Remember the Big Red Boat?

[Mike Wolfe]

Thanks for the thread, this brought back lots of fond memories of our BRB ride back in 92. We had an inside rooom that I swear did not have a functioning air conditioner. Here is a little link to the BRB with some history..

Thanks all for all the Info...

http://members.aol.com/britanis/brb1.html

Mike

 

[tagall4]

we sailed the big red boat also. it was the same year dcl was supposed to open. fortunately for us, we booked the brb (it was half the cost of dcl) because dcl did not have the ship completed on time. our trip would have been canceled.

it was our first (and last ) cruise. we absolutely loved it. when our ds's were asked whether they would rather cruise or go to disney---hands down they all said "cruise."

ofcourse, we haven't sailed since, but are booked for this nov. on dcl. i'm sure our memories will be as phenomenal or better.

 

[llachance]

Went on the BRB 89/90 don't really remember. On the 4 day. Docked in Nassau it was the middle of the night and the fire alarm went off. Spent half the rest of the night around the pool because the laundry room had caught on fire! Had free booze at dinner that night for the problems encountered. Certainly not as nice as DCL but we were on the same floor that the characters dressed on so my daughter was able to see most of them easily. It was either Chip or Dale that got remannded because he was spending too much time with the older female guests then the youngsters!

 

[rcomputers]

LOL This does bring back good memories!
We went in 89. I remember the nighttime entertainment on the island. A junkanoo band played as you came off the tender. Then you went in to an open air theatre to be entertained by Marvin something. (I remember him looking a lot like Erin Nevill) I'll never forgot his line about all of us being part of "Marvin's Tabernacle Choir" What fun!

Gail R

 

[sitchu2]

This thread brings back memories here too!! In 1995 we took our first wdw trip 5 days at cbr and 4 day big red boat cruise which was on the ss atlantic. At that time there were 2 ships, the oceanic and the atlantic, I have the brochure scrapbooked. Our sons did a treasure hunt with pirates on paradise island aka salt cay, aka blue lagoon beach, aka gilligans island, we laid between two palm trees in a hammock, it was so beautiful. Then we all took off for the dolphin encounter. DH wore his I swam with the dolphins big red boat shirt for years.

I remember getting finished late so we were speed boated back to the ship. Just in time to beat a thunderstorm.

I remember feeling seasick the first night but fine the rest. On the huge disney ships, that was never a problem for me.

The big red boats that are docked in the bahamas now are not the oceanic or the atlantic, I was told the atlantic is sailing in the mediteranian now. Our head server on the Wonder in 2002 was our same head server from the brb atlantic, that was neat. We also got to see a space shuttle launch on our way back to port, at 1am and it was a phenominal sight.

I can only hope the wonder and magic sail for many years to come, it would be sooo sad to se those ships in drydock somewhere.

 

[disykat]

We went on the smaller ship that toured the Abacos. Unfortuantely we had a storm and ended up in Nasau instead. We were on it in 1990. It was obviously very dated, but we had great service. The funniest memory was the horrible cheesy Christmas decor - I specifically remember a fake pink Christmas tree (yes, the tree was pink not the ornaments) in the main lobby.

Even with the storm - I have great BRB memories. It was fun to take our DCL cruise 10 years later and get to be on a luxury cruise though!

 

[LisaGoeke]

We have never sailed on the Big Red Boat, but I did find something interesting last night. My daughter likes temporary tattoos. Well, she has a few temporary tattoos which says "Big Red Boat". I have no idea where we got them from?

 

[CWD]

My brother and I went on a 4 day on the BRB Oceanic in '96 as a free gift for touring a timeshare in Kissimmee. It was my first cruise and since then my wife and I have cruised every year or two. My best memories of the BRB are of lounging on the big deck at the stern, with a cold drink and a good Island band to listen to! Midnight Buffett was also very good.

As far as the Gilligan's Island thing, I did some research a few years ago and that was filmed entirely on a studio back lot in Hollywood. The only thing they may have used from the Bahamas was the opening scene where you see the island in the distance. But the filming on Salt Cay/Blue Lagoon was nothing but a bunch of Hokuum.

Thanks for the memories of the Big Red Boat.

CWD

 

[mickeyfan1]

Wow, I did the BRB Oceanic 2 times, BRB Atlantic 1 time, and BRB Majestic 2 times. The Magestic went to the Abacos Islands, the others to Freeport and or Nassau. My last trip was in 95, on the Atlantic, for my 40th BD, and the Beach Boys were on the ship sailing down, they did a concert on the pier in Nassau, and then sailed back on Oceanic. I am not sure when the Disney contract expired, but it was in the early 90s, I think. That was when the Looney Toons characters started. You could get tuck in service from Tweety Bird, very popular! One thing I wish DCL would have done was to hire the chefs from the BRBs. The food was always very very good, the chefs were all trained in Europe, many of them award winners. Yes, the ships themselves were not what DCL ships are, but I always loved getting on them. But for the price, the value was really good. The private island was Salt Cay, which is now where the Blue Lagoon excursions go. It wasn't private even, we went to Nassau on a cheapy fly/hotel trip once and took a day trip to Blue Lagoon Island, there were signs stating "This part of the island is for cruise line passengers only", and they would only take land pax on non cruise ship dasys.

 

[Micca]

CWD you are correct about the Gilligan thing. Our guide only stated that the intro to the tv show was shot there(the part with the bent over trees). They made no claim that any other portion of the show was there.

Thanks for all of the stories about BRB. Sounds like we need to take a trip on DCL to have something to compare to.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

My wife and my first cruise was on the BRB, our honeymoon in 1987. As soon as we left the protection of the harbor the boat was bouncing all over the place.

When we went to eat that first night it had to be over half empty. We were wondering if it was that empty or if there were that many sick people. It was the second.

Barf bags were hanging from every railing. And many people looking kind of green carrying them.

When it came time to leave for Salt Cay the next day; they stayed at Nassau for one more day because it was still too rough. They tried to tender people from there but it was canceled after the first boat out. It was raining ang just too rough.

We still had a good time and have since been on the Wonder with a second cruise coming in August of 2004.

 

[JimC]

We cruised the BRB Atlantic in 1996, early July. We got caught in the hurricane and had to divert to calmer waters north of Cuba. We were joined by about three dozen cruise, merchant and naval ships. We were there two days. The crew did a fabulous job improvising two unplanned days at sea.

Our vacation included a WDW trip after the cruise, which we thought was lost. But Disney extended everyone's reservations who could stay the extra days, even handling air and car rental changes with no penalties or extra charges. It was all arranged while we were at sea. Typical first class Disney treatment.

My recollection of the Atlantic is that it was an older but well maintained ship. Very good crew and service. But they were clearly no match for the Disney vision of a cruise line.

I believe that the Premier line left the business. I guess they could not compete effectively when the huge inventory of new competing ships came into service. They must not have had sufficient capital to reinvest in new ships.

 

[jlawall]

All I can say is that we had an EXCELLENT dolphin experience in the Bahamas which my kids never forgot during this cruise. Our server was terrific but the food didn't impress us.