If Carnival Were A Car....

what car(s) would it be?

We need your help! Early next year we’re planning to feature a “find your cruise” story that asks y’all to plug in your favorite car, hotel and television show to find out which cruise line fits your lifestyle.

We’re starting with a test drive on the Carnival board and would love to get your feedback. Will you take our quiz? Tell us which of the 10 cars we list best reflects the type of folks who cruise on Carnival (we figure that since Carnival attracts such a broad range of people it will be impossible to narrow it down to one or two). And in the thread, feel free to nominate others you think should be considered.

Thanks….

Carolyn

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor

Cruise Critic

What a fun poll! I voted for the Toyota Corolla (and not just because I own one). Like a Carnival cruise, a Corolla is economical yet a real blast to "cruise" around in. It is popular for a reason: fun and sporty with the necessary bells and whistles but zero pretentiousness. Both have been around the block and have improved with age.

What a fun poll! I voted for the Toyota Corolla (and not just because I own one). Like a Carnival cruise, a Corolla is economical yet a real blast to "cruise" around in. It is popular for a reason: fun and sporty with the necessary bells and whistles but zero pretentiousness. Both have been around the block and have improved with age.

I picked the Honda Odessy Minivan over the Corolla because of size and passenger capacity. Like Toyota, Honda's are super dependable, will get you where you wish to go every time and does not waste a lot of space, time and or money on unnecessary glitzy extras.

I am partial to Honda over Toyota for dependability and I wanted to select something that reflected the size/capacity of the average Carnival cruiseship. Hence, Honda Odessy it is.

I picked the the Dodge Caravan because there is room for the whole family (Carnival caters to the family), lots of space, and more economical. I would say Royal Carribbean would fit the Odyssey more than Carnival would. Whenever I compare cruise prices, Carnival always comes out to be the better bargain.

Carnival has often been called the WAL-MART of cruising. Is this because it attracks the Wal-Mart shopper or because if offers so many different options? What other cruise lines are like chain stores? I would like to see THAT poll!

Carnival has often been called the WAL-MART of cruising. Is this because it attracks the Wal-Mart shopper or because if offers so many different options? What other cruise lines are like chain stores? I would like to see THAT poll!

If Carnival is the Wal-Mart of cruising then . . . . .

RCCL is the "Targets" of cruising. Selling the same crap as Wal-Mart but at inflated prices and less to chose from of the really good crap!!:eek:

minivan - at times necessary but not your 1st choice

What a fun poll! I voted for the Toyota Corolla (and not just because I own one). Like a Carnival cruise, a Corolla is economical yet a real blast to "cruise" around in. It is popular for a reason: fun and sporty with the necessary bells and whistles but zero pretentiousness. Both have been around the block and have improved with age.

I ditto that!

Exactly why I voted for the corolla as well!

I'm going to be difficult and add a new one :p

I'd say a Mustang Convertible...

It's not going to be a good fit for everyone, but it's an affordable car, and most importantly fun... Put that top down and get ready to feel the wind blow through your hair and not a care in the world. For the person that is looking to have a good time, and doesn't care about "status", the Mustang is a great bargain, and alot of fun!!!

And I just couldn't see myself voting for a minivan... some of us singles out here might take offense to that :p LOL

I voted for the Chrysler PT Cruiser. I have never owned a Chrysler, but I see the PT Cruiser as the "under dog" that really surprises people when they really give it a chance.

Thanks -- Dan in our office wanted us to include the Mustang convertible -- but he got vetoed in favor of the Mazda Miata. The idea is the same though --affordable and fun.

The whole reason for all the variety is that Carnival appeals to such diverse groups! As I said, it was hard to even narrow down to ten but we thought they all had something symbolic to contribute!

Thanks for weighing in.

All your comments -- excellent! We hadn't even considered the chain store idea and it's brilliant.

Carolyn

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor

Cruise Critic

I'm going to be difficult and add a new one :p

 

I'd say a Mustang Convertible...

It's not going to be a good fit for everyone, but it's an affordable car, and most importantly fun... Put that top down and get ready to feel the wind blow through your hair and not a care in the world. For the person that is looking to have a good time, and doesn't care about "status", the Mustang is a great bargain, and alot of fun!!!

 

And I just couldn't see myself voting for a minivan... some of us singles out here might take offense to that :p LOL

I'm with you there GoinCruisin! The Mustang is sooooo much fun to drive. Althought the fully-loaded new one is a little pricey, you can pick up a used one with say, 120 thousand miles, for a song. I think the car epitomizes the "Fun Ship" vibe that Carnival bills itself on.

Cheers,

Wacky :D

I'm going to be difficult and add a new one :p

 

I'd say a Mustang Convertible...

It's not going to be a good fit for everyone, but it's an affordable car, and most importantly fun... Put that top down and get ready to feel the wind blow through your hair and not a care in the world. For the person that is looking to have a good time, and doesn't care about "status", the Mustang is a great bargain, and alot of fun!!!

 

And I just couldn't see myself voting for a minivan... some of us singles out here might take offense to that :p LOL

So Mustang Convertibles have an F Deck Chris?!? "Put the top down....." :D :D :D

I picked the the Dodge Caravan because there is room for the whole family (Carnival caters to the family), lots of space, and more economical. I would say Royal Carribbean would fit the Odyssey more than Carnival would. Whenever I compare cruise prices, Carnival always comes out to be the better bargain.

I just compared Celebrity and Carnival for 5 nights April 07 cruise. Celebrity cruise with the same ports in the same category was $200 less per passenger than Carnival. So it is not always true that Carnival is cheaper unless you look for very special bargains or last minute deals. Carnival is one of my favorite cruise lines, but just because of the simplicity of it. No bell sand whistles and no service. I picked Dodge Caravan minivan, but I think the better choice for Carnival would be Hyundai or Kia. RCCL would be Odyssey, Celebrity is Lincoln Town Car, Norwegian is Nova, and Crystal is Bentley Azure.

would've voted for an American pick up truck had there been one; have never sailed on Carnival brand so my vote should not count. Need to go on at least 2-3 per brand to get a real taste; 1 imho and may get 1 bad experience that tints view point. have done 4 Princess, most recently the Star Baltic in Jun; yes, that Star, and only way could tell which side of the ship fire was on was to smell the new varnish & carpeting. Did 1 HAL- the last Westerdam in early 90s before the days of the megaships.

anyways.. funny story here as to why would include an American made p/u truck.. recall walking along the pier at old town in San Juan during a stay over after getting off the Dawn P. couple yrs back and saw 2 guys in tank tops getting ready to haul a cooler of cold ones onto the Carnival Destiny and thought to myself- yep, stereotypical Carnival crowd profile: country music, line danclng, and so on. that new Mellencamp song about the good ol' USA of playing in the background for the ad. for me, a pick up truck comes to mind.. think what brand of ship Hank Hill would choose.. he drives a truck... maybe not F150.. could be one of those extended cab types, with 4 doors, enough to sit the whole family + the dog & still haul the cooler and beach gear to the dock in the back.

now for Princess, one of those SUV cross overs, the trucks built on a car chassis, comes to mind.

need to convince the wife to try out Carnival 1 of these times; heck, Port Canaveral and the ol' Glory only an hr drive from here. Corporate Carnival doesn't care though, $$ still going in the same pot. As long as $$ don't go over to the dark side of RCCL/ Celebrity.

Since I ride a Harley Davidson, that would have been my choice,for " all American" cruisin! But from the choices you have i would have to go with a Mazda Miata, sporty, fun, economical & "zoom, zoom, zoom":D :D :D

Too bad Yugo wasn't one of the choices. That would have received my vote.

YUGO or GREMLIN--- no matter how cheap the product it's still a piece of crap.

Hmmm---

Before I saw the poll options, my first thought for Carnival was Ford Fusion: Kinda sporty, kinda roomy, kinda fancy at times, kinda basic in other ways, kinda affordable, fairly up-to-date & reliable but definately American in flavor.

I'd agree with the previous poster that X is like a Lincoln Towncar: sorta flashy but not that sophisticated and running on an outdated platform yet marketed as a "Premium" product. RCCL is like a Ford Explorer: Huge machine, big seller, holds lots of stuff, tons of options...

HAL would be a Volvo (traditional & reliable, but the new ones definately arent' square), Cunard is a Jaguar XJ, Princess seems like Acura, NCL is a GM sedan (it could be a Chevy, a Pontiac, a Buick or a Cadillac: whatever you want, but pretty much the same beneath the trim and grilles...)

MSC is an Alfa Romeo (Italian & rare in the US) but Costa is a Mazda(it looks & sounds sorta Italian, but it isn't...)

Crystal is a Lexus (Japanese, remember?), Seabourn is a Bentley Continental and Silversea is a Mercedes S-Class.

YUGO or GREMLIN--- no matter how cheap the product it's still a piece of crap.

Or the infamous Chevy CORVAIR

I'm going to be difficult and add a new one :p

 

I'd say a Mustang Convertible

GC, that's the very first thing I thought of. And I make it a '66 red one with white leather seats.

I went with the Corolla, but it wouldn't have been my first choice. I was tempted to go with the Miata for "fun" or the Caravan for "families", but ultimately I picked the Corolla because it's a good-value, mainstream choice.

But really, here's what I'd have chosen, for various cruise lines:

CARNIVAL - HYUNDAI SONATA: People still make jokes about it, but in real life it's much more sophisticated than they think.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN - JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE: It's big, and it has the image of being for active people (climbing rocks, going out in the ice, etc.!) even if most people only ever take it to the grocery store.

PRINCESS - HONDA PILOT: It's a lot like Royal Caribbean, but higher-quality and with less emphasis on sports. A bit bland, but a very good product at a fair price. And very reliable.

CELEBRITY - LINCOLN ZEPHYR/MKZ: It's upscale and rather stylish on the surface, but despite the claims it's still not a luxury product.

HOLLAND AMERICA LINE - VOLVO V70: It's a high-quality, good-value product and it still looks and feels solid and substantial but it's been brought into the 21st Century and isn't stodgy any more. Occasionally it over-reaches and tries to sell itself as a luxury product, but it's really a very good middle-class product. HAL's great beds are the seagoing equivalent of a Volvo's great seats.

NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE - FORD FUSION: Despite what it says on the box, its origins are in Asia. It's rather stylish, rather sporty, a good value, and infinitely better than what it replaced (think of the "old NCL" as a Taurus).

Other cruise lines coming - I figured I'd just start with the "Big Six" though :) .

Ford Falcon Wagon. An old POS party car!

It would be nice if the only people allowed to vote on this would be people who had actually BEEN on a Carnival ship :rolleyes: