flipoid

Oops, as you can see from my signature, I meant I sailed in 1973. Don't want to age myself more than I already am! :o

I sailed on the Michelangelo in 1974 (I was 9), and I remember enjoying myself so much that I told my parents that when I grew up I was DEFINITELY going to go on a cruise again. The waiters spoiled me and my 2 brothers at meals--for example, once they discovered that we liked the little Italian pastries (similar to petit fours), they would bring them after every dinner without our asking. They showed us how to "properly" twirl the spaghetti using a spoon, had our milk waiting for us when we arrived at the table--they were wonderful! We did a week (maybe 8-day--don't exactly remember) cruise from NY to the Caribbean (St. Thomas and Curacao--I'd love to go back to Curacao, though it might be quite different now!). I remember my mom saying that she and my dad were going to go by themselves (it was for an AIA convention), but when they found out they could add all 3 of us kids for some ridiculously low price like $200 or $300 (total, not each), they decided to take us with them.

When my husband and I started cruising (in 2001 for a belated honeymoon), I did some research because I was curious as to what had happened to the Michelangelo--I was saddened to find out that the ship had been sold to Iran, though I certainly didn't expect it to be still sailing almost 30 years after I'd been on that ship. She was tiny compared to today's ships, but through my nine-year-old eyes, I thought she was beautiful!