Ron,
During my husband's 15 years with Carnival, he spent somewhere around 8 years on the Mardi Gras. That was in the early years of Carnival, as you say, and the crew didn't rotate from ship to ship as they do now. He still talks fondly about those years and that ship. He says that was back when the people who cruised had class and knew how to dress and to behave. Now, they'll let anyone on board!
! Heck, they let us on, don't they! <VBG>