What I miss from when I first started cruising

[beach pirate]

Picking up the morning news paper in the library. 

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, cruise wizard said:

Our first cruise was in 1996 on the Nordic Empress - 4 night Nassau & Freeport. We had a fantastic table on the second tier that directly looked at the 2 story aft wall of windows. Our waiter would bring giant trays with an array of the dinner choices and he would tell us about each item. One tray each before ordering the starters - entrees - desserts and the presentations were great. Miss that!!!

 

Our next cruise was in 1998 on the Radiance for a 7 night Alaska itinerary. I went salmon fishing and caught a nice silver and had it cleaned dockside and was able to bring it on board to be prepared for our table of 6. The chefs prepared a full platter for us with all of the trimmings around the filets - it was fantastic. We couldn't eat it all and was supposed to be shared with the chef. Now you can't bring anything back - you have to FedEx your catch back home.

 

Empress had the coolest dining room.

 

We sat there on our non Cuba cruise in summer 2019

Edited April 18, 2021 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, LadyBerard said:

I know I'm in the minority here, but I miss the smaller ships, l like the NCL Majesty.  I also miss the  horse racing on Royal Caribbean.

 

We sailed her when she was new as Royal Magesty. Pre NCL stretch

[orville99]

20 minutes ago, beach pirate said:

Picking up the morning news paper in the library. 

The first cruise we took back in 1981, there was a daily newspaper delivered to our cabin every morning. By 1991, they were gone.

[Kansas Gal]

My first cruise was in 1976.  What I remember from that cruise was that no matter what dessert I ordered, the waiter always brought me 2.  He said I was "too skinny!"  As I recall the midnight buffet, it was always packed the first night or two of a cruise, then as people got more stuffed as the cruise went along, fewer and fewer people showed up. I just recently downsized and threw away all my old menus I had saved.   One of my first cruises (maybe Costa Line?) we had the option of reserving (renting) a specific deck chair for the length of the cruise.  And of course the daily newspapers - no internet or 24 hour news channels to keep up with things then. We had a Princess cruise in 2018 and still got a chocolate on the pillow 

Edited April 18, 2021 by Kansas Gal
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[jonbgd]

My first cruise was late 80's

the food sucked

quarters were cramped

no room service

no balcony

a bunch of people with no sea legs getting sick

Haze gray and underway😁

 

Our first Royal cruise was 2009 on Radiance

Miss first night Vidalia onion tart in MDR and those little savory bites 

Also the head waiter Paul wearing his red coat

[Cruiser24]

Cold soups every night in the MDR

 

Ship Shape dollars.  We used to do every activity they offered, just to earn those dollars and get a T-shirt or water bottle.  It was lots of fun!

 

Daily newspaper

 

And now it sounds like we'll miss the Cruise Compass:(

[cruise wizard]

1 minute ago, Cruiser24 said:

Cold soups every night in the MDR

 

Ship Shape dollars.  We used to do every activity they offered, just to earn those dollars and get a T-shirt or water bottle.  It was lots of fun!

 

Daily newspaper

 

And now it sounds like we'll miss the Cruise Compass:(

 

Unfortunately the Cruise Compass was printed by the Upgrade Fairy.................may they rest in peace!!!!

[lenquixote66]

17 hours ago, mets07 said:

  

When an only child, 6th grader at your sons' school, loses his father ..... killed for doing nothing but working at the World Trade Center..... 😢

 

Sorry to take us away from our beloved cruising, but still so very painful.

A friend of mine died there that day.He was a highly decorated soldier in Vietnam and a highly decorated NYC Police officer .This was his first job where he could relax.

[lenquixote66]

8 hours ago, Junkhouse said:

Being younger. First cruise was over 30 years ago and I told my DW back then I really liked the cruise but I can wait until we turn old to cruise again because it catered to very old cruisers.  There were not enough activities for active “youngsters”. Only a few high end cabins had balconies. The food is not as good (we also get accustomed to the wow food), but back then food was the main activity so it had to be off the charts.

Our first cruise in 1973 had mainly elderly people .My wife and I may have been the youngest passengers .We sat every night for dinner with a couple in their 70’s and even though we loved the cruising experience we decided not to take another cruise until we were considerably older.That was in 1994.

[mets07]

11 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

A friend of mine died there that day.He was a highly decorated soldier in Vietnam and a highly decorated NYC Police officer .This was his first job where he could relax.

So sorry, Lenny. My dad was a NYC police detective. He was retired long before 9/11. 

[lenquixote66]

11 minutes ago, mets07 said:

So sorry, Lenny. My dad was a NYC police detective. He was retired long before 9/11. 

Many of my friends are retired NYC police officers ,most in Brooklyn,but one in Queens and one in Manhattan.

[Pandamonia]

Good food Quality

Cheap drinks packages

Outdoor parties 

Cheaper speciality dining prices

Some effort on med sailings. (they really dont try anymore) 

 

[JamesEM]

16 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

The ships/cabins are a lot nicer than our 1989 cruise on Carnivale.😉

True, our first cruise was on Carnival's Holiday, we had cabin T605, the cabin was at the very front of the ship, we had bunk beds and a port hole, the cabin was so small you had to leave to change your mind.

[cruise wizard]

Does anyone remember "complimentary" cabin upgrades????? 

[John&LaLa]

15 minutes ago, cruise wizard said:

Does anyone remember "complimentary" cabin upgrades????? 

 

Often inconvenient 😉

[cruise wizard]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Often inconvenient 😉

 

No fear..............the Revenue Fairy has come to save the day with "Royal Up" (Up what????)🙄😬🤑

[ArthurUSCG]

On 4/17/2021 at 12:06 PM, davekathy said:

Receiving cruise documents in the mail. 

 

On 4/17/2021 at 3:35 PM, pstone1 said:

 

Definitely miss our Docs with luggage tags arriving in the mail!  That day always made our upcoming cruise seem right around the corner, and heightened our anticipation!  Sigh!

Disney still sends them, at least for the Port Canaveral cruises.  But what they send has been dramatically scaled down. It use to be a booklet with all sorts of info about the ship and itinerary. Now it's just a little folder to hold the luggage tags.

[RocCruisers]

Salad dressings.  Three unique ones every night.  Ladled on by the assistant waiter.  I remember asking once on day six of seven - "Can I have just Ranch tonight?"

We loved looking at the cookbooks available from the head waiter.  Where are they now?

[Vera/Lee]

It has been fun to remember how cruising was through the years! I had forgotten about some of these things. I started cruising over 50 years ago and we would "dress to be seen". We loved it then, but I really don't miss it! 

[neverbeenhere]

As we started cruising on Celebrity, we miss first class service no matter the class of stateroom. And of course, very good quality food in the MDR, even when "specialty" dining was $ 7 (?) per person.

[cruise wizard]

1 hour ago, RocCruisers said:

Salad dressings.  Three unique ones every night.  Ladled on by the assistant waiter.  I remember asking once on day six of seven - "Can I have just Ranch tonight?"

We loved looking at the cookbooks available from the head waiter.  Where are they now?

 

Agree - at one time they had an orange citrus dressing - haven't seen that in a decade!!!! We did buy a cookbook  - it is here somewhere in the house????

[George C]

I do miss the paper doc and getting luggage tags in the mail , which got suites just ended about 8 years ago, also miss them preparing some meals right at your table. 

[The Grumpus]

Being able to smoke during dinner in the main dining room.

 

lol - just kidding.😁

[ArthurUSCG]

On 4/18/2021 at 9:30 AM, cruise wizard said:

Our first cruise was in 1996 on the Nordic Empress - 4 night Nassau & Freeport. We had a fantastic table on the second tier that directly looked at the 2 story aft wall of windows. Our waiter would bring giant trays with an array of the dinner choices and he would tell us about each item. One tray each before ordering the starters - entrees - desserts and the presentations were great. Miss that!!!

 

Our next cruise was in 1998 on the Radiance for a 7 night Alaska itinerary. I went salmon fishing and caught a nice silver and had it cleaned dockside and was able to bring it on board to be prepared for our table of 6. The chefs prepared a full platter for us with all of the trimmings around the filets - it was fantastic. We couldn't eat it all and was supposed to be shared with the chef. Now you can't bring anything back - you have to FedEx your catch back home.

 

On 4/18/2021 at 9:35 AM, LadyBerard said:

I know I'm in the minority here, but I miss the smaller ships.

 

On 4/18/2021 at 11:36 AM, John&LaLa said:

 

Empress had the coolest dining room.

 

We sat there on our non Cuba cruise in summer 2019

I regret not sailing on her one last time when she was brought back to RCL. She was the perfect size for going to the unusual ports. She was small enough to dock in down town Hamilton Bermuda, when all of the other cruise ships are stuck docking out on the Navel Dock yard way out on the end of the fish hook. The next day she was able to go thru the Town Cut and dock at St. Georges (eye of the fish hook). That port was amazing and far less touristy trap then any other port I have been to.

She was also small enough that the staff would recognize you.  Sure she didn't have all of the WOW stuff that newer RCL ships have, but it the small ship is nice when your room is in the aft section and it's a short walk to the Windjammer.