Did anyone ever sail on the Big Red Boat? 1985 - 1992

[llachance]

Went on the Big Red Boat. While we were docked in Nassau (in the early evening) one of the laundry rooms caught on fire. Everyone out on the deck (if they weren't off the boat at the time) until the smoke cleared. We got a free glass of wine with dinner the next night

 

[lamflo01]

88 or 89 went on BRB twice in 6 months. Definitely anchoring in Abacos was cool. Snorkled the reef on the Atlantic side. 1st trip found a hundred dollar bill floating in the ocean. 2nd trip on 1st day one of our table mates had been drinking all day. And just like in the movies she did a face plant into her plate about halfway through. It was awesome! The only disney I remember was pirate night with Captain Hook. He was going around looking for and I quote "looking for corn fed wenchs" . Had a great time on both cruises.

 

[bingbong1988]

yes 1988 1989 1991
oceanic atlantic and majestic

 

[Giraffe Lounge]

A pretty good history of Premier Cruise Line…

 

[DVC Doc]

I sailed on the BRB (Atlantic) sometime in the early 90's as a kid. Distinctly remember our cabin being a lovely avocado green color. Dining rooms were still quite formal and they had amazing midnight buffets. I won bingo on board (yes kids were allowed to play) and used the winnings to buy a Super Nintendo

We have met several dining room staff on DCL who used to work on the Big Red Boat!

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

We did a land and sea package for our honeymoon in 1997. 4 nights at Disney followed by a 3 night Big Red Boat cruise to the Bahamas. I honestly don't recall much ON the ship itself other than the amazing midnight buffets, just our excursions!

 

[Shir Kahn]

Watched some interesting videos due to this thread, thanks! Had no idea about this!

 

[travelgirl06]

We sailed on the Oceanic way back when. I was 8 and my brother was 5 or 6. I don’t remember much about the ship other than our tiny room, chocolates on our pillows at bedtime and getting to walk with my brother to kids club after dinner (as ourparents were finishing up).

Based on our family photos there was a small kids playground on deck and a tiny wadi G pool. We were also “attacked” by a pirate on Salt Cay

My great aunt (traveling with us) bought me a giant conch shell in Nassau from a guy on a small boat right near our ship. I think this shell is still on display at my mom’s house!

 

[over50visits]

Yes, we are Grand Slam Plus members! (All 4 Disney ships plus the Big Red Boat). Sadly, we'll be out of that club shortly with the Wish, but will rejoin as soon as we can.

Anyway, we sailed in 1991 in the ship's premiere suite (forward starboard). It was a land/sea package, since we were in the suite we stayed at the Grand Floridian for the land part. I remember lots of Disney Characters and activities for the kids. The ice cream bar by the pool seemed open al the time (probably not, but that's what we remember). They did have a midnight buffet. I can't remember the private island we used for the beach day, but we did tender to it.

Those were the days of the straw market that later burned down, resulting in the big tent straw market on the water until then later moved to their present location. The on we visited in 1991 was kind of near where Senor Frogs is now, IIRC.

We watched the crew fishing off the boat every night and catching many, many fish. They probably had the freshest meals onboard!

 

[CamColt]

Yes, we are Grand Slam Plus members! (All 4 Disney ships plus the Big Red Boat). Sadly, we'll be out of that club shortly with the Wish, but will rejoin as soon as we can.

Anyway, we sailed in 1991 in the ship's premiere suite (forward starboard). It was a land/sea package, since we were in the suite we stayed at the Grand Floridian for the land part. I remember lots of Disney Characters and activities for the kids. The ice cream bar by the pool seemed open al the time (probably not, but that's what we remember). They did have a midnight buffet. I can't remember the private island we used for the beach day, but we did tender to it.

Those were the days of the straw market that later burned down, resulting in the big tent straw market on the water until then later moved to their present location. The on we visited in 1991 was kind of near where Senor Frogs is now, IIRC.

We watched the crew fishing off the boat every night and catching many, many fish. They probably had the freshest meals onboard!

Was your suite the one with the tall tinted windows that looked out to the hot tub?

 

[ramkam]

We cruised on the Majesty in 1990 for our honeymoon. The Majesty was formerly with Princess Cruises and appeared as the Love Boat on the TV series. The photos below are from the midnight buffet on the cruise.

 

[Gherdlitcka]

Cruised the BRB August of 1988. won $100 in the casino. I loved the ice and butter sculptures during the midnight buffets.

 

[drlorilovesdisney]

I totally forgot about the butter and ice sculptures. Thanks for sharing those pictures.

 

[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 Christmas! The Disney connection was very well done with lots of characters on board. 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!After, we spent a week at the Grand Floridian. That was when Disney did 'Land and Sea' packages with the Big Red Boat as "The Official Cruise Line of Walt Disney World."

The food was great (far better than DCL). There was plenty to keep a toddler entertained and it was a fun family experience. Our day at the beautiful Bahamian beach was lovely.

Unfortunately, once Disney pulled it's connection with them to launch their own ships, the line floundered and eventually went under. I always felt bad that Disney used them for test market research before 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. The food was to die for. Although the ship was tiny compared to today's behemoths including DCL, 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 great memories.


.

 

[antmaril]

In January 1991, we did a four night cruise on the Big Red Boat, followed by three days at Disney World (Caribbean Beach Resort). Our son was four years old at the time. It remains one of the best vacations of my life. So much fun!

 

[Rustysmom]

Yes, did l a land and sea for our honeymoon in 92. It was my first vacation anywhere and I loved it.

 

[SM1992]

My wife (at the time girlfriend) and I, along with another couple, did land and sea on the Big Red Boat around 1990. 4 days in Disney then 3 on the cruise. My first time on a cruise, not too impressed. Wife had an earache, friends girlfriend was seasick most of the time. We can't recall much "Disney" at all. Going to have to dig out the box of Disney stuff to see if I have anything from the trip. .........and neither of us have been on a cruise since.

So, I didn't find much from the sea portion of our trip. Here's a postcard and a pic of the cabin.

 

[4Ds4Diz]

Yes, we are Grand Slam Plus members! (All 4 Disney ships plus the Big Red Boat). Sadly, we'll be out of that club shortly with the Wish, but will rejoin as soon as we can.

Anyway, we sailed in 1991 in the ship's premiere suite (forward starboard). It was a land/sea package, since we were in the suite we stayed at the Grand Floridian for the land part. I remember lots of Disney Characters and activities for the kids. The ice cream bar by the pool seemed open al the time (probably not, but that's what we remember). They did have a midnight buffet. I can't remember the private island we used for the beach day, but we did tender to it.

Those were the days of the straw market that later burned down, resulting in the big tent straw market on the water until then later moved to their present location. The on we visited in 1991 was kind of near where Senor Frogs is now, IIRC.

We watched the crew fishing off the boat every night and catching many, many fish. They probably had the freshest meals onboard!

Yes to this!!! We went on our honeymoon 1993. Land/sea package, stayed in the suite front of the ship over looking the deck below. We did the 4 day cruise and picked up an extra (4 days) Disney stay at the Grand Floridia.

Remember the servers performing at dinner each night and Mickey and Minnie there. We sat at a table with 5 other adults. Three of them from England. Had great conversations. I have many pictures of the midnight buffet, it was so amazing to us.

Grand Floridian was amazing! Hubby and I still remember sitting in the lobby, listening to the orchestra, while we sadly waited for The Magical Express to take us to the airport to go home.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

 

[Ladyfish77]

We cruised the BRB after Desert Storm in 1991 for our anniversary. Our favorite memory is them bringing us a cake at dinner and singing "Happy bersury to you" then telling us they'd put cake in our stateroom. Cake never showed up. We joked that the same cake was "given" to all the couples on the ship!

 

[GBBTomorrow]

My husband and I had a Big Red Boat Land-Sea honeymoon in July of 1992. We had a wonderful time! The only thing "Disney" about it I remember was seeing Mickey, but it was a long time ago. I may not remember. What I do remember was having one of the best vacations of my life.