Anybody here cruise on the Big Red Boat?

[RamblingMad]

When I was a kid the year before attending university, my first experience with Disney cruising was the Big Red Boat. Anyone here cruise on it?

Here are some articles on it:

https://www.mouseplanet.com/12517/The_Story_of_The_Big_Red_Boat
https://www.cruisecanaveral.com/big-red-boat.html
https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...-rates-information-vacation-planning-booklet/

 

[sullivan.kscott]

No, but as a kid our hangout/meeting place was a strip mall with a travel agency. Many times, I collected brochures for cruises and would daydream for hours perusing Premier and Carnival offerings. More than once I’d dream of the day I could afford such a lavish vacation

Then, DW and I “magically” found enough money for a long weekend on Carnival Fantasy out of PC in 2006. Seeing (Wonder? Magic?) docked beside her, my wife exclaimed “why aren’t we on that one!” It would be until Dream’s inaugural season that we arrived to our addiction. So glad DCL built their own and have built such a beautiful brand.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

@mmouse37 has, I believe.

 

[mmouse37]

Actually, my sister and her family did. My first cruise ever was on the Disney Magic's Maiden Voyage! But, someone posted this on the boards years ago and I love it!!! This was after DCL made her appearance obviously. I think this pic was when the BRB was seized in Nassau when it went bankrupt.



MJ

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Actually, my sister and her family did. My first cruise ever was on the Disney Magic's Maiden Voyage!

MJ

I stand corrected.

 

[mmouse37]

I stand corrected.

I always wanted to but never got the chance!

MJ

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I always wanted to but never got the chance!

MJ

I wish I'd been into cruising "back in the day" when DCL was new.

 

[heart]

We cruised on the Big Red Boat for our honeymoon in 1988. It was nothing like cruising now!

 

[CamColt]

My first cruise was on the Big Red Boat (the Oceanic) in 1995, for my honeymoon. By that time they no longer had Disney characters but Looney Tunes instead. I did not think I would like cruising however DH convinced me to try it. 25 cruises later, the joke is on him!

 

[JM_97]

There’s a YouTube video somewhere that goes into the history of the Big Red Boat and DCL. Pretty interesting.

 

[RamblingMad]

I think, I went in 1993. We had an inside stateroom, where the beds folded down from the ceiling. It was very modular room like you'd find in a RV. My mom, dad, and sister all got seasick.

There wasn't a lot to do for kids on the boat. There was also a casino. There was also nude sun bathing on deck if you were 18+. It was a totally different experience than my Disney Fantasy experience.

It was weird being a kid back then. We took over the theatre at night and had someone play movies for us. We were pretty much on our own to find our own entertainment.

DCL is my go to since we don't drink or gamble.

 

[DISEXAD]

Three times, three different ships. 1988. 1989 1991

 

[White_Rabbit18]

I did. I remember the pool area being in a atrium. I have a picture of me with Pluto.

I remember being bored and that I was stuck in the kids club being with the small kids and the activities were really boring. But my brother got to be with the older kids and they had better activities like Scavanger hunts

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

My wife and I honeymooned on the Big Red Boat in 1987. We did WDW before getting on the ship, I thought I would be bored silly on it.

We have been on all four Disney ships, for a total of 9 cruises since then and once on the Celebrity Millennium on an Alaska cruise.
We have a 7 night Mexican Riviera cruise booked for April 11, 2021. I must admit I am not feeling very confident that this will be happening.

 

[vakamalua]

We took our daughter on her first cruise in '92 when she was two (she's now 30) on the Big Red Boat in one of the suites. It was a wonderful holiday cruise over! The Disney connection was very well done and we spent a week at the Grand Floridian afterwards. That was when Disney did 'Land and Sea' packages with the Big Red Boat.

There was plenty to keep a toddler entertained and it was a fun family experience. I still LOVE the picture that we have from that cruise of my daughter and Captain Mickey who's crouching down so that they are nose to nose--now she would have to crouch a bit to be nose to nose with Mickey!

Unfortunately, once Disney pulled it's connection with them to launch their own ships, the line floundered and eventually went under. I always felt that Disney used them for test market research when green lighting their own line.

We chose to introduce our little daughter to cruising on that particular ship (the former Oceanic) because we had taken our very first cruise on that ship in 1979 when we were newlyweds. It was then owned by Home Lines, a now-defunct Italian line; the entire crew was from Italy. Although the ship was tiny compared to today's behemoths, it was classically beautiful. It was the first ship to have a roll back roof over the swimming pool for rainy or cool days (too bad the Wonder doesn't have one on the DCL Alaska itinerary). And everyone was assigned a deck chair (no chair hogs!) and their own deck steward who would roll a towel and place it behind your head before you could lean back. Ah, all these years and 30+ cruises on many lines in all parts of the world later, we can still say that Home Lines had the BEST service and food we've EVER experienced on a cruise ship. Thanks for bringing up these memories.

 

[DisneYE]

I think, I went in 1993. We had an inside stateroom, where the beds folded down from the ceiling. It was very modular room like you'd find in a RV. My mom, dad, and sister all got seasick.

There wasn't a lot to do for kids on the boat. There was also a casino. There was also nude sun bathing on deck if you were 18+. It was a totally different experience than my Disney Fantasy experience.

It was weird being a kid back then. We took over the theatre at night and had someone play movies for us. We were pretty much on our own to find our own entertainment.

DCL is my go to since we don't drink or gamble.

Underrated reply
That's what it was like being a kid back then.. you had to find your own entertainment... and it was great.
LOL @ the nude sun bathing deck... 80s and 90s were the best decades ever. Everything was so care free..Nothing comes close. I miss them but I'm glad I enjoyed them.

 

[RamblingMad]

Underrated reply
That's what it was like being a kid back then.. you had to find your own entertainment... and it was great.
LOL @ the nude sun bathing deck... 80s and 90s were the best decades ever. Everything was so care free..Nothing comes close. I miss them but I'm glad I enjoyed them.

Pretty much unstructured/unplanned time every day. You got on your bike and came home by the time the street lights turned on. The world is a much different place these days. And cruising is a lot different. I think, WDW peaked in the 90s, but I think their cruise ships are better today than back then.

They're definitely more kid friendly than what I experienced. I remember one kid withdrawing from smoking on the cruise ship. He smoked, but he couldn't buy on the ship. And he didn't want to tell his parents. Of course, if you watch movies in the 80s, kids smoked in those movies too.

 

[DisneYE]

Yep. I remember coming back home at night in the 80s summers after playing/hanging with friendsoutside.. didn't eat all day except for snacks, was too busy having fun.. No cellphones, no helicopter parents, they knew you'd be back for dinner when it got dark.

Agreed on the parks/ships comments.
Only park I like nowadays is Epcot because it still gives 80s vibes, seems parts of it got stuck in that decade, which is great... brings back memories from my childhood/teenage years.
Is why I love Australia because certain towns (Newcastle,Port Mcquarie, Mackay) are almost literally stuck in the 80s...some of them have K-Marts that look almost exactly like the stores from back then. Its crazy.

The DCL ships are amazing and I love them, they really do a great job overall. Love how family oriented they are.

 

[over50visits]

Yes - that makes us "Grand Slam Plus" (all 4 current ships plus the Big Red Boat.

We cruised in 1991. Had the best room on the ship - a one bedroom suite forward. I believe it was larger than the suites on the current ship. Back then they bundled the cruise with a stay at Disney World. We had a 4 night cruise and 3 nights at the Grand Floridian (the resort depended on your cabin class).

We for some reason remember the delicious ice cream...lots of it, constantly available at walk up locations. Right below our balcony was a large opening that the crew could access, and every night they would be there fishing. We joked that they had fresher fish at dinner than we did!

Almost 30 years ago, the memories tend to fade. I remember we could watch the theater shows on our cabin television; Disney offered a private guided tour of Nassau in a limo for a reasonable price; I'm pretty sure I remember a casino, but we aren't gamblers (and if we were no way we'd throw our money away on cruise ship machines) so I don't remember it being in our face; there was the art "auction" that mercifully Disney finally removed from their ships; everyone looked nice at dinner reflecting the elegance of the dining room; Disney characters were ever present; we did have a day on an island off Abaco, using tenders to get to it; and visited the straw market in Nassau which was two locations of market ago (it was the one that burned down in 2001).

Nothing but good memories of that cruise.

 

[runjulesrun]

I did. Twice. First time my parents took my brother and I. I was a teen so it was sometime around '83-'84. I remember the teen club. I think I hung out in there quite a bit. The second time was in '91 or '92 with my husband. It was only a 3 night cruise and it rained mostly the whole cruise. The crew did a great job having indoor entertainment but the waves and smaller ship made for some queasy times.