So far, I have been on 22 different cruise ships. The very first one was in 1989 on Carnival’s TSS Festivale.
Before cruising, my hubby and I bought into a timeshare and all our vacations were connected to that. We won our first cruise by referring lots of friends to take a timeshare tour. Sorry about that! For them. Not so sorry for me.
I knew nothing about cruising. This was pre-internet. I actually consulted the World Book Encyclopedia to read about the exotic destinations of St Thomas, Barbados, and Martinique before boarding.
So much has changed….
A “Bridge Tour” was a scheduled FREE event. 
Security is tight on cruise ships now, and access to the bridge is more limited. Currently, a Carnival passenger can purchase a Behind the Fun tour of the ship from the shore excursions desk. This tour is a great way to see the bridge and other areas behind the scenes: laundry, backstage theater, galley, etc. On my most recent Carnival cruise, there was still a free walk-through galley tour.
Each night, the cabin steward turned down the bed and placed a little paper doily on the pillow with a chocolate on top. (I kept the doily, but at least one nightly chocolate was brought back as a souvenir to my girls.)
The steward would also rifle around and retrieve pajamas and nightgowns and lay them out on the bed. On the TWIN beds no less!
Hey, it was a free cruise, and at the time I probably could not have afforded to upgrade to a larger room even if I had known that better accommodations existed. We were finally getting away on a vacation leaving two small girls with trusted friends for a whole week!
I’m glad they no longer dig through my stuff to find nightgowns to arrange on the bed. Instead, we get cute little towel animals to decorate the bed now. Those towel animals sometimes wear our sunglasses or hats, but nightgowns stay wherever I stored them.
The cabin steward also left the “Carnival Capers” on our bed. This was a legal size sheet of paper printed on two sides detailing all the events for the next day.
Now, it is called the “Fun Times,” and for all the folks who prefer to carry their smartphones around with them on the cruise, there is an App for up to the minute news and info for what is going on around the ship. Even allowing messaging between passengers. (I, however, prefer to leave my phone in the safe and have a REAL vacation – away from the phone. And if I need to get a message to Hubby, I just leave him a note in the room.)
Every night (or morning, I should say) from 12:30AM – 1:30 AM there was an amazing buffet. Either a Pizza buffet, Mexican Buffet, Dessert Buffet, General Buffet, and my personal favorite, the Chocolate Buffet. With elaborate food and ice sculptures, these buffets were events.
Most midnight grand buffets are gone. Instead, there might be a more casual buffet offered on the Lido or Promenade Decks at lunch or after dinner – but usually not after midnight. For a grand dining experience, cruisers can now purchase dinner at a variety of specialty restaurants or the Chef’s Table. Don’t worry, though. If someone is still hungry after midnight, food can be found somewhere. Carnival ships have a 24 hour pizza station and 24 hour soft-serve.
The TSS Festivale held appx 1400 passengers and 580 crew. My most recent Carnival sailing was on the Carnival Vista which can accommodate 3934 guests and 1450 crew.
Yes, cruising has changed over the years. The ships have gotten larger – but so have I. I guess it may be a good thing that they have improved the fitness centers and no longer have those grand midnight buffets!