Past cruisers from long ago.......

[Whimsy]

I have just started reading Devils on the Deep Blue Sea and it got me thinking.

 

How are cruises different today from the early days? Food, staterooms, etertainment, crew or anything else you can think of would be appreciated.

[R&S]

Do you consider 1983 'The Early Days'? We cruised on the NCL Sunward II as our first cruise. The main difference is the size of the ship.

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/NCL_Sunward_II_PCs.html#anchor30925

At only 14,000 tons we were still amazed at how large the ship was when we were next to her. On board the cabins were smaller than todays standards but the food was fantastic! I remember the entertainment as being very good. After the show the entertainers would stand outside the showroom and sign autographs.

One thing that is different from today is the prices are much more affordable now than then. I guess it's because of more ships, choices, and ability to take more than 600 passengers on the cruise.

I love todays cruising standards much better, but it was the Sunward II in 1983 that hooked us both on cruising.

 

I hope the info helps,

[toledo]

I sailed on the Carnival's Festivale about that same time. I thought it was a big ship and it held 1400 passengers. Someone said it was a "remodeled" freighter. We paid about the same price as our cruise on the Victory last week. Rooms were much smaller. There were no towel animals, however room stewards would take your nightgown out of your suitcase or drawer and place it on the bed. Does anyone remember this? Surely this couldn't have just been my room steward! I did think it was a litte gutsy at the time. There was only one dining room. They had midnight buffets every night. They only photographed you 2 or 3 times instead of at least 10 times last week. The average age of the passengers might have been 60 compared to 30 last week ( 1,000 kids under 18). We reported to one of the bars for the lifeboat drill. I can still remember a gentleman coming in wearing his tighty whities and life jacket. He was soooooo drunk. I think Carnival is better prepared to handle problem passengers now.

[Eliot Ness]

The ships were much smaller, but also more intimate. The service might have been better, but time tends to blur those small details together. I do remember a small movie theatre that showed movies almost 24/7. Those seem to have been replaced with movies on the cabin TV. Our first cruise was in the late 80's on the PCL Majestic....... what a great time we had then and again in 1995.

 

While I don't have any pictures, CC member PaulMedik has some great shots of their 1989 cruise on the Majestic. Click on the following link and then select the first group of pictures titled StarShip Majestic Cruise 1989. Be sure to note the size of the ship and cabins!

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/paulmedik

 

Thanks for sharing your memories PaulMedik, the Majestic will always be my favorite ship, Arrrrrggggg (inside joke for Majestic cruisers)!

 

John

[Whimsy]

Thank you all for replying. And thanks for leading me to the photos John.

 

I have heard about putting the nightgowns out. Don't think I would like someone going thru my drawers. The buffet in the photos looked great and the beaches were as beautiful as always.

 

I had always wanted to cruise from the time I was about 18. I remember getting Carnival books and wanting to go so badly but just couldn't afford it. I finally got to realize my dream last summer and was not disappointed. I just have to kick myself for waiting to go so long but we did more child oriented vacations such as Disney, Universal and such. Had I known about the kids programs on board we might of cruised sooner. Oh well, better late than never!

 

Anyone else? I wonder if things went pretty smooth right away. I would guess the ports weren't as commercialized as they are now.

[thequotegal]

Does anyone remember a cruise line called S.S. Azure Seas? They sailed from Los Angeles. I can't remember actually if this was the cruise line or the boats name?? It did 3 nighters to Ensenada. I would be curious to know if anyone recalls. This was like 1979 ish thru early 80's.

[Nautical but Nice]

I have just started reading Devils on the Deep Blue Sea and it got me thinking. quote]

 

I just finished this book the other day. Was a good, but long read. There was some pretty amazing stuff in there that I didn't know about the industry and Carnival.

 

One piece that really got me was on page 84 where the author talks about a lady on the Mardi Gras who was burned really bad by the scalding water in her shower. After Carnival purchased the ship, they were hurriedly installing toilets and showers in the cabins. In one of the cabins the doorknobs and faucets were installed backwards. The lady was trapped in her bathroom and in a panic, unable to turn off or redirect the scalding water from the shower. The captain was inspecting a passenger gangway when he heard her screaming and banging on the walls. He had to break into the cabin and bathroom where he found her half dead.

 

I wonder if this incident prompted the sign on the wall in the shower that says to check the water temperature first.

 

Christine

[mikkire]

I sailed on Princess in 1977 and all I really remember was that it seemed very elegant and upscale. The captain's party only served martinis and manhattens (yuck), but maybe I was just too inexperienced to ask for anything else (this was my first cruise). I remeber a strolling musician during dinner, but I have to say the highlight was the parade of flaming baked alaskas.

[HeidiHo]

My first cruise was on the Festivale in '85 and one of the biggest differences I remember was the cabin sizes. I went with 3 of my girlfriends and we booked a standard quad. Thank God we got upgraded to a suite. Even the suites back then were small. Ours was about the size of a standard balcony cabin by todays standards. I saw some of the tiny cabins and was so grateful we had been upgraded.

[spongerob]

If you really want to go back, read "The Only Way to Cross" and "Liners to the Sun" by Ian Maxtone-Graham. You'll get a sense of the real old days from someone who loves ships and cruising.

[travel girl23]

I just finished reading that book about a month ago and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I sailed on the S/S Yarmouth (not the one that burned but the sister ship) back in 1962 when it was brought around to San Francisco to sail to the Seattle World's Fair. My college roommate and I sailed on her. What a difference from today's ships. Much, much smaller. I have pictures taken in the dining room with little square tables for 4 only. The staterooms were extremely small and had bunk beds. One of us had to stay in the bed until the other one was dressed and left the room. Very tiny.:eek: I have a picture taken standing in front of the bow - boy what a difference from the Carnival Conquest that we just sailed on a month ago. Never cruised again until six years ago when DH and I celebrated our 25th anniversary on the Celebration. Then the cruising bug bit hard. Just returned from our sixth Carnival cruise.:D

[jcanino]

I have just started reading Devils on the Deep Blue Sea and it got me thinking.

 

How are cruises different today from the early days? Food, staterooms, etertainment, crew or anything else you can think of would be appreciated.

 

Excellent Book!

 

I have watched the food quality and presentation evolve over the years with Carnival. The first Carnival cruise that I was on was in 1992 on the Celebration. I distinctly remember ordering only an entree. The waiter brought out a large salad for the table, a tureen of soup for the table and when he brought the entrees, he also brought a serving dish of potatoes as well as one with vegetables. Food on Carnival sure has come a long way!

[Karter]

We cruised on the Carnivale & Mardi Gras back in the early 80's and IMO it was a very different experience vs. today.

 

Dinning - One waiter/bus boy pair per two 6 person tables, Waiter & bus boy became your best friends by the end of the cruise, Waiters would tell adult jokes & do table tricks while waiting for food to be ready. Even today I still miss some of the waiters from my cruises in the 80’s and wonder what they are doing now.

 

Staff - All of the staff went out of they way to make your cruise special. it was like they were out to prove the Carnival was the best and most fun cruise line. One example I remember was when we were in Nasau docked next to a competitors ship Carnival had a loud deck party going on when the Cruise director had all the passengers taunt the other ship to show how much more fun we were having.

 

Environment - Much more of a party atmosphere - not falling down drunks - just every lounge & bar packed with people having a good time. The bars wouldn't shut down until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. We would get up at noon to start the next day.

 

Room steward - Lots of interaction would get anything you wanted - tried to be your best friend.

 

Ship layout - If you look at a layout of the older ships they look like a maze in many ways. Sometimes you had to make several turns down a dead end hallway to get to your room. Much smaller (~20,000 tons) but the ships seemed big at the time. The ships were converted ocean liners so many of the amenities we expect today were nonexistent. The rooms were tiny, to TV, central movie theater, small cramped theater with columns that blocked your view.

 

Enjoyment - I have been on 19 cruises (14 on Carnival ships) and remember the cruises I took in the 80's better than the ones I took last year. I would give anything to be able to take a cruise on the Carnivale or Mardi Gras if the staff and attitudes were the way it was back then.

 

In the early 90’s the whole atmosphere started changing to be more mainstream and more like it is today. I asked a waiter in 91 what had caused the change and was told Carnival was getting too many complaints about the waiters being too personal and the adult jokes/tricks offended too many people.

 

I cruise today because I feel it’s a great value. I pay significantly less today for a cruise than I did back in the 80’s & 90’s. I guess that’s why the service is the way it is and why they try to hawk everything they can to get the revenue they need to make a profit. Every time I take a cruise I think back to the 80’s and dream this cruise will be like one of them but of course that’s not possible.

[Whimsy]

Thank you so much for all the replies. It sounds like in some ways things were better then and in some ways things are better now. This has been very interesting reading.

 

Spongerob, thanks for the other reading suggestions. I will have to look into reading those books.

[coachj]

I cruised on a ship called the Emerald Seas in the seventies. Not large by todays standards but service was very good. food was excellent and a similar itinerary to 4 day Bahamas cruises. Rooms were tiny.