What Was Royal Caribbean Like Back in the Day?

It's fascinating to read about your experience "back in the day." Do you recall having a "formal" night? If so, what did the passengers wear?

We dressed up every night. Men always wore suits and women wore dresses or evening pants. In the early 70's women were just beginning to "find" ourselves, so it was fashionable for young liberated women like us to wear pants for formal attire. (Some of the older women found it quite inappropriate, which made me love it all the more.) On formal night most men wore tuxes. Ruffled shirts were just starting to be popular with the younger men. Women went all out, many wore long formals. And, we stayed dressed the whole evening.

I am going to go find my old cruise photo albums! I know I have some pictures from that first cruise.

What a great thread! I was just thinking about my first RCCL cruise on the Nordic Prince in 1982. We went to Bermuda. I shared an inside cabin with my two sisters and was that room small! We took turns getting ready for dinner because we of course dressed up every night. We where in our early twenties so we spent time in the Disco! It was the 80's and I remember two of the Solid Gold dancers (remember that dance show?) that would dance with all of the passengers. There was a group of 20 somethings on board and the Cruise Staff where fairly young so I got to hang out with them. Assigned seating in the the dinning room, midnight buffets, baked Alaska that was actually flaming unlike how they do it now. We loved every minute of our cruises, felt so glamorous and grown up. I do remember the waiters really pushing us hard for a good review, which always made me uncomfortable. The waiters did do an excellent job though so it wasn't like we where gonna give them a bad review...

I haven't cruised on RCCL/RCI for many years, now cruise on another line almost exclusively but, those early days on cruising always make me smile. I have so many wonderful memories with my family since we all used to cruise together at least once a year. I still love being on the ocean and can't wait for my next cruise!!

The Nordic Prince 1992 to Bermuda. You never forget your first. I thought the ship was huge. Meals were awesome in the Main Dining Room. A midnight buffet every night with ice and chocolate carvings that everyone would walk the line first taking pictures. At the end you were provided a "roster" with the names of your fellow passengers.

I wish I could go back!

Michael

Ah yes. I remember baked alaska and cherry's jubilee :)

I have a question. for those that sailed in the 80's or early 90's

what was the cost of the cruise fare back then?

1995 The Monarch of the Seas.

Outside cabin, our cabin steward had 9 cabins to take care! He was always in the hallway, never had to hunt him down.

All male servers in the MDR.

The wine sommelier who carried the tasting cup around his neck.

Formal nights were gowns for me and suits for my husband.

Skeet shooting off the stern, watching dolphins race the ship.

Cherries jubilee made table side.

Seated at a table with 3 other couples, getting to know them without technology.

Tendering at Labadee, no lounge chairs back then.

Midnight buffet.

Singing waiters, each night a different country was honored.

What a great way to remember our first cruise.

Laurie

My first RCCL cruise was on Viking Serenade in 1989. I started cruising with DH in 1982 and at that time cabins were still opened with a metal key and we got off and on the ship with just a slip of paper.

The Pursers Office was only opened during "business hours" - 9am - 5pm and was closed on the day we disembarked the ship. There was always a mad rush the last day to get all of the tip money before we went to dinner.

On our first cruise, we had to go to a special room to use electrical appliances like blow dryers, hot rollers, or to iron clothing as there weren't any electrical outlets in the cabin.

There were theme nights where the passengers actually dress according to the theme - Country & Western, 50's night, etc.

The pools were only a little larger than my hot tub. LOL!

Right now I am trying to update one daughter's cruise history with RCCL so we were talking about our first cruise on the Sun Viking in 1987. One thing the company has not done is put on their computers any information on cruising history before 2000 and now they want us to prove that we were on cruises 1987, 1989 and 1991. One of the things they ask for as proof is the sea pass (oops we used keys!). What I remember is a small cabin for 4 inside of course. There were curtains over the one closet that swayed in and out with the movement of the ship (and ooh there was movement --not much in the stabilizer department then). Food was available only in the dining room and you were called to dinner, breakfast and lunch by a three tone chime. Food was great and they brought your plated meal but served vegetables from a large tray of choices. The themes were carried out by the menu and by the waiter's dress. I remember Italian night and western night (with a very early version of Quest that was very "g" rated and kids were participants. Most of the entertainment was games and passenger participation. They gave out prizes to the children including box games and Walkman radios and books -- pretty big pile. I also remember that we dressed in shifts because all 4 could not be off the beds at the same time getting ready and the ladders to upper bunks had to be moved so lower bunk person could get out of bed.

Still we loved it and nothing was as special as that first magical cruise. Now if I can just get RCCL to admit we went on the cruise even if they didn't keep the information on file either.

My first cruises were on the Sun Viking on July 5, 1977 and the Nordic Prince on December 24, 1977. They were two glorious 14 day cruises to the Caribbean with my parents, sister and brother. At the time, my mom was able to book my 21 year old sister as a solo traveler and RCCL would find another traveler to room with her. Well that never happened (on both cruises), so my parents got their own room and kids got there own room. Nice! Granted they were on the very bottom level but we had an outside room eith a porthole and we were on the ship!

I remember throwing streamers when we left port, steel drum bands playing by the pool, dressing up for dinner alot and having my picture taken with the captain. There was the midnight buffet every night, ice scultures, bingo, and the "kids club" was going out and finding kids your age to hang with! There was endless shuffle board and swimming in the pool that had porthole windows in it so you could see under the water in the pool from the floor below!

The Crow's Nest was the best bar to go to (not me drinking yet ☺️) because of the view!

I still have the passanger lists, daily newsletters, MDR menus from both cruises and RCCL actually gave me credit for these cruises because i was able to provide proof that we traveled so long ago. The "free" gifts were also fun also. I have playing cards, address book, ice bucket, drink coasters and a radio all with the RCCL logo on it. My kids laugh at my AM/FM radio because it looks like a soda can, but I loved that thing!!

I have great memories of a pretty spectacular experience with my family and visiting places like Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Barbados, Curacao, Haiti, Martinique, Aruba, Caracas, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Grenada and Antigua.

I love reading about everyone's experiences and I can' wait to cruise again in November.

Our first cruise was on the Enchantment of the Seas in 1999. Painted on the side of the ship was "Like No Vacation on Earth", and they tried to make it like that.

 

We had tags we put on our luggage and they picked up our luggage at the airport and took it to the ship. We did not see it after we checked it at our home airport until it was outside our room. Hh

 

As others have said, the ship was smaller and there were almost no balconies. This was before the Enchantment was stretched and more balconies were added.

 

Everyone dressed up for dinner. There were no shorts, t-shirts, or jeans in the dining room. The compass showed the dress code for dinner and people observed it. For some reason, people did not seem to think they shouldn't.

 

Formal nights had a good number of men in tuxes, the rest in suits, and most women were in long dresses. Nobody wore shorts or jeans.

 

We shared tables in the main dining room with other cruisers and generally enjoyed it. The service was better and they wanted you to enjoy the food. The waiters and assistant waiters were not rushed the way they are now.

 

There was live music around the ship at night and live music on the pool deck.

 

We had towel animals every night and chocolates on the pillows. We did not have to ask for ice.

 

By 1999, there was only one midnight buffet. We had the option to file past all the tables and take pictures first, and then later enjoy the buffet.

 

You were greatly cut off from the real world after the ship left. There were no computers or Wi-Fi on board. Nobody had a phone that would work at sea.

 

The self assist debarkation option is very popular now - we did not have this option then.

 

The cruise line seems now to have unfriendly policies when you book your cruise with them. The main dining room has been wait listed over a year out and not everyone can even be wait listed, when we booked. Getting the dining time you wanted was not hard then.

 

I enjoy the new big ships with so many features and I enjoy having a balcony. The service was better because there were more employees to serve us.

 

I still enjoy the cruises I go on today.

Was there chair hogging back then?

Our first RC cruise was Song of Norway 1983. I remember most of the things other posters mentioned, but mostly I remember the beds. We had a cabin with a double bed......but it was a 3/4 mattress and one of us was always hitting the board under the mattress! Not very comfy!

I remember when early morning coffee was on deck, but breakfast, lunch and dinner were in the dining room. If you had first seating breakfast was at 7, lunch at Noon and dinner at 6. We chose second seating so we didn't have to go to breakfast until 8:30!

There was no casino, just a few slot machines in a hallway, I think there were 3 or 4, and one night there was a casino night with blackjack tables and a roulette wheel.

I also know we were paying about 900 pp for a week's cruise in an outside room, pretty comparable to prices for a balcony today.

Ships had no DL, no CL, no specialty restaurants, but we still loved cruising, and we still do!

Dressing up for dinner was the norm. I was not prepared with fancy evening gowns on my first cruise so I my second one in 1995, I took an all beaded and jeweled cocktail dress that I swear weighted 25 pounds. No way would I have gotten under 50 pound luggage limit on airlines.

 

Something I thought interesting each stateroom got a copy of the passenger list.

 

 

 

 

main dining room breakfast menu

 

 

main dining room lunch menu

Captain Johnny was the Staff Captain..............

Our first cruise was for our 10th anniversary way back in 1989 on Song of Norway, and was a Southern Caribbean loop, out of San Juan, visiting St Thomas, Antigua, Barbados, St Maarten and Martinique.

What a beautiful ship she was, I remember most how the outside decks were all real wood, varnished, and so highly polished that when you walked on them in sneakers, they squeaked, like a gym floor. The ship was the biggest thing we'd ever seen on the water!

The service was impeccable, the food outstanding, the drinks were strong and cheap, and the music was steel drum, and the pool was salt water, emptied every night and refilled every day, and most of all, the pool was never crowded, and passengers were friendlier to each other, especially your table mates at dinner.

Maybe all these memories are why I get so disappointed that all we see now in new ships are bigger, and not necessarily better......

I remember Dining room Captains making Caesar Salad table side plus Cherries Jubilee. Those were the days!!!

...and bananas foster!!! YUM!

I'm going back to the mid 70's, but I remember that guests were allowed on board before sailing and hearing the "all ashore that's going ashore" announcement. I also remember throwing streamers to those on the dock as we pulled out.

I'm sure both of those traditions were lost due to security concerns and dockside cleanup!

I also remember as we pulled into Nassau several times, children jumping into the water and passengers threw coins and dollars down to them. The kids would dive for the coins and come up to show everyone they retrieved it and put it in their mouth to dive for more.

SS Norway was my first cruise, right before it exploded. Was chosen to sit at Captains Table...first and last time that happened.

Great food, but not as wide of a selection as there is today. As others pointed out, if you didn't like the menu, they'd bring you something off the menu, prepared special for you.

It was much more formal, everynignt. Also, much more rigid regarding times to be seated for meals.

Midnight buffet was coop, but was never that hungry to really take advantage of it.

Not nearly as many things to do on board vs today, where you're hard pressed to see the whole ship, let alone participate in all the activities. I don't remember the entertainment being all that good then, either.

Seemed like a lot more drinking compared to today.

Cabins back then weren't nearly as nice as they are today.

SS Norway docked in Port Au Prince, Haiti. I remember riding a horse up to the Citadel and back down. Police literally beat the kids with ropes for bothering the tourists. Not much to see or do, there and not necessarily a place I thought I'd revisit again.

Casino was teeny-tiny. There seemed to be smoking allowed everywhere, and everyone but me was smoking.

I'm of the mind today's cruises are better, and certainly a better value.

I've heard the ship's orchestra many years ago used to be bigger -- 11 or more pieces instead of 9. (I think the oasis class still has 11 pieces, right?)

RCI is cutting out a some of the fun for me. My last 2 Navigator cruises have not had:

* Singing waiters. I always enjoyed O Sole Mio, and for Texas cruises "Deep in the Heart of Texas".

* Final song "Until We Meet Again" and curtain call for the crew the last night in the theater. I don't know why this has been cut out.

But kudos to RCI for keeping most of the live music. Carnival has cut this way back. It is the live music mostly that keeps me loyal to Royal.

What I remember most was the dock side local bands that played as you got off the ship and then as the ship left the port. There would be many people lining the dock waving goodbye as you left port. Also the tug boats that were necessary to pull the ship away from the dock and push it out until the ships engines could be engaged.

Was there chair hogging back then?

Funny you should ask - on our first cruise (Home Lines Atlantic) we had to reserve the deck chairs (for a fee) and they were tagged with our name on it. The deckhand set them up in the area of our choice, and they were exclusively ours to use throughout the cruise.

I've heard the ship's orchestra many years ago used to be bigger -- 11 or more pieces instead of 9. (I think the oasis class still has 11 pieces, right?)

 

RCI is cutting out a some of the fun for me. My last 2 Navigator cruises have not had:

* Singing waiters. I always enjoyed O Sole Mio, and for Texas cruises "Deep in the Heart of Texas".

* Final song "Until We Meet Again" and curtain call for the crew the last night in the theater. I don't know why this has been cut out.

 

But kudos to RCI for keeping most of the live music. Carnival has cut this way back. It is the live music mostly that keeps me loyal to Royal.

A couple of weeks ago on the Nav we were all singing along with our waiters as they serenaded us with Deep in the Heart of Texas. Some of us more loudly than others. :D

Our first RCCL cruise was on Nordic Prince, now long gone, out of NYC to Bermuda. This was in 1987 and "things to do" on the ship were fewer than today, but interesting. We had skeet shooting off the aft and could wander freely pretty much everywhere, including the bridge, with an almost absent sense of the hyper-security of today. I think service was definitely on a higher level but then the ships were much smaller than today. It was much more relaxed, quieter and less of a party-hearty atmosphere than today but very pleasant. Cruising today is definitely different but no less enjoyable!

A couple of weeks ago on the Nav we were all singing along with our waiters as they serenaded us with Deep in the Heart of Texas. Some of us more loudly than others. :D

Glad to hear this has returned. I'm on the Sept. 27 sailing.

Yes, the orchestras were once 12 pieces.

A couple of weeks ago on the Nav we were all singing along with our waiters as they serenaded us with Deep in the Heart of Texas. Some of us more loudly than others. :D

There was also singing waiters on the Oasis in May. Maybe they've returned?! :p

It's fascinating to read about your experience "back in the day." Do you recall having a "formal" night? If so, what did the passengers wear?

What they didn't wear was t-shirts and jeans or shorts, we did Sovereign of the Seas a few times in late 80's and early 90's it was a amazing ship at the time and the largest cruise ship there was very elegant. I always had a Tux but most people had suits on formal nights . Back in 70's everyone had a suit every night ( glad they stopped that), but back then people dressed on planes and every place else.

Well, back in the day for me was 2004, 11 years ago. IMO, we've seen a huge change in 11 years and 11 cruises on RCI.

1. Food was so much better. Lets put it this way. If I was to go on an RCI ship today and get the same level of food that I did on the EOS in 2004, I'd be ecstatic.

2. Service was incredible. I remember grabbing my wine bottle to pour myself some wine. I didn't know any better - our waiter almost had a fit. Today if you were to wait for a waiter to pour your wine you'd probably not get a drink.

3. People definitely dressed a little more fancier. Formal night was pretty much 100% exclusively formal in the MDR. If you wanted to be more relaxed, you went to the buffet.

4. The CD and staff really worked hard to ensure there were lots of things going on and that passengers were entertained - and not everything was done by the CD staff to make money. Two years later in 2006 on the NOS I saw things beginning to change - bingo games became the highlight of the day.

5 Remember the midnight chocolate buffet, chocolates on the pillows? Yeah, I know that the midnight buffet may have been a waste of food but it just shows the level of concern for the service they provided was paramount in everything they did.

6. One change that I think RCI enacted that has been detrimental to their service is the introduction of MTD. While NCL does a great job at this, RCI does not. RCI needs to decide, one way or the other, got fully to MTD or go back to traditional. This trying to be half pregnant isn't working. I find the service in the MTD portion of the MDR is noticeably lacking.