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1st cruise - Carnival 4 day to Bahamas - feedback


paulfoel
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Our 1st ever cruise and some good points and some bad points.... Not sure if some of these are normal.

 

We went Labour day weekend (thurs-sun) 4 days out of Port Canaveral to Bahamas.

 

- Seemed to be a LOT of hen parties/stag parties etc. The entire cruise seemed to be focused on alcohol to be honest.

 

- Childrens club was "OK" but VERY limited. Some days there were no children in there.

 

- Smoking on board. EVERYWHERE. And no-one seemed to stop anyone.

 

- Again, alcohol. I'm with my family I really don't want to be cajoled into having a shot or having "something extra" in my Dr Pepper I've ordered with my meal.

 

- Pool on board was awful. Way too small.

 

-Service was variable. One night the waiter was good - the next night could not be more awful.

 

- On the plus side, the cabin was good, the food was good, as was the entertainment.

 

I'm hoping that we possibly picked the wrong sort of cruise i.e. 4 days around a holiday weekend.

 

Would definitely not do this cruise again or on this boat (Carnival Liberty).

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Short cruises (on all lines) are more likely to be "party" cruises. You'll find a longer itinerary won't be so "booze focused"! Your other points are also due the the length and time of year... (except the pool...ship's simply can't put huge pools in...too much weight!)

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Our 1st ever cruise and some good points and some bad points.... Not sure if some of these are normal.

 

 

 

We went Labour day weekend (thurs-sun) 4 days out of Port Canaveral to Bahamas.

 

 

 

- Seemed to be a LOT of hen parties/stag parties etc. The entire cruise seemed to be focused on alcohol to be honest.

 

 

 

- Childrens club was "OK" but VERY limited. Some days there were no children in there.

 

 

 

- Smoking on board. EVERYWHERE. And no-one seemed to stop anyone.

 

 

 

- Again, alcohol. I'm with my family I really don't want to be cajoled into having a shot or having "something extra" in my Dr Pepper I've ordered with my meal.

 

 

 

- Pool on board was awful. Way too small.

 

 

 

-Service was variable. One night the waiter was good - the next night could not be more awful.

 

 

 

- On the plus side, the cabin was good, the food was good, as was the entertainment.

 

 

 

I'm hoping that we possibly picked the wrong sort of cruise i.e. 4 days around a holiday weekend.

 

 

 

Would definitely not do this cruise again or on this boat (Carnival Liberty).

 

 

 

Cruising is definitely one experience where "you get what you pay for."

Find a good "cruise specialist" travel agent who will consider your means, desires, preferences in recommending a far better experience than a "booze cruise."

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Cruising is definitely one experience where "you get what you pay for."

Find a good "cruise specialist" travel agent who will consider your means, desires, preferences in recommending a far better experience than a "booze cruise."

 

Yes. A bit disappointed that the agent didn't tell us this. cruise.co.uk is where I booked it.

They even tried to fob us off with mid deck rooms when I booked saying that was all that was left. Luckily, I checked on carnival web site and saw the spa deck rooms were available. Then they said "oh yes didnt see those" - not sure what they were playing at there.

 

Luckily this was a quiet area on top deck at front so we had no issues. I dread to think how bad it could have been.

 

I can see we maybe picked the wrong type of cruise of course.

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You picked a booze cruise . A short cruise (less then 6 days) on a holiday weekend with a low price . That is the perfect mix to come up with the sort of cruise you got . I am glad you recognize that you " picked the wrong sort of cruise i.e. 4 days around a holiday weekend." .

I hope you will give cruising another chance .:)

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You picked a booze cruise . A short cruise (less then 6 days) on a holiday weekend with a low price . That is the perfect mix to come up with the sort of cruise you got . I am glad you recognize that you "picked the wrong sort of cruise i.e. 4 days around a holiday weekend." .

I hope you will give cruising another chance .:)

 

Fair enough - it wasnt that cheap though. My mistake not realising it was a holiday weekend though.

 

Kids still liked it though.

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Fair enough - it wasnt that cheap though. My mistake not realising it was a holiday weekend though.

 

The holiday weekend might have been an aggravating factor, but this was still a 4 day Carnival cruise. What you experienced was just that.....a 4 day Carnival cruise.

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The holiday weekend might have been an aggravating factor, but this was still a 4 day Carnival cruise. What you experienced was just that.....a 4 day Carnival cruise.
I don't think this is a Carnival issue . RCI ,NCL and even Celebrity have the same issues on this sort of cruise especially Norwegian who regularly offers " free" drink packages . Celebrity doesn't have as many short cruises but because of their free at sea offers , hearty partiers are very much at home on their short cruises .

 

OP I wanted to apologise if it sounded like I was blaming you picking a boozy cruise . :o

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I don't think this is a Carnival issue . RCI ,NCL and even Celebrity have the same issues on this sort of cruise especially Norwegian who regularly offers " free" drink packages .

 

I've done numerous short cruises on CCL, RCI, NCL, Princess and Celebrity. I agree it's more of a cruise length issue than cruise line issue but combining length and line is a perfect storm and in my experience, Carnival's was worst.......although NCL Sky did come in at a very close second. Princess and Celebrity had some rowdiness, but not nearly on the level of Carnival and NCL. RCI has been in the middle, in my experience, mostly because a lot of the booze crowd tends to congregate in certain areas, rather than being everywhere at once (seemingly).

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I don't think this is a Carnival issue . RCI ,NCL and even Celebrity have the same issues on this sort of cruise especially Norwegian who regularly offers " free" drink packages . Celebrity doesn't have as many short cruises but because of their free at sea offers , hearty partiers are very much at home on their short cruises .

 

OP I wanted to apologise if it sounded like I was blaming you picking a boozy cruise . :o

We sailed on 4 and 5 dayers with Celebrity and it's completely different atmosphere than even on 7 dayers with Carnival. Just more refined line.
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We sailed on 4 and 5 dayers with Celebrity and it's completely different atmosphere than even on 7 dayers with Carnival. Just more refined line.
Generally I agree with you . However I was referring to a hard core group of partiers who happily drink to excess . If there is a free drink program ,as Celebrity offers, so much the better . I experienced them on the Connie . Lots of them .
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Generally I agree with you . However I was referring to a hard core group of partiers who happily drink to excess . If there is a free drink program ,as Celebrity offers, so much the better . I experienced them on the Connie . Lots of them .

 

 

Oh.. I hope it won’t become a new norm.

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No probs all. 1st time cruise and all and we didn't know so like I said we do now.

 

We did see a fair bit of rowdiness but nothing too over the top but it wasn't really great for families. Like I said, it was obvious that carnival wanted the booze crowd for this cruise because of the way they constantly tried to push the drinks etc.

 

The smoking thing was crazy though. Everyone smoked where they wanted and no-one told them otherwise. This is not acceptable of course.

 

I think next time we might pay the extra (a lot extra) and go for disney cruise.

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OP

Give cruising another chance. Get a new TA!!.

I see you are from the UK -- flying all that distance for a short cruise -- I would never do that. Select a 7 day or longer cruise.

 

We did 10 days Orlando, 4 days Cruise, then 4 days back in Orlando. So cruise was like an add-on to give it a try.

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No probs all. 1st time cruise and all and we didn't know so like I said we do now.

 

We did see a fair bit of rowdiness but nothing too over the top but it wasn't really great for families. Like I said, it was obvious that carnival wanted the booze crowd for this cruise because of the way they constantly tried to push the drinks etc.

 

The smoking thing was crazy though. Everyone smoked where they wanted and no-one told them otherwise. This is not acceptable of course.

 

I think next time we might pay the extra (a lot extra) and go for disney cruise.

 

 

On newest Princess ships smoking is only allowed in casino on some days and in very end of 2 decks, far from pool areas and other popular ones.

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