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50 Years of Cruising on Royal -- Share Your Memories!


LauraS
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22 minutes ago, Tobyhilda said:

Biker19. I am impressed with your numbers of posts,,wow,,Let’s share some of your  experiences, let’s try to stimulate some interest on this cruise,,AKA The Godmother 

 

You might want to join/check out the roll call for the actual cruise

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  • 2 weeks later...

My first cruise was on Empress of the Seas.  I had never cruised before but my husband had won a trip for his sales at work so we went.  We arrived at the pier with someone he worked with and his wife.  We two women just looked up at the ship and could not get over how big it was.  Little did we know that the ships to come would be so much bigger than Empress.  We got to our room which was very small, 110 sq. ft. and thought we would never survive in such a small space.  It was a short 4 day cruise but we had such a good time that we hardly slept.  We earned ship shape dollars for all the activities we participated in.  We had shirts, visors, and so much more after our four days.  We hardly ever slept but we were young then and it did not matter.  This was early 90's and we were so much younger then.  Now in this day and age we move a lot slower and don't go to every exercise class but we found that we love cruising then and go as many times a year as we can.  

 

Pat

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9 hours ago, RodPat said:

My first cruise was on Empress of the Seas.  I had never cruised before but my husband had won a trip for his sales at work so we went.  We arrived at the pier with someone he worked with and his wife.  We two women just looked up at the ship and could not get over how big it was.  Little did we know that the ships to come would be so much bigger than Empress.  We got to our room which was very small, 110 sq. ft. and thought we would never survive in such a small space.  It was a short 4 day cruise but we had such a good time that we hardly slept.  We earned ship shape dollars for all the activities we participated in.  We had shirts, visors, and so much more after our four days.  We hardly ever slept but we were young then and it did not matter.  This was early 90's and we were so much younger then.  Now in this day and age we move a lot slower and don't go to every exercise class but we found that we love cruising then and go as many times a year as we can.  

 

Pat

Ah yes....they should bring back 'Ship Shape Dollars'.   We only started cruising in 2004 and it was only on our first and 2nd cruise that they gave away Ship Shape Dollars before they were done away with....but it surely made added some fun to the activities.  So what if when you redeemed your ship shape dollars all that you got was Royal Caribbean merchandise....it just made it fun and EVERYONE won in the end.

 

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Rccl is my favorite line , did sovereign in late 80’s , was just a amazing special ship nothing else like it when it first sailed , got engaged on sovereign in 1990. Back then we booked inside cabins , now we are Diamond plus and book suites , seen so many great shows over the years bit of course it was a little more elegant 30 years ago when people actually dressed for dinner. 

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Does anyone remember the horse race game?   As I said previously we started sailing in 2004 and our first cruise was on Navigator.  She was a very new ship, having just turned one year old, and we thought it was a highlight of our cruise week.  So much fun.  I so wish it was brought back.  

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Hi Everyone !

 

My first time cruise was on the old defunct American Family Cruise Lines ' American Adventure' back in '94....

 

I remember standing outside on the pool deck looking at the ship directly in front of us and asking my wife

what incredible ship is that ?  Joan said that's Royal's "Monarch Of The Seas" !!….WOW, she's a real beauty,

why aren't we on her I asked instead of sailing on this old rust bucket ?? (I was beginning to get upset)

Joan responded by telling me that she got all my 4 kids on board for only $50 buck each !!  I said well done

honey, well done ! (I wasn't upset anymore )

 

When we got home (great first cruise) , we booked the "Monarch" for just the two of us and never looked back...

Joan and I are 'Diamonds' now , and are Loyal to Royal, sailing on the 'Symphony' this October...Royal has the 

best 'Perks' in the cruise Industry !!

 

Chris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 3/5/2019 at 9:35 AM, LauraS said:

I'm really enjoying all of your memories!!

 

Keep 'em coming!

 

Laura

Could you believe The Godmother Tobyhilda is still cruising,,wow #52 coming up,and yes, I will be celebrating my 87 birthday on RCCL 50th Anniversary,,If you have Forgotten,,I was on RCCL first ship. Song of Norway,sorry my traveling and cruising partner,,my husband did not live for this celebration,,but I will have a toast in his honor and memory,,Loyal to Royal. Tobyhilda. AKA The Godmother

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On 3/5/2019 at 4:49 PM, truffles2 said:

 

 

I remember one at about that time that was quite large.....it was a C&A cruise and also a CC cruise.  It was attended by Jack Williams, who was president at that time, and also Ken Rush, who was cruise director.  I went back to look and see if that was the one you were referring to.  Turns out it was on Mariner, not Freedom.

Ken Rush was one and only the best Cruise Dir,,,Looking forward to see and meet him on 50th Anniversary cruise!,,I understand Ken Rush is now an executive and teaching new cruise directors The In And Outs of the business,,

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24 minutes ago, Tobyhilda said:

Could you believe The Godmother Tobyhilda is still cruising,,wow #52 coming up,and yes, I will be celebrating my 87 birthday on RCCL 50th Anniversary,,If you have Forgotten,,I was on RCCL first ship. Song of Norway,sorry my traveling and cruising partner,,my husband did not live for this celebration,,but I will have a toast in his honor and memory,,Loyal to Royal. Tobyhilda. AKA The Godmother

Congrats😉

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My wife & I have been on 11 Royal cruises with # 12 coming up soon. All 11 have been 100% great experiences and were worth every dollar spent. Too many great memories to list here but suffice to say Royal is far and wide the best cruise line out there with the best bang for the buck!

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Back in '99 on Grandeur we had this little Italian hw.   On the first night he came around and asked everyone's name.  Second night he stood at mdr entrance and greeted each woman by name.  Can't imagine how he remembered who was in his section let alone their names.  Did this for remainder of cruise.  DW has never been so impressed.

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On 5/4/2019 at 9:06 AM, Buccaneergirl said:

I loved the horse races! I won one of the horse races back in the day! ($350)

Dh and I decorated our horse with Bucs stuff and named him “My Buc-N-Horse”.

 

Hi Tobyhilda! Hope all is well with you!

We did cruise together however I do not remember when,,Senior citizen, refresh my memory,Thanks

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Our first cruise was on Sovereign in 1993. My brother worked for RCCL. He arranged a lovely (small) party, for DH and I, the morning we boarded the ship. He had invited an aunt and a cousin, who lived within an easy drive of Port Miami,  that I hadn’t seen in years. Things just kept getting better as various senior staff on the ship stopped by to welcome us aboard. To ice the cake, we were invited up to the bridge for sail away. After that first cruise, we were hooked on cruising. DH and  I cruised once or twice a year until he passed away in 2007. I continue the tradition.

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We had our first balcony cabin on Rhapsody in 1997 and I was so enthralled with it that I sat out there most of the night.Our next RCI cruise was in 1999,aboard Splendour and it was far from good,and was our last RCI cruise.We really wanted to try one of the larger ships and are sailing on Allure in November.I am sure it will be much better than our other experience.

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Well- I stopped with the Voyager Class- and even that one was not to my liking! Vision and Radiance Class are their best ships- why? Because of the light- with every twist and turn you are connected with the sea! Voyager and bigger- well rather like sailing in big shopping Mall- to many lounges without even a window to look out to the sea!

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On 5/9/2019 at 6:44 PM, Baron Barracuda said:

Back in '99 on Grandeur we had this little Italian hw.   On the first night he came around and asked everyone's name.  Second night he stood at mdr entrance and greeted each woman by name.  Can't imagine how he remembered who was in his section let alone their names.  Did this for remainder of cruise.  DW has never been so impressed.

On one of our early cruises we were with friends and had a terrific Maitre D.  He did the usual stuff the first night coming over and saying hello.  Finding out a little bit about the group of us.  Each night he stopped by and said Hi, found out a little bit more about us....then came Friday night and he brought over a Challah and some kosher wine, so we could make kiddush with our dinner.  It was a lovely gesture.....and we connected with Jacob on FB and sailed with him since then, as luck would have it.  As much as the 'toys and fun things to do' make for a great ROYAL experience it is the people who make it special.

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Our 1st was on the Sovereign of the Sea, hooked us. Our waiter Adam was so personable he made the cruise better in every way.  My husband always said he is the reason for the next 37 cruises.  Each cruise stands out for different reasons. We have done the large and the small but the voyager/freedom class are, our favorite.

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Our first cruise was in 2008. We had done a Nile river cruise, but never an ocean cruise.

 

We saw a full page advertisement in a magazine for a 12 day cruise, on a brand-new ship (still being built at that moment).

There were a few incentives offered - like free parking at the port - for booking quickly.  We took the plunge and booked for 12 nights, to the Canary Islands,, on board Independence.

 

When we boarded, she had only done a quick 4 night cruise to Ireland. This was to be her first "proper" cruise.

 

We had the legendary Ken Rush as CD, a benchmark to measure all others by.

 

We were also fortunate in having an AM from elsewhere in RCL as a table companion for dinner.

 

........suffice to say, we were hooked!

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10 minutes ago, Sancho_proudfoot said:

Our first cruise was in 2008. We had done a Nile river cruise, but never an ocean cruise.

 

We saw a full page advertisement in a magazine for a 12 day cruise, on a brand-new ship (still being built at that moment).

There were a few incentives offered - like free parking at the port - for booking quickly.  We took the plunge and booked for 12 nights, to the Canary Islands,, on board Independence.

 

When we boarded, she had only done a quick 4 night cruise to Ireland. This was to be her first "proper" cruise.

 

We had the legendary Ken Rush as CD, a benchmark to measure all others by.

 

We were also fortunate in having an AM from elsewhere in RCL as a table companion for dinner.

 

........suffice to say, we were hooked!

I am intrigued by what I have highlighted in your post.  When "AM" is used in a post it generally refers to the Activity Manager onboard.....so are you saying  that the AM on your sailing was with you for dinner? One night or all sailing long....that would be very different....since staff has their own schedule and dining room in crew quarters.   

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