I and my wife cruised the Festivale during December 1978, on one of her first 6 shakedown cruises. During these 6 cruises she carried only 2/3 (I think 800) of the normal passengers. It was our first cruise, for our honeymoon, and we did not enjoy it. We were in our early 20's, but 90% of the guests were over 50, and very rude. We were seated at the meals with 2 younger couples, but they turned out to be snobs. The crew and the ship were fine, just seemed to be full of bad passengers. I do remember an X rated comedian, Paul Frankie at the evening shows. I renamed him Paul Horny. We did have an inside room with a queen bed, it was our honeymoon. I think the cost then for the 6 day cruise was about $1250 for the two of us. During the last 3 days, we started to figure things out and were enjoying ourselves. My personal reason for the cruise was to see all parts of a ship, only to learn that due to insurance reasons, passengers were not allowed in many spaces, such as the boiler room.
I have since taken 1 more cruise (10 day) and it was by far the best! I jokingly tell friends this was on the "Gray Line". It was a "tiger" cruise on the USS Acadia (The real Love Boat! Google it) This line uses an all American crew, and I was allowed access to most any space on the ship. I even was able to take the helm (drive the boat as they called it) for 1 1/2 hours. I was the official helmsman, not just holding on as a crewmember held my hand. And food was just as plentiful as on any other cruise ship, when I got to know the right people. And the price for this cruise was very reasonable, 50 bucks (10 dollars a night). I am sad that the Festivale is gone but more saddened that the Acadia is gone too, sank to make an artificial reef. If anyone gets the chance at a tiger cruise, don't pass it up!
What happened to Carnival's Festivale?
in What Ever Happened To........???
Posted
I and my wife cruised the Festivale during December 1978, on one of her first 6 shakedown cruises. During these 6 cruises she carried only 2/3 (I think 800) of the normal passengers. It was our first cruise, for our honeymoon, and we did not enjoy it. We were in our early 20's, but 90% of the guests were over 50, and very rude. We were seated at the meals with 2 younger couples, but they turned out to be snobs. The crew and the ship were fine, just seemed to be full of bad passengers. I do remember an X rated comedian, Paul Frankie at the evening shows. I renamed him Paul Horny. We did have an inside room with a queen bed, it was our honeymoon. I think the cost then for the 6 day cruise was about $1250 for the two of us. During the last 3 days, we started to figure things out and were enjoying ourselves. My personal reason for the cruise was to see all parts of a ship, only to learn that due to insurance reasons, passengers were not allowed in many spaces, such as the boiler room.
I have since taken 1 more cruise (10 day) and it was by far the best! I jokingly tell friends this was on the "Gray Line". It was a "tiger" cruise on the USS Acadia (The real Love Boat! Google it) This line uses an all American crew, and I was allowed access to most any space on the ship. I even was able to take the helm (drive the boat as they called it) for 1 1/2 hours. I was the official helmsman, not just holding on as a crewmember held my hand. And food was just as plentiful as on any other cruise ship, when I got to know the right people. And the price for this cruise was very reasonable, 50 bucks (10 dollars a night). I am sad that the Festivale is gone but more saddened that the Acadia is gone too, sank to make an artificial reef. If anyone gets the chance at a tiger cruise, don't pass it up!