Princess before 1980. How was it?

My first cruise was in the mid 1970’s on Home Line’s Oceanic. Loved that ship! I left out NYC and at times I would see a Princess ship at the pier there (I think I remember the Old Pacific Princess) docked there too. I remember what it was like to sail on Oceanic back then. I would love to know from people who sailed on Princess before 1980 what it was like and how it has changed on Princess.

My first cruise was in the mid 1970’s on Home Line’s Oceanic. Loved that ship! I left out NYC and at times I would see a Princess ship at the pier there (I think I remember the Old Pacific Princess) docked there too. I remember what it was like to sail on Oceanic back then. I would love to know from people who sailed on Princess before 1980 what it was like and how it has changed on Princess.

We also sailed on the Home Line's Oceanic in 1975. It was our 7th Wedding Anniversary and we booked a suite. Will never forget the look on our faces when we saw the bunk beds! Must say the dining experience still is the best we've ever experienced.

We also sailed on the Home Line's Oceanic in 1975. It was our 7th Wedding Anniversary and we booked a suite. Will never forget the look on our faces when we saw the bunk beds! Must say the dining experience still is the best we've ever experienced.

They were the only two beds in the room? The food was the best.

We didn't get to sail on Princess till 2007 but did cruise with Carnival in the '80s. We also had bunk beds...but OHHHHH MYYYYYY the food was WONDERFUL back then...even for Carnival. We had REAL Pâté, & Escargot every night. And had HUGE Lobsters and Caviar on formal nights....the list goes on and on.

Anyhow...even though we didn't cruise Princess back in the '80s....I sure wish we had! I would love to hear more details about the differences from Then compared to Now with Princess.

My first cruise was on Costa in the 70's. I didn't start cruising on Princess until 1992, if I recall correctly. Your question made me start wondering about the Princess history and I found this webpage with some interesting pictures and timeline. Princess cruises as we know it started in 1965, but there was a history before that. I was fortunate enough to get to sail on the original Pacific Princess once and have fond memories of being on the Love Boat.

http://cruiselinehistory.com/history-of-princess-cruises/

1978 Vancouver to San Francisco I even played Ping pong there,but the best was the HOMERIC then the Mermoz and the Sagafjord.But the top was Royal Viking Line it served the best food afloat I've never had such good food again on any ship.

Pre 80,s Sitmar was the line before Princess we sailed on Fairsea/Fairwind/Fairstar in the US and Australia great crews

and food things have changed since then but the Pasta and Pizza

still live on

Davaller:D

Tableside preparation of pastas and deserts like cherries jubilee, and bananas foster. The food was incredible. Much easier to do for two seatings of 325 passengers per seating though. Impossible on today's mainstream ships.

They were the only two beds in the room? The food was the best.

Yes, they were steel bunkbeds bolted into the wall. Our "suite" was 2 rooms, the living room with window and cocktail table and the "bedroom" separated by a curtain.

The Captain Greeted each guest on formal night, shook hands with all and took pictures. We still have them, but WE got better looking. Oh wow the hair in the 70's was NOT pretty. Wonderful memories.

Our first Princess cruise was in Sept. 1981 on the original Island Princess. It was an 8 day RT to Alaska from Vancouver featuring the regular stops plus Sitka. We had late seating and were placed at an officer's table. He ate dinner with us almost every evening and often bought wine for the table. The food was delicious and loved the tableside preparation of some dishes.

We had an inside room with a couch. The room was irregularly shaped to fit the contours of the ship. It wasn't like today's ships where all cabins below minisuites appear similar, with some having windows, some having balconies and some having none. I do remember that we did not have bunk beds.

Many changes from then but still love cruising. We finally went back to Alaska on the new Island Princess two years ago. One thing that did not change was the weather and the great scenery.

Pre 80,s Sitmar was the line before Princess we sailed on Fairsea/Fairwind/Fairstar in the US and Australia great crews

and food things have changed since then but the Pasta and Pizza

still live on

Davaller:D

We were also Sitmar cruisers back then. Our favorite was Fairsky ... name changed to Sky Princess and we continued to enjoy cruising on her. The changes weren't immediate but they did eventually come ... except, as mentioned, for the pasta & pizza.

All the cruise lines (at least the ones we sailed) had wonderful food and fantastic dining room service. It was quite like the $peciality restaurants are now.

Things are what they are and we still love to cruise! :)

We sailed on the "love Boat" in 1980.There were very few balcony rooms.The first time we had an interior and upgraded to a port hole the second time.:D The dining experience in the main dining room was much more formal and everyone had fixed seating.The food was better and the servers had more time to get to know you. The Captain's Dinner night actually had the Captain eating at a table with invited guests. I think it was in the middle of the dining room. I still love cruising,but I do think it isn't as special as it once was.

Pre 80,s Sitmar was the line before Princess we sailed on Fairsea/Fairwind/Fairstar in the US and Australia great crews

and food things have changed since then but the Pasta and Pizza

still live on

Davaller:D

We were also Sitmar cruisers back then. Our favorite was Fairsky ... name changed to Sky Princess and we continued to enjoy cruising on her. The changes weren't immediate but they did eventually come ... except, as mentioned, for the pasta & pizza.

 

All the cruise lines (at least the ones we sailed) had wonderful food and fantastic dining room service. It was quite like the $peciality restaurants are now.

 

Things are what they are and we still love to cruise! :)

After sailing on Sitmar's Fairwind in the 80s we were hooked on cruising. Freshly made pastas in the MDR, made to order pizza & calzone in the pizzeria, great lobster brought to the table on silver platters with great service provided by the all Italian & Portuguese crew.

We sailed the same ship six months later after she became part of the Princess fleet as the original Dawn Princess. Sadly the freshly made pizzas and calzones were no longer available because the pizzeria was removed but the same great pastas were still available as a course.

Someone recently posted a Princess brochure for 1977-1978 and with the prices the same as for similar cruises next year, it's no surprise to me that things have changed. Being more affordable now means we get to cruise more often. :D

Here's a link to that Princess brochure:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=245585&d=1348005243

Cruised in 1974 on the original Sun Princess which Princess acquired at the time from P&O who had called it "Spirit of London" which was the sistership to NCL's "Southward."

1976 took the Pacific Princess on a 10 day r.t. from Los Angeles to the Mexican Riviera. This ship had been Flagship Cruises' "Sea Venture" when it started sailing in the early 70s from New York to Bermuda.

Of course the current Princess is nothing like this old Princess which featured the "silver service" in the dining room when nothing was on your plate from the dining room. Everything was individually taken from silver chafing dished in white glove hands and put on your plate. Those were the days!

Sitmar was a totally different animal in those days until they were absorbed by Princess I believe in the early 1990s.

Worldspan

131 cruises strong

Of course the current Princess is nothing like this old Princess which featured the "silver service" in the dining room when nothing was on your plate from the dining room. Everything was individually taken from silver chafing dished in white glove hands and put on your plate. Those were the days!

 

Sitmar was a totally different animal in those days until they were absorbed by Princess I believe in the early 1990s.

We sailed Sitmar in summer 1988 & in January 1989 the same ship was Princess. I have photos of Sitmar's white gloved service from silver platters which were used to fill our plates. The pasta course was served the same way & they always seemed to act like they didn't understand "just a little". ;)

Of course the current Princess is nothing like this old Princess which featured the "silver service" in the dining room when nothing was on your plate from the dining room. Everything was individually taken from silver chafing dished in white glove hands and put on your plate. Those were the days!

 

Sitmar was a totally different animal in those days until they were absorbed by Princess I believe in the early 1990s.

 

Worldspan

131 cruises strong

Were you somewhat shocked the first time they brought the food to you already on the plate? We were. It was so nice to able to select which sides we wanted as they came around to serve us. Even the bread was served ... not stuck on the table in a basket.

Sitmar was aquired by Princess in 1988. For a couple of years after it still sort of seemed as if we were were cruising on Sitmar. You're right ... not totally absorbed until the early 1990s when Princess began making changes fleet wide.

My first cruise was actually 50 years ago when I was "Sweet Sixteen" on the old SS Bahama Star. Even that ship had White Glove service.

LuLu

So many wonderful memories of the past. I don’t remember if Oceanic had white glove service. But the food was great. Show lounges have changed since then. It was a lounge on Oceanic, with cocktails tables and chairs. Not good for seeing the show. There was no stage just a dance floor. The midnight buffets were really something. I recall very few deck chairs by the pool. They gave you a mat! One of the things I like about modern Princess is I can get ice tea, coffee, hot tea any time I want it for no charge. Back then you could only get it with a meal. We were giving a pitcher of water in our cabin. The one thing I really loved was the small ship. I believe it was 28,000 tons or there about.

I can remember all the ball gowns I would bring with me. One of the fun things was the people waving good bye to you at the pier when you left.

We sailed to Mexico on the original Pacific Princess and it was our first cruise. I remember dancing the night away while the ship rolled and you could hardly keep your ballance. The fixed dining was more formal and the food was much better. Fresh pasta was prepared tableside every night for dinner and there was a lavish midnight buffet with beautiful flowers and ice sculptures every night. The buffet had a large varriety of dishes and deserts and was amazing. It was the best cruise ever.

Started on Sitmar Fairsea. Very formal dress on formal nights and all other nights men wore sports coats.

First Princess cruise on the Original Loveboat the The Pacific Princess.

Early 80's. Very British crew except dining room all Italian.

No balconies but lucky enough to get a window. One small bed and a little

sofa that became the other twin bed in room. Very tiny.

No buffet on sailaway lunch, in fact no lunch. Called room service and asked for a sandwich and was told , no food until you sail, we don't want to feed the entire ship of visitors. Those were the days when friends could come on board to say goodbye. This was the first sailing out of San Diego and we had about a dozen friends and relatives in our tiny cabin.

Also the whole Padres Baseball team was on board with us.

Food was very good but we had the worst waiter ever, and he was drunk most times at dinner. Was not going to ever cruise Princess again and didn't until 2006, although we cruised often. Now we are sold on Princess.

:D

My first cruise was on Costa in the 70's. I didn't start cruising on Princess until 1992, if I recall correctly. Your question made me start wondering about the Princess history and I found this webpage with some interesting pictures and timeline. Princess cruises as we know it started in 1965, but there was a history before that. I was fortunate enough to get to sail on the original Pacific Princess once and have fond memories of being on the Love Boat.

 

http://cruiselinehistory.com/history-of-princess-cruises/

I read the history and loved it. Many thanks. Do you know how big Pacific Princess was?

I read the history and loved it. Many thanks. Do you know how big Pacific Princess was?

From Wikipedia

As the Pacific Princess her tonnage was 20,636 GRT and she carried 646 passengers at a top speed of 21.5 knots, cruising at 20 knots.

Back then cruising was not 'Mass Market'. It really was a much more upscale experience.

~Doris~

Were you somewhat shocked the first time they brought the food to you already on the plate? We were. It was so nice to able to select which sides we wanted as they came around to serve us. Even the bread was served ... not stuck on the table in a basket.

 

Sitmar was aquired by Princess in 1988. For a couple of years after it still sort of seemed as if we were were cruising on Sitmar. You're right ... not totally absorbed until the early 1990s when Princess began making changes fleet wide.

 

My first cruise was actually 50 years ago when I was "Sweet Sixteen" on the old SS Bahama Star. Even that ship had White Glove service.

 

 

LuLu

Forgive me all if I was off a few years on Princess's acquisition of Sitmar. That said, Sitmar's style was equally outstanding no doubt. And then of course there was Home Lines. All three were very similar with tremendous panache in the dining room now only found on the Seabourns and Silversea

where you have to pay triple the price of a popularly priced line like e.g. Princess

Worldspan

131 cruises strong

I started cruising in early 80's, a wonderful, personal service. They came around with bread/vegetables. The dining room was a nice experience every night. I remember pheasant being served in a pottery-like caserole, the cover had a stuffed pheasant on it. Many evenings had special dishes prepared table-side. It was a more relaxing, less rushing about because of the dining room size and number of crew.

I cruised on the 1st Royal Princess, a big band cruise, at 39, was one of 3 youngest onboard! Les Brown and his band were great, gracious people, it was so fun. Just awesome watching people dance before dinner, everyone dressed nice, not over the top but not sloppy, no jeans or tee shirts.

I still love cruising but my cruises in the 80s were so different than cruises now. I sail bigger ships (not RCI anymore though) but still prefer the smaller ship experience.

After sailing on Sitmar's Fairwind in the 80s we were hooked on cruising. Freshly made pastas in the MDR, made to order pizza & calzone in the pizzeria, great lobster brought to the table on silver platters with great service provided by the all Italian & Portuguese crew.

 

We sailed the same ship six months later after she became part of the Princess fleet as the original Dawn Princess. Sadly the freshly made pizzas and calzones were no longer available because the pizzeria was removed but the same great pastas were still available as a course.

 

Someone recently posted a Princess brochure for 1977-1978 and with the prices the same as for similar cruises next year, it's no surprise to me that things have changed. Being more affordable now means we get to cruise more often. :D

 

Here's a link to that Princess brochure:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=245585&d=1348005243

I posted this brochure (found in my parents attic) and I'm so glad so many people enjoyed it. My Family has been cruising since 1972 on Sitmar/Princess and yes it has changed significantly since those early glamourous days. I am not complaining because if pricing stayed at that same level, I wouldnt be able to afford cruising as much as we do today so I'll sacrafice the food, VIP treatment and white glove service for my balcony rooms and the ability to still cruise. If I ever feel the need to step it up, I'll upgrade the cruise line but for now, Princess is still a fabulous experience every time! I still get the chills walking on that gangplank on the first day of each cruise.