Aren't you glad you started cruising 'back in the day'

[BigKeith]

firstly, this isn't a thread about most people's favourite subject about how 'everything was so good back in the day compared to today because of X,Y and Z.'

 

I see so mamy people on these boards ask questions such as 'been on the Oasis, will i be disappointed with the Freedom/Voyager etc or been on the Voyager will I be disappointed with Radience, Vision, Monarch etc.

 

I have been cruising many years and have been fortunate to be on ships around 30,000 tonnes. I love all RCI ships from the Monarch to the Allure. I don't see bigger ships as being 'better' only 'different'. I understand my cruise on the Oasis is very different to that on the Splendour but either way they are both fantastic! Ive been fortunate in that i started sailing smaller ships back in the day and absolutely love them, just as i love big ships.

 

I do worry though for todays new generation of cruisers who've only been on a 140,000 ton ship and are scared to try anything smaller, 'back in the day' I didnt have a choice but i got to see that side of cruising. On the plus side, if all these new cruisers won't go on anything other than Oasis or Allure there'll be plenty of room on the smaller ships for me :D

 

BigKeith

[ksuds]

I agree.........I don't have any urge to cruise on the Oasis or Allure. I love the Radiance class.

 

However, I have also cruised on the tiny ones. The Regal Empress.....now that was small. But had great times on it. You could actually meet people and find them the next day.....

[emelvee]

At some point, we'll try Oasis, Allure, or whatever else is equivalent at that time. What got us hooked on cruising was the level of service provided - and that was on Carnival. :) It was so nice to have servers (and the cabin steward) greet you by name, the servers anticipating what you wanted to drink or for a salad by the second night, etc.

[DarthGrady]

My first cruise was on the Majestic with Premier Cruise Lines. She was all of 17,000 gross tons. Every ship seems big compared to her. I haven't found a correlation between ship size and my enjoyment of it. I have had great cruises on smaller ships, and marginal cruises on big ones. Thankfully I haven't had a bad one yet!

[Beachin2]

True. The smaller ships were much more intimate. You really got to know the actual crew and not just cabin & dining staff.

 

While I miss the days of the Sun Viking, Viking Serenade, etc. those size ships probably do not make $ sense anymore - at least not at a favorable price.

 

Personally, I have zero interest in the Oasis or Allure. I actually want to feel the ship move once in awhile. Even the Freedom was a tad too big for our taste.

[leaveitallbehind]

I agree.........I don't have any urge to cruise on the Oasis or Allure. I love the Radiance class.

 

However, I have also cruised on the tiny ones. The Regal Empress.....now that was small. But had great times on it. You could actually meet people and find them the next day.....

 

Started on Sovereign and thought nothing could ever be better. But over time was constantly amazed at each next class introduced.

 

I too like the Radiance class. But Oasis is also amazing and worth the experience.

 

I also like other classes such as Sovereign, Vision, Voyager, Freedom.....

[redcrown]

My first cruise was on the Majestic with Premier Cruise Lines. She was all of 17,000 gross tons. Every ship seems big compared to her. I haven't found a correlation between ship size and my enjoyment of it. I have had great cruises on smaller ships, and marginal cruises on big ones. Thankfully I haven't had a bad one yet!

 

Remember the Majestic well. Did her a couple of times going to the Abaco Islands. She was small but the smallest we ever did was the Crown Monarch when she first came out. She was a little over 15,000 gross tons. We love the Radiance class and the Oasis class. As previously stated on those small ships you quickly knew the whole crew as well as the passengers.

[Kesstral]

First cruise tomorrow on Rhapsody so I guess I'm starting on the smaller end of the scale. We'd like to try Oasis or Allure (my husband thinks they look cool and if that's what it takes to go on more cruises than I'm ok with that) but I'm also looking forward to some of the other ships out there (got my eye on the Radiance next year Honolulu to Van).

 

Now I wish this wasn't my first cruise so I'd already have some points under my belt and could be on my way to the next tier!

[waxing witch]

i've only been on older, smaller ships like the monarch and carnival sensation. aside from sheer size and number of amenities, what are the differences? does it feel different being on a larger ship - do you feel the ocean more, or less?

[Cruzin-K]

My first cruise was on the Carnival Jubilee. I remember thinking how big it was and how I'd never learn my way around by the end of the week :rolleyes:

 

My next cruise was on the Empress of the Seas and I remember hearing other passengers complain about how small it was, and how there was nothing to do :confused: That was the cruise that really got me hooked on cruising.

 

The largest ship I've been on is the Navigator and I didn't care too much for it. I was not a fan of the promenade and missed all the ocean views. My favorite class so far is the Radiance class.

 

I do want to try the Freedom, maybe even next year, and eventually I want to sail on every class of ship in the fleet but I think my heart will always belong to the Serenade of the Seas :)

[co2stay]

This is interesting to me. Our first cruise was on a 200' schooner. I have no idea what the gross tonnage was. It was awesome with a crew of 25 and 66 passengers on board!

 

Our first *mega* ship was on the Sovereign. By todays' standards that is small.

 

We will be on the Liberty this fall and I really wanted something smaller but this had the itinerary we wanted.

 

They (the powers that be) need to pepper new ships with mega and just big imho :D

[NeuroQueen]

My first cruise was on the old Carnivale in 1986 and I've never looked back. We even went on the old DolphinIV which was like 12,000 tons, and sailed thru a category one hurricane. That was an experience, I vaguely remember kissing the ground in Miami. I love all ships, some more than others. I have yet to try radiance class and I am looking forward to that. Cruising has changed, but truthfully, the cost isn't a whole lot more, which I find amazing. Our first 7 day, in 1988 on the Holiday, was $1200 pp for a stateroom with a window. it is actually cheaper now with all of the berths available.

[mickeysgal]

i've only been on older, smaller ships like the monarch and carnival sensation. aside from sheer size and number of amenities, what are the differences? does it feel different being on a larger ship - do you feel the ocean more, or less?

 

Way back in the late 80's we sailed RCL's Song of Norway. She was in the 22,000 ton range if I remember correctly. And she had no stabilizers. Yes, you felt it rocking and rolling. Nothing like sitting at dinner and literally watching the horizon out the window rise and fall. Made walking down hallways rather interesting. We loved that ship - it was a beauty and it hooked us on cruising. I still remember standing in the hallway looking into the cabin and saying, no way...I can't live in a room that small. But we did...and yes, that inside cabin defined the word small. Cruising has come a long way since then...from the beautiful Song of Norway to the beautiful Oasis.

[mation101]

As helpful as this board is for finding out stuff that has changed or whos going to be the CD, CL, etc, Im glad I started cruising back in the day, because EVERYTHING was a surprise until you stepped on the ship.

 

I will be forever grateful to my grandparents for infecting me with the cruising bug back in 1980, the industry has changed so much and so fast, but no matter the size or where the ship sails, I would rather be onboard than sitting here at work

[Pushka]

Hmm, I cruised for the first time over thirty years ago. As per my signature below it took me thirty years to return as I hated it so much.

[Kristi Williamson]

Started on Sovereign and thought nothing could ever be better. But over time was constantly amazed at each next class introduced.

 

I too like the Radiance class. But Oasis is also amazing and worth the experience.

 

I also like other classes such as Sovereign, Vision, Voyager, Freedom.....

 

 

My first cruise was on Sovereign, as well. I remember walking around all wide eyed and amazed at everything! I still do that and every new ship we step foot on returns me to that moment in some way. Then again, stepping on old favorites makes it feel like home. I think cruising either gets in your blood or it doesn't. It's my favorite thing in the world to do for vacation and has been for almost 20 years!

[kruzerci]

We started cruising on the Sovereign about 12 years ago, which wasn't a small ship at the time, in fact, it seemed enormous. It definitely spoils us every time we go up a size, after Voyager Class, we didn't like the Radiance class, and after Freedom, we prefer it over Voyager. We still take short cruises on smaller ships occasionally, but I could never do anything longer than 4 nights on something smaller than a Radiance class ship again.

 

I'll book a cruise on Oasis or Allure when the time comes, but as long as we are beyond satisfied with Voyager and Freedom class ships, I don't want to spoil it! We have plenty of time to sail on the big daddys.

[Olive1950]

Oh yes.

 

I started cruising back in 1978, when there was NOT a TV (or even a radio) in every cabin; when there was no such thing as a specialty restaurant; where tenders were used in MOST ports; when formal meant FORMAL; when you had a actual key; when a large ship had 700-1000 passengers.

 

Alas, all of those ships are now gone.... Marco Polo; Vistafjord; Sagafjord; old Rotterdam; old Star Princess; Nordic Prince....<sigh>

[sailawayjack]

True. The smaller ships were much more intimate. You really got to know the actual crew and not just cabin & dining staff.

 

While I miss the days of the Sun Viking, Viking Serenade, etc. those size ships probably do not make $ sense anymore - at least not at a favorable price.

 

Personally, I have zero interest in the Oasis or Allure. I actually want to feel the ship move once in awhile. Even the Freedom was a tad too big for our taste.

 

:cool:When I took my first cruise, it was on the largest cruise ship in the world---Sovereign of The Seas. Now she is gone, and her sister ships are RCCL's smallest ones. I even went on the Empress, smaller yet. It was able to dock at three ports in Bermuda in its day. The largest ship I have been on is Seranade. I can't honestly say it is by design, but that is the way it has worked out. As for the Oasis, I don't believe I would want to be on a ship that big, but if I did it would be back to back. I would need two weeks to figure it out. The first to check out, the second to enjoy. It would be like going to Disney World for two days and not seeing everything:cool:I like the service on smaller ships. Seems more intimate:cool:JACK IS SAILING AGAIN

[linkerbink]

My first cruise was on the Song of America, and the largest I've been on is the Freedom of the Seas. I'll take the Song of America any time, and if she were still in the inventory, I'd be sailing on her. My favorite is the Radiance class...so beautiful and the perfect size for me.

[HappyCruiser54]

My first cruise was on Empress of the Seas. It took me 20 years to get my husband to agree to try a cruise. All he kept saying when he saw the ship was "Wow- that's a really big ship". We have cruised on NCL Majesty (did not like that one), then the Explorer, NCL Jewel (nice ship-but I like the more traditional dining) and back on the Explorer. Not sure I would like the mega ships.

[Jenjer]

My were on Voyager back in 2000 and we had lunch with these brothers around 12 YO. We asked "So is this your first cruise?" No they had been on 7 or 8. I was shocked and wanted to be adopted by thier parents.

 

They had a great story about how they were on Disneys ld Big Red Boat and they said it had some kind of a reinforced hull. There was a storm and they had to sail thru it. The boys said they loved it, and could Jump from floor to floor when she rocked thru the stairwell.

 

Now those kids are my kids. (no jumping from floors yet) Mine may only be on 6 or 7 cruises by 12 but still. They really have no idea how lucky they are, we tell them but it doesn't sink in.

[QuickieGlenn]

My first was the Song of Norway on my honeymoon, we slurged on a ocean view room and I think it was $1500 per person and it was a tiny room. I had a choice between Hawaii or a cruise but I did not want my wifes first flight to be 24hrs. That ship was great and I thought it was huge, if you made a mistake playing roulette or blackjack they told you, and you could buy booze at the shop and take it with you. Now I think that ship would fit on the promanade on the Explorer

[davy jones]

The smallest ship that we sailed was the Sun Viking at 17,000 tons. We also sailed it's stretch sister ship Nordic Prince, which was the only ship that we have ever been seasick on. It did not have stabilizers and the stretching made it even worse in bad weather. From that standpoint, today's larger ships are much more stable. I am sure that the size helps somewhat and the stablizers help immensely.

 

I have concerns about ships becoming too large because of crowds, queues, and potential impersonal ships. Our largest ship was the Caribbean Princess at 113,000 tons and that was OK Our next cruise is on the EOS at 130,000 tons. We'll see how that works out. We have found that ships around 90,000 tons offer plenty of things without being too big. (just our opinion)

 

We miss some of the "old" small ship things, but the "new" ship things outweigh them.

[Kellie Poodle]

We began cruising in the late 1980's when NCL still had class. There were no buffets, no balconies, no specialty restaurants, you dressed for dinner every night and got really fancy on formal night. There was a midnight buffet every night. No theaters. The nightly shows were in the lounge. The crew were awesome.

 

I remember going to Duns River Falls on our first cruise and bringing old tennis shoes to wear in the falls. Before we could throw them out, the cabin steward had cleaned and dried them and they were looking brand new!

 

My first RCI cruise was on The Nordic Prince. I remember the twin beds being screwed into the wall and the cabin attendant was not permitted to move them together. I had a little screwdriver on my key chain so we unscrewed them and offered the attendant "hush money" to not have them screwed back in so we could move them together every night.:o

 

In those days there were no towel animals, but the cabin steward would make amazing designs out of the lady's nightie. I bought special nighties just for cruising.

 

Because I started cruising on smaller, more intimate ships, I, too, like the smaller ships in the fleet. Radiance Class is perhaps my favorite. I have a special place in my heart for Rhapsody, too. I have cruised 6 times on Voyager class ships and they are the biggest I'll do.

 

I enjoy being on a ship on open water, but the destinations are important to me as well. I have no desire to be on a floating resort where the cruising experience is secondary to the venue of the ship. I'm too old fashioned for that.