In the good old days

[Shogun]

Hi Folks,

 

When I first started cruising the officers would sit with us for dinner, most tables would have an officer, even a very juinor one or a member from the ships entertainment staff.

 

We had the officer in charge of the ships bars on one cruise which was very useful.

 

Now I know with todays big ships they could not do this for every table at every sitting.

 

But I think by not doing this we have lost the close personal touch that cruising once had.

 

I do not see why ships staff and crew can not still eat with the passengers, the information and storries we got from them were very useful, it also help ensure the tables were chatty and had a range of topics.

 

Any thoughts about why this does not happen today, would you like to see Princess do this .

 

yours Shogun

[okbowler]

Shogun: It may not happen on Princess, but on our 14 day cruise last season on HAL we had a ships officer at our table for two meals. They provided wine for the table(an eight top) and provided insights to crews life on board. We were told that this is a regular occurrence on HAL, however it was the a first for us in three cruises. We did notice a scattering of officers at other tables at other meals. Bill

[spongerob]

Hey, I don't pay top dollar for a cruise just to eat with the help! :)

 

Seriously, the staff on board isn't that large, and they put in very long hours. I think the largest group is Guest Relations (those miserable people at the purser's desk) and given how I've seen them treated, I'm sure they prefer to avoid dealing with the public when they get a break.

 

The only ship we've been on where officers and other staff routinely were in contact with passengers was Royal Princess. And Shogun, you are SO right, making friends with the officer in charge of the bar staff is a good thing. He took me on a tour of their liquor stores - wow! They had just about everything you could ask for. And then some.

[cherylandtk]

I think this went away as the ship capacities grew so large as to make it impractical. It was common on smaller ~500 pax ships, but today with 3000+ there would be too many passengers clamoring for attention from an officer, claiming it is their right and they paid for it, and blah blah blah. (Most folks don't have the social rigor of Mrs. Astor, as Spongerob noted :p )

[Nebr.cruiser]

On our Dawn cruise a couple of years ago we had an officer join our table of eight for one night. Very interesting to talk too. I think on that one night officers randomly chose tables to sit at. For some unknown reason we got a table in absolutely the best position in the dining room, so that may be why we got chosen.

[Cruzman]

This practice is still quite common on HAL S Class. Of course, these ships are rated at apx 1200 passengers (dbl occ).

[katisdale]

Our first cruise was on the Independence. We had the ship's engineer at our table every night until we lost all power just out of Lahaina. After that we only saw once in passing and he was wearing an oil stained uniform and looked quite worn out. I would have loved to have him come back to the table and tell us what had happened.

[JackieB]

Shogun,

 

Your's is a very interesting observation.

 

Not only has the size of ships changed, but so have the kind of clientel.

 

It is getting hard to imagine our next set of tablemates as passengers. Imagine how the crew feels with their possibilities?

 

Jack

[bphman]

When we cruised Celebrity in 1990 and 1992, the officers sat at a few of the tables on a couple of nights but not with us. So many of the ships now have smaller tables than in the old days because people don't seem to like dining with strangers. I personally love meeting other people and we always request a large table. We've never been disappointed.

[envy4u]

When we cruised Celebrity in 1990 and 1992, the officers sat at a few of the tables on a couple of nights but not with us. So many of the ships now have smaller tables than in the old days because people don't seem to like dining with strangers. I personally love meeting other people and we always request a large table. We've never been disappointed.

 

Something we agree on . That is why we love anytime dining . We eat with different people every night or just the two of us if that is what we choose . :D

[Julia’s Journey’s]

The crew do sit with you at the most travelled pax luncheon, I went to both lunches on our B2B and it was really interesting chatting with them, the first week the Captain was supposed to eat with us but he appologized and had his next in charge have lunch, there was a Noro outbreak and I guess he didn't want to be too close to pax.:mad:

[DesertDaisy]

Hi Shogun, You are right, when we first started cruising, 1987, Cunard, the officers were spread around the dining room. It didn't apply to us as we traveled with family and our table's were full. I think that was our only old-time cruise. The service was excellent, the rooms were a nitemare, two twin beds that didn't convert, skeet shooting, and soot from the stakes covered everything! No one told me not to wear white! Great memory, I don't need to eat with the officers, and I will enjoy no soot, an affordable balcony, and doing want I want, when I what! We did once enjoy the Captain's Table sort of, we took our 19 year old daughter, who was invited, we were not. This was on Regency to Alaska, they are no longer sailing. She was the IT Girl for this cruise and we were allowed to go where she was invited! Private viewing of the Mid-Night Buffet, it was fun, and a great family memory. I think I like the Cruising better today than than. Phyllis

[DeepWaterMariner]

Maybe a few lines have had officers dinning with passengers every night but it certainly has not been common practice on the cruise lines we've been sailing on since 1968. I've dinned with ships officers (Chief Engineers, ships doctors, Chief Steward, Staff Captain, Hotel Director, etc) on formal nights but never on a nightly basis. The only exception to this that I've personally experienced was on Seabourn where we had entertainers dinning with us most nights. It makes sense with Seabourn with there low passenger to staff ratios.

[Jacqueline]

It makes sense that the size of the ships preclude a lot of contact.

That said, I will relate that when I was on the TP the captain spent a LOT of one on one time with one female passenger who was not his wife. I sat next to her in Business Class on ATN on the way out, so I know that she was not his niece, goddaughter, etc.

.SHe had been on a few months prior and was going back to spend more time with the "crew".I will say that she was an absolute knockout with a very expensive sense of style.

The ship is small enought that we could all see what was going on...

[JLC@SD]

............with the emphasis on safety these days........it probably best to have those in chage.........in charge.......not smooooozing the guests.....:)

[Pam in CA]

Well, also in the "good old days," the dress code was a tie and jacket for men every night and if they didn't show up with one or the other, it would be provided by the Maitre D. There were no exceptions. The formal nights were 100% formal with men in tuxes and women in beaded or ball gowns. Most of the other nights were "semi-formal" which is closer to what most people wear on formal nights now. There were perhaps one or two "smart casual" nights where the men still had to wear jackets and ties and just about all the women wore dresses. This wasn't all that long ago! I definitely remember it on our Royal Princess cruise in 1999.

[10X]

The "good old days" also had some good old prices too.

 

In early 2001 (long before September 11th), we booked an inside cabin for $1199 per person on the Ocean Princess. Yes, a lot has changed in the last few years. Some not all bad.

 

So now when you think about being "nickle and dimed" by the cruise line, remember the "good old days" and their prices. Which would you rather have?

[CroozBlooz]

Yep....first cruise in early '80s aboard the Carnival Festivale. I seem to recall $1500 per person for an inside cabin for the Southern Caribbean itinerary. Today, for that price, you can get a mini-suite.

 

By the way, I don't remember the dress code being that way in the early '80s, but perhaps Royal had a different policy.

[Druke I]

I miss the bullion on deck. Great on those chilly trans-Atlantics.

[Shogun]

Hi Folks,

 

since I started this chat I will throw in a couple of things more for us to chat about,

 

There appears to be a thread running here that we do not like each other as much as we did in the past, that we are wanting our own space more

 

things that have seen in the past couple of years that worried me, at an anytime table of about 12 an American couple joined us after finding out they were they only ones from the US the man got up and left his wife said she was so sorry and followed him to another table.

 

A couple we had a our fixed dinning table complained about there being taxi drivers on the cruise.

 

people complaning about non english speaking passengers

 

people complaining about kids on a family cruise.

 

There has been chat on a UK cruise site about more people getting drunk on cruise ships, people wearing football shirts and not dressing correctly for the days dress code.

 

There appears to be a lowering of standards across the cruise industry or is it that cruising was for the elite , then the middle classes and is now becoming mass market and while we might not like the idea of a class structure one still exists.

 

There seems to be more people complaining about more things that what you would have found ten years ago, this might be due to people being more willing to complain, having more information so that they know what they should be getting, or people expecting more for there money, or is it that service standards have dropped.

 

Is this why 5 star cruising is still in great demand.

 

As to the Price I do not see a great deal of price reduction there has been some but more now is added to the price as extras so the saving is not as much. I except in the US you still get better value than what we do and that we need to add on air fares etc, it would be interesting to know from you out there that have cruised the med how prices have changed in the past ten years.

 

I will stick my neck out and stay that a lot of the problems are not real problems, it is the fact that the cruise industry now offers a wide range of choice where before there was really only one level of service and style we now have a wide range. The problem if there is one is that people are not matching up there own style and service levels with the right cruise line or ship.

 

I like Princess to me they provide what I want from a cruise holiday, I expect more and a different style on the QM2 I expect less on the Ocean Village.

 

Your thoughts

 

 

Shogun

[spongerob]

Interesting comments, Shogun. 10 years ago, I couldn't ever have imagined myself on a cruise. I saw it as exceedingly expensive, boring, and most likely pretentious with the dress codes and such.

 

What I found, on Princess, was a relaxed yet classy atmosphere. We've met people from all walks of life, from plumbers to wealthy retirees, and enjoyed the company of them all. The only pretentiousness I have observed seems to come from a few who go on and on about how many cruises they can string together or how many days they've been at sea.

 

We could probably afford to sail on more expensive and highly rated lines, but why bother? We've tried that high-end stuff and it's not for us. None of our friends or relatives will be impressed by that, and we don't enjoy the atmosphere where people consider themselves to be among the privileged. So, Princess gives us what we like.

[Shogun]

Hi Spongerob,

 

On another forum they were talking about people complaining about other people while on a cruise below are a few things I have seen on my past cruises which I knew would get others complaining,

 

breast feeding mums,

 

topless women

 

then on my last cruise the gay couple oiling themselves and kissing, and by the way there small swim wear was trying to keep all there bits in a very happy couple.

 

Now my own view is you would not of seen these things ten years ago or if you did not that much, and not at all 20 years ago on a cruise ship.

 

Is this a lowering of standards, is this a reflection on todays world well others can talk about that,

 

I think we should follow the rules, if the cruise line says that these things are OK then they are OK, people should not complain about it.

 

The whole point is that we have choice if you do not like something then do not use that cruise line again.

 

Got the first snow on the hills last night , glad its only a few weeks before I am of to the US to join the Sun Princess for some warm sun.

 

yours Shogun

[cruiseapril]

Hi Shogun- What we appreciated on Cunard, in the past, was the politeness of staff and passengers- now we find that on Princess, on the whole. Maybe it's the British tradition?

 

Even though we didn't dine with the officers on Princess, they were around and about more than on other cruise lines.

 

I am amazed that some people don't mix and mingle graciously. One of the most enjoyable aspects of cruising, for us, is meeting people from other countries.

[DeepWaterMariner]

I think cruise lines and cruise passengers reflect the changes in our culture. Back in the days when a coat and tie was normal dress every night on a cruise it was also common to wear a coat and tie when flying on a commercial airliner or to a decent place to eat on shore. Now only some business men wear coats and ties to fly when on business trips. Also back in "the day" cruise lines had very limited capacity...a few smaller ships. Now they have lots of big ships with cabins to fill and if they don't reach out to a broad market, plumbers and retired millionaires, they will not be successful. If you want to go exclusive you have to sail on one of the really upscale lines (Seabourn, Silver Sea, etc).

[spongerob]

I think you, DeepWaterMariner, and Shogun are correct. The passengers are changing. The excess capacity that exists in cruising, combined with highly competitive markets such as the Caribbean, creates a McDonald's style loss-leader pricing model. Initial fares are low (like the price of a hamgurger at McD's) and profit is expected to come from secondary revenue streams (the over-priced fries and cokes).

 

What is dangerous is making a connection between lower-cost cruising and lower standards of social behavior. You'll get flamed unmercifully for that. The real issue, I think, is that our society permits us to function without having to deal with anyone face-to-face. We use computers to communicate, we use the phone or cell phone even when speaking to someone whose office is just a few steps away, we're insulated from others by the windscreens on our car, etc. Social skills just aren't as valued as they used to be. I honestly believe we get judged more on how politically correct we are than anything else. Then there is the added complication that people just have short attention spans. I'm wondering how many people trying to read this paragraph have skimmed it because their eyes starting glazing over in the third sentence.