How Have Cruise Ships Changed Since the 70's?

[Honolulu Blue]

I don't have much to say about the original question, except 1) it's been interesting reading, 2) just about all those old ships are no longer in use by the major cruise lines, and 3) the Whatever Happened To... forum might be of interest to see where they all went: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=56 .

 

I remember tendering to Cozumel because even though the cruise ship was relatively small, the port was not big enough to accommodate us. Is that still the case?

 

Cozumel can accommodate up to six cruise ships at one time these days. And sometimes even that's not enough, in which case the lucky loser(s) will have to tender. But 99% of the time you'll dock there.

[sprint180]

I have been on Princess, I think you would like them. I'm sure the others mentioned are just as good. No matter which you choose I hope you come back so we can get a bit of comparison. Having only cruised since 2011 I often hear of the glory days but have no idea what is so different.

[GreeneyedJean]

Every comment has been interesting. I didn't take my first cruise untill 2009 but I am happy to learn that things are still here that were in the past. The trend seems to be better with time.

[GUT2407]

PrIces have dropped dramatically in real terms as well.

 

The first two people I know who took cruises were both millionaires they both complained about drink prices ($3 for a coke when we were paying about 35 cents).

 

Even over the last few years the price of a cruisenitselfvhas stayed pretty much the same so over 10 years hats a big fall in real terms.

[cruisemom42]

If you want the same service experience as back then, you can still get it on several luxury lines. The service and food will be similar, the size of the ships will be similar, and the high prices will also be similar.

 

But to complain about the mass market lines of today which charge much, much less than what a cruise cost 40 years ago, is not being honest. If someone complains about how "things have gone down hill", but happily pays the much lower fares while complaining, they are NOT being honest, but just being unrealistic. They are being cheap, unwilling to pay for the same levels of service they once had, and blaming everything on the "greedy" cruise lines.

 

It's a very simple idea - you get what you pay for. So, pay more for a luxury cruise and THEN you can get "the same level of service in the MDR as you got back then." But don't willingly pay much less and then complain about lowered service levels while you enjoy your savings.

 

Your choice.

 

I cruise on a variety of lines, some are mass market but others are not. My favorite two lines are Voyages to Antiquity (one ship; holds about 350 passengers when fully booked) and Swan Hellenic (Minerva, about same pax load). The average cruise on these two lines begins at around $4000.

 

I pay quite a high premium to sail as a solo passenger when I travel on the mass market ships, so trust me, I am not 'realizing' a lot of cost savings!

 

That said, I can appreciate each line I've been on for the things they do well, with the exception of NCL, which I'll not set foot on again) As I've said before, it's the itinerary that most attracts me to a specific cruise, and having a great enrichment program onboard is a strong second. Food, entertainment and cabin size/type are much lower on my list (although of the three I'd put food closer to the top).

 

My only point to the OP was that the cruise lines of the 1970s (still some of the same ones in operation today) are not the same now as they were then.

[walksonwater]

I cruise on a variety of lines, some are mass market but others are not. My favorite two lines are Voyages to Antiquity (one ship; holds about 350 passengers when fully booked) and Swan Hellenic (Minerva, about same pax load). The average cruise on these two lines begins at around $4000.

 

 

 

My only point to the OP was that the cruise lines of the 1970s (still some of the same ones in operation today) are not the same now as they were then.

 

Cruisemom42, Your last sentence sums up the responses, I think, of all the previous experienced cruisers. That is, the bar has been set higher today and met by all cruise lines, even those which were low end back then. There still might be low end lines, but it all is relative and even those achieve a level of comfort not offered by all lines decades ago.

 

It also hadn't occurred to me that ports of call might matter! For example, if a ship is docked only for 5 or 6 hours, what can passengers reasonably do? When I was young, all I wanted to do was go to the beach, never too far from the dock. I remember happily snorkeling off a small dock waiting for the tender in Cozumel, the colorful fish were so plentiful.

[Beachdude]

I think the Disney ships are a good choice for two reasons, they still provide some eligance of the old days that you don't get anymore from the other mainline cruise companies. And there is a lot of activities for kids and adults as well as families activities together. The other lines provide some or all of these things also, but not as well as Disney. Of course you pay more for it, but if you can afford it, Disney is the way to go.

 

Burt

[cruisead]

OP, you mentioned you can't find a Caribbean cruise of 10 days that doesn't require you to fly to/from Europe. I don't think you've looked very hard. Have you checked Celebrity Equinox? That ship does alternating 10 and 11 day cruises out of Ft Lauderdale. The 10 day cruises are the Eastern Caribbean and the 11 day is Western. Caribbean Princess does a 10 day Western Caribbean cruise. Emerald Princess does a 9 day Western Caribbean out of Ft Lauderdale.

 

While we're Disney fans, I feel their cruises have dropped greatly in recent times with a real downgrade in food and service, especially for the premium prices you pay for Disney.

[walksonwater]

What I mean is I want a cruise longer than a week, since I think it'll take us that long to unwind. I also think cruises longer than a week might be on ships that are set up for and cater to those who are "cruising". I might be wrong.

 

You're right, I probably haven't looked hard enough so off I go to check those out. My other thought was through the Panama Canal. That looks like a "relaxing adventure" with some fabulous historical perspective thrown in.

 

There seem to be a few cruise lines that do the Panama Canal trip.

 

Thanks!

[CanadianDee]

Interesting thread. Our personal cruising history comes in under two decades, but we've noticed many changes. Some good, some not so much.

 

I do love the affordability of balcony cabins. We can spend a huge chunk of our vacation out on the balcony. The affordability of cruising in general. There's a cruise/cruiseline to fit most budgets and there's always room to scale back or build on the experience.

 

We have noticed a decline in the quality of the dining experience, but the food and service are still wonderful. I always chuckle when I read people's posts complaining about the size of the serving. Order two then! Or try a couple of different offerings.

 

For the most part, embarkation and debarkation is notably more efficient.

 

The lines/ships offer amazing diversity in experience. The Internet has made it so easy to find the perfect ship and shore excursions for the experience you want.

[3Putt77]

Nice topic. I was considering starting a similar thread as I just went on my second cruise after a 22 year hiatus.

 

One thing that surprised me was the option to dine at a finer establishment for an upcharge. I thought the idea of a cruise was to experience fine dining. I'm surprised to see folks willingly pay more to get what used to be in the basic package.

 

I guess the cruise lines took a lesson from the airline industry. It doesn't take long for customers to get used to paying for items that used to be included in the base price. Perhaps some customers prefer to dine away from the masses also.

[RoyMartin]

Just visiting this old topic for the first time. My wife, son and I are set to take our first cruise -- to Alaska -- in late September (last RCL sailing of the season). I'll be 60 by then. My son will be 9. My wife wouldn't want me to share her age.

For most of my life, I wanted nothing to do with cruises. When I was in my thirties, I'd throw on a backpack, get a cheap flight to Europe and find the most out of the way places, ideally where almost no one spoke English, and I'd go by the seat of my pants with no idea where my next meal would come from or where I'd sleep for the night. If I traveled for a month, maybe I spent $2,000. Honestly, there were places I couldn't spend a dime because people would invite me in, feed and lodge me, and refuse to take anything in return. Made some amazing friendships. Met my ex-wife that way.

At the time, the idea of traveling in luxury without adventure had no appeal. But now I'm older. My wife isn't as adventurous as me. And we have a son with chronic health issues that would make that kind of travel impossible. So I looked into cruising. I've always wanted to see Alaska. Booked a late season cruise to keep costs down, avoid crowds and maybe, maybe (if we're really lucky) see the northern lights.

For an unobstructed balcony cabin located on the 12th deck with a panoramic view, the total price for the three of us (on a 7 night cruise on a Quantum class ship), gratuities included, is $3,000. That seems to me a very fair price.

Yes, the ship is larger than I'd like. And more like a shopping mall. I promise we'll spend zero time in the casino -- not our thing. I don't think we'll do specialty dining. I'm open to it but my wife feels it's a waste. We don't drink. We don't shop at overpriced stores and we're just not into accumulating "stuff". I'm open to taking some excursions but my wife feels that our son, who has certain challenges, wouldn't be up for it. So I don't think we'll spend a whole lot more than the aforementioned $3k.

Maybe some things were once higher quality. Perhaps the food. I'd like it if the ships were smaller and quieter. But my son will love the bumper cars and he'll probably get a real kick out of the glitziness of the ship. So I'm very happy to be cruising for the first time now; not 30 years ago when I was having far more interesting adventures.

As far as I'm concerned, back then a backpack was the way to go. If I were young and single now, it still would be (for me). But cruising seems a great value considering all you get for a reasonable price.

Maybe we won't like it. But if we do, perhaps we'll seek out bargain cruises going forward. I see some great deals on repositioning cruises with incredible prices. Some as low as $27 per day per person plus taxes and fees. Sometimes one of the passengers is free. How can anyone beat that when a decent hotel room without meals costs around 8 times as much.

[shipgeeks]

RoyMartin, you have a similar travel history to us.  We never cruised in our young adult years (though we did sail a lot on cargo ship/Navy ship), seeing it as "a bunch of people drinking and playing bingo".

We started in our late 40s, and are now addicted.

In our case as a twosome (son would never go on our cruises), we prefer smaller ships. Perhaps one of the things that has made us able to sail multiple times a year is the fact that we don't like balcony cabins, much preferring oceanview.  And after many visits to some of the same ports, there is no pressure for us to get off the ship and explore -- but we can if we want to.  Cruising has turned out to be ideal for us.  I hope you and your family will enjoy your cruise as much as we do!

[GrannyJ]

Well, my first cruise was on the old Queen Elizabeth in 1967.  My sister and I, teenagers, were backpacking it around Europe for three months and came back to the U.S. by ship.

 

The Old Girl was on one of her last voyages and things were getting a bit shabby but to me, it was sheer elegance.  Veddy, veddy British.  You can bet there were no hairy chest contests or newly-wed games.  The swimming pool was a dark, dank, cold tank somewhere down in the bowels of the ship.  

 

Alcohol was very, very cheap, so I had my first cocktail, then my second cocktail, third cocktail, and so on....followed by my first hangover.  

 

Our cabin was a tiny, tiny little cubby-hole with no porthole, but we did have our own tiny, tiny head, unlike most of the ones in our class of cabin.  You could sit on the toilet, hang your head in the sink and shower most of your body at the same time.  

 

There was First Class, Cabin Class and our class, called Tourist but more like steerage.  You did.not.under.pains.of.walking.the.plank stray from your "class".  

 

You had to rent a deck chair that was yours for the duration of the voyage, but since it was blowing a gale and colder than the dickens outside, it wasn't much of a treat.  I remember the deck steward gave us blankets and cups of hot consomme, which I had trouble deciding whether to drink or pour on my cold feet.

 

Not a lot of entertainment.  Somebody playing piano in the lounge.  Cards.  Bingo, I think.  There was a rather stodgy band playing every night in the ballroom.   We banded together with other young folks and tipped them to play at least a couple of more lively songs.  Mostly we drank.  

 

Food was weird to an American teen.  There were not a lot of choices, the menu was somewhat limited.  One morning I was given a bowl of pickled herrings on a bed of chopped onions.  These days, I would have loved it, but back then?  Nooooo.  

 

We passed the Queen Mary at sea.  There was much hooting of ship's horns and skyrockets shot off.  Very exciting.  

 

It was a great experience and I didn't cruise for another 10 years or so.  I enjoy the cruises a lot more now.  

 

 

[RoyMartin]

15 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

RoyMartin, you have a similar travel history to us.  We never cruised in our young adult years (though we did sail a lot on cargo ship/Navy ship), seeing it as "a bunch of people drinking and playing bingo".

We started in our late 40s, and are now addicted.

In our case as a twosome (son would never go on our cruises), we prefer smaller ships. Perhaps one of the things that has made us able to sail multiple times a year is the fact that we don't like balcony cabins, much preferring oceanview.  And after many visits to some of the same ports, there is no pressure for us to get off the ship and explore -- but we can if we want to.  Cruising has turned out to be ideal for us.  I hope you and your family will enjoy your cruise as much as we do!

 

Thank you.

Out of curiosity, why do you prefer ocean view to balcony cabins?

[RoyMartin]

2 hours ago, GrannyJ said:

Well, my first cruise was on the old Queen Elizabeth in 1967.  My sister and I, teenagers, were backpacking it around Europe for three months and came back to the U.S. by ship.

 

The Old Girl was on one of her last voyages and things were getting a bit shabby but to me, it was sheer elegance.  Veddy, veddy British.  You can bet there were no hairy chest contests or newly-wed games.  The swimming pool was a dark, dank, cold tank somewhere down in the bowels of the ship.  

 

Alcohol was very, very cheap, so I had my first cocktail, then my second cocktail, third cocktail, and so on....followed by my first hangover.  

 

Our cabin was a tiny, tiny little cubby-hole with no porthole, but we did have our own tiny, tiny head, unlike most of the ones in our class of cabin.  You could sit on the toilet, hang your head in the sink and shower most of your body at the same time.  

 

There was First Class, Cabin Class and our class, called Tourist but more like steerage.  You did.not.under.pains.of.walking.the.plank stray from your "class".  

 

You had to rent a deck chair that was yours for the duration of the voyage, but since it was blowing a gale and colder than the dickens outside, it wasn't much of a treat.  I remember the deck steward gave us blankets and cups of hot consomme, which I had trouble deciding whether to drink or pour on my cold feet.

 

Not a lot of entertainment.  Somebody playing piano in the lounge.  Cards.  Bingo, I think.  There was a rather stodgy band playing every night in the ballroom.   We banded together with other young folks and tipped them to play at least a couple of more lively songs.  Mostly we drank.  

 

Food was weird to an American teen.  There were not a lot of choices, the menu was somewhat limited.  One morning I was given a bowl of pickled herrings on a bed of chopped onions.  These days, I would have loved it, but back then?  Nooooo.  

 

We passed the Queen Mary at sea.  There was much hooting of ship's horns and skyrockets shot off.  Very exciting.  

 

It was a great experience and I didn't cruise for another 10 years or so.  I enjoy the cruises a lot more now.  

 

 

Thank you for this gift! It's like a trip back in time. I appreciate how you recollect the various aspects. Doesn't sound like a lot of fun, but it wasn't so much cruising but transportation in those days.

How expensive was your ticket? I'd love to know what it cost in every class. And what it was like to travel in each class. To some extent, we see a reemergence of class travel on cruise ships of late. Special parts of the ship reserved for suite passengers, and also entirely separate lines that cater to those who prefer a more refined experience.

[shipgeeks]

17 hours ago, RoyMartin said:

 

Thank you.

Out of curiosity, why do you prefer ocean view to balcony cabins?

We both like being able to sit at the window, with the sea, sky, and occasionally creatures, right there. If there is a balcony in the way, the view is cut off by that "tunnel".  OV cabins are on lower decks,  closer to the sea. With a balcony, we have to draw back two layers of drapes, unlock, step out, latch balcony door, sit in uncomfortable chairs, open door, step in, lock door.......  So much nicer to be able to just sit in comfort and enjoy the view.

More recently, it seems that there are more passengers who refuse to close their balcony doors, thus affecting the AC in the surrounding cabins. I'm fine with unavoidable things such as a port being cancelled due to weather, but I'm not okay with other passengers lessening our cruise experience in this way.

The two times we had balcony cabins, we did not pay balcony prices, so it's not price that leads me to  prefer OV.  Both times, after spending very little time out on the balcony, we said we wished we had done otherwise.

[RoyMartin]

6 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

We both like being able to sit at the window, with the sea, sky, and occasionally creatures, right there. If there is a balcony in the way, the view is cut off by that "tunnel".  OV cabins are on lower decks,  closer to the sea. With a balcony, we have to draw back two layers of drapes, unlock, step out, latch balcony door, sit in uncomfortable chairs, open door, step in, lock door.......  So much nicer to be able to just sit in comfort and enjoy the view.

More recently, it seems that there are more passengers who refuse to close their balcony doors, thus affecting the AC in the surrounding cabins. I'm fine with unavoidable things such as a port being cancelled due to weather, but I'm not okay with other passengers lessening our cruise experience in this way.

The two times we had balcony cabins, we did not pay balcony prices, so it's not price that leads me to  prefer OV.  Both times, after spending very little time out on the balcony, we said we wished we had done otherwise.

 

Thanks for that. Since this is our first cruise, we're just figuring out what we like. So perspectives are helpful. We have a balcony cabin on deck 12 of Ovation of the Seas. Figured would give us a panoramic view, which would seem to make sense since we're going to Alaska.

Hopefully we'll have a chance to check out other cabins. One fellow was telling me he prefers inside cabins. The total darkness that can only be found there. To each his/her own.