Cruising in the 1970s

[RobinKY]

Someone else started a topic about visiting other ships while in port and I guess this was allowed 30+ years ago. I was actually wondering if it was permitted while we were in port a couple weeks ago. I love researching for our next cruise and learning about ships. What better way to get new customers that allow other cruisers to tour your ship.

 

Anyway since visiting other ships was allowed in the 1970s it got me thinking about the Love Boat TV show. I will watch it occasionally and think it is funny that in the opening scene as guests are arriving on the ship, the crew would greet them and tell them their cabin assignment. Was it really this informal in the 1970s or was this just for TV reasons to introduce the key guests on that episode?

 

Anything else unique in the 70s, 80s, 90s that are much different today?

[cruzeluver]

A whole lot has changed. For me, some changes have been for the better, some not so much.

 

Things I recall from my first cruises in the early 1980's :

 

You ate all three meals in the main dining room. Loved this because the wait staff really got to know you and your preferences. Dining was an event. Now, its something a lot of folks seem to want to just zip through to get to the next activity.

 

True sail away parties where we waved goodbye to those on land and threw streamers over the side of the ships. For environmental reasons those were discontinued.

 

Family/friends could board with you and hang out just prior to sail away.

 

Horse races. Lots of fun.

[RobinKY]

A whole lot has changed. For me, some changes have been for the better, some not so much.

 

Things I recall from my first cruises in the early 1980's :

 

You ate all three meals in the main dining room. Loved this because the wait staff really got to know you and your preferences. Dining was an event. Now, its something a lot of folks seem to want to just zip through to get to the next activity.

 

True sail away parties where we waved goodbye to those on land and threw streamers over the side of the ships. For environmental reasons those were discontinued.

 

 

Family/friends could board with you and hang out just prior to sail away.

 

Horse races. Lots of fun.

 

My wife and I would get a kick out of that on the Love Boat, people throwing streamers off the boat into the water.

 

Family could board with you? That is crazy.

 

What were the horse races?

[Taters]

Lots of things have changed. I grew up in Miami and remember boarding various ships with family and friends when they were going to cruise. They would announce, "All ashore that's going ashore!" and off we'd go. We were able to enjoy lunch and wander around with our passenger friends/family for a few hours.

 

Also, there were no king or queen sized beds. All of the beds were either twins or bunk beds.

 

The meals were much more elaborate. Cruising used to pretty much be for the "upper crust" and when Carnival went into business, that all changed. For the better, I think!

 

There were no kids clubs. Children were left to entertain themselves playing shuffleboard and swimming, though there would sometimes be an arts and crafts class.

 

Cruises were formal. I do not remember seeing shorts on embarkation day. My grandmother always wore a dress and my grandfather a suit and tie.

 

I also remember seeing champagne on silver trays being passed around to all who were on the ship. I was little, so they would bring me a shirley temple instead.

 

I'm sure there are more things. I only cruised once in the 70s and I was 8 years old at the time, but this experience together with being able to board with friends and relatives who were sailing gave me the cruising bug very early! I am cruising again in 27 days and I still get that magical feeling!

Edited January 4, 2016 by Taters

[john watson]

Non-travelling friends and family could board with you and stay on board until the ships horn went and an announcement was made "All ashore who are going ashore".

 

If you went Transatlantic on Cunard there were no ports and the cruise line had to invent things to do in a big way. Quizzes, puzzle sheets scavenger hunts almost everything you could do at a time when there was not entertainment technology.

 

Horse racing with bets on it (still done today with video presentation) was in those days done with model horses around a track with hurdles. People laid bets and you got odds based on which horses had most/least money put on them. Each race you could name a horse, for a fee or name a race on the card organised a day or so beforehand. Passengers would "Ride" each horse by throwing a couple of dice and crew would move the horse along based on the score. When you got to a hurdle you needed a double to jump it. This created a lot of excitement. Eventually one horse won and the payout occurred then the next load of passengers did the following race. Then at the end was the final and presentation of a small model horse trophy, no plastic key fob rubbish.

 

Frog races, with cardboard frogs on a pair of strings were also another way of racing. By moving the strings up and down the frog would fall a little nearer to you each time and eventually one crossed the line.

 

It was all very primitive but a lot of fun. I like the games they still do on Princess Cruises sea days. They seem to have retained some of the ridiculous and pointless themes on many events they put on. Carpet bowls, with mini biased lawn bowls sets played on a carpet anywhere the cruise director thinks will work at a slack time in the day. Elevator Roulette, yes that's one you need to play especially when anyone getting out at your deck has no idea why they are such a popular hero. You cant beat twenty guys cheering a girl getting out of an elevator.

 

I did do the Egg Drop a few cruises back, where you have to drop a fresh egg from the top deck in the Atrium onto the floor of the bottom deck of the Atrium without it breaking then get voted on by applause on which competitor did the best parachute or padding out of tissue paper and the like. Bit of a mess but in the true spirit of cruising.

 

Regards John

Edited January 4, 2016 by john watson

[sparks1093]

Cruising in the 70's and 80's for me was completely different since it was onboard a Navy ship and I couldn't have a drink at the end of the day:). I remember we pulled into Martinique once and one of the other ships we were with was missing two sailors the next morning. Turns out they had met up with a couple of young ladies from the cruise ship that was inport and they ended up oversleeping and getting underway with the cruise ship. (I really don't know if it actually happened, but that was the story that was going around.)

[ObstructedView2]

 

Oh my, so much has changed over the years since my very 1st sailing in the mid 1950's as a small child. My parents saved & passed down to me all of our cruise atlas/passenger lists from back then. I'd like to see them return.

 

 

 

 

 

[crusinpsychRN]

Loved having family aboard to see your cabin, have a drink. Streamers were the official start of the cruise. I specifically remember doing that on the Queen Elizabeth in 1964.

 

Loved the horse races. Each person would decorate their horse and carry it around with them. They would try to get people to vote for their horse then do the race.

 

The pillow fights in the pool were fun too. They'd get 2 girls usually and they'd be on a thing in the pool and hit each other with pillows until one fell off. Sometimes other things fell off too!

 

Midnight buffets were something to see.

 

Women would bring gowns on board for elegant nights.

 

The food was superior and a highlight of the cruise. The waiters would scrape crumbs off your table and they wore gloves.

 

Heck, women wore gloves on airplanes and to go downtown in Miami in the '50's.

[RobinKY]

Midnight buffets were something to see.

 

Women would bring gowns on board for elegant nights.

 

 

My first cruise (Majesty of Seas in 2000) had a midnight buffet. I guess that was normal then because I remember people talking about them prior to the cruise.

 

I have seen old pictures of my in laws for different events in the 60s and 70s and the women would be dressed to the nines with fancy hats, dresses, jewelry.

[DRS/NC]

Our first cruise was June 1967 on the Sunward (NCL?). I have a photo -- I was wearing a nice dress & white gloves!

 

The next cruise was our first as a family in June 1974 on Sitmar's Fairwind; our DD was 2.5 yrs. They had the first children's program -- a few hours in the morning & in the afternoon & even had a 1.5-2.0 ft. deep pool for the kids! DD adored the whole experience!

 

They also had the first pizza room at sea! All meals in the DR; a few hamburgers/hot dogs on deck on sea days. There were no balconies, just Inside & some Ocean View. And our friends in CA always came on-board to see us off. We'd met on the Fairsea.

 

How we all 3 loved Sitmar! We sailed them almost exclusively until Princess bought them in '83-84.

Edited January 4, 2016 by DRS/NC
more

[SuiteTraveler]

I remember our first cruise on the Sun Princess. I remember assembling in the bars outside the dining room and the maitre'd would get on the intercom and say "And now ladies and gentlemen, Buon Appetito!" and the doors to the dining room would all open at once. It really made dining seem like a huge event and really special. I remember having caviar and lobster one night and our lead waiter who went by Julius and his assistant who went by Caesar. LOL! They were great!

 

Many of the really amazing meals we had on ships seem to have disappeared, unfortunately. The dining has really gotten dumbed down for the most part.

[RobinKY]

The next cruise was our first as a family in June 1974 on Sitmar's Fairwind; our DD was 2.5 yrs.

 

There were no balconies, just Inside & some Ocean View.

 

You DD must be right around my age. I was born Oct 1971.

 

 

Balconies are a fairly new feature, right? I believe our first cruise - Majesty of Seas did not have balconies. I vaguely remember some commercials from the 1990s promoting balconies as being new on cruise ships.

 

Also am I remembering correctly there used to be a feature where you hit golf balls out into the ocean off the ship's deck?

Edited January 4, 2016 by RobinKY

[notentirelynormal]

The next cruise was our first as a family in June 1974 on Sitmar's Fairwind; our DD was 2.5 yrs. They had the first children's program -- a few hours in the morning & in the afternoon & even had a 1.5-2.0 ft. deep pool for the kids! DD adored the whole experience!

 

They also had the first pizza room at sea! All meals in the DR; a few hamburgers/hot dogs on deck on sea days. There were no balconies, just Inside & some Ocean View. And our friends in CA always came on-board to see us off. We'd met on the Fairsea.

 

How we all 3 loved Sitmar! We sailed them almost exclusively until Princess bought them in '83-84.

 

My first 2 cruises were on the Fairwind in 84 and the Fairsky in 87 and both were still Sitmar.

 

I miss the chimes playing for dinner, the table side food preparation and so much more. It really was a much more personable service and some of our earliest servers became long time friends.

 

There was no kid area so they took the kids to closed outlets including the restaurants. Orange bowling in the MDR. Scavenger hunts that the room stewards were happy to join in on. Teaching them if they take a roll of toilet paper and unwind it then flush :D. Remember back then very few kids were on ships. Our outside cabin was 4 bunk beds and a narrow hallway to the porthole. Forget about a couch, there were no chairs. There only place to sit was on the beds.

 

Loved the list of other passengers and the sailaways. Always, always live music playing when leaving from every port and around the pools. There weren't all the bells and whistles that there are now but somehow we were always busy.

 

Your cruise cards were made of paper and you had real keys for your doors. You could go tour any other (same cruise line) ship in port at the same time as you were. Actually, the way we picked our first cruise was that my brother who lived in Vancouver would tour every cruise ship that came in then let us know if he liked it. If he did, we would tour the same ship when it got to LA.

 

Our first captain who must have been the same on both ships "anyone not sailing with us GET OFF MY SHIP". Then he laughed and said, "okay, all ashore that's going ashore". Cracked us up.

 

My DD was 7 on our first cruise. That girl could fold napkins around anyone by the time she finished her second cruise. That was part of the cool part. Everyone entertained the kids and loved it because hey missed their own families. There was one drop dead gorgeous Italian waiter. Not ours though. Every time my DD entered the restaurant he stopped what he was doing, run over to her, took her arm and wrapped it in his and walked her to the table. I swear you could feel the envious looks that the women in the room gave her.

 

In one port she went with the ship comedian to another ship. Starting at the bottom of the gangway, this is my daughter. By the time they got to the top, this is my wife. They went and watched that ship's show. Then we found out that a favorite waiter was now a head waiter on the other ship. He came back with us to ours and told them (remember they were Italian so yelling was involved) that they better treat us well.

 

Yes, the did have the best pizza ever!

Edited January 4, 2016 by notentirelynormal

[RobinKY]

 

You could go tour any other (same cruise line) ship in port at the same time as you were. Actually, the way we picked our first cruise was that my brother who lived in Vancouver would tour every cruise ship that came in then let us know if he liked it. If he did, we would tour the same ship when it got to LA.

 

 

That is crazy to think of this happening now but it would be awesome if you lived in a port city.

[DRS/NC]

My DD was born in Oct. 1971 too.

 

I confused the ships -- our first Sitmar was the Fairsea, 10 days form LA to Mexico & back. DD cried & cried the final morning: she wanted to stay with Sal, our waiter! Both the Fairsea & Fairwind had the very shallow 3rd pool for the kids; I spent many hours there "supervising". I can't recall about the Fairsky; DD was 12 or 13 then.

 

Our last Sitmar/first Princess was June 1989, 14 days in the Med. on the Fairwind/Dawn Princess, celebrating DD's graduation & our 25th anniversary. (Confused my DD's graduation dates in prior post.) We were booked on the Fairwind, but it was the Dawn by the time we sailed from Venice.

 

I remember lots of excitement about the old/first Royal Princess (mid-80s? launched by Princess Diana); more than 50% of the cabins were balconies!

[OCruisers]

Have been cruising for 53 years! As time goes by ... lots of things have changed ... some for the better, some for the worst.

LuLu

[LMaxwell]

 

Also am I remembering correctly there used to be a feature where you hit golf balls out into the ocean off the ship's deck?

 

Used to have shotguns to shoot clay discs off the back of ships.

 

Directories printed of all the guests names/hometown locations

 

Not only were all meals in the dining room, but they were all on an early/late shift.

 

Used to watch ice carving shows by the pool and then have those sculptures at the midnight buffet.

 

Parades of waiters with the baked alaskas and tableside flambe desserts. The quality of the food in the specialties now is what you used to get every night in the MDR.

 

They used to sell cruise highlight videos that had featured events from YOUR cruise, not just stock footage.

 

There used to be crew and passenger talent shows

 

If you wanted to tour an area of the ship you just expressed an interest and they'd usually have a group; no extra charges.

 

You could buy drinks for WAY less than on land. And if you bought a bottle of booze in the shops you had an option to take it to your cabin right away.

 

Many island ports have become sanitized and Disneyfied over the years; some for the better, but many not.

 

There's more I am missing or forgetting at the moment.

[sail7seas]

In our early years of sailing HAL, if there was another HAL ship in port we went back and forth and visited. It was easy to get permission and we would see crew friends on board we knew, have lunch, view the ship........ it was wonderful. :)

[iheartbda]

This is from the 60's but it's my ALL time favorite showing what cruising used to be like. Had to watch it again just now.:D

 

Part 1

Part 2

[SadieN]

This is from the 60's but it's my ALL time favorite showing what cruising used to be like. Had to watch it again just now.:D

 

 

 

Part 1

 

Part 2

 

 

And shows what hasn't changed...kids running and pax (hope not crew) with questionable intelligence sitting on the railing.

[Keith1010]

My first cruise was in 1967 as a youngster.

 

Yes, that was back in the days when families and friends would come on board for parties and we threw streamers from the outside decks.

 

A lot of changes since that time many which are far greater today than before.

 

The good news is that cruising is much more affordable today.

 

Keith

[cruisemom42]

The next cruise was our first as a family in June 1974 on Sitmar's Fairwind; our DD was 2.5 yrs. They had the first children's program -- a few hours in the morning & in the afternoon & even had a 1.5-2.0 ft. deep pool for the kids! DD adored the whole experience!

 

They also had the first pizza room at sea! All meals in the DR; a few hamburgers/hot dogs on deck on sea days. There were no balconies, just Inside & some Ocean View. And our friends in CA always came on-board to see us off. We'd met on the Fairsea.

 

How we all 3 loved Sitmar! We sailed them almost exclusively until Princess bought them in '83-84.

 

Count me as another that started off cruising with Sitmar (after one earlier cruise on the Emerald Seas). Starting from age 9 in the early 1970s we cruised at least annually on either the Fairwind or Fairsea.

 

The tableside food preparation and serving of courses was very formal. Entrees were brought out and then the assistant waiter brought out and served each side individually. There were more courses as well. My sister and I were not fond of the heavy (liquor laced) Italian desserts but we loved just about everything else. :D Especially caviar (me) and escargot (her).

 

Oh and yes, the pizza restaurant -- with a real Italian brick pizza oven -- was incredibly tasty, and of course free.

 

There were more free activities offered on board. I remember disco dance classes (this was the era of Saturday Night Fever, lol). But I also remember lovely ballroom dancing with live music; my parents would get up and dance.

 

 

There was no kid area so they took the kids to closed outlets including the restaurants.

 

Well, they did have a kids area. There was a (tiny) area on one of the highest decks, aft, which was divided in two. One side was for kids (any age up to 13), and the other was for teens. It's funny -- the entire teen room consisted of a soda bar with three stools, a jukebox and tiny dance floor. The kids room just had stacks of games, lego, a jukebox, and a pachinko game mounted on the wall that was broken every time I was on board.

 

But yes, they did take the kids to other areas to do things, like ping-pong tournaments. One time there was a kids talent show. Several times we got to meet with entertainers on board (including Shari Lewis and "Lamb chop" once).

[Magnum60]

As a youngster I was lucky enough to have sailed on many of the legendary 'ocean liners' as a first class passenger with my parents. Those magnificent ships included the SS Stockholm (she sunk the Andre Doria which I actually walked on during a bon voyage party I attended in NYC with my parents), RMS Queen Mary, RMS Queen Elisabeth, RMS Canbera, the French SS Mermoze, the original SS Rotterdam as well as the SS United States. I keep fond memories of all those voyages.

Like all passengers, I loved the horse racing nights, the ships pool where passengers would try to guess how far the ship traveled overnight (GPS killed that one :rolleyes:), the way the staff performed (almost like Downton Abby) and the specialness of getting dressed up for dinner. Trying to play ping pong on a rolling deck during the day was always a challenge (no stabilizers back then folks :eek:). In the afternoon passengers could go topside near the ships funnel(s) and visit passengers that brought their dogs which stayed in the ships kennels. It was a very different world aboard a ship back then.

Cruise ships have their merits as well as some pitfalls but the birth of the cruise ship industry has given a much larger audience a little taste of the 'good old days' and that is good.

[RobinKY]

I read an article where the Love Boat TV show introduced the average American to cruising and the industry boomed afterwards. They say the Love Boat was a 7-year TV infomercial for the cruising industry and had a billion $ impact.

[cruisemom42]

As a youngster I was lucky enough to have sailed on many of the legendary 'ocean liners' as a first class passenger with my parents. Those magnificent ships included the SS Stockholm (she sunk the Andre Doria which I actually walked on during a bon voyage party I attended in NYC with my parents), RMS Queen Mary, RMS Queen Elisabeth, RMS Canbera, the French SS Mermoze, the original SS Rotterdam as well as the SS United States. I keep fond memories of all those voyages.

Like all passengers, I loved the horse racing nights, the ships pool where passengers would try to guess how far the ship traveled overnight (GPS killed that one :rolleyes:), the way the staff performed (almost like Downton Abby) and the specialness of getting dressed up for dinner. Trying to play ping pong on a rolling deck during the day was always a challenge (no stabilizers back then folks :eek:). In the afternoon passengers could go topside near the ships funnel(s) and visit passengers that brought their dogs which stayed in the ships kennels. It was a very different world aboard a ship back then.

Cruise ships have their merits as well as some pitfalls but the birth of the cruise ship industry has given a much larger audience a little taste of the 'good old days' and that is good.

 

Some of those ocean liners were so elegant. My grandparents lived near the port in Fort Lauderdale. I used to spend most of my summer vacations there, and my grandmother would take me aboard some of these aging beauties -- all you had to do in those days was call your local TA and they'd leave your name with the ship check-in, allowing you to come aboard and tour the ship. I particularly remember wishing I could cruise on the old Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam. My grandparents and mother did sail on some of them, including the Queen Mary, which was my mother's favorite.