Cruiselady83

The lovely thing about cruising is that planning usually turns out to be of little use. But £ is of great use.

The days pass happily with me wherever my ship sails.

At sea, I learned how little a person needs, not how much.

There are three sorts of people; those who are alive, those who are dead, and those who are at sea.

Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing, 'Onward!'the sailors cry; Carry the lass that's born to be queen Over the sea to Skye

No better friend than a long voyage at sea

The sea! the sea! the open sea!The blue, the fresh, the ever free!

hark, now hear the sailors cry,

smell the sea, and feel the sky

let your soul & spirit fly, into the mystic...”

Please feel free to post any of your favourite poems or quotes about Ships,The Sea or Whatever.

July 1984.... My second cruise ,the first being The Carla C in 1983. I have very found memories of this ship.My dad and brother are no longer with us,but memories of this cruise always takes me back to happier times. Sadly the Carnival was struck by another liner and had to be scrapped and silenced forever in 2008.

Yes, It was my fourth cruise .June 1988. It was scrapped due to fire last year 2014

The Carla C (Fire-Scrapped 1994)

The Cunard Countess (Fire-Scrapped 2014)

The USS Carnival (Collision-Scrapped 2008)

The Carnival Festival (Out Of Commission and Scrapped 2003)

The Big Red Boat (Out Of Commission and Scrapped 2003)

See below as they were in their Glory Days

It was my very first cruise. August 1983. Also my favourite as well.It had a successful careerer, until it was taken out of service due to fire aboard her.She was silenced forever in 1994 scrapped in Greece. She photo below.

Ccc..ccc...carla c...la la la la la la.

I too am from England.Might you know the whereabouts of Leoarnd Wair the Cruise Director. He and our family became quite acquainted during the seven day voyage.I hope he is still with us, as well as his son (I cannot remember his first name). He was the ships photographer in 1983,then went on to become Cruise Director

I guess I will offer my picks. I have only been on Five cruises in my life-time, so by no means do I consider myself a well-seasoned lassie of the sea.

1.Costa Carla C (August 1983) - my very first cruise. As the saying goes "the first is usually the best. Great Cuisine . Midnight buffet was the main event. Six ports of call. San Juan,Curacuo, Grenada,Caracas Venezuela,Martinique,US Virgin Islands and back to San Juan. Flight back to England. Great staff, excellent food, cabin was clean and well attended to, passengers were OK, people are people. Entertainment was good. Fate: Ship caught on fire In Greece ,scrapped 1994.

2.Cunard Countess (June 1988)- My fourth Cruise. I always refer to this cruise as England on the sea. Those who are from England as is I, felt right at home. English cuisine, nearly all the crew were from The UK.Very quaint atmosphere. I did enjoy this cruise very much and as like the Carla C, It had a similar rating, however the one drawback being bad weather which seemed to plague us, and a mirror image of the Carla C port of calls. with the exception being Santo Domingo. Oh yes and single men to meet, for a single girl as I being then. Fate: Exactly as the Carla C. Fire,Greece Scrapped in 2014.

3.The Carnival (July 1984) - My second cruise. Formally known as Empress Of Britain . Another English staffed ship. Although not quiet as majestic as Cunard Countess. But as they say " Carnival The Fun Ships". Indeed it was just that. The cuisine was tolerable. Entertainment adequate. The port of calls were "quickies". It seemed this cruise went rather quick. Nassau,Bahamas . We flew from Heathrow to Miami to embark. The people aboard were really friendly and quit sociable. Very cooperative weather. My one gripe was the severe sunburn i had developed from using the wrong sun screen, the later part of the cruise I spent with cold face cloth's all over to cool my irritated skin. Fate: Collided with another ship. Scrapped in 2008.

4. The Carnival Festival (December 1987) My Third Cruise. Similar to the Carnival, A decent experience. The food was very good, the ports is where this cruise excelled, Jamaica, St.Maarten,Barbados,Martinique,San Juan .Some of the passengers on the ship urrrrgh! A few rude ones. Kept us up all night with noise on more than one occasion. Fate:It was decided the ship had seen it's better days. It was scrapped in India about 2003

5.The Big Red Boat (June 1994?) Actually this was my very last cruise.And the least remembered one at that. The only thing I do remember was having my Birthday Cake delivered to my table. The funny thing is "It really was not my birthday. It was in July. I believe From England to Miami (US). A very short cruise. Fate: Scrapped in 2012.

In Conclusion : It is rather sad that all Five of these ships I once sailed on no longer exist. It also tells me I am getting old. And it tells me that maybe it's time I start sailing the sea's again. It has been 21 years since my last cruise. I just cannot seem to find the free time any more.Thank You, for taking time out to read my lengthy post.

I am quite sure a few of us have had taken more than one cruise in our lifetime. Anyone who cares to share their top five cruise ships based on ship's food,port of call,ships entertainment,cabin, courtesy and efficiency of the ships staff, and whatever other category I may have omitted.

then you and I were on that same cruise.. At one point i had actually saved all my menus, daily pamphlets. I do remember the very last day of the cruise on the back cover of their daily flyer it read " I no wanna go home".

If there is anyone who sailed on the Carla C around 1983,wither it be crew or passenger please reply to my post, thank you.:)

I am going to go through my old photographs and see how many I can find, so i can upload a few.Please, if there is anyone who was on the Carla C during late August Of 1983, please reply to this post. Be it crew,passenger or any of the names I have mentioned in my post above, contact me either on this site, or on my You Tube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQfTsXa4uETq7pZ4jltIw9g

more photos of the Carla C. The final photo was after the fire of 1994. It's last and final voyage.

Hi, yes. The Carla C was my very first cruise. I was overwhelmed being just a 16 year old girl at the time. We left England (By Flight) to San Juan.It was the 20th of August 1983. I do believe it was a seven day cruise. So long ago, I forgot so much. One of the best times in my life. And I do have many of the old photographs to this day. Sadly both my Dad and my brother have passed. Rather sad in a way, but still one of my fondest and favourite out of the five cruises.Actually reading this post is what made me join this website. Yes I even remember some of the crew members. Emilio our steward. Louise was the care taker for the kiddies. I do remember Leonard Weir from Manchester, England was the cruise director. Pasquale was our maitre d. And yes I do remember the Carla C Song. It made me sad to learn of it's untimely demise in 1994 due to fire. They say the first is the best, and i must attest how true that is for me to say.