Who cruised on the Festivale?

[hattack]

we went on a River Cruise to the South of France in 2009 and it was an incredible experience ..cruised on NCL Breakaway in 2016 and it was a nightmare (and it was a Jazz Cruise charter ) because it was not the "right fit" for a Jazz Cruise experience 

 

I am a big fan of experiencing different type of cruise experiences and if possible get outside of the comfort zone of mega ships in the Caribbean ..I've done a Maine Windjammer , both international and domestic River Cruises , Jazz Cruise full charters , Greek Island cruises and a Barge cruise out of Venice 

 

I think the CV 19 Public Health Crisis will change the paradigms of how Americans allocated their discretionary vacation dollars and major cruise lines are into a deep planning process on how to reposition their product , 6000 fellow passengers on a mega ship for a week does not sound so appealing in light of CV 19 IMHO

[HeidiHo]

The Festivale was my first cruise and we had one of the balcony suites. I even remember the cabin number, it was V14 and they ARE the ones that a previous poster circled in red. I sailed with 3 other girls and we had booked a regular quad cabin. I can't remember if it was an inside or a port hole but that was back in the days when the Upgrade Fairy was real and gave upgrades for free. A few days before our cruise, our travel agent called and said we'd been upgraded. The balcony was like the cove balconies on todays ships. They were also the biggest suites on the ship only the funny thing was, it was really only about the size of a standard balcony cabin today. We did have full size tub in the bathroom though. That cruise spoiled me and I always have to have a balcony now.

[cruisin from vegas]

I was a crew member on the Tropical 1982-1984 (went to Festivale for a couple months).  Ships were night and day different.  I was a casino dealer, one of only a few departments where a woman could work back then, very few Americans also.  Some of the best times in my life.  

[Mrs007]

My 2nd Cruise was on the Festival in the mid- late 80’s. Remember when you could do this?

[miataman19]

Thank you for sharing. This brings back some fond memories. Myself and 3 friends had a plan to sail on all 3 of the original Carnival ships in 1 year. We did Carnivale March 1989. Mardis Gras August 1989. Had Festivale booked December 1989 but 2 of my friends had a death in their family and the Festivale sailing had to be cancelled. We never did re-book.  Those ships were awesome.

[Sillyjilly]

18 hours ago, pghsteelerfan said:

I did actually see your original post in the email (Mexican Riviera).  We did that on RCCL in 2000 with my husband's whole family and loved it.  We were booked on Carnival Magic for this May, which was obviously canceled.  We were considering booking Panorama for a Mexican Riviera cruise this fall, but decided not to since we don't know how long this whole situation with Covid will continue.  That is one itinerary we'd love to do again and I definitely need a re do - I only had a film camera in 2000 and do remember it, but would love to experience it again and be able to get more pictures.  We went to Cabo, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. 

I used to live 20 minutes from the port so I did that cruise A LOT! The ship is my destination!

I have the Imagination booked in Sept. We shall see.

[pghsteelerfan]

19 hours ago, hattack said:

we went on a River Cruise to the South of France in 2009 and it was an incredible experience ..cruised on NCL Breakaway in 2016 and it was a nightmare (and it was a Jazz Cruise charter ) because it was not the "right fit" for a Jazz Cruise experience 

 

I am a big fan of experiencing different type of cruise experiences and if possible get outside of the comfort zone of mega ships in the Caribbean ..I've done a Maine Windjammer , both international and domestic River Cruises , Jazz Cruise full charters , Greek Island cruises and a Barge cruise out of Venice 

 

I think the CV 19 Public Health Crisis will change the paradigms of how Americans allocated their discretionary vacation dollars and major cruise lines are into a deep planning process on how to reposition their product , 6000 fellow passengers on a mega ship for a week does not sound so appealing in light of CV 19 IMHO

Even before CV 19, sailing on a mega ship with 6000 fellow passengers was never appealing to me.  I have a few friends who have tried them and while some liked them, most didn't.  The ones who liked it sailed for the ship and all the bells and whistles and those who didn't said even though it was a cruise, it didn't feel like a cruise.  I'm curious to see how this will all play out in the future. 

 

[pghsteelerfan]

19 hours ago, HeidiHo said:

The Festivale was my first cruise and we had one of the balcony suites. I even remember the cabin number, it was V14 and they ARE the ones that a previous poster circled in red. I sailed with 3 other girls and we had booked a regular quad cabin. I can't remember if it was an inside or a port hole but that was back in the days when the Upgrade Fairy was real and gave upgrades for free. A few days before our cruise, our travel agent called and said we'd been upgraded. The balcony was like the cove balconies on todays ships. They were also the biggest suites on the ship only the funny thing was, it was really only about the size of a standard balcony cabin today. We did have full size tub in the bathroom though. That cruise spoiled me and I always have to have a balcony now.

We had one of the port holes on Festivale on our first cruise.  Our first balcony was our 3rd cruise and that spoiled us, so we always go for a balcony now.  We've never had a cove balcony, so I don't even know what they're like.  I have a couple pictures of the cabin we had on Festivale and it was pretty small, but we didn't spend much time in it anyway.  BTW, thanks for confirming the location of the balconies on Festivale.  That's where I was guessing they were. 

Edited April 19, 2020 by pghsteelerfan

[pghsteelerfan]

17 hours ago, Mrs007 said:

My 2nd Cruise was on the Festival in the mid- late 80’s. Remember when you could do this?

Thank you so much for sharing this pic!!!

We didn't participate on our cruise, but they did have it.  I still have the "Carnival Capers" and attaching the scan of of the back page of one where all the activities, including trap shooting, are included (at the bottom). 

Edited April 19, 2020 by pghsteelerfan

[pghsteelerfan]

17 hours ago, miataman19 said:

Thank you for sharing. This brings back some fond memories. Myself and 3 friends had a plan to sail on all 3 of the original Carnival ships in 1 year. We did Carnivale March 1989. Mardis Gras August 1989. Had Festivale booked December 1989 but 2 of my friends had a death in their family and the Festivale sailing had to be cancelled. We never did re-book.  Those ships were awesome.

That's really a shame that you didn't get to sail on Festivale, more so for the reason why.  But yes, those ships were awesome and we just had so much fun.  They certainly would not be able to get away with some of the stuff that went on then.  We LOVED the men's nightgown contest and I'm fortunate that my husband got the whole thing on video.  I was in hysterics, laughing, a few years ago rewatching it.

[pghsteelerfan]

1 hour ago, Sillyjilly said:

I used to live 20 minutes from the port so I did that cruise A LOT! The ship is my destination!

I have the Imagination booked in Sept. We shall see.

If we lived that close to a port, we'd be cruising a lot too!  When we did that itinerary in 2000 on RCCL, I have a picture my husband took of me with Carnival Elation in the background.  The "whale tail" funnel is cut out of the picture, but I could clearly make out "Elation" on the side. 

Edited April 19, 2020 by pghsteelerfan

[hattack]

this thread reminded me of how much fun everyone had on those 3 Carnival ships back in the day (remember they lack almost all of today's modern bells and whistles) and compared to their competitors Carnival filled a unique niche in the growing market place   ...guests were active participants in the full day at sea activities  and really brought into the "Fun Ship" cruising mantra ..food was also better...lol

 

sometimes reading these boards, I sense guests don't have as much pure fun as we did back in those days and are less active participants in some of the onboard activities ..sometimes smaller ships , with fewer guests and bells and whistles might be the pathway for the industry to rebound post CV 19 ..if nothing else the cruise lines will step up their game in the Medical  & Public Health departments both onboard   their  vessels and in interactions with the Ports of Calls and the entire Trip & Travel Insurance Policy Industry will undergo overhaul 

 

for the short term I suspect there will be an over capacity cabin  "challenge" that the historical tried and true technique of simply advertising cheap cabin prices combined with OBC will fill cabins  and lead to more onboard spending for profitability margins  may not be enough ..how does the onboard planning team redesign onboard areas and redirect guest flow patterns to provide social distancing ..I also suspect that Carnival is working with Google & Apple smart phone tracking technology to monitor changes in guests vital signs ..the technology is rapidly emerging due to CV 19, so it would stand to reason the Cruise Industry would be out in front to adapt this technology and be proactive 

 

I can just picture the dinner conversation at a large table the 1st night of the cruise 

[James4me]

On 4/18/2020 at 1:24 PM, James4me said:

Wow thank you for showing this!

Look at the prices for those what we know as Jr. suites and Grand Suites!  Super expensive back then.

[James4me]

17 minutes ago, hattack said:

this thread reminded me of how much fun everyone had on those 3 Carnival ships back in the day (remember they lack almost all of today's modern bells and whistles) and compared to their competitors Carnival filled a unique niche in the growing market place   ...guests were active participants in the full day at sea activities  and really brought into the "Fun Ship" cruising mantra ..food was also better...lol

 

sometimes reading these boards, I sense guests don't have as much pure fun as we did back in those days and are less active participants in some of the onboard activities ..sometimes smaller ships , with fewer guests and bells and whistles might be the pathway for the industry to rebound post CV 19 ..if nothing else the cruise lines will step up their game in the Medical  & Public Health departments both onboard   their  vessels and in interactions with the Ports of Calls and the entire Trip & Travel Insurance Policy Industry will undergo overhaul 

 

for the short term I suspect there will be an over capacity cabin  "challenge" that the historical tried and true technique of simply advertising cheap cabin prices combined with OBC will fill cabins  and lead to more onboard spending for profitability margins  may not be enough ..how does the onboard planning team redesign onboard areas and redirect guest flow patterns to provide social distancing ..I also suspect that Carnival is working with Google & Apple smart phone tracking technology to monitor changes in guests vital signs ..the technology is rapidly emerging due to CV 19, so it would stand to reason the Cruise Industry would be out in front to adapt this technology and be proactive 

 

I can just picture the dinner conversation at a large table the 1st night of the cruise 

I remember embarkation day, the excitement I had and then going to the Lido deck and the Calypso band is playing live music, getting tipsy by the hour and finally just saying heck with it I’m on a cruise let’s join the conga line LOL.  It just made the beginning of our cruise that much more exciting and so much fun.  

[BTromboneFrack]

Our first cruise was on the Festivale, out of San Juan in 1987.   I almost didn't want to do a cruise, because I felt we were paying for a lot of things and probably wouldn't be able to do them all.    We were used to just going to a nice resort and hitting the beach.   After getting on the ship though, and watching the ocean for 7 days, I found it to be, by far, the most relaxing vacation I could have.   The service was great.   The food was amazing!!!  The ship was HUGE - (HA).   I remember a Greek ship docked next to us t one port and snapped their bow lines.   All the Italian officers were laughing at the Greek ship at the time and I found out there was a quite a rivalry between the Greeks and Italians on the cruise ships.   Now we cruise every chance we get, and when this COVID goes away and I retire someday, we'll be on several cruises a year.   Festivale - Thank you -- and RIP.

 

 

[Aplmac]

21 hours ago, Mrs007 said:

My 2nd Cruise was on the Festival in the mid- late 80’s. Remember when you could do this?

 

Thank you so much for your photo ^

 

I just reworked and submitted another few Festivale and Jubilee photos

to that photo album of the first few Carnival ships.

 

All of us.. we are assembling quite a historical record of those ships..
This is a joint effort, now.
Thanks again.

 

[JimVB]

We took the Festivale from San Juan in April, 1993.  Also had done the Tropicale to Alaska and Eastern Caribbean on the Jubilee. Really liked the Festivale, but then I really loved (and greatly miss) the former ocean liners built in the 50's and early 60's.

[hattack]

like the Norway 

[so,ton saint]

Hi i worked on the Union castle ship back in the early sixties then Transvaal castle also her sister Windsor castle, it was a six week voyage first stop Grand canaria then straight through to Cape Town two weeks on the south african coast up as far as Durban picking up fruit and general cargo back to Capetown then two weeks at sea, across the Equator back up to So,ton, they were the first ships to have aircon.

[JayS]

It was my first Carnival ship. Also it was the only steam ship. All the others were diesel except the first which was steam converted to diesel.

 

A memory is standing on the Lido deck on night and they started the soot blowers.☹️

 

[pghsteelerfan]

20 hours ago, James4me said:

Look at the prices for those what we know as Jr. suites and Grand Suites!  Super expensive back then.

You're not kidding!  When I saw what my husband's parents paid for the cruise, I was shocked.  It was expensive then.  The cabin we had was an outside with a queen on the upper deck. 

[pghsteelerfan]

17 hours ago, Aplmac said:

 

Thank you so much for your photo ^

 

I just reworked and submitted another few Festivale and Jubilee photos

to that photo album of the first few Carnival ships.

 

All of us.. we are assembling quite a historical record of those ships..
This is a joint effort, now.
Thanks again.

 

That's part of the reason why I started this.  Hoping many others will contribute pictures, "Carnival Capers", etc. as well. 

Once I find some time, I do have the "Capers" that I have from our Festivale cruise (missing 3 days), fliers that were passed out along with the Capers, etc. that I can scan and upload to my photo sharing site.  I already have the Capers scanned, so must need to get them uploaded. 

[outdoors27]

She was my second cruise in 1983 with my family. I have the same post card, place mat and deck plan as someone previously posted. 

[James4me]

I’m sure the Formal nights dinner were just that, everyone dressed in their finest.

[hattack]

yes they did and LOVED it and the formal photo in a Carnival frame probably were placed on a lot of shelves over the fire place when they return home ...for hard working  lower & middle class families  especially from the heart land in the late 70's & early 80's the ability to go on a cruise vacation was a big deal ..a week of being spoiled and waited on, entertainment every night , different islands , full days at sea ,  changed the paradigms of what it meant to go on vacation that was perceived as reserved only for the rich 

 

lagniappe you might see Kathy Lee or other celebrities you saw on tv on Saturday night on ABC The Love Boat