Cruise menus from ‘84 - what main dining room used to be!

[tofubeast]

I thought fellow foodies might enjoy seeing menus from a cruise I took with my family nearly 40 years ago on Chandris Victoria (now Celebrity Cruises). In the summer of ‘84, we took a week-long cruise out of Puerto Rico. It was my first cruise. Even as a kid, I remember the food was delicious, and we had a fabulous waiter from the Philippines, JoJo.  Of course, my palette wasn’t as sophisticated as an adult, so I wish could have experienced these meals like my parents did back then. 
 

In those days, you could get copies of the dining room menus as a souvenir. It’s amazing to see what was offered versus what you see on a typical cruise today. I remember it being so much more formal.
 

I hope you enjoy a glimpse into the past. 

[BklynBoy8]

We also sailed a Chandris Ellinis, her sister ship.

 

Our very first experience on a cruise ship. Before we use to visit ships along the Hudson River that use to open up to visit for 50 cent before that sailed. Many open to the public.

 

[lenquixote66]

I would like to see a menu from the first cruise ship in 1901.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

Compare the above menus to the limited garbage being served on the mega ships today.  Thank you Tufu for reminding us of how much we are missing.  Those menus are wonderful!

[shipgeeks]

We certainly agree that menus, and food, were better in those days, especially on Chandris/Celebrity. However, other elements were different, too.  All passengers ate at their set time and table, and long dinners, as a social event, were the norm. That seems to be the exception now.

I also note (and remember) that items such as tomato juice as an appetizer, or hearts of lettuce, or sliced tomato as the salad, are featured on these menus. Would anyone order those now? I know that I appreciate being able to order, and enjoy, things that are much more labor-intensive.

[tofubeast]

On 8/19/2023 at 1:38 PM, BklynBoy8 said:

 

I remember as a kid touring some cruise ships. I remember seeing a Carnival ship around the mid 80s. If I recall, one could arrange with a travel agent to tour a ship, so long as you exited when they made the call for non-passengers. Not sure when that stopped, but it was fun for a few hours.  Although I’d be jealous I didn’t get to stay on. 

[tofubeast]

10 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

We certainly agree that menus, and food, were better in those days, especially on Chandris/Celebrity. However, other elements were different, too.  All passengers ate at their set time and table, and long dinners, as a social event, were the norm. That seems to be the exception now.

I also note (and remember) that items such as tomato juice as an appetizer, or hearts of lettuce, or sliced tomato as the salad, are featured on these menus. Would anyone order those now? I know that I appreciate being able to order, and enjoy, things that are much more labor-intensive.

True. I’d say the salads are better then what they might have been like (at least on this cruise).  As I was a kid, I probably fought not to have salad at dinner. 😂 

[tofubeast]

On 8/19/2023 at 3:19 PM, lenquixote66 said:

I would like to see a menu from the first cruise ship in 1901.

Here’s a first class menu from early 1900s. 

[lenquixote66]

Very interesting

[BklynBoy8]

How interesting the menus of yesterday so different to today's due to the cuisine.

 

How I unfortunately find the oldies to be so inviting then now a days.

 

They were so interesting and very recognizing dishes brought up with and enjoyed then.

[yarramar]

This one looks like the menu on NCL

[CGTNORMANDIE]

16 hours ago, BklynBoy8 said:

How interesting the menus of yesterday so different to today's due to the cuisine.

 

How I unfortunately find the oldies to be so inviting then now a days.

 

They were so interesting and very recognizing dishes brought up with and enjoyed then.

Just shows us what an important component fine dining was in those days.  Some of us were fortunate enough to have experienced this.  I would also add that each preparation tasted wonderful.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

2 hours ago, yarramar said:

This one looks like the menu on NCL

Yarramar,  LOL LOL 😂 

[BruceMuzz]

On 8/19/2023 at 8:07 PM, tofubeast said:

 

I thought fellow foodies might enjoy seeing menus from a cruise I took with my family nearly 40 years ago on Chandris Victoria (now Celebrity Cruises). In the summer of ‘84, we took a week-long cruise out of Puerto Rico. It was my first cruise. Even as a kid, I remember the food was delicious, and we had a fabulous waiter from the Philippines, JoJo.  Of course, my palette wasn’t as sophisticated as an adult, so I wish could have experienced these meals like my parents did back then. 
 

In those days, you could get copies of the dining room menus as a souvenir. It’s amazing to see what was offered versus what you see on a typical cruise today. I remember it being so much more formal.
 

I hope you enjoy a glimpse into the past. 

I work on a small, rather expensive ship today.

Our menus are longer, with more choices, and more interesting choices.

I also notice quite a few typos and missing accents on the menus you posted.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

On 8/22/2023 at 9:42 AM, BruceMuzz said:

I work on a small, rather expensive ship today.

Our menus are longer, with more choices, and more interesting choices.

I also notice quite a few typos and missing accents on the menus you posted.

Hi Bruce, you are working on a luxury ship?  We were comparing the comestibles on some of the giant mega ships.  The typos and missing accents and often misspelling were due to the Greeks limited English.  In those says the Chandris ships were all crewed by Greeks…unlike the multinational assortment of personnel you find onboard today. 

[Lois R]

On 8/22/2023 at 9:42 AM, BruceMuzz said:

I work on a small, rather expensive ship today.

Our menus are longer, with more choices, and more interesting choices.

I also notice quite a few typos and missing accents on the menus you posted.

Now that is a leading statement if I have ever heard one.........you work on a luxury line? You may not answer but I am going to take the bait and ask, which one? Which ship? How many guests on board?

 

[CGTNORMANDIE]

9 hours ago, Lois R said:

Now that is a leading statement if I have ever heard one.........you work on a luxury line? You may not answer but I am going to take the bait and ask, which one? Which ship? How many guests on board?

 

Careful Bruce…Lois is our luxury ship expert.  She probably knows you.😀

[Lois R]

5 minutes ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Careful Bruce…Lois is our luxury ship expert.  She probably knows you.😀

Hahahaha🙂

[shipgeeks]

Speaking of what dining room used to be.....

When we booked our first cruise, we must have been asked, in advance, Smoking or Non-smoking?  That was standard on airline bookings, too, as I recall.  (But I always wondered why they seated smokers on the right and non on the left; why not start smokers from the back, and non from the front?)

On the cruise, we got our preference of Non, and had a lovely meal the first night, at a table with a very nice couple.  All good except it was right near the dividing line to the smoking section.  We spoke with the headwaiter, and he promised to move us.  Our companions were moved to the new table, too, but they admitted they were worried that they had offended us, when they received a note in their cabin with a new table assignment.

I can't recall whether there was smoking in the MDR after that, for us.  It seems like a long time ago.

[BruceMuzz]

On 8/24/2023 at 12:08 PM, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Hi Bruce, you are working on a luxury ship?  We were comparing the comestibles on some of the giant mega ships.  The typos and missing accents and often misspelling were due to the Greeks limited English.  In those says the Chandris ships were all crewed by Greeks…unlike the multinational assortment of personnel you find onboard today. 

When I worked at Royal Cruise Line during the period in question, we also had all Greeks with limited English. But the Cruise Line was smart enough to always have at least one European - usually me - who was able to edit all printed materials to ensure we did not look like idiots.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

1 hour ago, BruceMuzz said:

When I worked at Royal Cruise Line during the period in question, we also had all Greeks with limited English. But the Cruise Line was smart enough to always have at least one European - usually me - who was able to edit all printed materials to ensure we did not look like idiots.

When we were on the Amerikanis in 1972 we had elaborate menus but we were also treated to some very interesting and sometimes comical typos and misspellings…all harmlessly entertaining.  

[Harters]

I was interested to see the Titanic menu at post #11. It looks like the mainly working class passengers would have eaten well, in comparison, with their normal diet at home in Britain. Assuming that is a representative day's meals on board, most will be eating much more meat than usual, where it wouldnt be a daily occurance. The meals follow what would have been common in those days - a substantial breakfast, the main meal of the day - then generally called dinner but served at  lunchtime. Many Britons will still call that meal dinner. And they will still call their evening meal "tea", even though it is now the main meal of the day for most. Then, tea was a more snacky meal, as the menu shows. And then there's supper - a snack before you go to bed (a word still very in much in use in this house). 

[lenquixote66]

My father came to the US when he was an adult in 1913 on a ship that sailed from the UK.Somewhere in my house is a photocopy of a dinner menu.If I am able to find it I will post it .The food choices were comparable to current menu items .

[lenquixote66]

On 9/2/2023 at 8:10 PM, CGTNORMANDIE said:

When we were on the Amerikanis in 1972 we had elaborate menus but we were also treated to some very interesting and sometimes comical typos and misspellings…all harmlessly entertaining.  

We were booked to be on a cruise on the Americanis in 1973 but on its return to NYC it developed engine trouble and our TA offered either a complete refund or a booking on the Cunard Ambassador.We opted for the latter.

[shipgeeks]

On 9/2/2023 at 8:10 PM, CGTNORMANDIE said:

When we were on the Amerikanis in 1972 we had elaborate menus but we were also treated to some very interesting and sometimes comical typos and misspellings…all harmlessly entertaining.  

One that sticks in my mind, from my Cap Vilano sailing, was blueberriesjogurt, one of many run-together words.  I wish I could find those menus.