Anyone remember the Festivale?

[Frick_&_Frack]

Toledo -

 

All the lines (back then) used to set out your nightgown (for women) and/or robe and make designs with them. That was "pre-towel animals". :D Was a bit creepy, but kinda fun in it's own way.

 

I think, somewhere, I have some pictures of the designs they made (those were the days of a minimum of 400 pix for each cruise :p ). I would need to go into the basement and dig around. Most of that stuff is still in boxes from moving into the new house. I never did get to find homes for those photo albums.

[CruisingMainer]

The Festivale was my first cruise too. Probably the best one ever. My best friend and I were 21and thought we were setting the world on fire! When we went to dinner the second night (the first night was open seating) we were seated with six men from Chicago. We were pleased beyond belief! We met out head waiter one night in one of the lounges and asked about how seating assignments are made. He said told us that the head waiters got a list of the passengers and he thought that two girls from Maine deserved some urban companionship!!! :)

[toledo]

And that reminds me of another thing. We were in our early 20's and were put at a table with people over 50. Why did they even bother to ask us our ages when booking? I remember one of our tablemates commenting, "I hope so and so remembers to save all my newspapers while I'm gone. I sell tombstones and need to get those obituaries". :eek:

[LHP]

remember the buttons to get on the ship. tight security.

 

"Mr"

[ckornuta]

This was my 1st cruise in 1987 out of San Juan. It was so exciting. The 1st time I flew for a vacation, the 1st time I saw the blue water. I had a great time! Sometimes I wish every thing could be so exciting and new again!!!! I felt so important going on that cruise with my girlfriends in my early 20's.

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

I never made it onto the Festivale, but did cruise the Carnivale. I remember the skeet shooting off the back of the ship and the drinking games on the Lido.:D

[dbbcruiser]

It was my first cruise as well (seems to be the running theme). Had a quad with three other girls (one I knew prior to the cruise and the other two were her friends that I had never met). I didn't really care for the two friends (they were social duds) and the friend I knew was so worried about what her other friends were up to that I decided to set out and make my own new friends on the ship. On the last night of the cruise, I invited all of the people I had befriended during the week for a last night "party" and we packed the piano lounge! It was one of the best cruises I've had to date. Oh, and when the three girls I had roomed with walked into that party, I think their mouths dropped open (and they realized where I was all week!) I had a great time and it got me hooked on cruising - only after that, with better accomodations and cruisemates!! What great memories, though!!

[livestocruisetoo]

I loved that ship. :D I was still drinking in those days and would make 2 for 1 'Happy Hour' at the piano bar. The bathroom was so small I would shower in the gym before dinner. Our 15 yo son joined up with a group of young ladies from Santiago on their quinceanera and most nights came in the cabin as we were heading out to breakfast. One of the girls slipped her cabin key in his pocket and we had a discussion on the 'right thing to do' at dinner one night. The bartender on the Lido deck introduced me to Red Stripe and apologized on the last day at sea when there was no more. The Heinies were a distant second. The first night out the kids ended up at a crew party. First time any of them had seen a female impersonator. :eek: Our friends had gone on the RCCL Monarch and had better amenities but not nearly as much fun.

[*Mach*]

 

 

That, my friends, is a lovely vessel.

[livestocruisetoo]

 

 

That, my friends, is a lovely vessel.

 

Yes it was. Sleek ship, not a Big Box on the Water. :(

[*Mach*]

Yes it was. Sleek ship, not a Big Box on the Water. :(

 

Certainly you aren't referring to this:

 

 

 

Odd name... Genesis... looks more like Armageddon to me...

[flyingb]

We actually still have the refrigerator magnet on our fridge as we speak (or actually type). It is a picture of the Festivale.

 

I also collect fridge magnents! My husband says we are going to have to buy a larger fridge or stop traveling! :eek: So I guess I'm going to get a larger fridge! ;) Can't stop cruising, I am addicted, as long as there is life in us and we can scrape up the $ to go.

We never sailed the Festivale, but we did the Mardi Gras and the Tropicale. I think they were sister ships. :confused: I loved them too!

11 more days and we'll be on the sea again.

Luv's Crusin'

[Frick_&_Frack]

I also collect fridge magnents! My husband says we are going to have to buy a larger fridge or stop traveling! :eek: So I guess I'm going to get a larger fridge! ;) Can't stop cruising' date=' I am addicted, as long as there is life in us and we can scrape up the $ to go.[/quote']

 

The fridge magnet thing is just as bad an obsession as cruising! ;) When we just moved last Dec into our house, a friend's young daughter spent quite some time looking at mine and couting. Since I only wound up with 1/2 after my first marriage, I still had 167 last Christmas...it's gotten worse since then!

 

Machman - Thanks for posting the picture....great way to start the morning! :)

[MelBCroozer]

It was the second cruise for my husband and me in 1987. We flew to San Juan and did the Southern Caribbean. I too remember the costume contest on the deck. I still tell my daughters how they used to dance with the flaming Baked Alaska on their heads. I have pictures of formal night and we are all wearing party hats and hawaiian leis. Not very formal!!!! It was a fun cruise and the last one before having kids. We started cruising again with our girls in 2000 and go every year now!!

[okgirl]

I was looking for something this weekend and came accross a small booklette from our 1991 cruise on the Carnival Festivale (this ship was built in 1977). Boy, did the ship look small compared to the ships now. The booklette was great though, because it had all the destinations we went to with info. I remember the ship was gaudy. We had been upgraded to a room with a view (a port hole). The room had pipes running through the ceiling. I will say, we had a great time on this cruise. Does anyone else remember this ship?

 

The Festivale was our 1st 2 cruises. I remember so well how BIG I thought the ship was. I had never seen a cruise ship. We left out of Miami when they had alphabetical lines for embarkation. The whole thing took 20 minutes!!!!! I actually flew from Oklahoma to Miami and boarded the ship in hose and heels :rolleyes:

 

I thought the ship was an aircraft carrier!!!!!! It took sis and I 4 days to find our way around. What I remember most was having to go up 4 or 5 steps to the level of the lido deck. And I think there was only one pool. The ships officers would frequently sunbath and swim and it was funny watching them preen in their little bitty bikini's.

 

I also remember we had been upgraded to a "demi-suite" on the verandah deck and we had a port hole and a VERY deep tub. This ship had a movie theater and you had to walk down 6 or 8 steps to get into the dining room. They still had "themed" dinner menu's but it seems like it was more limited in that if it was Italian night everything on the menu was Italian. On the night that baked alaska was served the waiters actually paraded through the dining room with the "flaming" baked alaska on their heads. :)

Then there was the mid-night and 2AM buffets.!!!!!

 

The casino was about the size of one of the gift shops and had one cashier.

 

I was just writing in another thread how confusing the "HUGE" conquest class ships must seem to new cruisers.

[toledo]

Thanks for confirming the two buffets. I don't remember the movie theater, but we may never have found it. And it may have been an aircraft carrier. It was converted to a cruise ship.

[Frick_&_Frack]

The Festivale, I believe, actually was a mail ship called the SA VAAL (which later, after Carnival, became the Transvaal Castle).

[jetertorre]

The Festivale, I believe, actually was a mail ship called the SA VAAL (which later, after Carnival, became the Transvaal Castle).

Actually the link below provides a little more in depth info on the progression of owners and names. There is a picture included from 2001. You need to scroll about 1/4 of the way down to get to it. Sadly (and I say sadly only because of the memories for those of you who sailed on her, it was after all, an inanimate object) Festivale was scrapped in 2003). If you are into this sort of thing, the site below is an excellent reference.

 

http://www.maritimematters.com/mall_video7_pk.html

[LHP]

Actually the link below provides a little more in depth info on the progression of owners and names. There is a picture included from 2001. You need to scroll about 1/4 of the way down to get to it. Sadly (and I say sadly only because of the memories for those of you who sailed on her, it was after all, an inanimate object) Festivale was scrapped in 2003). If you are into this sort of thing, the site below is an excellent reference.

 

http://www.maritimematters.com/mall_video7_pk.html

 

Thanks so much for the link. I had lost it and have looked and looked without success!!!

 

Now I have it saved in my favs....

[DqALEX]

Yes it was. Sleek ship, not a Big Box on the Water. :(

I would sail on that today. That looks like it would be a fun ship

[jetertorre]

Thanks so much for the link. I had lost it and have looked and looked without success!!!

 

Now I have it saved in my favs....

No problem. The page below actually has a photo of the ship during the scrap at Alang. Apparently this was after its incarnation as Big Red Boat. As is normally the case, they changed the name for the trip to Alang. It was scrapped under the name Big Boat. I'm a bit of a buff on the subject of passenger ships, their different incarnation's and how they met their demise. Its neat stuff.

 

http://www.maritimematters.com/mall_alang_pk.html

[bluefintuna]

Festivale was also our first cruise, 1984. Then we didn't sail again until 1994, but have been on 21 cruises since then. On Festivale we had a cabin with two portholes; we had to kneel on the bed to see out. I had forgotten about the sink being in the cabin, but the nightgown designs I remember vividly. The leis and party hats....I remember those. My husband won a trophy skeet shooting off the back of the ship. A Bostonian beat a Texan in that competition. Twenty three years ago (sigh).

[bartos]

I never had anyone arrange my nightgown (thank goodness). I thought there were a few pools. Don't remember the baked alaska. We did meet some great people, and I wonder once in a while where they might be now.

[just having fun]

:cool: dancing was a blast if you could time your steps with the roll of the ship..20 something years ago ships didn`t have stablelizers like today.

our favorite places on the FESTIVAL 1984 :D n

[just having fun]

:cool: dancing was a blast if you could time your steps with the roll of the ship..20 something years ago ships didn`t have stablelizers like today.

 

 

our favorite places on the FESTIVAL 1984 :D