KmomChicago

Overall our experience matches yours. Of course, unfortunately, my early experience is not representative because we were only about 2/3 full. However I definitely noticed Brass Magnolia was underused and a good place to grab and go a beverage from a non-busy bartender for the atrium shows - not sure if this is still the case. We also liked the center atrium theatre itself, and they did not even have all the shows going yet but we enjoyed often having a choice between the atrium stage, the main aft theater, and the two punchliner options which spread out the crowds. Our one dinner in Chibang, one in P&A, and two in Cucina were all better than our one in the MDR which was okay as well. We never managed to fit in Emeril's and we missed street eats several days because there were just so many other options. Our steakhouse the first night was pretty good but not something I would do all the time, but I can't compare as it's our only Carnival steak house foray. My biggest gripe about MG was the many dark single stairs on what should be flat or sloping floors and seeing people tripping all over the place and I pictured endless future drunks spraining ankles or going flat on their faces. I think they have added lighting to help with those.

THIS!! 100% agree, @sanmarcosman. Carnival Triumph gave us a great experience but looked her age in 2017. Fast forward to Radiance this past June looking almost brand new, not much different from Vista which we sailed a few weeks prior and worlds better than Legend which we sailed last Christmas. I realize Carnival's $$ situation is not great at the moment, but I am not sure Spirit class can take too many more of the scathing reviews I have been seeing, and Radiance proves with a few extra weeks in dry dock they can sail ships worthy of their names. RCI keeps their ships looking sharp and passengers definitely can see the difference.

I think that's a combination of bad timing with the pandemic, demise of Pullmantur, at that time for example, I think a little talk of some startups that didn't start after all. . . and again the balcony problem. Bahamas Paradise, now Margaritaville, is really the only domestic line trying to recycle old ships and they dumped their older one at that time as well; the line has worked on their theme but I still see gripes because their current ship is also mostly without balconies. Since the big shift right around the year Y2K to all new builds being covered in balconies, it's been obvious that F class can only hold on so long. As you note, however, if the recovery is strong enough it's possible the last two will find a home in a few years, but my crystal ball is not supporting it.

Not from one of my voyages, but from the last sailing of Ecstasy last week. Enjoy!

I Follow John Heald on Facebook and he has answered me before - Carnival Brand Ambassador. I will try mentioning it to him.

Who do we talk to? 🙂 Even if it only stays within the same line, for example there are often two RCI ships in Cozumel right next to each other, and three Carnival ships. I could see the line willing to advertise their other ships, or other ships in their parent portfolio rather than competitors.

I really appreciate these points. We don't usually buy the drink packages, though we have tried various iterations, non-alcoholic and alcoholic and they are not really worth it for us. We don't do evening parties, just shows, and we won't go to one that starts after 9pm. @BirdTravels I apologize for the hijack here and I really appreciate your detailed review with all the literature posts.

I was on this ship, Carnival Legend, from Baltimore this past Christmas, on what will almost certainly be my mom's last cruise. Thanks for bringing back those memories, unexpectedly, on your Prima cruise, Pete!

I've mentioned it here on the boards before and I get feedback that it would be a security nightmare but I don't see why. It might also violate their port agreements by siphoning more money back to the cruise lines rather than to local excursion operators. But here again, we all pay port fees whether we get off or not, and more and more passengers talk about staying on the ship in port so I doubt it would actually impact the ports.

The ships are all, always, so beautiful. In any port I really enjoy seeing all the other ships, sometimes from the line I am on, often not. I always wish there were excursions that let you tour the other ships in port.

Edge class is beautiful; I saw the concept art and watched early reviews. I have cruised Celebrity once back in 2001 and I know it's nice. As my husband and I get older and our teen approaches adulthood, Celebrity is certainly under consideration.

Which is extremely convenient for all of us on the mass market megaships that are domestic-flagged!

Having seen the food hall menu on the other review of your sailing, I"m not sure what the point is of upcharges for all this specialty ethnic food. There is plenty of that included already. I think if I ever sail on Prima I will eat 3/4 of all meals there - you know, the cruise meals. CoffeeSnack Breakfast Brunch NoonEat Late Lunch SunsetNosh Dinner (maybe in the MDR - I assume the food hall closes at some point) NiteMeal in the buffet

Thank you, this is a very helpful post. On every cruise, every line, and this is going back to my first cruise on Big Red Boat in 1985, it seems I find at least one crew member who manages to annoy me, a little or maybe more than a little, but the overwhelming majority are fabulous. I never intended to be a Carnival cheerleader and I don't think I am, but it just works for us most of the time; however I have been feeling itchy, wanna maybe go back on RCI's big'uns or try NCL or maybe Celebrity Edge class or a Virgin Voyage. Or even something like Holland America or Princess. They have some big ships now too. The part of NCL I would love is the freestyle concept for dress codes and dining options and what looks like great entertainment and nice fancy new ships. What I might not like is all the upcharging and the slightly higher initial sticker price and fewer port options.

Yes of course, all the multiple factors are basically why we keep ending up on Carnival. In short, it's usually the cheapest option and they always seem to have a port nearby anywhere we are traveling and my family is not picky. I usually start my search with an online travel agency to easily compare every option matching the prevailing factors and narrow from there. NCL has been under consideration more than once over the years, but just never worked out to quite be the winner. I will say I have read a lot about NCL nickel and diming more than Carnival, but they are doing it more and more and I find I don't mind having a lot of a la carte pricing to keep the fare lower so I don't pay for stuff I don't really want.

Thank you, I will keep it on the all important short list.

Very helpful, thank you! I actually do not care all that much about the room type, like at all. I am more than happy to wait in order to snag a deal. I love the tomblike dark and silence of totally inside rooms, but usually my travel companions want something better if I can snag a deal. Our last four cruises we stayed in: 1. "Premium" Interior - Carnival Mardi Gras, August 2021 - same interior footprint as a balcony cabin and thus larger than a standard interior, but tucked in the lower center of the ship. This is the only one of the four that was truly a dark inside room. I needed to do this to get the cruise into our price range as it was also inflated due to being a brand new ship. 2. Grand Suite - Carnival Legend, December 2021 - great big room the size of 2 balcony rooms with lots of storage and a big balcony - my mom insisted she would not go unless we booked the biggest suite on the ship. I spent way too much $$ on my share of the room, but easy come easy go. 3. Interior Walkway Window - Carnival Vista, April 2022 - spacious room for 2 people with the same view as the cap'n. We really liked it and it was a great value, barely more than a regular inside room. 4. Cloud 9 Balcony - Carnival Radiance, June 2022 - there is a whole story how we ended up in these upgraded spa access rooms that I would never have actually chosen to pay for and I would not pay more $$ for ever in the future over some cheap inside cabin.

This is a nice to have but we barely gamble so not much of a factor for us.

I noted the same difference between CCL and RCI - sounds like vibewise NCL is closer to what we do enjoy about Carnival. There was less of a sense of totally relaxed fun somewhere in the slightly more formal atmosphere on RCI - still we would definitely do another Oasis class cruise, and I would be interested in Quantum and Icon class. We usually cruise more for the ship than the ports, so the feel onboard is important to us. I was thinking Epic, Breakaway, or Breakaway Plus probably suits our preferences the best of NCL options but then had high hopes for Prima and its pre-sailing hype. I'm also a notorious cheapskate, however, and the newest ships usually come with a premium price tag I tend to avoid.

Carnival bartenders are usually extremely social and chatty with the guests as well. I do understand and did experience the very slightly more aloof customer service on RCI vs. Carnival. Still very courteous but they don't make you feel like you are their friend.

I've been on RCI twice in the past 5 years, Carnival 6x, all different ships, have not tried NCL yet but looking. What is the difference in the RCI and NCL "vibe?" We like Carnival's vibe just slightly more than RCI because we are insanely laid back and casual people and we love the Fun Crew at daily trivia. However, Oasis of the Seas - pre renovation - was by far our overall best cruise, because of the ship itself, including all the incredible entertainment at night. We were on a full sailing and we did get in to all of the shows we wanted, which was all of the shows. We also loved all the included food options. We were less impressed with Adventure of the Seas, though really it was very nice and the entertainment was again excellent, food fabulous in the buffet but otherwise not memorable. I'm just trying to figure out, if / when we make the jump to NCL, is Prima the best option? I thought it would be but the reviews are not blowing me away. Would Breakaway Plus be better for us? Carnival Mardi Gras was our second best cruise ever and our second favorite ship after OAS. Over the years I have seen many reviews claiming NCL has the better food than RCI, and some saying the opposite. The Indulge Food Hall does look right up our alley and the set MDR menu looks great as well and like a game changer. Interesting to hear about Allure being less than - because of the lack of refurb. We didn't know any better when we booked OAS and it was still awesome. Ship looked good, seemed well maintained. We didn't have one of those purple slides that people say burn the crap out of you if you slip off the mat, nor any pool water slides, but we loved Central Park and the massive Solarium and some of the other zoned neighborhoods so much we hardly noticed. Is there a schedule for a major drydock for Allure? Interesting - I could have eaten every meal at the Solarium Bistro on OAS but I know they have cut back the service and options from our sailing, and they removed the free burger joint up by the basketball courts. Buffets on both OOS and AOS were excellent IMHO, but this was a few years ago now. Food is not that big a deal to us either - we eat too much no matter how "inedible" the fellow passengers claim everything is - but we enjoy the variety when it's there. This is true. The comedy clubs are apparently going to continue to be tiny on all ships, all lines, because the comics like it. The key is whether there are enough shows to eventually accommodate demand.

I get what you are saying here. Having sailed Oasis of the Seas once, we knew the score in advance and we did get reservations for everything we wanted to see, by planning ahead and booking asap once onboard. However, if we had not done that, and had missed any of our entertainment choices as a result, I would have been pretty upset and it would have impacted my overall impression of the value of the cruise. On Carnival Mardi Gras we didn't have this issue - to be clear, they don't have the res. system, but just linewise, we got into everything we wanted as well, but we were only at 2/3 capacity on the second sailing right after the resumption of cruising last summer. Honestly I am not at all sure we would enjoy CCL Excel class nearly as much when it's completely full. Thank you for posting this review of this new ship with highlights of all the details and all the things you liked. The interior decor is lovely throughout. I love the food court idea being essentially the next generation version of a buffet with a lot of international choices. I thought the nightly MDR menu looked very good and I know plenty of people who would get that steak every night of the cruise, plus I liked the look of the meatless dishes, among others.

Interested in seeing your review. I already saw your comment on another thread about an inadequate smoking area. Was that the primary problem or I am guessing, just the beginning? With all 3 of the big Mass Market cruise lines having something like 50 years experience and having tried many new and upgraded designs over the years -plus being able to easily spy on one another and see what does and does not work, it is incredible that they build new ships and manage to find brand new mistakes to make.

Enjoying this review, Pete. Fun to sail along on a new ship and yes your snarky humor is just about perfect. I wasn't sure if the crap cakes were: A. Snarky joke about quality B. New menu item due to cutbacks or supply chain issues, or C. Typo. Sounds like C. Also, I have visited NYC a few times for vacation and seriously, every visitor who does even a scrap of research is supposed to find out the Staten Island Ferry is the single best value "tourist attraction" within a 30 mile radius of Manhattan. I always do a round trip when I make it into Gotham, and I love it. I suppose the novelty has long since worn off for you.