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I've been sailing NCL long enough to remember when...

Norovirus595

By Norovirus595,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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pmnb29

pmnb29

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We have been cruising since 2002, not as long as some of you. Our first cruise was on the Sky to Alaska out of Seattle. The first night we went to Le Bistro because it was 1/2 off the specialty charge. It was our anniversary that day, so it was special.

I also remember when they used to give out little maps of the ship that folded up to a small size you could slip in your pocket. 

A couple people have mentioned the Blue Lagoon. We loved the Blue Lagoon!!! It took us a few days to find it on the Pearl in 2008, but once we found it and realized how quiet it was, we ate there a lot. It was a limited menu but very quick. 

 

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TrumpyNor

TrumpyNor

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* They served the mushroom soup at Le Bistro in a bowl made of bread - yummie! 

* When one of the desserts at Le Bistro was Crepe Suzette that they made flambee tableside.

* They used to make the Caesar salad to order table side in the specialty restaurants.

* A true chocolate buffet with amazing chocolate creations on every cruise, where they opened up 30 min. early so that people could take pictures before everything got "ruined" by chocolate hungry cruisers.

* When the captain often invited passengers on a "bridge tour"

* When it was kind of "exclusive" to have a high Latitude status - I remember a young man working in the photo shop on board who was so "excited" with us being his first customers with Platinum status.... 😄

 

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bluesea777

bluesea777

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On ‎9‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 9:50 PM, SMSACE6 said:

1999, the Norway...way before freestyle, still had set time dining. in the MDR they came between courses and had this little shovel type thingy with a brush to, sweep away any crumbs from the table cloth.:D

 

have not seen that since then, any cruise line.

 

They still use it - on some ships.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Improved-Stainless-Scraper-Nickel/dp/B00DJXRFGC/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2F3KOEN6BT84M&keywords=bread+crumb+scraper&qid=1551623505&s=gateway&sprefix=breadcrumb+%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-2

 

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bluesea777

bluesea777

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Bingo on big brown/maroon handheld mobiles … it was on the Spirit in Dec 2006 (our first NCL cruise). Thank god they got rid of them and switched to paper bingo.

 

The mobiles took the game excitement away as they were automatic.

 

 

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ksmcdonald

ksmcdonald

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I remember when I was very young I had an uncle who lived in Miami. We would go to visit him on vacation and then we would drive down to the docks and board the Sunward II before sailing; just to see the ship.  They would bring around little finger sandwich “for free” even for us not sailing. We got to see how the other half was living. They would blow the ships horn to alert us to get off the ship, they were getting ready to sail. Can’t imagine cruise ships doing that now.  This was our weekend entertainment!  

 

We saved enough to actually sail Sunward II in 1978. At 15 years old, I could play the 10 cent slot machine, actually putting in dimes. I remember winning 1000 dimes!  That’s a lot for a 15 year old, $100. They served food early or late setting, if you slept through the 7:00 early breakfast, you didn’t eat until lunch!  No such thing as buffets (except at midnight). Had Lobster Newburgh for dinner, Parade of baked Alaska, half of fresh pineapple served as a course for every breakfast. I also remember  each passenger meet and shook hands with the captain at the Captains’s Cocktail party, which we had to wear long formal dresses to. My first two cruises were Sunward II. In Nassua, the little boys that lived there would shimmy up the lines that tied the ship to the dock and dive in for quarters passengers would throw over. 

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Joanne G.

Joanne G.

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On 9/23/2018 at 9:17 AM, NJLVW said:

Remembering all the memories!! Does anyone else remember the skeet shooting off the ship? . . . . 

Absolutely I remember skeet shooting off the fantail of the late, great SS Norway.  Also, assigned dining times not just for dinner but for also lunch.  As others have mentioned, Le Bistro for $5.00.  Paper cards for re-boarding the ship in the ports.   No safes in the cabins; we used a lock box at the purser's desk for our valuables.   Ball gowns and tuxes for formal night.  

 

Move a head a few years, and I remember my first freestyle cruise on the Star in Hawaii - no casino and the out-of-the-way stop at Fanning Island.  I was fascinated by Fanning Island and sometimes wonder if any ship goes there anymore since NCL doesn't have to.  

 

A fun thread!

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Linda the Book Lover

Linda the Book Lover

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1 hour ago, Barb Nahoumi said:

FREE upgrades were offered.

Sailing to Bermuda on the Majesty

Boxes of chocolate were put in platinum passengers' cabins.

Passengers could bring their own bottles of water or cans of soda aboard.

We loved the Majesty! We sailed her around Hawaii and Fanning Island and also to Bermuda. One of our favorite ships.

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bonvoyagie

bonvoyagie

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Been cruising since 02 with NCL - Sky to AK was first cruise - freestyle 1.0  - it was our 25th anniversary and our very first cruise. NCL did not have fleet wide menus - each ship's chef was free to choose what he wanted to cook - usually something local - they mentioned that in AK they served a slightly richer menu our chef had also served as the chef in the white house and his menu featured some of the former president's favorite dishes - he also had a cookbook that was for sale in the gift shop.

 

I also remember that NCL did not have a web presence - you had to book through a TA - nothing was done online. Also our TA sent us real brochures - not PDFs, he also handled all of the paperwork including your cruise docs.

 

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three acts

three acts

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Cruised  on the Sea in 02...first time with NCL...wonderful L-O-N-G..repo cruise with lots of sea days...Old ship with metal drawers that kept coming off their tracks..😁.we had more laughs on that ship...great staff...in casino...in DR and our room steward was awesome...I miss the smaller, older ships....everyone seemed to get to know everyone else..like a little community.

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pmnb29

pmnb29

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Posted
7 hours ago, bonvoyagie said:

Been cruising since 02 with NCL - Sky to AK was first cruise - freestyle 1.0  - it was our 25th anniversary and our very first cruise. NCL did not have fleet wide menus - each ship's chef was free to choose what he wanted to cook - usually something local - they mentioned that in AK they served a slightly richer menu our chef had also served as the chef in the white house and his menu featured some of the former president's favorite dishes - he also had a cookbook that was for sale in the gift shop.

 

I also remember that NCL did not have a web presence - you had to book through a TA - nothing was done online. Also our TA sent us real brochures - not PDFs, he also handled all of the paperwork including your cruise docs.

 

 

What month were you on the Sky? That was our first cruise too, in 02, for our 23rd anniversary! We boarded Sept. 8. (I only remember what day it was because it was on our anniversary.)

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pmnb29

pmnb29

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10 hours ago, Laszlo said:

The Gem had a "Freestyle" deck for topless - nude sunbathing

Oh yeah, I forgot about the Freestyle deck. There was one on the Pearl in 2008 too. Someone told us about it, but I was never actually up there. Too many old men hanging over the railing from up there looking down. 

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bonvoyagie

bonvoyagie

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2 hours ago, pmnb29 said:

 

What month were you on the Sky? That was our first cruise too, in 02, for our 23rd anniversary! We boarded Sept. 8. (I only remember what day it was because it was on our anniversary.)

We were on her in mid June - we were ahead of our actual anniversary date but we left on father's day. Later in 2012 we were on the Pearl in AK exactly on our anniversary - we happened to mention it to the head of housekeeping as we left a cocktail party because of dinner reservations and we came back to a fully decorated suite and another  bottle of sparkling wine.

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bonvoyagie

bonvoyagie

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2 hours ago, pmnb29 said:

Oh yeah, I forgot about the Freestyle deck. There was one on the Pearl in 2008 too. Someone told us about it, but I was never actually up there. Too many old men hanging over the railing from up there looking down. 

Lots of the early ships had the Freestyle sundeck - I never saw where they were used much in AK :)

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cruizinrican

cruizinrican

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Posted (edited)

I sailed the Norwegian Sea and SS Norway!  I remember on the Norway, we had this huge inside with metal dresser that was colored like a light greenish gray and our room had actual bunkbeds in it and our regular bed!?

Edited by cruizinrican
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cruizinrican

cruizinrican

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On ‎1‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 1:35 PM, CruisinPandora said:

We remember when dining in Le Bistro they would make your caesar salad right at your table. Real romano cheese, anchovies, etc. Chocolate fondue with fruit, delicious. (NCL Spirit)

 

OMG I so forgot about this!  It was the best Caesar salad you have ever had!  Something about being made tableside, that seems to make everything taste better!  Thanks for jogging my memory.

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JUSRN

JUSRN

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On 12/29/2018 at 7:28 AM, newmexicoNita said:

I have been cruising NCL since the early 1990s and don't remember the specialty dining room with no charge. are you sure? NCL was the first line to offer specialty dining and it was $5 a person. There were only 2 dining rooms on the ships plus the upscale one and no buffet like they have today. They did offer a small buffet but it was more like a fast food restaurant. In face when we sailed NCL for the first time, it was before the Wind I think. The Wind didn't join the fleet until the mid 190s I don't think: maybe about 1996 or 97?

 

I have been sailing NCL since the early 1980’s and I too don’t remember any specialty restaurant without a surcharge. For a number of years La Bistro was the only specialty restaurant and the charge was $5/ pp.

I do remember th La Cuchina being free when it was first introduced.

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