Do you remember when??

[figmentdj]

One thing I do really miss is that excitement when you got your cruise packet!! And even more exciting because they fed ex'ed it! Clicking the accept contract button - not quite as thrilling as the packet

 

Yes!! I remember our TA calling and saying our docs were in. They used to come in a nice vinyl holder with tags and everything.

 

I'm not much of a wine drinker but they used to have sommeliers or wine stewards. Just them coming around made me feel like a big deal - even got me to order a bottle or two just so I could impress the rest of the table. :D

[GFLeeper]

When folks got their documents, they would post "Doing the document dance" on CC.

 

George

[raider23]

We've only been on a few cruises, but I do remember what a hassle those tip envelopes were on that first cruise. Also, waking up for the midnight buffet and taking pictures of all the beautiful food the staff had prepared. 😋

[Lucky TGO]

Skeet Shooting off the back of the ship.

Tony

[4cats4me]

I remember when cruising cost a lot more than it does now [emoji33]

$1,500 per PERSON for an inside cabin 117 square feet on Royal Caribbean in 1994 for a 7-day Caribbean cruise. Same cruise now

$850-950 pp for a deluxe balcony or mini suite on the Regal

 

Dressing up every night

 

Theme nights and costume parties. I hauled a jester costume on one cruise LOL

 

Chocolate midnight buffets

 

Caribbean night dance parties where we had full buffet setups by the pool at 10:00-12:00 midnight with Caribbean themed foods, plantains, ET cet, and drinks served in coconuts

 

No MUTS

 

BANANAS FOSTER tableside of course

 

Cherries jubilee tableside

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[easyboy]

We still use those whenever drinking champagne! :D Two of them were etched with the year (1989) which I think may have been one of the last years they were given to Circolo del Comandante (Captain's Circle) members but obviously my memory could be wrong. :p

 

I agree about the prices...the attached PDF copy of a 1977/1978 Princess brochure has prices that nearly 40 years later are similar to today's prices.

 

Our first Princess cruise was on Sitmar six months before merging with Princess...white glove service from silver platters was amazing! :D

 

Although the older ships' cabins were not as good as those we have today. Back then they built a ship & figured out where to put cabins (there were some really odd cabins) but now the cabins are modular and much nicer than what we had back then.

Thanks for sharing the brochure. Real memories!

[WisCruiser2]

Thanks for sharing the brochure. Real memories!

 

And each stateroom had a "private bathroom"!

[Alabaster Cruiser]

Flying kites off the back of the ship.

[Bill B]

When, between courses, the assistant waiter cleaned the crumbs off the table cloth with a silver 'crumb scoop'; there was a wine steward; and, people didn't call their steward "stuart".

[GUT2407]

Being shown to your cabin on boarding.

 

Felt very special.

 

Don't miss the cost, I remember when cruising was pretty much the exclusive domain of the rich. The first three people I knew who cruised were

 

A Multi millionaire who came back complaining about the drink prices ($3 for a coke at a time we were paying 50 cents)

 

A Lotery winner

 

A chap who retired on a government pension of about $200,000 a year.

 

Today it's in the reach of most people.

[mrs and mrs]

I crewed on a cruise ship and made 13 nine day trips to Alaska in the summer of 1963:

 

-the ship was huge, 5,500 tons

-there were no stabilizers

-there was no theatre, people wrote letters, listened to music, played cards in the evening

-dining tables were fully set with all the utensils you needed and pax knew which to use and when

-each table as adorned with a silver candelabra which the waiter polished regularly.

-the tables were set with crystal

-waiters wore white gloves and French served each passenger

-not all the cabins had private bathrooms

-there was no doctor aboard unless he/she was a pax

-we stayed in ports most evenings

-customs came aboard either before Ketchikan or Prince Rupert southbound and while you needed ID passports weren't.

-duty free was really duty free

-drinks and wine were pretty much at cost

-pizza and ice-cream bars were unheard of

-passengers got a pax list and where everyone was from

-there was no pool

- the ship that competed with ours was the Princess Patricia which eventually a fledgling, upstart cruise line called Princess leased for winter cruising on the MEXRIV.

OMG I think that is fantastic,would love to have experienced that.Now I remember when you could get a pool towel and not be made to feel like a criminal,and I remeber real BUTTER.Oh well I tried,everyone have a great night.:eek::)

[KevintheIrishDJ]

• Maître d' would serve one dish at every table.

• They would change the table cloth between the entree and dessert.

• No shorts in the Dining Room at any time.

• Always had to wear a tie and jacket at dinner.

• You were escorted to your cabin (not room) upon arrival.

• Shows had a novelty act, the Dance Instructors and the Headliner.

• Room stewards vacuuming the hallway every morning at 7AM, just in case for “forgot” to set your alarm.

• The only female crew members were the nurses.

• No female officers.

• A different officer invited guests to dine with them every night.

• Several ships departed from NYC every day.

• The average ship was 39,000 tons.

• No Casino onboard.

• Most cruises were 7 days to Bermuda or 10 days (always stopping at St. Thomas for shopping and a gambling port).

• Couldn’t get a drink until you were several miles outside of NYC.

 

 

Pax et bonum,

Kevin Westley T.M.R.F.

[floridalover5623]

• maître d' would serve one dish at every table.

• they would change the table cloth between the entree and dessert.

• no shorts in the dining room at any time. Not true for breakfast & lunch on Princess.

• always had to wear a tie and jacket at dinner. Only for formal & semi formal nights.

• you were escorted to your cabin (not room) upon arrival.

• shows had a novelty act, the dance instructors and the headliner.

• room stewards vacuuming the hallway every morning at 7am, just in case for “forgot” to set your alarm.

• the only female crew members were the nurses.

• no female officers.

• a different officer invited guests to dine with them every night.

• several ships departed from nyc every day.

• the average ship was 39,000 tons.

• no casino onboard.

• most cruises were 7 days to bermuda or 10 days (always stopping at st. Thomas for shopping and a gambling port).

• couldn’t get a drink until you were several miles outside of nyc.

 

 

Pax et bonum,

kevin westley t.m.r.f.

See above.;)

[floridalover5623]

I can remember only a few short years ago when there were adult comedy shows presented for those over 18 years of age.....until the goody two shoes got insulted & Princess had to discontinue them for the moral good of all involved. :rolleyes:

[Nezmo]

I can remember only a few short years ago when there were adult comedy shows presented for those over 18 years of age.....until the goody two shoes got insulted & Princess had to discontinue them for the moral good of all involved. :rolleyes:

I think Carnival still has 18+ comedy shows.

[floridalover5623]

I think Carnival still has 18+ comedy shows.

 

I did read that somewhere but we're not the Carnival type.

[tango55]

Great thread! The mention of the SS Norway was great - it was also my second cruise - loved it! Wish the ships were still like that. I loved the real promenade deck!

 

Some changes have been for the greater good, but some are just a shame to have lost! I wish they would have more "throwback" cruises. Carnival did have a throwback day on our last Journey cruise - but it wasn't really, only had a few things from back in the day.

 

Terry

[Cruise Raider]

Wow....I started this post with just a couple of memories and reading through them all made so many more flood back in. I also learned of some new ones .. all of which just put a huge smile on my face.

 

I was cleaning out some old paperwork of mine and found a paper cruise card in all my travel docs. I also remember that the cruise pricing used to include your airfare and a contracted hotel prior to your cruise if the flight taken didn't get you there on time. For our honeymoon, we actually were put up in the Sheraton in Miami and they even fed the cruiseline guests there the evening before embarkation as well as breakfast that morning. We had to go into this huge garage to pick out our luggage and put it on the bus we boarded. Transfers to the pier were also included in the pricing. Now, I don't know if that was our TA that set all that up but don't recall the pricing going up any based on the extras that were provided.

 

Thanks to all the contributors here.....I am enjoying this immensely!!

[KevintheIrishDJ]

Great thread! The mention of the SS Norway was great - it was also my second cruise - loved it! Wish the ships were still like that. I loved the real promenade deck!

 

Some changes have been for the greater good, but some are just a shame to have lost! I wish they would have more "throwback" cruises. Carnival did have a throwback day on our last Journey cruise - but it wasn't really, only had a few things from back in the day.

 

Terry

 

If you stood at either end of the QEII promenade deck, you could see the curvature of the deck.

Pax et bonum,

Kevin Westley T.M.R.F.

[Roatanfans]

I remember my first cruise on the Niew Amsterdam (about 1995 ish) they had a midnight buffet every night and one night it was the chocolate midnight buffet- everything was too pretty to eat! When you walked into the room the smell of chocolate was so overwhelming it almost knocked you over!

[shredie]

The previous Regal...gorgeous ship. The Bengal bar. The Casino. The movie theater. Yep. Thanks for reminding me. :)

[4cats4me]

Wow....I started this post with just a couple of memories and reading through them all made so many more flood back in. I also learned of some new ones .. all of which just put a huge smile on my face.

 

 

 

I was cleaning out some old paperwork of mine and found a paper cruise card in all my travel docs. I also remember that the cruise pricing used to include your airfare and a contracted hotel prior to your cruise if the flight taken didn't get you there on time. For our honeymoon, we actually were put up in the Sheraton in Miami and they even fed the cruiseline guests there the evening before embarkation as well as breakfast that morning. We had to go into this huge garage to pick out our luggage and put it on the bus we boarded. Transfers to the pier were also included in the pricing. Now, I don't know if that was our TA that set all that up but don't recall the pricing going up any based on the extras that were provided.

 

 

 

Thanks to all the contributors here.....I am enjoying this immensely!!

 

 

 

Our first cruise in 1992, same thing, same hotel, garage to claim luggage, ET cet LOL

[iceleven]

I did a couple cruises back in the 70's but I cannot remember where they originated. In any case, they were either the Bahamas and/or Caribbean, and NY to Bermuda. I recall being on the dock and seeing much larger ships docked. Always curious, I asked how was the foods on their ship. One replied "horrible, it's a Russian crew." And then said, never cruise with a Russian crew...only Italian is the best."

 

I also recall cruising out of Jamaica once. It was our embarkation port. I also recall cruising on a ship with a Greek registry and Greek crew out of Florida. What happened to these cruise lines?

 

Does anyone ever recall cruising from the East coast with a Russian crew and do you remember when there were ships with only Italian crews? For some reason I think they were cruises out of NYC.

 

My very first cruise was possibly 40+ years ago. It must have been a real cheapo cruise because I recall the interior walls were of the same material as the outside. White steel and the beds were built-in bunks. Of course I was just a young bride and hubby at the time had nothing to compare it to. I do recall half of the ship was over-run by a private high school graduation class from somewhere in the south. The girls wore their full length prom dresses with full length crinolines and looking ever so much like a Disney Princess.

[VibeGuy]

I also recall cruising on a ship with a Greek registry and Greek crew out of Florida. What happened to these cruise lines?

 

Could have been Chandris, former parent of Chandris Celebrity and Chandris Fantasy cruises. Greek-owned, very Greek officer and hotel corps, and sold to Royal Caribbean in 1996. Fantasy had died somewhat before that, to my mind

 

Does anyone ever recall cruising from the East coast with a Russian crew and do you remember when there were ships with only Italian crews?

 

Not from the east coast, but my early cruises with Sitmar were very, very Italian in staff and crew.

[Florry]

Little blue sickness pills the on-board Doctor would give for free!