What differences have you noticed to cruising since your first cruise?

[The Fox]

Hi,

 

What better to do on a wet day than think about cruising.

 

I was thinking how much the cruising industry has chnged since I did my first cruise.

 

I remember my 1st cruise on the Orcades way back in 1970.It had just converted from a 2 class vessel to one class cruising.Previously most P&O liners had first and second class passengers.the first class passengers had no restrictions on the places they could go on the ship....2nd class were limited.I think this gave a lot of people the impression that cruising or more so in those days voyages were for the people who were well off financially.

 

One thing I remember with my earlier cruises were they were on comparison with todays cruises a lot dearer.Having said that they did in those days have real duty free drinks something like 20 cents a can of beer.Today it seems the cruise lines keep the fares down but charge club or restaruant prices for drinks. I recall boarding times were restricted to certain times and you used to get guest passes for friends to go onboard to see you off...each pax got 3 passes and the visiting passengers had to leave the vessel an hour before sailing.....we all know why they stopped that......yes and you were allowed and encouraged to throw streamers to your friends on the wharf as your liner moved from the wharf to start your cruise.Bars were not allowed to open while in port and they were not supposed open until the ship reached the continental shelf....tweleve miles out to sea....but once the tugs let go the bars would open....cruise on....but you could and we did take a slab of beer onboard each.

 

Another thing I recall that on past cruises dinner was special every night unlike modern day cruises ....not many if any special menus.

 

Forty odd years later I am still cruising and still loving it.....What has changed for you ...?

 

Cheers

 

Col:)

[Shiprobbo]

Hi Col,

 

Agree with much that you have said! My first cruise was with Orsova out of 1972. She was still two class and remained so to the end of her days, never receiving the single-class conversion of the other ships of her day.

 

The 'two-class' ships of course would never stand up in today's market, people just would not accept that. Interestingly though, I believe that the market is still their, with each class occupying their own ships - thus you have the old 'Tourist Class' on ships such as Carnival, RCL, P&O and the 1st Class in Siver Sea, Oceania, etc.

 

Interestingly, discounting is one thing that has not changed. I have recently obtained a brochure for that 1972 Orsova cruise, quoting the price range for each of First Class and Tourist. The price we paid for our First Class cabin (I still have the ticket), was well below the lowest 1st Class fare, and very much in the Tourist fare range! What a bargin!!

 

Cheers,

[paul929207]

I don't go back as far as you guys. First cruise was in 1987. I remember there were more specials in the dining room. The head waiters made pastas several nights. They made cherries jubilee and bananas foster. Now you get one every now and then

[thied]

What differences have you noticed to cruising since your first cruise?

A. The cruise ships are bigger.

The cruise ships have alot the Grandness about them

The cruise ships have lost a of the class Distinction which is a good thing in a way.

There are more chorces in cruise.

 

The cruise ship industry as come along way in 40-50 years and more so in that last 20 years.

 

Happy cruiseing.

[rkmw]

my first cruise was in july 2007 on the Pacific Sun and just after that we cruised on the Rhapsody and then the Sun Princess came to Sydney so we tried that one also so in 3 years the ships that have been coming here are getting bigger and better

 

p&o had only 1 ship in 2007 ( i think the star was sold so i cant say much about her)and now they have 4.....princess has 2 and really they need a 3rd one as aussies and the kiwis love to cruise

 

rkmw

[Sandielle]

Cruising used to be more relaxed - not so much entertainment - which in a way I found better, as nowadays I tend to do more and come home still needing a holiday.

 

I really liked dining in the old days when everyone 'dressed up' and a staff member would be at the head of the table. It was nice having a cocktail party with the Captain and staff - for everyone, not just past passengers - and genuine Bombe Alaska parades!!

 

On the other hand en suite cabins/staterooms are much nicer now with queen or twin beds, instead of plain cabins with bunks and a bathroom down the passageway - (Although we did score an en suite cabin on the Flavia - with bunks, though, no twin or double beds.)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Some of the P&O ships had 3 classes,

First, Second and Tourist.

When we cruised on Canberra in 1894 she was all one class, but the two dining rooms had a definite class distinction about them. One was for the folk who were booked in the old First Class sections and the other was for everyone else. The menus were exactly the same in both.

Some of the bars still carried a definite class distniction and demanded a dress standard to enter.

The Century Bar was a classic beauty and you had to mind your p's and q's when in there. We spent most time in the Alice Springs Bar at the back, and up in the Crows Nest Bar for pre dinner drinks.

As Sandi has said the dining room was divided into sections and each section had a ships Officer at a one of the tables. We had one of the Nurses at ours and she had been on Canberra at the Falkands.She had some stories to tell.:eek:

 

To some extent even the new P&O UK ships carry this tradition on today with lounges such as Andersons having a very strict dress code . Seems to work well for those who want to dress up and mingle with others similarly attired. Plenty of other bars and lounges for everyone else.

 

You can check out Canberra on this excelent site Maritime.com.

Make sure you look at the 2 pages of photos.

 

http://www.ssmaritime.com/canberra.htm

 

Being an ex Voyage ship you could bring back as much luggage as you liked. One girl at our table brought back , as luggage, a Jaguar car from Britain to Auckland ...FREE.

Unfortunately we went through 3 hurricanes in 5 days in the Atlanic and the car needed massive repairs once unloaded.:eek:

 

 

 

[thied]

did any one notice how page two in the prints/ Photo's how many people were smoking inside the ship.

 

First Class - Pacific Dining Room

First Class Court,

The Island Room on Games Deck

The Pop-In - The Teenage Club amidships Promenade Deck

An early edition of a Canberra Ashtray

 

but what a grand old ship with lots of bars and lounges, Cinema get load of the pool it looks great.

[pacificlover]

My first cruise was in 1959, but the one I remember most fondly was in 1960 to Vancouver. The officers were required to mix with the passengers, both at dinner, and afterwards in the ballroom. I remember dancing with the officers (I was young and single):rolleyes:. I can't remember their being "shows" as such, but we did have horse racing. Some things never change.

 

The other not so great memory was the lining up in the ladies shower room, toilets, etc. juggling towels, soap, toothbrush and paste, etc. plus change of clothes. No such thing as ensuite. We did have a wash basin in the cabin though. Ah the good old days!!!!

[Rasa Sayang]

Some of the P&O ships had 3 classes,

First, Second and Tourist.

When we cruised on Canberra in 1894 she was all one class

It certainly must have been rough back in the old days of sail David. :p;):D

[Kiwi Kruzer]

It certainly must have been rough back in the old days of sail David. :p;):D

 

Och aye laddie....I am well preserved:D:D

 

 

[rugbypopsie]

My first cruise was the Fairstar in 1975...I remember the Italian crew, very cheeky boys! Bella Bella!

 

Dinner was a really big deal and I still have all the menus from every night. Fancy dress and passenger shows. Streamer send off from the OPT! Bands on the wharf wherever we went...cheap duty free drinks...that's why I cant remember everything.

 

The closest to the "old style" cruising I have experienced has been the Cherry Blossom...I guess it is something that goes with longer cruises.

 

But the ships today are far more luxurious for sure and the entertainment more sophisticated and I guess we are more demanding.

 

However it was great then and still is!

[thied]

yes the good old days would have been great, and some things never change, and some thing to change, gone are the big send offs and the streamers and the cheap drinks and 100's of people sending ship off, un less its a new ship to the fleet first cruise out.

 

Now we have no cheap drinks and no bands, no streamers, just 30-40 people at port side waveing and the ships horn some times.

 

But these days there are a great deal of cruise ships around the world and is a commen thing in most port cities around the world. The woo arrrrrr has gone from send offs. but not from the people going on the cruises.

 

ITs a little differenet over sea's and a little bigger send off as well.

[shieldsboy]

In 1970 my wife and I sailed from Sydney to Southampton on the Fairsky - a ship of about 20,000 tonnes, whose captain later committed suicide onboard!

 

As it was our honeymoon (and my company paid for it!) we had the second best cabin on the ship. Wonderful - we had 2 spring beds and a hand basin - plus a porthole (there weren't any balconies in those days)!

 

We still had to join the other passengers and go down the corridor to the toilets and showers.

 

I think we were lucky enough to have air-conditioning, and the ship may have had stabilisers.

 

As mentioned by others, officers would join us on most nights at dinner.

 

Entertainment was offered in a room rather like a school hall with a raised stage, and generally consisted of passenger dancing to a three piece band.

 

On some nights movies were shown, projected onto a sheet (or something like it) so we could vew the movie from either side.

 

The pool was small, with vertical sides, and was about 2 metres deep for the whole area - and contained sea water.

 

I don't remember what the quality of the meals was like, and haven't any menus.

But we all had a great time.

 

Don

 

PS I've just remembered - it was a joke amongst we younger people on board - "Walk along the promenade deck and see if you can see anyone breathing!"

Now I'm on the promenade deck!

[fairstars]

I remember coming out to Australia in 1969 on the Shaw Saville "Aranda" from London to Sydney. My mother and I had to share with 2 old ladies (one of whom had eventually to be spoken to by the Purser as she never washed or changed her clothes :o) and my brother shared with another young male. 4 bunks (I, being the youngest, ended up in a top bunk), suitcases stored in the corner (trunks in the hold), a sink and that was it. Sea water showers and baths and loos, down the corridor of course. I still have some menus, every meal seemed to have mashed potatoes and we bribed our waiter into bringing us ice-cream with every dessert (which always seemed to include custard). ;)

 

I spent most of my evenings hiding in the photographer's darkroom (young love...:p) as the Master-At-Arms patrolled the ship to make sure the passengers weren't 'consorting' with the crew (not to mention my mother looking for me). lol

 

Entertainment was dancing with the officers and other passengers, fancy dress nights (I can't believe I allowed my mother to stick menus all over me and call me the 'chef's selection'!), passengers' singing entertaining us (one Welsh guy sang 'Danny Boy' a million times) and that was about it.

 

We did have stabilisers but they went out in the Bay of Biscay and weren't fixed, so we had a rough trip especially across from S.A. to Freemantle. However, with a group of about 10 teenagers on board, we had a lot of fun and got up to a lot of mischief for 5 1/2 weeks!

 

And then cruising again on the Fairstar in the early 90's with my daughter 2 years old and my son 5 years old. Still 4 bunks, but shock! An 'ensuite'! :eek: That is, squeeze into the loo, close the door, then have a shower, reverse the procedure to get out again...and proper entertainment with shows (better than the ones these days I swear), getting dressed up, smoking in the restaurant (shock-horror!). We had great times...

 

Nowadays it's all luxury, king size beds, real bathrooms, all sorts of activities...but sometimes I wonder if it's as much fun now? Not that I want to go back to an upper bunk; maybe it's just a case of age and 'things were better in the old days'... :D

 

Take care

Marianne :)

[Teegiee]

Security!

 

i dont ever remember seeing so many security guards walking around at night ( first cruise April 2004 - recent cruise June 2010)

[lorry like a truck]

Well I went on my first cruise in 86' and you certainly got more for your money. You got a bottle of spumante if you had cruised before. There were always munchies on the bar and on the tables in the lounges. Not that you needed them as the food was great. At Champagne Bay they were waiting on the beach with the bubbly and we had a picnic on the beach. They had midnight snacks and theme nights at dinner. And, Yes no children at dinner. They had their own dinner time. But the prices now are much better. You can pick up specials if you know where to look. After 10 cruises I intend to keep on going.