Cruises:Then and now

My wife and I took our first cruise almost 30 years ago. We have since
taken many more, mostly on Celebrity, and on a few trips, RCCI. Over the
years, we have noticed that while the ships get bigger and offer more
"things to do"the overall level of service has degraded.Staterooms are
usually more confining.and the dining rooms on the mega-ships are so
noisy and crowded that they are uncomfortable.There was time when a
passenger could find a place to pick up a slice of pizza or a quick
'burger almost anywhere on the ship.On our last (and I mean LAST)
cruise, on Monarck of the Sea, outside of the dining room or Lido bufet,
there was only one place to grab a snack, and their offerings were at
best meager. A few spots had snacks at an additional charge.Maybe
younger people have a different perspective on this, but we liked it
better in the olden days.Thank you for listening

On 3/23/2009 8:58 AM, Bob Or Mary Delange wrote:
My wife and I took our first cruise almost 30 years ago. We have since
taken many more, mostly on Celebrity, and on a few trips, RCCI. Over the
years, we have noticed that while the ships get bigger and offer more
"things to do"the overall level of service has degraded.Staterooms are
usually more confining.and the dining rooms on the mega-ships are so
noisy and crowded that they are uncomfortable.There was time when a
passenger could find a place to pick up a slice of pizza or a quick
'burger almost anywhere on the ship.On our last (and I mean LAST)
cruise, on Monarck of the Sea, outside of the dining room or Lido bufet,
there was only one place to grab a snack, and their offerings were at
best meager. A few spots had snacks at an additional charge.Maybe
younger people have a different perspective on this, but we liked it
better in the olden days.Thank you for listening

Monarch (not Monarck) of the Seas is an old ship and does not
have nearly the number of food choices, compared to today's
newer ships. If you had sailed on a Freedom or Voyager class
ship you would have been much happier with the food choices. It
is odd that you include it in your complaint of "mega-ships"
since it is definitely not one (although it would be compared to
your cruises from 30 years ago).

Interestingly, I had a similar complaint about food availability
on Grandeur of the Seas, another older ship (but not the same
class).

Bill

In article , Bob Or
Mary Delange wrote:

There was time when a passenger could find a place to pick up a
slice of pizza or a quick 'burger almost anywhere on the ship.On our
last (and I mean LAST) cruise, on Monarck of the Sea, outside of the
dining room or Lido bufet, there was only one place to grab a snack,
and their offerings were at best meager.

Monarch of the Seas is a "then" ship (built 1991)---not a "now" ship.
New ships like the Liberty of the Seas on Royal Caribbean or Crown
Princess on Princess as examples, have many places besides the dining
room or buffet to get food and snacks. The food offerings these days
are not meager at all, they are much more than they were in the past.

--
Charles

On Mar 23, 10:14�am, Charles wrote:
In article , Bob Or

Mary Delange wrote:
There was �time when a passenger could find a place to pick up a
slice of pizza or a quick 'burger �almost anywhere on the ship.On our
last (and I mean LAST) cruise, on Monarck of the Sea, outside of the
dining room or Lido bufet, there was only one place to grab a snack,
and their offerings were at best meager.

Monarch of the Seas is a "then" ship (built 1991)---not a "now" ship.
New ships like the Liberty of the Seas on Royal Caribbean or Crown
Princess on Princess as examples, have many places besides the dining
room or buffet to get food and snacks. The food offerings these days
are not meager at all, they are much more than they were in the past.

--
Charles

and he could always order room service to get what he would like 10
slices of pizza if he wanted...
and actually the cabin sizes hae got larger not smaller on ships..
Look at MOnarch and then Freedom....

BOB or MARY
We agree with you,after 47 cruises we have found service to have gone
way-way down. Wish they could go back to the days of yore. You used to
be able to get a decent sandwich on room service,now forget it,the
choices are terrible,and nothing tastes good.





cruise lover(~~~~~)






..

We have never had a problem with getting a snack on granduer of the
seas(sailed her 4 times) could always get a slice of pizza or a hot dog
up on the pool deck aft.we always went there after 11 or12 at night





cruise lover(~~~~~)






..

Have not found the cabin sizes to be getting larger,we still prefer the
smaller ships,at least you could sit on the promenade deck and enjoy
looking out to sea. That is a lost art on the new larger ships.





cruise lover(~~~~~)






..

On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:58:33 -0400, Bob Or Mary Delange wrote:

My wife and I took our first cruise almost 30 years ago. We have since
taken many more, mostly on Celebrity, and on a few trips, RCCI. Over the
years, we have noticed that while the ships get bigger and offer more
"things to do"the overall level of service has degraded.Staterooms are
usually more confining.and the dining rooms on the mega-ships are so
noisy and crowded that they are uncomfortable.There was time when a
passenger could find a place to pick up a slice of pizza or a quick
'burger almost anywhere on the ship.On our last (and I mean LAST)
cruise, on Monarck of the Sea, outside of the dining room or Lido bufet,
there was only one place to grab a snack, and their offerings were at
best meager. A few spots had snacks at an additional charge.Maybe
younger people have a different perspective on this, but we liked it
better in the olden days.Thank you for listening

Don't know what the "olden days" era would be but obviously cruising has
changed. If your cruise centers around food, stay home and eat at the
club.
--
Think first! Before you book a cruise from a two bit lying sleazeball
who uses Usenet as free SPAMADVERTISING ground and for purposeful
attempts at personal character assassination. Are you next? Think twice
before booking with Ray Goldenberg. http://tr.im/hlJv

In article
,
Susette wrote:

and he could always order room service to get what he would like 10
slices of pizza if he wanted...
and actually the cabin sizes hae got larger not smaller on ships..
Look at MOnarch and then Freedom....

That is true about room service.

My first cruise was on the Monarch of the Seas in the 1990's and my
cabin was tiny on that ship. Could not even put the beds together. My
last cruise this past December was on the much newer Freedom of the
Seas and the cabin was a good bit larger on the Freedom than on
Monarch. The service on Freedom was pretty good too. Not any less than
on that first cruise except the wine stewards are gone. I miss them.

--
Charles

On Mar 23, 5:14*pm, (Surfer E2468) wrote:
we still prefer the
smaller ships,at least you could sit on the promenade deck and enjoy
looking out to sea. That is a lost art on the new larger ships.

That's odd. I could swear that my favorite spot on Explorer of the
Seas was the aft
promenade sitting on a lounge chair. Ditto Noordam, Crown Princess,
Adventure of the Seas,
etc. etc. etc.

Maybe I imagined it.

Warren