I Remember when RCL ............

[scootersdad]

Saw a similar question about another cruise line.

 

I remember when Royal Caribbean Cruises:

 

Had midnight Buffets 

you could not wear T shift to the MDR

received a glass of sparkling wine when you stepped onto the ship

Fireworks

the staff were overly polite

Great  Food

 

What do you remember????

 

[Dajbman22]

Built ships with Viking Crown lounges. 

[voyager70]

Not being nickled and dimed to death

 

[MKESail]

When the Free Upgrade Fairy was alive and well 😢

[Ourusualbeach]

- they didn’t build ships that catered to families

- didn’t have Broadway shows, Aquatheatre or ice shows

- didn’t allow D and above 3 drinks at any bar

- didn’t have restrive smoking policies

- didn’t have dining options other than the MDR

 

And the list goes on.  Personally I’m glad cruising isn’t the way it was 20+ years ago.

Edited December 31, 2018 by Ourusualbeach

[KmomChicago]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

- they didn’t build ships that catered to families

- didn’t have Broadway shows, Aquatheatre or ice shows

- didn’t allow D and above 3 drinks at any bar

- didn’t have restrive smoking policies

- didn’t have dining options other than the MDR

 

And the list goes on.  Personally I’m glad cruising isn’t the way it was 20 years ago.

 

Nobody ever complains about the many ways cruising has dramatically improved over the years while still providing an incredible vacation value for the dollar!

[George C]

26 minutes ago, scootersdad said:

Saw a similar question about another cruise line.

 

I remember when Royal Caribbean Cruises:

 

Had midnight Buffets 

you could not wear T shift to the MDR

received a glass of sparkling wine when you stepped onto the ship

Fireworks

the staff were overly polite

Great  Food

 

What do you remember????

 

Do not remember fireworks even in late 1980’s , also do not remember sparkling wine which celebrity still does, I think staff is friendly and polite. Food was better but would not say great.

Do totally agree back then there was a real dress code. Now people dress like there going to Disney world.

[Biker19]

4 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Nobody ever complains about the many ways cruising has dramatically improved over the years while still providing an incredible vacation value for the dollar!

Some may not consider cruising being improved over the years - gotta be careful with absolutes.

[OCruisers]

Skeet shooting was fun!  

[airbusdrvr]

I have shot skeet from the aft end of Majesty of the Seas.

[Homosassa]

When the cruise line was geared to providing a  quiet, relaxing, luxurious experience . 

 

Of course, the target marketing demographic was not the budget entry level marketing target of today. The brand was repositioned as the corporation bought in the Celebrity and Azamara  brands.

[KmomChicago]

Just now, Biker19 said:

Some may not consider cruising being improved over the years - gotta be careful with absolutes.

 

Hi, Biker. Yes, I understand and what I consider an improvement may be of little value to others, or even detrimental.  Just as all the complaints are opinions, the industry would likely not be expanding without customers who do feel cruising has improved.  I think you can make very easily make cases either way, but in the end the word improvement is subjective and almost impossible to prove with hard data, so I apologize for making such an unsubstantiated statement. :)

 

I could provide a long explanation to justify my point, but I doubt anyone is interested.

[Lionesss]

Chocolates on pillows at night

 

Dinner rolls passed out at dinner, not just finding in bowl on table.

 

Dinning room staff not begging for 10"s on survey

 

Pool towels provided in suites, did not have to wait in line.

 

 

 

To name a few

 

 

[HBE4]

 

Seems like what should have been a nice trip down memory lane went off the rails pretty quickly.

[time4u2go]

...had better food.

[George C]

46 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

- they didn’t build ships that catered to families

- didn’t have Broadway shows, Aquatheatre or ice shows

- didn’t allow D and above 3 drinks at any bar

- didn’t have restrive smoking policies

- didn’t have dining options other than the MDR

 

And the list goes on.  Personally I’m glad cruising isn’t the way it was 20+ years ago.

I wish they had new ships not catering to families/children very few children back in 80’s on ships . Do agree on other points.

[nelblu]

I remember, when:

 

Streamers when departing on cruise.

Family members allowed and seeing you off.

Horse racing on pool deck, but replaced by casinos.

No Broadway or other shows, but staff provided the entertainment.

No diamond lounges.  When DL introduced, only wine, soda & water available.  Plus some minor chips/pretzels instead of the hors d'ovres.

Not necessarily on RCL, but on "Oceanic" had to pay for the loungers, but it made up for the wonderful quantity and quality of food..

No stabilizers and no promenades.

 

Just a few, but overall, I take what is being offered today.

 

 

[DarthGrady]

I've got to second the Viking Crown comment, it is sad that Royal is abandoning their signature feature. All in all though, I'm pretty happy with the current state of cruising. Yes, the ships get more and more gimmicky as the years go by, but at least the Radiance class and (most of) the Vision class ships are still in service. They still provide a fairly traditional cruise experience.  

[gatour]

Giving out "dollars" for participating in "work-out/sports" events.  Things like doing a walk or competing in the basketball tournament.  Once you accumulated a certain amount of "dollars" you can turn them in for a t-shirt.  This was back when Sovereign of the Seas was only a year or two old. 

[suesnake2002]

I remember when to sail on the newest biggest ship sailing out of NJ cost over $6,000 for a family of three. To have an inside cabin on deck 3. 

I remember when there was no drink package,(and there was a contest for the biggest bar bill), and all shore excursions were booked when you boarded. Oh what a way to spend your first few hours on board

And by the time you disembarked your on ship bill was as much as the cruise. 

I remember having to carry lots of cash to tip lots of people individually. 

Ahhh the good old days. Lol

[nelblu]

12 minutes ago, gatour said:

Giving out "dollars" for participating in "work-out/sports" events.  Things like doing a walk or competing in the basketball tournament.  Once you accumulated a certain amount of "dollars" you can turn them in for a t-shirt.  This was back when Sovereign of the Seas was only a year or two old. 

 

Forgot about those "Shipshape $" and I still have some that are useless as they did away with the program.  There was a song by the Caribbean group "Mega 4" which included Shipshape $ in their Dollar Wine (?) song.

 

Ps.  Still have some Shipshape t-shirts.

[BillOh]

3 hours ago, scootersdad said:

Saw a similar question about another cruise line.

 

I remember when Royal Caribbean Cruises:

 

Had midnight Buffets 

 

With regard to this, I saw it once only on Voyager in May of 2006.  They let you walk through and take pictures before midnight, but opened it up for eating/sampling at midnight.  I assume, but don't know a lot was wasted.  Back in 2006 I weighed 70 pounds more and could eat at midnight.

[voyager70]

12 minutes ago, BillOh said:

With regard to this, I saw it once only on Voyager in May of 2006.  They let you walk through and take pictures before midnight, but opened it up for eating/sampling at midnight.  I assume, but don't know a lot was wasted.  Back in 2006 I weighed 70 pounds more and could eat at midnight.

 

Agree, the the midnight buffets were an amazing sight but the waste was probably insane.  Don't know many people over the age of 40 that can eat a big meal after midnight.  I certainly can't.

 

[nelblu]

1 minute ago, voyager70 said:

 

Agree, the the midnight buffets were an amazing sight but the waste was probably insane.  Don't know many people over the age of 40 that can eat a big meal after midnight.  I certainly can't.

 

 

Didn't they also changed to a special one buffet a week and it comprised of fresh fruits, cakes, etc.

[BillOh]

3 hours ago, airbusdrvr said:

I have shot skeet from the aft end of Majesty of the Seas.

 

When was that?