Nervous about Carnival

I'm looking into taking a cruise in either early Jan. or during my spring break (I'm a law student). I've been on RCL many times and I've been on Disney cruises before. The most important part of the cruise to me is the ship itself. I could really not care less about the ports. So I've started doing my price comparisons for cruises. I'd like to do a 5-7day cruise. Carnival is a lot cheaper then RCL. I'm willing to try it but my problem is my bf will be cruising with me and he's never been on a cruise before. So that begins my nervousness.

Like I said, I've never been on Carnival and have only heard stories. I've heard the ships look "cheap" and that the crowd tends to be a yonger drunker crowd. Although I am young, I don't care to be around a bunch of 20 somethings who are obnoxiously drunk. I hear lots of bad stories about Carnival but I know a lot of you on here go back time and time again so I feel it can't be as bad as people I know say.

So what I'm wondering is if someone could just help me out with what I should know about carnival. Is there a few ships that are better then the rest or some that I should stay away from? How are the shows and the nightlife? How is the food in the dining areas and is the dress more casual?

The Carnival rep for a drunken party cruise is a 25 year old myth perpetuated by people who have never cruised Carnival - or did once a couple decades ago. As a rule of thumb, for obvious reasons you will find more serious partiers on a short 4 or 5 day cruise or one during Spring Break. On a seven day cruise, you will find much the same crowd as on RCI. You aren't going to find a bunch of drunks on either line, but you will find a select few individuals on both RCI and Carnival. It's not cheap to drink all day on a cruise, and the real party crowd will normally opt for a cheap all inclusive. You will be happy on Carnival I'm certain. Others will chime in with specific ship by ship comparisons I'm sure.

I've been on two Fantasy class ships and two Spirit class ships....completely prefer the Spirit Class (especially the Legend) because they were so much nicer and never crowded...they have 3 pool areas and always FUN groups, but never drunk obnoxious people....well, not that many!

I do think the 3-4 day have a more PARTY reputation, but not the 7-day or longer....

You won't find a rock wall or skating rink or flowrider on a carnival ship, so if you like doing all of those things, you will be disappointed....

either way, have fun!

As Kroozers said, the longer the cruise the better as the party-hearty types tend to do with the shorter cruises. That's not to say the perception of CCL as a party cruise line is accurate - that's pretty much an outdated notion that seems to be dying a slow death. Spring break and summer do have a younger crowd but really, the reputation of Carnival as a rowdy place really isn't justified any longer. The ships themselves are well cared-for and well run and I wouldn't consider the appearance "cheap" although most tend to be very colorful. ;)

Since this will be your BF's first cruise, he will likely be impressed with the experience on the ship unless he's one of those guys that feels confined or cooped-up (e.g. needs some wide open space). If not, he will likely be wrapped up in the experience since he has nothing to compare to and will have a great time. I say relax, find a 7 day that suits your price and travel desires and go have a lot of fun. :)

Like I said, I've never been on Carnival and have only heard stories. I've heard the ships look "cheap" and that the crowd tends to be a yonger drunker crowd. Although I am young, I don't care to be around a bunch of 20 somethings who are obnoxiously drunk. I hear lots of bad stories about Carnival but I know a lot of you on here go back time and time again so I feel it can't be as bad as people I know say.

 

At least you're starting out with an open mind which is a step in the right direction.:)

If the ship is your vacation and you don't care about the ports, you will probably be happier on Royal Caribbean. The two lines are more similiar than Royal wants to admit, but Royal definitely has the one up on Carnival in ships. As for Carnival ships being cheap looking, that's a subjective opinion. I never pay attention to the decor and couldn't tell you what most of the ships look like.

As mentioned, if you go on a cruise of less than 7 days or during spring break, you will run into a bigger party crowd, on either line.

As for food, again, subjective, but you will find that even the most diehard RCCL fans will give a nod to Carnival on that one.

Thanks for the fast replies. I was thinking that the drunk rowdy crowd couldn't be completely true. Last cruise we went on drinks were 8.50 each (we were drinking daquiris). That's expensive to be drinking to get drunk.

My other question is the balconies. On RCI and on Disney the balconies are completely open. It looks like on carnival the balconies are kind of enclosed and smaller. Does this make a big difference? I know we will be spending a lot of time hanging out on the balcony.

Once again thanks for putting my mind at ease. If I go with carnival it'll be half the price of RCI but I haven't priced RCI with their Crown and Anchor discount yet.

If your looking for a good ship and its your 1st cruise on carnival id choose the liberty...She is going into Dry Dock and will be adding quiet a bit of things to her...the reviews are very good and we are in our 40's do not drink alot and on our last cruise we didnt see any of the partying going on or obnoxious people...We do like to people watch...LOL

Enjoy

Lots of good postings so far. I think the one about Carnival's rowdy reputation being "outdated" is more accurate than the one that says it is a "myth". It was that way. Not so much any more. There are groups of passengers who will sit around and drink all day. You won't have to go too far on these boards to see threads dedicated to bragging about how big the poster's bill was at the end of the cruise. Often the main source of the charges is alcohol. But you would have to go out of your way to put yourself in a place where these people are causing you grief on the ship.

The one other point I'll add is that Carnival caters heavily to families. If you choose a 7-day cruise during the spring-break "season" for K-12 schools (generally March to early April), then you can expect to run into a lot of families with kids. I think on a spring break cruise I was on in '09 they said something like 40% of the passengers were under 21. It's great if you love kids like we do. Not so much if you consider them a nuisance.

I'm looking into taking a cruise in either early Jan. or during my spring break (I'm a law student). I've been on RCL many times and I've been on Disney cruises before. The most important part of the cruise to me is the ship itself. I could really not care less about the ports. So I've started doing my price comparisons for cruises. I'd like to do a 5-7day cruise. Carnival is a lot cheaper then RCL. I'm willing to try it but my problem is my bf will be cruising with me and he's never been on a cruise before. So that begins my nervousness.

 

Like I said, I've never been on Carnival and have only heard stories. Carnival started out as the party cruise line but has worked for over 20 years to be rid of that stereotype.

I've heard the ships look "cheap" and that the crowd tends to be a yonger drunker crowd. The interior design of the ships is pretty flashy, but so what? DH and I enjoy the little quirks. We are NOT home, we are on a cruise ship, so what could be better.

Although I am young, I don't care to be around a bunch of 20 somethings who are obnoxiously drunk. You might find more younger partiers during college spring breaks and shorter cruises. In eight Carnival cruises, we have only dealt with a drunk group of 30 and 40 somethings once. That was on Splendor back in April.

I hear lots of bad stories about Carnival but I know a lot of you on here go back time and time again so I feel it can't be as bad as people I know say. DH is 51 and I am 50 :eek: and we love Carnival. We have three more Carnival cruises booked. If we didn't like them so much, we would not sail with them. We are not big drinkers and we don't get rowdy. You will find people of all ages on any given Carnival cruise.

 

So what I'm wondering is if someone could just help me out with what I should know about carnival. Is there a few ships that are better then the rest or some that I should stay away from? My favorite class of ships is the Spirit class. (Spirit, Miracle, Legend, and Pride.) The ships are mid-sized, the layout is wonderful because we could walk fore to aft on almost every deck, and the aft pool, for adults only, is a wonderful place to relax.

How are the shows and the nightlife? Not any different than on Royal Caribbean, in my opinion.

How is the food in the dining areas and is the dress more casual? The food is delicious. The dress is indeed more casual, which we love. We wear shorts and polo for DH and shorts and nice top for me. We still dress very nicely on Elegant Nights.

I find that our Royal Caribbean and our Carnival cruises were more alike than different. Then why do we choose Carnival over Royal Caribbean? Mostly the value. And the different food venues, especially the deli. :D

Thanks for the fast replies. I was thinking that the drunk rowdy crowd couldn't be completely true. Last cruise we went on drinks were 8.50 each (we were drinking daquiris). That's expensive to be drinking to get drunk.

 

My other question is the balconies. On RCI and on Disney the balconies are completely open. It looks like on carnival the balconies are kind of enclosed and smaller. Does this make a big difference? I know we will be spending a lot of time hanging out on the balcony.

 

Once again thanks for putting my mind at ease. If I go with carnival it'll be half the price of RCI but I haven't priced RCI with their Crown and Anchor discount yet.

Most regular balconies on Carnival ships are a little tight. The extended balconies are nice, though.

My favorite ship so far is Miracle. On that cruise, our newly-made cruise friends (our table mates) had an extended balcony. They had a couple of deck loungers on it as well as a chair and a little table. On our regular balcony, we could only fit two chairs and the small table. But we still used our balcony a lot!!

Not sure what you mean about the balconies being open? I have never sailed on Disney, but I have sailed on various classes of RCCL ships, except the newer Oasis class ships. The balconies are generally bigger on Carnival ships. Study the Spirit Class ships and you will see a wide variety of balconies, and another vote for Spirit Class ships being the favorite class. Easy to navigate and do not feel overly crowded.

Your fears are well founded. I have cruised 27 times. 16 on RCCL and 11 on CCL. I find CCL attracts a lower class of customer, probably due to price. However if you cruise when the kids are in school (like January) you will have less problems. If you can afford it, RCCL is the way to go. The ships of RCCL are much nice than CCL, especially the Voyager class. I find CCL to be like Vegas and RCCL to be like a country club. Just my opinion.

We only sail during spring break and only on 7 day cruises, and we have never had a problem with kids or drunken young adults. Yes, there are kids and there are a lot of twenty somethings, but we have never witnessed anything I would call obnoxious. Security is on the ball when it comes to monitoring drinks in the hot tub or pool. The ships are large enough, that if an area starts to get loud, we just move to another area. No big deal. Not sure about the shorter cruises. I've heard they may be a little more obnoxious....BTW, our spring break always coincides with St Patty's Day. That day is usually the wildest! This year we depart on St Patty's. That should be interesting!

Have fun with whichever you choose!

I've been on RCL, Norwegian & Carnival and I would chose Carnival every time. Mainly because the cabins are so much bigger...not that you're in it that much but there is a big difference.

wow we are far from low class and happen to enjoy carnival and amazing enough my friends who cruise RCCL and Carnival and take 2 cruises a year will disagree with you too....Expensive isn't always better...

I find CCL attracts a lower class of customer, probably due to price.

Wow...... I'm speechless....

Like I said, I've never been on Carnival and have only heard stories.

I won't say this is offensive since we are talking about a large corporation so I will say it's ignorant.

I have heard "these stories" myself, once from a successful TA. Hard to know what to say.

In the end, RCL and Carnival are much more alike then different. For myself price and departure port would be my first criteria for choosing

a particular cruise on a given date. Only then would I look at whether it was RCL or Carnival and the ship class and itinerary would weigh

heavily in making a decision.

All to say the RCL name means very little to me.

If it is important to you what others think then I believe RCL has a better rep overall then Carnival and you should

go with what you are already familiar with. Enjoy!:)

I'm looking into taking a cruise in either early Jan. or during my spring break (I'm a law student). I've been on RCL many times and I've been on Disney cruises before. The most important part of the cruise to me is the ship itself. I could really not care less about the ports. So I've started doing my price comparisons for cruises. I'd like to do a 5-7day cruise. Carnival is a lot cheaper then RCL. I'm willing to try it but my problem is my bf will be cruising with me and he's never been on a cruise before. So that begins my nervousness.

 

Like I said, I've never been on Carnival and have only heard stories. I've heard the ships look "cheap" and that the crowd tends to be a yonger drunker crowd. Although I am young, I don't care to be around a bunch of 20 somethings who are obnoxiously drunk. I hear lots of bad stories about Carnival but I know a lot of you on here go back time and time again so I feel it can't be as bad as people I know say.

 

So what I'm wondering is if someone could just help me out with what I should know about carnival. Is there a few ships that are better then the rest or some that I should stay away from? How are the shows and the nightlife? How is the food in the dining areas and is the dress more casual?

For the most part, what you read and hear is a lot of BS. Go for it and have a blast. I bet your BF will want to go again when you get back.

Your fears are well founded. I have cruised 27 times. 16 on RCCL and 11 on CCL. I find CCL attracts a lower class of customer, probably due to price. However if you cruise when the kids are in school (like January) you will have less problems. If you can afford it, RCCL is the way to go. The ships of RCCL are much nice than CCL, especially the Voyager class. I find CCL to be like Vegas and RCCL to be like a country club. Just my opinion.

It might be your opinion but it is a lousy attitude. Did you just call me low class? And if you have sailed so many times on CCL, are you also then low class? I sense undertones of other things in your words also. I prefer people with this kind of attitude not sail with me.

It might be your opinion but it is a lousy attitude. Did you just call me low class? And if you have sailed so many times on CCL, are you also then low class? I sense undertones of other things in your words also. I prefer people with this kind of attitude not sail with me.

Im with you on this one and yes he pretty much said we do not have class funny since no one knows people outside of the internet World its quiet ironic......it never seems to amaze me when people put class into cruising...if u want class then u need to cruise Seaborne or QE2...

...with what you are familiar with. This way you have more confidence in the product. After all, the money is less important than making his cruise meet the expectations you have instilled. Have a great cruise.

I have been cruising on Carnival for the last 29 years. I am not a young person now but I am about to go on my 20th Carnival cruise. It will be on the Legend out of Tampa and this ship and the Glory have been my favorite ships. I have only been on one other cruise line, but I have had any reason to leave Carnival.

Naoma

Like I said, I've never been on Carnival and have only heard stories. I've heard the ships look "cheap" and that the crowd tends to be a yonger drunker crowd. Although I am young, I don't care to be around a bunch of 20 somethings who are obnoxiously drunk. I hear lots of bad stories about Carnival but I know a lot of you on here go back time and time again so I feel it can't be as bad as people I know say.

 

So what I'm wondering is if someone could just help me out with what I should know about carnival. Is there a few ships that are better then the rest or some that I should stay away from? How are the shows and the nightlife? How is the food in the dining areas and is the dress more casual?

I've only been on two Carnival cruises, but I have to say that the "stories" couldn't be more wrong. For one thing, it's too expensive for most 20-somethings to be obnoxiously drunk for 5 or 7 days with the bar prices on the ship! I've sailed on the Conquest and the Triumph and were completely satisfied with the appearance of both ships, and the food is always great! I can't wait to go again!

I'm willing to try it but my problem is my bf will be cruising with me and he's never been on a cruise before. So that begins my nervousness.

Why does your bf make you nervous? Are you afraid he will get seasick?

Out of 22 cruises we have sails Carnival 7 times. You will find obnoxious, drunken groups on every cruise line. I don't think Carnival passengers are any more rowdy than on any other ship or line I've been on. I do think Carnival gives you more of a good time and there are more "fun" things to do. There are just as many 30-, 40- and 50 somethings on Carnival cruises than are there are 20 somethings.

Some people think the decor looks a little cheap because it's mostly neon, but the food, entertainment, and itineraries are always great. YOU and your attitude make your cruise what it is, not the ship....go and enjoy.