The
Wharf.
It was a tourist-oriented area that was especially beautiful in the evenings.
This was my balcony cabin on
American Constitution...
An excellent cabin due to be located directly next to a lounge that features
food and snacks.
Another view of our ship docked in Washington DC...
I walked all around Washington DC, taking photos of all the classic tourist spots, including the White House.
I literally spent two days
shooting photos of every classic Washington DC thing I could find.
Maybe someday, one of these photos will make it in to an American Cruise Lines
brochure.
Historical talks are offered on the ship on some days, and sometimes the speakers dress up as historical characters.
Since the cherry blossoms only
bloom for about two weeks a year, most of the year this cruise is known as
an "American Revolution Cruise"... visiting many sites related to our
nation's fight for independence.
I'd like to think that American Cruise Lines might use this photo of mine to
promote the cruise:
My contact at American Cruise
Lines specifically asked me to visit the Smithsonian's museum of American
History
to get a photo of the original ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the movie
"The Wizard Of Oz".
The reason is that American Cruise Lines was the big corporate sponsor that
helped fund the exhibit.
The story of this cruise would
not be complete without acknowledging the special treatment I got from
Kalei Rosenfeld, my favorite server in the restaurant aboard American
Constitution.
She made my meal times so much more enjoyable than they would have been without
her!
Still photos are great, but to really get the full impact of all the beautiful things I saw on this cruise and all the things I got to do, you need to watch the YouTube video I made about it. This is a 30-minute video that tells the full story of all the places our ship visited during the week and all the things I did there. I like to say that if I had a show on the travel channel, this is the kind of show I would make:
To start the video playing, click the triangle in the middle of the video screen
To make the video fill the screen (recommended) click the little symbol in the lower right corner of the video player
There was also another video I made during this cruise.
It's much shorter than the previous one...
just four minutes of beautiful views of the cherry blossoms in Washington DC.
Here it is:
Need A Travel Agent?
Booking a cruise can be confusing, especially if you haven't been on many cruises before. There are lots of first-time cruiser mistakes that a travel agent can keep you from making. Also, the call centers of some of the big cruise lines are severely understaffed these days... creating extremely long wait times to talk to a customer service representative. When you book a cruise through a travel agent, you'll never have to get stuck on hold with the cruise line... your travel agent does all that kind of stuff for you.
If you're interested in booking a cruise with any cruise line... please feel free to use the services of my travel agent, Caitlin Gallagher. She's extremely pleasant to deal with, easy to talk to since she lives in the United States and speaks without any kind of an accent, and quite experienced and knowledgeable about different types of cruising. Caitlin is the owner of Ambren Travel. Visit her web site, check out the Ambren Travel Facebook page, or contact her using the information below.
Other Cruise Ships I've Been On
If you've enjoyed this page, you would probably also enjoy reading my web pages about:
My first river cruise: American Harmony
My second river cruise: American Melody
Viking's new Expedition Ship: Viking Octantis
July 2021 Iceland Cruise on Viking Sky
January 2020 Carnival Panorama
December 2019 cruise in The Haven on Norwegian Joy
May 2019 Carnival Horizon cruise
April 2019 Norwegian Breakaway cruise
January 2019 Caribbean cruise on the Viking Sea
December 2018 country music cruise on the Norwegian Getaway
May 2018 Panama Canal cruise on the Norwegian Bliss
January 2018 cruise on MSC Seaside in a suite with a private Jacuzzi
September 2017 Carnival Vista cruise in a Havana Suite
October 2017 Norwegian Sky cruise in the owner's suite
The $1600 per night owners suite: January 2017 Norwegian Pearl
An Un-crowded Small Ship Experience: Viking Star
One Of The Best Waterslides At Sea: Liberty Of The Seas
Quite Possibly The Best Cruise Ship In The World: Anthem Of The Seas
January 2017 Allure Of The Seas
One of the best cruise ships we've ever experienced: The Norwegian Escape
2015 Carnival Breeze back-to-back cruises
Back-to-back cruises on Independence Of The Seas
World's largest cruise ship: Allure Of The Seas
2015 Carnival Freedom repositioning cruise
Our first VIP cruise in The Haven: The Norwegian Getaway
Our June 2014 Alaska cruisetour with Princess
Our first cruise with Princess! January 2014 Sapphire Princess
2014 back-to-back eastern/western Caribbean cruises on the Carnival Glory
The completely refurbished Carnival Sunshine
One of Carnival's best ships, the Carnival Breeze
A sister ship to the Breeze, the Carnival Magic
Our 2013 cruise on the Carnival Conquest
One of the oldest ships in the fleet, the Carnival Inspiration
Our first Caribbean cruise: the Carnival Glory
Our many cruises on the Carnival Spirit
Our February 2010 cruise on the Carnival Splendor
Our January 2008 cruise on the Carnival Elation
Our April 2008 cruise on the Norwegian Star
Our first cruise! 1996 on Carnival Cruise Line's MS Holiday
Click here to see the complete chronology of all the cruises we've ever taken.
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