Archive fun for non-cruising boredom

[mayleeman]

I have only been reading CC for a couple years, but it has been educational. I get a kick out of the many "popcorn" threads about tipping, formal nights, elevators, etc etc etc. 

 

I decided to look at old posts to see how things have changed. So, I went to the last page on the Celebrity board here. You can do it by clicking on the URL at the top of any page, and editing the page number to any page you want up to the last one.)

 

It only goes back to April 2004, but what a difference! Found discussions in 2005 asking about informal night (ties and suits worn by half the men, NO SNARKY COMMENTS!), comments on Galaxy and Mercury, and many topics of still-current interest. I did not see big argument threads with hot topics, but I was not doing a deep-dive.

 

What I didn't see in an admittedly cursory look at 2004 and 2005 were any familiar users' names. So, a question for long-time X fans: have any of you been on CC on this board that long? Have people changed their user names (for example, if CC was having glitches)?

 

And finally, another question: do long time users see major differences in tone and topics from then to now? 

[Texed]

10 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

 So, a question for long-time X fans: have any of you been on CC on this board that long? Have people changed their user names (for example, if CC was having glitches)?

 

And finally, another question: do long time users see major differences in tone and topics from then to now? 

 

Yes, I have been here a long time.  Actually, quite a bit longer than it shows.  I was part of Cruise Critic when it was a live chat, and an AOL exclusive.

 

I changed computers and screen names many years ago.  😎

 

The boards are a lot more confrontational now.  Of course, there are many more folks on Cruise Critic now.  But, there are still a lot of very nice folks, and some great information available here.  😊

Edited August 2, 2020 by Texed

[mayleeman]

@Texed Thanks! I have wondered what CC was back before the Web era when chatrooms were on AOL and other internet provider sites. Further back, it is amazing how we forget the connex problems of the 300/1200 baud dial-up modems of the early '80s!

Edited August 2, 2020 by mayleeman

[dkjretired]

34 minutes ago, Texed said:

 

Yes, I have been here a long time.  Actually, quite a bit longer than it shows.  I was part of Cruise Critic when it was a live chat, and an AOL exclusive.

 

I changed computers and screen names many years ago.  😎

The boards are a lot more confrontational now.  Of course, there are many more folks on Cruise Critic now.  But, there are still a lot of very nice folks, and some great information available here.  😊

 

Same here, been on CC since its inception in 1995 when it was only on AOL.. They changed to the internet in 2001, that's why our start dates show 2001.   Also many of us  have thousands more posts than are shown since when we went to internet the count started at zero.   Also lost a lot during various computer changes.    Before that I was on a very active board that ran on the old Sears platform, can never think of the name.  Times change but some of the old threads besides formal nights were smoking, kids being taken out of school to go on cruises, could go on and on.   

 

Interesting that in the beginning dress code threads were rare and not a big deal.  Reason was if you went on Celebrity you followed the dress code threads after 6:00P.M. No specialties, no buffet for dinner so basically you had to order from room service.  You also would be refused entrance to all venues including the casino unless you were dressed properly. 

[pumpkin 11]

1 hour ago, dkjretired said:

 

Same here, been on CC since its inception in 1995 when it was only on AOL.. They changed to the internet in 2001, that's why our start dates show 2001.   Also many of us  have thousands more posts than are shown since when we went to internet the count started at zero.   Also lost a lot during various computer changes.    Before that I was on a very active board that ran on the old Sears platform, can never think of the name.  Times change but some of the old threads besides formal nights were smoking, kids being taken out of school to go on cruises, could go on and on.   

 

Interesting that in the beginning dress code threads were rare and not a big deal.  Reason was if you went on Celebrity you followed the dress code threads after 6:00P.M. No specialties, no buffet for dinner so basically you had to order from room service.  You also would be refused entrance to all venues including the casino unless you were dressed properly. 

Yeah. Society just isn't like that anymore. For better or worse.

[Pinboy]

2 hours ago, Texed said:

The boards are a lot more confrontational now.

But, there are still a lot of very nice folks,

Excellent comments--exactly my thoughts.

I think with the advent of social media and the non-conforming attitude of many people , society has become more of a " Me, Me, Me " attitude. 

Right here on CC there are several " agitators " --- You learn very quickly who they are --- Easy to talk tough and challenging when nobody knows who you are.

However, there are many, many  more , well versed , polite ( even though they have different opinions than you ),  who contribute interesting and knowledgeable comments. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dkjretired]

3 hours ago, Pinboy said:

Excellent comments--exactly my thoughts.

I think with the advent of social media and the non-conforming attitude of many people , society has become more of a " Me, Me, Me " attitude. 

Right here on CC there are several " agitators " --- You learn very quickly who they are --- Easy to talk tough and challenging when nobody knows who you are.

However, there are many, many  more , well versed , polite ( even though they have different opinions than you ),  who contribute interesting and knowledgeable comments. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

just an FYI, Texed is the waffle guy and a great asset to this board.

[Pinboy]

17 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

Texed is the waffle guy and a great asset to this board.

The fact that you have been on CC since 1995  ( 20,000 + club ) and say he is an asset to this board is a good enough recommendation for me.  I'm sure you know who's who on CC. 

I've only been on CC since January and don't know what  " the waffle guy " refers to.

There's gotta be a good " Texas " story to it.  

 

 

[gerelmx]

Before AOL was IRC (Internet Relay Chat), don't remember exactly when I chat with cruise friends for the first time (94 or 95)

Edited August 2, 2020 by gerelmx

[dkjretired]

6 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

The fact that you have been on CC since 1995  ( 20,000 + club ) and say he is an asset to this board is a good enough recommendation for me.  I'm sure you know who's who on CC. 

I've only been on CC since January and don't know what  " the waffle guy " refers to.

There's gotta be a good " Texas " story to it.  

 

 

 
He loves Celebrity’s waffles which are excellent.

[Texed]

2 hours ago, dkjretired said:

just an FYI, Texed is the waffle guy and a great asset to this board.

 

1 hour ago, dkjretired said:

 
He loves Celebrity’s waffles which are excellent.

 

Celebrity waffles are pretty hard to obtain at this particular time.  But, Jacquie did whip up a batch for breakfast today.  She has the original Celebrity recipe.  😋

[DrKoob]

8 hours ago, mayleeman said:

I have only been reading CC for a couple years, but it has been educational. I get a kick out of the many "popcorn" threads about tipping, formal nights, elevators, etc etc etc. 

 

I decided to look at old posts to see how things have changed. So, I went to the last page on the Celebrity board here. You can do it by clicking on the URL at the top of any page, and editing the page number to any page you want up to the last one.)

 

It only goes back to April 2004, but what a difference! Found discussions in 2005 asking about informal night (ties and suits worn by half the men, NO SNARKY COMMENTS!), comments on Galaxy and Mercury, and many topics of still-current interest. I did not see big argument threads with hot topics, but I was not doing a deep-dive.

 

What I didn't see in an admittedly cursory look at 2004 and 2005 were any familiar users' names. So, a question for long-time X fans: have any of you been on CC on this board that long? Have people changed their user names (for example, if CC was having glitches)?

 

And finally, another question: do long time users see major differences in tone and topics from then to now? 

 

Great question. We joined our first roll call in 2004. Have been heavily active in every roll call since and regularly post on many boards. I still see of the same people and others are gone. We have many close friends we met through Cruise Critic and have stayed with them in their homes numerous times. We even belong to two groups from old roll calls that are still going (Martini Mates and Silhouetters) in the Friends of Cruise Critic Forum. We get together on Zoom with the Martini Mates (there are 11 of us left) at least once a month since this started. Will always be on CC. 

 

There are people like Texed (who just posted) who way predate me. I bet you can even find posts or maybe entire threads by Texed about waffles. There is Lois and dkj retired not to mention my best friends Mike (MVPinBoynton) and Bob (LeftCoastBC). All have been around for a long time. 

 

The biggest difference is in the topics. The most discussed topic in 2004 was always dress code. So many people discussing formal nights and why they loved or hated it. Now it's whether S class or E class are better (used to be C class or M class. People are just as vehement about their opinions. My lovely bride said to add that she feels the people on the boards are much nastier now and so often politics seems to creep in. Like when you talk about masks or almost anything else Covid-based.

 

Jim

 

 

[BellKat]

1 hour ago, gerelmx said:

Before AOL was IRC (Internet Relay Chat), don't remember exactly when I chat with cruise friends for the first time (94 or 95)

Hey Gerardo! How are you & Lupita?

[DrKoob]

PS: This is a great thread. Hi Gerardo. Hi Don, Hi Texed!

 

So great to see you guys. Do you know if Lois is still with us on CC? I always loved spotting her purple prose.

 

 

Jim

[Texed]

9 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

PS: This is a great thread. Hi Gerardo. Hi Don, Hi Texed!

So great to see you guys. Do you know if Lois is still with us on CC? I always loved spotting her purple prose.

Jim

 

Hello Jim,

It is nice "seeing" you also.  😊

 

Lois did post on about three days ago on a topic started by Host Anne.  

[pumpkin 11]

6 hours ago, Pinboy said:

Excellent comments--exactly my thoughts.

I think with the advent of social media and the non-conforming attitude of many people , society has become more of a " Me, Me, Me " attitude. 

Right here on CC there are several " agitators " --- You learn very quickly who they are --- Easy to talk tough and challenging when nobody knows who you are.

However, there are many, many  more , well versed , polite ( even though they have different opinions than you ),  who contribute interesting and knowledgeable comments. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agitator*

[Pinboy]

1 minute ago, pumpkin 11 said:

Agitator*

What's that mean ??? Please explain .

[Pinboy]

Holy Cow-- So many of you know each other.  Nice to see.

I think I better bow out of this thread as I've never met any of you.

Perhaps one day I will meet some of you ???

 

 

[Texed]

3 hours ago, dkjretired said:

just an FYI, Texed is the waffle guy and a great asset to this board.

 

Mr. Don,

I don't know about being a great asset, but a very nice comment. Thank you. 😊

[LeftcoastBC]

56 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

PS: This is a great thread. Hi Gerardo. Hi Don, Hi Texed!

 

So great to see you guys. Do you know if Lois is still with us on CC? I always loved spotting her purple prose.

 

 

Jim

Hey Doc thks for the mention.  It is really interesting to go back and look sometimes.  I did a search tho the other night on a 2001 incident and those are all gone.  I was using a different name back then of course.  I met Gerardo on my most recent cruise and of course have read the other two you mentioned over the yrs. 

Texted  the doc and I have discussed your posting prowess in relation to a certain product quite a few times over the years.  😃

Most recently I have slowed in this part of my online presence.  Its really hard to stay current here on the forums when you don’t cruise as often as we used to.  Main reason the US $.  I found  when you haven’t been to certain ports in over a yr.Or so  your personal info is only in the general category not specifics.  I like to be specific.

Roll calls can be quite helpful but also can bring out the worst is some folks.  I have no idea why.  

To the op. Carry on & enjoy!

 

[mayleeman]

Obviously I need to browse some more in the dusty drives of archived CC pages from long ago. Thanks to everybody for joining in. Fun to see the connections you have made!

 

Another question I had is about the loyalty program. It seems people now are constantly getting involved in discussions about reduced perks, etc. Do you long-timers think there is more attention to it now than there used to be? (It may be more obsessive on RC threads, I suspect, due to the huge "population explosion" on mega-ships giving more people the chance to move up rapidly.)

[julia]

I've been on since the AOL days!  Spent most of my first ten years on the Princess board, but graduated to X and Seabourne.  Have done MANY roll calls, cabin crawls, and excursions with Cruise Critic-ers.  I've learned SO many things over the years, especially from the "ports of call" boards. It's been a great 20+ years!!

[chemmo]

Although we haven’t been on these boards as long as many others we have been followers for a while now. The one thing I don’t think has changed is the genuine desire to help fellow cruisers.

 

Those members who will answer questions about room types, drinks packages, anything and everything to new cruisers with the same enthusiasm and thought as if it was the first time...I remember when we first started cruising being so grateful for people taking the effort to reply to our simple queries and offering further suggestions and ideas too.

 

I love the spirit of good will too. When people have issues not only is good advice given genuine thoughtfulness is in abundance too. We will never forget having our over the pond flight to Florida via Philadelphia being cancelled last minute and being really touched by the great advice followed by loads of genuine ‘Have a great cruise’ messages when we finally arrived in Fort Lauderdale,  priceless!

 

One thing that I think has improved is the wonderful ‘live’ reports. As technology has improved it it wonderful to see pictures of rooms, food...as well as getting written information.

 

I think there are a few more ‘glass is half empty’ posters than there used to be...I tend to just move on to something more interesting!!!

 

Thanks for starting the post!

[chemmo]

5 hours ago, mayleeman said:

 

Another question I had is about the loyalty program. It seems people now are constantly getting involved in discussions about reduced perks, etc. Do you long-timers think there is more attention to it now than there used to be? (It may be more obsessive on RC threads, I suspect, due to the huge "population explosion" on mega-ships giving more people the chance to move up rapidly.)

 

Going back to the time when drinks packages were not available the Elite/Diamond cocktail time did mean a significant saving on your drinks bill! Those who tend to price without perks can still really benefit from this. Also even the top suites didn’t have free laundry, WiFi etc so loyalty discounts were of value.

 

We are D+ and E+, most of our RC cruises were some years ago now. On RC ‘loyalty’ seems more important. Many people wear their pins with pride and conversations may move from ‘Where are you from?’ To ‘What loyalty level are you?’. Never been asked any of this on a Celebrity ship!! Obviously this is simply our observation, others may have found different.

 

There were two changes that altered the ‘value’ of the perks for some people, the introduction of drinks and other perk packages packages and the Suite Life programme. If you have a drinks package and a WiFi package then free drinks and a WiFi discount are meaningless. Book in a suite and the duplication becomes even more evident. Not an issue for us, all about choices, but as you are aware some people do feel that their ‘hard earned and paid for’ Elite perks have limited monetary value, hence the discussions. 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2020 by chemmo

[gerelmx]

12 hours ago, DrKoob said:

PS: This is a great thread. Hi Gerardo. Hi Don, Hi Texed!

So great to see you guys. Do you know if Lois is still with us on CC? I always loved spotting her purple prose.

Jim

 

12 hours ago, BellKat said:

Hey Gerardo! How are you & Lupita?

 

Hi Kathleen and Jim, we are OK and Healthy, X cancelled the New England and Canada cruise so Lupita is missing this cruise for the 2nd time, we also do L&S for the Feb 21 Caribbean cruise to Feb 22, our next cruise is Norwegian Fjords July 21, hope there is a effective vaccine for this cruise, I send a big hug and hello from Lupita.