Could we start a list of perks that were discontinued?

[jkloni]

24 hr soft serve ice cream

14 hr pizza, calzones and ceasar salad

[ckrobyn]

My first cruise was in 2005 so I have missed just about every perk you are talking about :(

 

Just off the Radiance a few weeks ago and now they have taken away the full size toiletries......one less perk again!

 

Would love to have sailed in the days of streamers off the balcony......that would have been really neat :)

[Princessgal]

I remember having boullion and little cheese sandwiches on a cart out on deck at 11am wheeled around by a deck steward and then at tea time that same steward wheeled his cart on the outside deck with tea, cookies, pastries and sandwiches. You didn't have to leave your deck chair. The complimentary champagne with glasses on Sitmar(unfortunately alot of those glasses were left in staterooms when the cruise ended). Pens with the ships name or lines name on it. Christmas Presents or even Christmas music which has disappeared on some ships. I understand a lot of food is wasted on the midnight buffets but I enjoyed the waiters walking through the lounges at midnight with snacks that included pizza, mini sandwiches and other small appetizers.Princess still has the fruit baskets in the cabin but you have to ask for them. That was a lot of fruit wasted. I miss the talent shows put on by the crew and we would cheer on our favorite waiter, steward or officer. It was nice to see our talented crew members. I hate how informal cruises have become and wish there was at least 1 ship in each line that would return to elegance and actually have more formal nights, sitting with officers in the dining room, passenger lists posted if not given out,etc. Galley tours are still offered with Princess and sometimes you just ask your waiter or it is conducted after a culinary exhibition. I remember when hot chocolate was free in the dining room and now there is a charge. Remember the auctions on the last day of the cruise so you could sell all those souvenirs you bought and really didn't want to pack and bring home? We were treated special in the past and now we seem to be lost in the crowds. The smaller ships were much more like and extended family rather than a large convention.

[INSIDERS CABIN]

We recall the bridge tours--prior to 2001;the "passport to fitness" program (HAL), exercising feverishly to win a tshirt or a windbreaker; do the kids still have a scavenger hunt all over the ship?; our 5 yr old son casually saying to the maitre d' that he would enjoy some froglegs, then watching wide-eyed as the legs of the frog appeared on his plate the next evening; Starbucks coffee in the Lido on the Maasdam (Europe 1995); the beautiful menus from the weeks onboard, signed by our waiter; the thrill of the inaugural cruise on the Statendam (1993); a cabin with a porthole (sun viking); the awesome sight of the towering Statendam at Tilbury after our maiden voyage on the small Sun Viking--now the behemoths are so abundant they scarcely warrant a second look....and I miss the feeling of adventure because so many itineraries are repeated weekly and so many ships are in port on any given day. I miss the quirkiness that came from a new ship sailing into a new port--now everything is very programmed to be exactly the same every day of every week. We still enjoy cruising very much, but it is a lot more like going to a resort and less like going to sea.Oh and i remember the Delta Queen ( i think) docking in our Ohio River town of Evansville, in and taking my son on board to look around at the public rooms......(aboout 1985-86 or so)-the crew said come in and look around!

[ROCruiser]

Midnight buffets with a different theme each night (Celebrity)

Celebrity tote bags waiting for you in the cabin

[Alessandrina]

Remember having a "sorbet" to cleanse the palette between the appetiser and entree'....it was a nice touch.

[etoile]

Remember having a "sorbet" to cleanse the palette between the appetiser and entree'....it was a nice touch.

They still do this on Celebrity. :)

[rman738]

I remember the free Pizza at midnight aboard the Home Lines "Doric" each evening. It was similar to cooked cardboard, but we thought it was so great.

Rich M

[caitlyn20]

One thing that I miss...real half-n-half on Royal Caribbean in the Lido cafes. My corner McDonald's has creamer, but a cruise ship that doesn't? We could only get it in the dining rooms. Last time they ran out of the Cremora and actually put powerder packets out. Someone must have finally complained loudly enough, because eventually there were pitchers of half-n-half. But really, shouldn't that have been an option all along?

[bbcc]

They still do this on Celebrity. :)

Hi- Sorbet is served as a dinner dessert menu item(fresh daily) in the dining room on Princess ships.:D I love it and order it all the time.:cool: Paul from San Diego

[latitude 22]

Absolutely charming and Gorgeous Greek waiters....

 

oh wait, i'm married now....

 

Ordering Room Service late at night and having it delivered to the pool

[luckycruzer]

I still have past guests gifts of etched rock glasses..one side pic of the ship, the other w/ Circolo del Commendante (Capts circle)..after so many cruises, you got a nice smoked crystal ashtray with logo..I have 13 all still in the silver box wrapped in gray flannel bag, w/logo and draw string..presented on a silver tray, by the Capt himself and a few personal words..also a freebie pix taken of party, w/ Capt, signed and presented in the cabin in a frame..and yes tableside food/flaming, by allll Italian waitstaff, every night was a theme,,French, Ital, Caribbean, American, mid eastern med. The costume party, and name brand guest entertainers. Sailed w/ Red Buttons, and Henny Youngman..both very approachable during the cruises. Atf pizza at tea time , and goodies. all nite pizza, free soda, and fruit from rm srv, midnight buffet everynight..and some latenight poolside, w/BBQ, and palmtrees limbs lashed to poles, fashion shows on sea days, horse racing alot..bid for horse, dress em up, and horse-nap one from a competitor..w/ransome notes, great deck chairs, early morn boullion, coffee/tea on deck..served...special req's..NO problem...lots of caviar..and on and on..darn, take me back to the good old days of 1970's..the end of the era of fine cruising.

[Crazycruiser11]

On ar last cruise we had a guy sitting outside of his cabin with the luggage with only boxers:eek: Found out later he got locked out & had to go downstairs to find his wife & or kids:D How Embarassing:p

[Avril]

 

water color prints (suitable for framing) of your ship

 

 

They still do this on Carnival. I got one from Carnival's Imagination in 2003, Carnival's Victory in 2004 and Carnival's Legend in 2006/07 (it was a New Years cruise). I love these pictures!!!! :D

 

As for the midnight buffets, I have been on 7 cruises and always go to the Gala Midnight Buffet. :D

[stampman79]

The steak cookout by the pool on the Enchanted Isle as we were leaving Grand Cayman. This was a nice touch because we left in the late afternoon and I had just been swimming with the stingrays. The steaks were pretty good and I could sit on the deck in my swimsuit and T-shirt and have a steak dinner without having to rush back to clean up for the dining room. It made for a more relaxed evening. This was apparently that first time that the line had tried this, and I gave high praise to this idea on my post cruise comment form. This was only a 700 passenger ship so it would be hard to do on a newer mega ship.

[sailwithme56]

I toured the galley on Carnival Valor July 2006. This was available to anyone that wanted to take the tour. It was led by our charming Maitre'D from Turkey and took place between lunch and dinner. Dinner was about an hour-and-a-half away and I was surprised at how LITTLE activity there was in the kitchen. All of the cold deserts were plated and in coolers, and the kitchen areas were spotlessly clean. You could have eaten off the counters. All stainless, everywhere. Clean, clean, clean!

[slotl]

Meals served in dining room on HAL were served in empty plates by waiters with white gloves. The food was served from silver trays were the waiter asked you what you wanted from his tray (a tray of meats, another of vegetables, etc.). Today, all the plates have been pre-prepared and delivered from the kitchen. No more white glove service.

 

On RCCL, in the casino, if you got blackjack with three seven's, you would be awarded a bottle of champagne.

[Susie51]

Princess doesn't have pool towels either.

 

What lines still have pool towels?

[gizmo]

Jim, I am puzzled by your suggestion that midnight buffets went away in 1995. They have had them on the two cruises I have been on. Is it that they are not as lavish as before?

 

 

What you saw on Hal was late night snacks and doesn't even resemble what the midnight buffet was like.

 

At one time, the midnight buffet was a lavish layout of food.

[gizmo]

Princess doesn't have pool towels either.

 

What lines still have pool towels?

 

Hal has pool towels available at the pools.

[betsey]

Frozen bottles of aquavit on every dinner table on Norwegian night on Royal Viking Line.....

[JLC@SD]

.....good coffee.

[INSIDERS CABIN]

Does anyone remember when HAL offered the tailors on board and you could order custom men's and women's suits, jackets, coats, pants, etc.? I also think HAL ran an experiment wher you could have the wall street journal delivered on board. And i think we were on the MAAsdam in 1995 when the lido coffee was starbucks!!--very rich, dark and frothy for free!. Guess the captain had a starbucks habit too!

[headusher]

Cruised Princess in 2005 and just last month (Dawn & Sun). The difference in service in two years was very noticeable. Waiters during dinner did not have the time to mingle & goof off with the passengers like in the past. The room steward had 18 rooms to service in 3 hours leaving no time to do things right.

 

No towel animals at night.

Some days ice container in room wasn't filled.

Had dirty glasses left in room after room was serviced.

The Head Chef did not come into the dinning room as on the previous cruises.

No band at poolside until mid-afternoon on sea days.

Very little deck/pool activities by the Cruise Director staff.

Did not see the Captain in the dinning room.

Entertainment/shows ended abruptly between 10 - 10:30 pm. Most of the time there was nothing to do after 10:00 pm except for the casino & a few bars that were open.

Coffee cafe closed early - couldn't get a cup of coffee without going to the Lido deck after 9:00 pm.

Food selection limited at buffet.

Had to ask for low fat & no sugar items.

No coffee/water/ice tea despensing machines at the outside grills. Had to go into buffet area to get an ice tea or coffee. Very inconvienient when in a wet bathing suit.

Sail away very sedate - not the carnival atmosphere as in the past.

Very limited excursion list & many high priced. Was able to get better & lower priced excursions on our own.

 

Agree with unbehaved passengers!

 

These may sound like small insignificant issues, and many are, but these show what is happening on some cruise lines.

 

headusher

[gbkirk]

Terrorism has hurt the cruise industry and forced lower prices to keep the ships full inadvertantly making cruising available to many who could not have afforded it before. To sustain the lower prices quality (perks) has been sacrificed for quantity (bodies). Cruises are now sold at wholesale prices using the strategy that most passengers will drink, gamble, massage, buy shore excursions, etc. to make up the "retail" price of the cruise. The quality we had, and much more, that are not now avaliable on the mass market lines are still available on Seabourn, Radisson, Crystal - if you have the money.