What Did We All Do Before CC

[A&L_Ont]

In order to find cc you had to log onto aol and then go to their travel section. The format changed a couple times and it seemed each time they dropped members and their post count and log in info, people got ticked over their post count:p, it was really funny. Early cc drama:D

 

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cruise-critic-redesigns-and-expands-cruise-community-on-aol-to-meet-growing-popularity-of-cruising-74874407.html

 

If you google cc on aol there is some info

 

That's some good reading, and the second article about the virtual cruise with "new" technology was cutting edge in 1998. The times sure have changed.

Edited June 5, 2016 by A&L_Ont

[Norway2]

I went on my first cruise in 1982 on the Norway as my travel agent suggested it. I went by myself and stayed in a quad with three strangers. It was a blast. I loved the brochures back then!

[FloridaPalms]

What did I do before CC?

 

Went on a lot less cruises! CC has fueled my addiction. :D

 

What did I do after CC?

 

Learned a lot more about cruising! And CC has even saved me money with heads up on cruise deals. :D

 

I am the planner in and for the family. Back in the "old" days, I would study brochures for cruises just like I studied guide books for our land vacations. Now, I just download everything onto my iPad.

 

As Blizzard54 posted, there is an element of surprise that is gone for me because of everything I learn ahead through CC and the internet, but the research does extend the length of my pre-cruise enjoyment. :) It also helps to minimize the kinds of surprises that I know would make a vacation less enjoyable for my family or, at least, allow us to prepare ourselves for it (such as no solarium pool on the Harmony :().

 

~ Judy

[Newby58]

Sorry, but that is just called not doing ANY due diligence to learn anything about what you are getting into. It doesn't take a message board to learn that - it just takes investigating the cruiseline and ship. All information that is READILY available - well, unless you are living in a yurt somewhere without any internet or access to books or civilization. Even the most basic research would have told her that.

 

While I don't like to go overboard with my planning, I simply do not understand people who shell out the kind of money one shells out for a cruise vacation and do absolutely ZERO research about it. Forum or no forum - the information is out there.

 

 

I don't understand it either, however my point was some people have NO idea.

 

 

 

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[Newby58]

Hence complaints.

 

 

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[Newby58]

Some percentage of complaints are because people don't know the norm. Wouldn't you agree?

 

 

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[mek]

I've been around since the AOL days - almost the beginning, so before that there really wasn't much on the Internet about travel and cruising. I relied on TA,s , phone calls, and snail mail for information.

[champagne123]

Wow..some really great, funny and even poignant answers! :) Thank you

[1ParticularHbr]

Before CC I did 2 cruises with my ex-husband. We found the bargain prices in Budget Travel Magazine, called the toll free number in the ad, and enjoyed sailing on Sovereign and Empress with zero advance knowledge of what to expect, except what Royal sent us. After my divorce, I searched the Internet for "cruising solo" and it brought me to a CC message board. The rest is history!

[Marisawrite]

Sorry, but that is just called not doing ANY due diligence to learn anything about what you are getting into. It doesn't take a message board to learn that - it just takes investigating the cruiseline and ship. All information that is READILY available

 

I think that's harsh. Firstly, if you've never been on a cruise before, you don't always know the right questions to ask. For another, the information isn't always readily available from the cruise line.

 

We've just come back from our second cruise, on Regal Princess. Before leaving I wanted to find out about how the laundries worked, where they were and whether they would be too busy to use. I couldn't get that info from the Princess website, I got it on CC. That's just a small example but when it comes to details and tips on how to make the best of your cruise, it's hard to find that kind of info anywhere but CC.

[Philly Steve]

Before CC, I would pour over cruise brochures, look for cruise related published articles and subscribe to travel/cruise magazines.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Some percentage of complaints are because people don't know the norm. Wouldn't you agree?

 

Yes, probably some complaints are people who don't know what end is up - and therefore have little to no merit.

 

Then there are complaints because they didn't get X, Y, or Z that the Joneses reported getting when they posted on Forum X (not just this one - there are others out there)!! Disney - both the cruiseline and the resorts - are especially vulnerable to this one as there is a VERY active forum that covers all things Disney. Disney cast members brace for impact every time they hear something start with "I read on..." - and it's a big reason that a lot of things that used to be done to make things magical don't get done anymore.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

I think that's harsh. Firstly, if you've never been on a cruise before, you don't always know the right questions to ask. For another, the information isn't always readily available from the cruise line.

 

We've just come back from our second cruise, on Regal Princess. Before leaving I wanted to find out about how the laundries worked, where they were and whether they would be too busy to use. I couldn't get that info from the Princess website, I got it on CC. That's just a small example but when it comes to details and tips on how to make the best of your cruise, it's hard to find that kind of info anywhere but CC.

 

That is something I would call a specific.

 

I was responding to a post about someone's friends who didn't know there was a main dining room. Ergo, referring to basic information - and information like "where do I eat" is available on every single cruiseline website I've ever seen!

[deliver42]

Before my first cruise I bought Fodor's guide to cruising. It showed all the ships, and what to expect. Then I went to a TA, and picked up brochures to make up my mind. Getting the cruise package in the mail was priceless. Now that I print it online takes away the WOW effect.

[Lionesss]

First cruise was on Disney Magic.

 

Did not know about flying in a day early.

 

Did not know about over packing.

 

Booked excursions, but should have investigated more.

 

Learned a lot then heard about cruise critic.

 

The rest is...............................

 

Safe travels.

[Havin'fun]

My first cruise was in 2009 and I had not heard of CC. I think going in mostly going in blind and not really knowing what to expect made it just a bit more "special". Walking on to the ship for the first time the "wow" factor was over the top.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love CC and all the information on the boards, but I think it would have taken a lot away from the "first time".

 

On the other hand, it has also left me a bit poorer. I read reviews and look at everyone's pictures and I immediately find myself over at Royals site looking for the next cruise or two :D

 

Happy cruising everyone!

[biomedbob]

I, too, am a transplant from the old aol board. The main difference is there are now pros that profess to know everything and nobody can have a differing opinion. The bitching is the same. ;)

[iluvcruzin]

In order to find cc you had to log onto aol and then go to their travel section. The format changed a couple times and it seemed each time they dropped members and their post count and log in info, people got ticked over their post count:p, it was really funny. Early cc drama:D

 

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cruise-critic-redesigns-and-expands-cruise-community-on-aol-to-meet-growing-popularity-of-cruising-74874407.html

 

If you google cc on aol there is some info

 

Before this it wasn't called "Cruise Critic" there was a AOL message board keyword "Cruise". It wasn't the one and only. There were bulletin boards on cruise topics in the early/mid 1990's.

 

I had a friend introduce me to cruising 30 years ago. It was her experience plus brochures as the source for learning about cruising. Through the message boards and internet I continue to learn new things.

Edited June 5, 2016 by iluvcruzin

[Homosassa]

LOL - talk about not knowing what to expect or how to do it:

 

In the end of 1975, beginning of 1976, a travel agency in the NY-NJ area were advertising cruises on the Chandris Britanis. The fare included round trip airfare from NY to Aruba (where the ship was located) and a seven night cruise for an excellent price.

 

I commented on it to my then boyfriend (now husband) which led to a discussion on cruising and him finding out I had never cruised. He had done several trans-Atlantics as a child.

 

We decided to book the cruise. There were two problems: first, I had problem getting approval for vacation as I was involved in a court case and needed to go to Washington, D.C. to prep the case and no one could tell me when that was to be scheduled. When I was finally given approval for vacation, the second problem reared its head: Liberty Travel said all the cruise dates were sold out.

 

Bummer! However, when discussing it at work, an older and more travel savy co-worker told me that this probably only meant the cabins that Liberty Travel had reserved were sold out and that there was probably still space on the ship.

 

Now, the my naivete in travel arranging came into play. From my glossy brochure, I noticed that Chandris had its USA headquarters on Fifth Ave in Manhattan. It so happened I had to visit a well known cosmetic company headquartered on Fifth Ave the next day and their address was within two blocks of the Chandris address.

 

The next day after finishing my business, I went to the Chandris headquarters and told the receptionist I wanted to speak to someone about booking a cruise. She had me take a seat and called back to someone in the back. A very distinguished gentleman came out, introduced himself as the head of the office ad asked what he could help me with.

 

I told him my sad tale of Liberty Travel and work schedules, and asked if there was still room on a certain sailing on the Britanis.

 

He explained to me that their office did not book cruises for customers but he would make an exception in my case. He took me into a backroom that had shelves of ledger books about two feet long and 18 inched tall. Each was labeled with a ship name and date. He pulled the ledger with Britanis and the sailing date I was interested in on the label, took it to a central table and opened it.

 

When opened, the pages had a deck plan of each deck and names handwritten into the cabins that were booked. I wanted an inside cabin and after looking at all the passenger decks, he told me all the passenger decks were booked. However, he was willing to book book us into a crew area.

 

He flipped to the deck plan and show me that there was a crew area on a lower deck all the way forward that was not being used for crew. The cabins were considered inside as they were at the waterline and the cabins shared central men's and women's bathrooms (bathrooms that had six shower stall, toilet stalls, and sinks). Each cabin had a sink in the room. He was willing to give us a cabin on that deck. I accepted.

 

He wrote our names in the cabin and typed up paperwork. He handed me the paperwork and told me to go a few blocks downtown to Rockefeller Center to the KLM office and arrange our flights and bring the information back to him.

 

I did so, he entered the information in his documents, told me the total for the cruise package (it was less than the Liberty Travel deal) and I wrote him a check.

 

He shook my hand and told me we would received our final documents and airline tickets in the mail.

 

We had a wonderful time on the cruise and have been cruising ever since.

 

Yes, I now know one does not go to the corporate headquarters and have the top officer personally book one's cruise.

[George C]

I did fine before Cruise critic, had taken about 40 cruises before and 20 since, but I love reading the reviews and thoughts and have picked up some great hints on cruising and travel

[land lover]

I know what I did before CC, I spend a lot less time on the internet.

 

 

LOL me too...but I know for sure I would not b cruising as much, if not for CC.

[iluvcruzin]

LOL - talk about not knowing what to expect or how to do it:

 

In the end of 1975, beginning of 1976, a travel agency in the NY-NJ area were advertising cruises on the Chandris Britanis. The fare included round trip airfare from NY to Aruba (where the ship was located) and a seven night cruise for an excellent price.

 

I commented on it to my then boyfriend (now husband) which led to a discussion on cruising and him finding out I had never cruised. He had done several trans-Atlantics as a child.

 

We decided to book the cruise. There were two problems: first, I had problem getting approval for vacation as I was involved in a court case and needed to go to Washington, D.C. to prep the case and no one could tell me when that was to be scheduled. When I was finally given approval for vacation, the second problem reared its head: Liberty Travel said all the cruise dates were sold out.

 

Bummer! However, when discussing it at work, an older and more travel savy co-worker told me that this probably only meant the cabins that Liberty Travel had reserved were sold out and that there was probably still space on the ship.

 

Now, the my naivete in travel arranging came into play. From my glossy brochure, I noticed that Chandris had its USA headquarters on Fifth Ave in Manhattan. It so happened I had to visit a well known cosmetic company headquartered on Fifth Ave the next day and their address was within two blocks of the Chandris address.

 

The next day after finishing my business, I went to the Chandris headquarters and told the receptionist I wanted to speak to someone about booking a cruise. She had me take a seat and called back to someone in the back. A very distinguished gentleman came out, introduced himself as the head of the office ad asked what he could help me with.

 

I told him my sad tale of Liberty Travel and work schedules, and asked if there was still room on a certain sailing on the Britanis.

 

He explained to me that their office did not book cruises for customers but he would make an exception in my case. He took me into a backroom that had shelves of ledger books about two feet long and 18 inched tall. Each was labeled with a ship name and date. He pulled the ledger with Britanis and the sailing date I was interested in on the label, took it to a central table and opened it.

 

When opened, the pages had a deck plan of each deck and names handwritten into the cabins that were booked. I wanted an inside cabin and after looking at all the passenger decks, he told me all the passenger decks were booked. However, he was willing to book book us into a crew area.

 

He flipped to the deck plan and show me that there was a crew area on a lower deck all the way forward that was not being used for crew. The cabins were considered inside as they were at the waterline and the cabins shared central men's and women's bathrooms (bathrooms that had six shower stall, toilet stalls, and sinks). Each cabin had a sink in the room. He was willing to give us a cabin on that deck. I accepted.

 

He wrote our names in the cabin and typed up paperwork. He handed me the paperwork and told me to go a few blocks downtown to Rockefeller Center to the KLM office and arrange our flights and bring the information back to him.

 

I did so, he entered the information in his documents, told me the total for the cruise package (it was less than the Liberty Travel deal) and I wrote him a check.

 

He shook my hand and told me we would received our final documents and airline tickets in the mail.

 

We had a wonderful time on the cruise and have been cruising ever since.

 

Yes, I now know one does not go to the corporate headquarters and have the top officer personally book one's cruise.

 

What a great story! :)

[Alohaaloha]

I have learnt such a lot from Cruise Critic- I value other's thoughts, tips, and recommendations, and I know if I have a query someone out there will know the answer.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[A2Mich]

My first 2 cruises were before Cruise Critic existed, and I have to say, that I enjoyed those 2 cruises immensely. While having information is great, I think that with internet access so readily accessible for people now, that we "suffer" from information overload. How many of us here insist on knowing ABSOLUTELY every detail of our upcoming cruise? It seems like many of us are on a timetable like the Griswalds in "Vacation" (the original). We have taken the "mystery" out of things. Instead of being surprised by some things, we now know exactly what to expect and adjust our own expectations accordingly. On my first cruise, I was 12 years old, the internet was not even in existence, all we had were printed brochures, and got no shore excursion info until the docs arrived in the mail. We have come so far, that we are now planning shore excursions a year or more in advance, we know what we're having for dinner next February, we have a good idea of who our cabin stewards and MDR wait staff are going to be, and so on. There is very little mystery left and nothing left to explore.

 

That said, I meticulously plan nearly as much as anyone else on these boards, but times certainly have changed, and I have changed with them, for better or for worse.

[APDMOM]

We booked a short cruise on a small Carnival ship, to see if we like cruising. We ended up with a cabin in the midst of a bunch of teens, on their spring break "band tour" with no chaperones in sight.:rolleyes:

 

We still got addicted :D.... but we are very thankful for Cruise critic to avoid those rookie mistakes.

 

20 cruises later, I still get butterflies on boarding day. :)