Do you remember the TROPICALE?

[dmwnc1959]

The first cruise my sisters & I ever went on was on the Tropicale. In fact, that was the first time my 1/2 sister ever saw the ocean. I remember her jumping in the water for our swim with the stingrays excursion in Grand Cayman and yelling about her eyes burning and the water being salty and thinking she must be dumber than a post, until I remembered she'd never been in the ocean before! We still keep in touch with our table mates from that cruise and travel to Indianapolis to see them every few years.

 

I'm so sorry but I had to LOL on that part! :o ;)

 

Funny thing is, that ship is absolutely tiny compared to most of the other ships I've sailed on since, but it sure seemed HUGE at the time!

 

It's cool to see how cruising has evolved.

 

What's even more amazing is that after the TROPICALE was built, the next series of ships were referred to as SuperLiners, the JUBILEE being the lead ship of that class. They were roughly 47,000 gross tons, whereas the new Carnival Breeze is 128,000 gross tons, the Norwegian Epic and Queen Mary 2 around 150,000gt, and the Oasis of the Seas 225,000gt.

 

I still have my old brochure from the 80's with Carnival, Tropicale, Holiday, Mardi Gras and the "new Celebration"... with Kathie Lee Gifford on the pages! "In the morning, in the evening, ain't we got fun" ...those commercials were great!

 

Here ya go, gotta love it! From October 1985...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BECwNurBbEQ

[tmackel]

You never forget your first ship :)

[Aplmac]

You never forget your first ship :)

I started late -too late. At age 57. In May,2007. Carnival Destiny.

.

[boatnick]

You never forget your first ship :)

 

So true, When I think back I can remember much more about that first cruise on the Tropicale than any after that.

Especially that first TOILET FLUSH, scared the b-jeebers out of me. I thought it was coming back at me!!! :eek: then :confused:.

JK

[spotdog32]

Sailed with a friend we each had our own cabin we were on The Carnivale we were 19 and eager to get drunk:o boy we did i remember we paid cash and we also were never carded EVER it was 4 days to Nassau and Freeport it bite me and has stayed with me. I will throw this question out to everyone.... does anyone remember the BOOKLETS that Carnival would send out and in that book was all your documents. The Carnival i remember was a neat old ship but tiny.for college kids it was GREAT FUN!!!!:cool::):D

[sylvis]

My husband and I sailed her May 30, 1993 for our honeymoon. We paid $2100 but that included airfare to San Juan and transfers. I do remember the lack of an atrium, sitting in the lobby trying to decide on shore excursions, and the lack of food at certain times! Got us hooked! Looking forward to the Valor in 27 weeks!!

[Stina214]

She was actually our third cruise. Lots of wonderful memories.

[sparkscruiser]

No luck with my scanner for doing the Capers.... I may have to take them to work and scan them there. Having these was to my advantage - I got Carnival to add this cruise so that made me Platinum on our last one!

 

We paid cash for everything "extra", and I do remember that you could go and board the ship for the Bon Voyage Party and you had to leave before sailing...... we lived in SoCal at the time and it was a regular thing to go to the dock, party for a while and then watch her sail away without us.

[sapper1]

Sorry, but the Carnivale was nothing like the Tropicale. The Tropicale was purpose built for cruises and the Carnivale was an old refurbished ocean liner. We sailed on the Carnivale and had to climb in the sink in the room to look out the window. Tropicale outside cabins were very similar to Fantasy Class ships. We loved being on the Tropicale on Empress deck and just rolling down the hall to the main showroom. We sailed on the Tropicale from San Juan in 1994 and from New Orleans Christmas of 1995. I actually prefer the Tropicale to the Magic. Loved the more intimate, less crowded Tropicale. Since we are older now we don't use waterslides, waterworks etc and found the public lounges and casino way too crowded on the Magic.

Just lurking here and you are correct. The Carnivale was originally the Empress of Britain. I had the pleasure of sailing on her from Saint John, New Brunswick to Liverpool England when she was in her first year of operation and was owned by Canadian Pacific. I was only 11 years old but at that point it was the highlight of my life. That was back in the day of regularly scheduled ocean crossings.

 

I still have the booklet with the passenger list published in it. That was before privacy laws made such lists illegal.

Edited April 8, 2012 by sapper1

[richfret]

Remembering the Tropicale is a mixed bag with some good and some bad memories. We sailed the Tropicale on a 10 day cruise beginning December 2, 2000. The ship went through the Panama Canal to Lake Gatun and then turned around and went back. It was small enough to fit where most the the current ships can not. It had 8 decks. The Riviera Deck (Deck 1) was only available for 1/2 the ship. I guess the other half was for the crew. The theater was only 1 story and was located on the Empress Deck (Deck 4). There were no cabins above the 4th deck except for 12 Suites located on Deck 7 (Verandah and Sun - one end had one name and the the other end had another name). When you looked at the ceilings, you could see all the pipes for water, heat, drainage, etc. that were exposed for view. Normal cruises were 4 and 5 day out of Tampa. Our cruise was a special 10 day cruise.

 

While on this cruise, Carnival announced to the Public that the ship had been sold and within a few weeks, it was gone from their fleet. Although it had been supposedly refurbished, it was in bad shape. The grout in the shower was not cleaned and needed replacing. One of the engines broke down and we missed the port of Aruba and had to limp into the next port for repairs. I remember the ship leaning to one side and we traveled at just a few knots. Many cruisers were disgusted and there were petitions to get cruise money back.

 

Now after 15 cruises all with Carnival I look back and though I was not happy with this cruise, Carnival made up for it with 14 very good cruises. I am already booked for number 16 in

2013.

 

On that 2000 cruise, I can still remember being on the top deck (Sports - Deck 8) and looking with envy at the neighboring ships that even then were 4 and 5 decks higher. All history now.

[LuckyZ]

DW took our honeymoon cruise on the Tropicale in June 1986 (25 yes ago).

 

Excellent memories of life on the ship. For dinner, we got paired up with 4 other honeymoon couples and they were great).

 

The only bad memories was of the stops in the Mexican Riviera. We especially didn't care for Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan. Cabot was nice.

Edited April 8, 2012 by LuckyZ

[rmp1041]

This was our first cruise, also. It was our 25th anniversary and it was mid October and I believe it was a 10 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera. I could not believe that a ship could be sooooo big. Little did I know that there would be such mega ships to come. But it was the start of many many cruises on different lines. She started it all!

[rmp1041]

By the way the date on that cruise was October 1984 and the Tropicale was a new ship. Great Memories!

[GOUSFBULLS44]

It was our first 7 night cruise and it went out of Tampa.

[glrounds]

Don't remember the year, but it was a7 day cruise on the Mexican Riviera from LA. We booked it and told or friends about it and took their money and info to get them on the cruise also. Since our friends were all out of the area and there were so many of them, the travel agent just gave us or cabin for FREE. Cruise the Tropicale 2 more times before she left LA.

 

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[yogi_6977]

this was the first ship that I sailed on to mexico in 88:)

[navyvet8395]

Interesting. This show reminded me of the Love Boat episodes. Hilarious, as I remember them. The cruise director had a clipboard and checked off your name as you arrived? Can you imagine? Everyone knew your name too, from the Captain to the bartender. Too funny.

 

REALLY?? Its HOLLYWOOD... They only spotlighted a small handful of people in that show. Not 1,200- 2000 like reality... LOL.

[navyvet8395]

It was also my first Carnival cruise out of tampa sometime around Dec 1999.

[funinthesun1964]

REALLY?? Its HOLLYWOOD... They only spotlighted a small handful of people in that show. Not 1,200- 2000 like reality... LOL.

 

 

LOL! I had to look back at my quoted post, which was from 2.5 years ago.

I realize that the show was from HOLLYWOOD and FICTITIOUS. I was simply comparing the smaller ships and different times to the mega ships and stricter regulations that we have today. ;)

[ZwithKids]

I remember when it caught fire.

 

My family of four was on her when she caught fire. (1999, October I think) A vacation my husband and I will never forget. My kids were 4 and 1. It was a 4 day cruise that lasted 6 days. Upside - they did give us our money back for that cruise and gave us another 4 day cruise free.

 

The fire happened during dinner on Sunday night (should have been our last night). Then Monday tropical storm (Harvey) went over us. Tuesday was the most wonder day of the cruise - free drinks and sunshine. We were towed into port on Wednesday.

 

That was our first cruise and for some reason I was hooked!

 

Thanks for the memories and pics. Forgot how little she really was :)

[journeymore]

My first cruise March 1990. Always remember your first.

[rmp1041]

She was actually our third cruise. Lots of wonderful memories.

 

Carnival must have done it right because it started a lot of people to continue cruising for years.

 

Yes at the time we cruised on her 10/84 you were allowed to have visitors in your cabin before sailing. I remember my uncle and aunt came aboard and we had champagne and canapes for our anniversary.

 

Times have changed for the USA and the cruising industry. However, most people still love cruising including my husband and I.

[sjcruiser]

I have never been on here, but she was one of the last ships (along with the Carnivale) my grandmother and great aunt (her sister), sailed together on while they were living. They are the reason I love to cruise today.!!!

Edited June 11, 2014 by sjcruiser

[diamonddaddy]

Hey thanks for the great post!! I was on the inaugural cruise on the MS Tropical and it was great!

[JohnNsandiego]

New here, and after just finishing a Royal Caribbean cruise in New England, I decided I would research the old Tropicale and see what happened to her. Its so great to hear the many stories and find the pictures online! Google Images has some old itins and pics as well.

 

The Tropicale was my first cruise, and it was a week long cruise from LA to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo. I am thinking it was 1988, since we got on the boat on a Sunday, which was Christmas, and got off the boat on New Years eve. I had just turned 13 at the time if thats the right year. Since both Christmas and New Years happened on the boat, I have fond memories of the trip. I am suprised it was another 24 years before I would step on a cruise ship, but now I have done two more and love it.