Remember when Carnival used to

[scubadave]

I remember back in the early 80 s on the ship they use to have pillow fighting contest and beer drinking contest and they use to have the best legs contest.

I also remember in the dinning room the had on each table a plate of olives and pickles.

one night the waiter brought my friend a whole plate for himself because he liked them so much.

[mariemorgan]

:( Now I wish I cruised in the 80's that would be fun!

[caribbean dreams]

Yeap and thats when the "party cruise" reputation started.

So next time you hear anyone talking about the fact that they would never go on Carnival because it's nothing but Drunks & parties....You will know these people have either not cruised on Carnival since the 80's or the person that told them about it hasn't.:cool:

[izzyvet]

I know they had the beer drinking contests on Norwegian at late as the early 90's. (1991). My ex-Marine Corps friend won that one quite handily. Was not a quantity contest of course, but a speed-drinking contest. If they were smart they wouldn't have allowed Marines to compete. Unfair advantage. ;)

[misguidedangel]

I went on my first cruise in 1991 when the Holiday was a BIG ship. The Holiday is now like a wee ship compared to some of the ships out there now.

 

I remember the knobby knees, the men's night gown contest, the passgenger talent show (where anything clean was allowed), and yes, the pillow fight, the beer drinking, and so on. They still have the hairy chest, but back then, they would get a newlywed woman to be the sole judge and she would have to pick which one of the men was her new husband...

 

I like the survivor at sea they do now, but some ships really cheap out on it. The Victory did a whole hour and eliminated people one at a time until there were only 8 our of 16 left and then it was narrowed down to three. It was quite fun to watch....

[franksandy]

I'm leaving on the Mercury this next week....Haven't been on a Carinval cruise in 5 years...Don't remember the pillow fight 5 years ago...but 8 years ago, I was on a nudist cruise on the Tropical...and we had pillow fights...In fact I won!!!

 

Sandy

[PINEVIEW01]

I went on my first cruise in 1991 when the Holiday was a BIG ship. The Holiday is now like a wee ship compared to some of the ships out there now.

 

I remember the knobby knees, the men's night gown contest, the passgenger talent show (where anything clean was allowed), and yes, the pillow fight, the beer drinking, and so on. They still have the hairy chest, but back then, they would get a newlywed woman to be the sole judge and she would have to pick which one of the men was her new husband...

 

Same here! I loved the contest in the pool, stuffing thing in the swim suits and knocking people off:D

[CorbinCatFan]

I also remember that the DOD was in real glass and each day was a different shaped glass. (Really hard to get back home unbroken.)

 

On the other hand, the ice cream machine was only at limited times during the cruise and there was no pizza.

[Beej29]

I remember assigned seating for breakfast. They would have 2 separate times for early and late seating and times could change depending on when we got into port. We had that in 1997 on our honeymoon and in 1999. Then we didn't cruise until 2005 and I was so surprised when breakfast was open seating. I like that because you get to sit with other people. I still like traditional dining for dinner. I hated NCL open seating--really didn't get to meet other people. I went to breakfast by myself and that is how they sat me--by myself--so I stopped going to the dining room for breakfast.

[ManyMore]

I remember all that and in fact still use some DOD glasses I brought home on a daily basis. They were the mason jar type they had. Then switched to plastic but still had the varity of glasses. I hate these hurricane type they have now, I wish they would go back to the mason glass, much easier to handle and some guys hate the hurricane shap since it really is kind of girly lol. I remember when dinner was FINE dining. You would have all the forks and spoons, they would remove the crumbs from the table, the napkin placed on your lap, waiters were different then. Ahhhhhhhh to the days of being pampered in the dining room.

[halos]

I remember when dinner was FINE dining. You would have all the forks and spoons, they would remove the crumbs from the table, the napkin placed on your lap, waiters were different then. Ahhhhhhhh to the days of being pampered in the dining room.

 

I had that only once...my first cruise back in 1991. Then we didn't cruise again until 2002 when things had started to change, so I missed all those good cruising years due to kid-friendly family vacations at the Jersey Shore.......

 

They have seriously cut back to keep prices low enough to keep people on board. I like that the cruises are reasonable in price but I do miss the stuff they have cut back on.

 

Celebrity was pretty pamering in the dining room...problem with that is I also miss all the fun stuff on CCL..like the stuffing of the bathing suits with fruit and all those other crazy pool games. On CCL you had fun at the pool and class in the dining room. What a great mix!! You can book Celebrity and get class in the dining room, but you won't find any fun at the pool....not Carnival fun, anyhow.

[firefly333]

I remember when Carnival's had their special restaurant for $10 and it was white glove service.

[franksandy]

I remember my cruises from the 70's and 80's...Costume contests...everyone brought a costume to wear. Now its only a Holloween thing..

Also remember when Talent Shows was a big todo on cruises.

 

Sandy

[MrPete]

Ping pong balls in the pool to stuff in your trunks.

 

Balloons in the jammies.

 

Male nightgown

 

Frog racing

 

Simon says

 

Breakfast and lunch at you table in the DR

 

Backings to the beds that made them day couches

 

The yard of ale

 

Pillow fights

 

paying in cash

 

Ah, the good old days.

[BalconyBumz]

Yeap and thats when the "party cruise" reputation started.

So next time you hear anyone talking about the fact that they would never go on Carnival because it's nothing but Drunks & parties....You will know these people have either not cruised on Carnival since the 80's or the person that told them about it hasn't.:cool:

 

Oh come on, Carnival still has the most drunks and party people of any line. They attract the youngest and wildest crowds still in general.

[krystalkruzer]

Oh come on, Carnival still has the most drunks and party people of any line. They attract the youngest and wildest crowds still in general.

 

Not true today.That kind of mindset is why the "frat house party boat" reputation does not die off.Todays Carnival has raised itself far above that.

[Pjzplace]

Do you remember the Party hats and necklaces on formal night in the dining room? My wife even had a tiara.

 

My first cruise was on the Holiday in 1988. I remember we paid $1149.00 per person including air for an INSIDE cabin. (Funny, prices are a lot cheaper now but people still complain about a fuel surcharge.) Our sail and sign bill for that trip was only about $20.00 or $30.00. (We paid cash for shore excursions and such)

 

We had brought back a complete set of actual "GLASS" drink of the day glasses. We proceeded to sell them at a garage sale. I WISH I HAD THEM BACK NOW!

 

Wow! Those were the days. This just brought back a MAJOR flashback!

[BalconyBumz]

Not true today.That kind of mindset is why the "frat house party boat" reputation does not die off.Todays Carnival has raised itself far above that.

Well I said in COMPARISON to the other lines, yes, Carnival DOES have a more wild crowd. For the most part this is 100% true. I've been on 18 cruises on all the different lines, I think I would be able to see this. :rolleyes:

[franksandy]

Their was no sign and sail...you paid for your drinks and tips with cash...same with Bingo...you paid cash.

 

I do remember that Carnival line was the only line, that stacked the deck chairs away at night. And put them out every morning...They did this so the kids (big and little) wouldn't throw them overboard.

 

Sandy

[BalconyBumz]

Their was no sign and sail...you paid for your drinks and tips with cash...same with Bingo...you paid cash.

 

I do remember that Carnival line was the only line, that stacked the deck chairs away at night. And put them out every morning...They did this so the kids (big and little) wouldn't throw them overboard.

 

Sandy

 

:eek::eek::eek:

[lgerrish]

I went on my first cruise in 1991 when the Holiday was a BIG ship. The Holiday is now like a wee ship compared to some of the ships out there now.

...

 

I like the survivor at sea they do now, but some ships really cheap out on it. The Victory did a whole hour and eliminated people one at a time until there were only 8 our of 16 left and then it was narrowed down to three. It was quite fun to watch....

 

I haven't seen the survivor at sea...but maybe we'll catch it on the next cruise (misguidedangel...we're on the Freedom too! Check out our roll call.)

 

Our first cruise was in '98 on the Norwegian Leeward (talk about a tiny ship), and we saw people living-it up too. Carnival is the place to be if you want the best of both worlds - quiet sea days, or fun-filled exciting (wild) sea days - it's up to the cruiser. I love cruising Carnival! We're going for Platinum.:D

[aggieastrosfan]

I can't believe no one mentioned the rum swizzle party in the casino!

[G'ma]

1. Soft drinks and sodas were free

2. DOD was $1.00

3. Beer was $1.00

4. Alcoholic beverages ran from $.75 each to about $2.50

5. Bingo cards were 3/$1.00 and only cash prizes were given out. It was a progressive bingo for the week. The last night of the cruise, it wasn't unusual for the jackpot to be in the 3000-4000 range. The bingo cards were the cardboard ones with the red plastic covers for the numbers.

6. You could bring your own booze....and blender if you wanted.....

7. All purchases were paid for in CASH.

8. Very few, if anyone, stiffed the crew, so tipping was left to each persons own discretion with "recommended guidelines" for those who couldn't figure it out.

9. It was very, very rare to see anyone under 18 on a ship....

10. At least one person on every cruise had a guitar or ukulele and would play it on deck.

11. REAL steel bands played on the Lido around the pool in the afternoons.

12. They had REAL island entertainment. The entertainers would board at one island, give a show or two or more and get off the next day or at the next island.

13. No televisions in the rooms at all.

14. There was 1 movie theater onboard and first run movies were shown several times a day.

15. Topless bathing was all over the place.....and nobody cared.

16. Free "Welcome Drinks" greeted you by uniformed waiters as soon as you boarded.

17. A member of the crew escorted each party to their cabin upon boarding.

18. The Captain and Officers could be found in the lounges and discos mingling with the passengers on a regular basis.

19. Several Officers would eat in the main dining room at tables with the passengers.......a different table each night.

20. There were $.50 tables in the casino.

 

So much has changed. By the way.....these things were all in place in the mid-1970's through the early 80's.

[copvet]

After 22-cruises on 6 different cruise lines we find no difference in the party mindset of the passengers. Those that want to, do...and those that don't,won't. That's just a no brainer no matter what the line. The only exception to that is the much longer cruises and the specialty ships (explorer, river barge, inland cruise ships, etc.). Carnival kind of fits the bill for us. And we quote: "Sometimes we feel like a nut...sometimes we don't". :)

[Nezmo]

I still have my DOD glasses from my first cruise on NCL in 1990 and they were still real glass in 95 when I sailed on the Norway. I also remember the first one was gratis and was handed to you pretty much as you boarded.

 

NCL was still doing the pool games and pillow fights in the early 90's. I will admit I had a big gap between my last NCL cruise and my CCL experience but CCL seems tamer to me. Probably an apples to oranges comparison given the time lapse.