To Carnival or not to Carnival...

I recently watched a Carnival cruise tour on YouTube. While you couldn't call it a dump, it definitely had a blue collar feel to it. The last thing I would want to do to myself is infect my first cruise experience with low expectations...and crowded low quality buffets, screaming kids, rock-hard beds, etc.

 

Are Carnival beds as bad as they seem -- do any of the mainstream cruise lines offer quality sleeping arrangements?

 

Should I go for a luxury cruise right off the bat?

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

I would not call any cruise line a dump. Many people in the world will never experience any cruise line and there are a lot of people who like Carnival.

 

For many cruise lines such as Carnival are a great way to first experience a cruise and from there some people repeat it while others go to other lines. Some start with a luxury cruise. In my case we started with mainstream lines, tried a couple of premium line and then tried luxury lines.

 

Factors for us included things such as the age of our children and the cost of the cruise relative to our budget.

 

It's no different then a hotel. Do you want to stay at a Holiday Inn or a Ritz Carlton. It's a personal choice.

 

Keith

That's quite a jump between Carnival and asking about a luxury cruise. Based on your concerns, I recommend going in between for a first cruise. Consider Celebrity or Princess.

Welcome to CC

 

JMHO, but there really isn’t anything wrong with Carnival. When you see/hear complaints about them, the cruiser usually picked the wrong time to go - short 3-4 nighters and during times when school is out. The line has a lot to offer and I find they have some of the best MDR meals of the mainstream lines.

 

If you can afford a luxury line for your first cruise - go for it

 

 

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We feel that Carnival offers a good solid cruise experience for the price that we pay. When we cruise we are interested in visiting ports, being at sea and spending time with one another and since all cruise lines offer that we generally let the fare dictate who we book with. On the ships that we've sailed we've never had an uncomfortable mattress but you should be able to ask for a foam topper if your mattress is too hard.

I recently watched a Carnival cruise tour on YouTube. While you couldn't call it a dump, it definitely had a blue collar feel to it. The last thing I would want to do to myself is infect my first cruise experience with low expectations...and crowded low quality buffets, screaming kids, rock-hard beds, etc.

This runs counter to my sensibilities. We've been on a number of cruises, but, regardless, in choosing whether to put our upcoming Carnival cruise before or after our upcoming Holland America cruise it seemed clear to me that the best approach was to place the Carnival cruise before the Holland America cruise. If I expect to do both, I would rather have the subsequent cruise be an upgrade over the prior cruise rather than a downgrade.

 

Are Carnival beds as bad as they seem -- do any of the mainstream cruise lines offer quality sleeping arrangements?

These things are subjective so you're going to get conflicting perspectives. Bed and linen quality is something I researched carefully before deciding to cruise on Carnival. I'm not convinced that Carnival beds are "bad" by any conception of the word. From what I've read I'm not convinced that there will be any significant difference between the quality of bedding between our two upcoming cruises.

 

Should I go for a luxury cruise right off the bat?

One of our biggest "concerns" (read: first-world problems) is that we are in a suite on our upcoming Holland America cruise. As I indicated above, I believe strongly in "Excelsior" - ever-upward: Just like going from cruising in a suite to cruising in an inside cabin will tend to be a negative experience, once you cruise on a luxury brand then it is very likely that downgrading to even Holland America will feel like a drastic, well, downgrade. In a way, I think putting the "better" cruise before the "not better" cruise makes the subsequent cruise suffer from the effects of the expectations fostered during the prior cruise. YMMV.

 

So, for me, the decision to cruise a luxury brand is to at least some extent a decision to always cruise a luxury brand. We've upgraded from Royal Caribbean to Holland America and Disney Cruise Line in the past, so this upcoming Carnival cruise is going to test the boundaries of that: Will we feel that we're suffering? Time will tell. (Again: read: first-world problems.)

There is a WIDE range in the mass market lines, and a wider range when you add in the luxury lines.

 

But, if you an afford the luxury lines, why would you NOT do them????

 

I have a friend who cruises a lot, and they like Carnival. He says it matches his inner redneck. :)

 

I have only cruised on RCL, but find it a nice match. But even there, there is a wide range of folks.

 

But I have found, I REALLY like the suite life. So while I can understand the concept of the cheapest cabin and going more often, I (and some others I have talked to), prefer to go less often, but do it in a suite.

I have a friend who cruises a lot, and they like Carnival. He says it matches his inner redneck. :)

That reminded me about one other aspect: I've been interacting a lot with frequent Carnival cruisers a lot over the last year or so. There's a different tenor of the relationships between cruise passengers, and I have to say I feel that it may be a more universally congenial tenor than what I've often experienced with Royal Caribbean and Holland America - much closer to Disney Cruise Line (which I personally feel offers the most universally congenial tenor of interactions between cruisers).

So if you want to do a luxury Line why are you looking at Carnival again?

 

 

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I would recommend finding a good travel agent. Their services are free and you can often get additional perks when you book through them.

 

An experienced cruise agent can gather all of your details: activity level, price levels, destination and dates. Then she can offer a variety of choices tailored to you.

 

Gathering opinions here can help. Once you've narrowed it down, don't forget to visit the forums for each line to get a additional ideas and questions answered.

 

Our sweet spot is Windstsr. My husband is a pilot and hates crowds on vacation. I strongly dislike waiting in line. We love small ports and sea days. We would never attend evening entertainment or shows. We prefer land based vacations in the Caribbean and cruise vacations in other parts of the world.

 

That's probably not what you want, which is why there are so many cruises to suit many needs.

When you use words like "blue-collar" and "infect" in the same sentence it is best you look elsewhere for your cruise experience. You already have your mind made up on the Carnival product.

 

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Carnival has ALWAYS been good to us! We've sailed with them 21 times and with Royal Caribbean twice. There are very minor differences between these 2 cruise lines with cost being the biggest. RCL is a bit more costly, but Carnival is well-worth my hard-earned money. If you are new to cruising, then I would suggest Carnival and see for yourself. If you like cruising, then try another line to compare. You won't be disappointed with Carnival. But you WILL be hooked on cruising!

Hmmm...YouTube video...never cruise on any line before...no personal experience...

 

We have cruised on Carnival many times and I have never felt anything like your YouTube experience gave you! Yes, the beds are good on Carnival. Yes, there are kids on board, just like nearly every one of the mainstream cruise lines, they do cater to family entertainment, including kids. Are the kids more unruly on Carnival? I have serious doubts! When we travel, we don't stay at the most expensive hotels or eat at only the upper crust 5-star restaurants, but we do not stay at flea bag hotels and eat at Mickey D's either. If you are turned off by Carnival, there are a lot of other options you can choose from before you have to go to Regent, or Seabourn, or Windstar to find an enjoyable cruise.

 

For that one YouTube video that gave you bad vibes, I bet there are a thousand others that would change that opinion! Whatever you do, the only way you will ever know if YOU like something is to try it yourself!

When you use words like "blue-collar" and "infect" in the same sentence it is best you look elsewhere for your cruise experience. You already have your mind made up on the Carnival product.

 

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Are Carnival beds as bad as they seem -- do any of the mainstream cruise lines offer quality sleeping arrangements?

 

 

I have no real complaints about any of the beds or cabins I've had--HAL, Princess, Carnival, or NCL. Of course, NCL was a studio, which can't really be compared, but the first three were insides or balconies and were fine. Of course, if you want a luxury bedding experience, you know, you need to book a high-end cabin, especially on a high-end cruise line. I'm sure Regent Seven Seas' cabins are nicer. Or the Garden Villa suite on NCL, LOL. Most mainstream cruise lines' cabins are more or less the same thing.

 

Carnival's passengers can vary, with certain destinations and long cruises having less of a "People of Wal-Mart" feel, but if you want to be certain of avoiding Carnival's passengers, you know, don't cruise Carnival. HAL, Princess, Celebrity, MSC...one of the semi-luxury or luxury lines...

Welcome to Cruise Critic. People here are helpful. But for your first post saying blue collar and infect....well that's not setting the best tone....but you've received some responses to that so I will carry on with:

I've done only four Carnival cruises and one Princess. I am terribly picky. I enjoyed all my cruises. You find what you are looking for often. Regarding your specific question about the bed: I did find my bed extremely comfortable on the Victory last month....

The OP is first time poster. I bet he/she never responds.

My first cruises were on RCCL, and then I did a cruise on Carnival because being in Australia, Carnival is based here year round so we could do a July cruise.

 

The ship was beautiful and the cruise was good, but I found the RCCL cruises to be far superior in terms of food quality, service and entertainment options.

 

I have many mates that have only sailed with Carnival and rate it very highly.

We have been on the Carnival Miracle several times and have always found the beds to be very comfortable, and the cabins are nice. If you're young and want to have fun, Carnival is the line for you. They have a lot of activities and night time entertainment to keep you busy. I have also been on both Princess and Celebrity ships and found them to be a little more on the elegant side. They are also a lot more laid back in terms of activities. No hairy chest Contest! But they still have quite a bit to do. Either way you'll have a great time I'm sure!

 

 

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See my other posts about Carnival.

I am new to cruising: 2 Carnival cruises. In each case, I hated the crowd and the loud music but besides that, the food was good, excellent in some cases, the beds were clean and comfortable, clean cabins (we had a balcony on 1st cruise, suite on 2nd) and the service was excellent.

Bottom line, if you can stand the ugly crowd, not problem with Carnival.

We can't and are looking for another cruise line.

See my other posts about Carnival.

I am new to cruising: 2 Carnival cruises. In each case, I hated the crowd and the loud music but besides that, the food was good, excellent in some cases, the beds were clean and comfortable, clean cabins (we had a balcony on 1st cruise, suite on 2nd) and the service was excellent.

Bottom line, if you can stand the ugly crowd, not problem with Carnival.

We can't and are looking for another cruise line.

 

 

The problem is that you opted for a 3-nighter, commonly known as a "Booze Cruise". Unfortunately, most main stream cruise lines will be similar - short, inexpensive getaways tend to draw young partiers. My step daughter sailed on the NCL Sky with all inclusive drinks - what she witnessed made Carnival look like a premium line!

 

Try a Carnival 7-nighter - while they will still have some loud music, the atmosphere tends to be much better in terms of crowd and lines......

Also where you sail from makes a difference on the make up of the passengers

 

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Also where you sail from makes a difference on the make up of the passengers

 

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On the main stream cruises they are going to fill the ships with mostly locals to the embarkation point. We sail out of Galveston and the ship is mostly Texans and Southerners. When you sail out of SE Florida that is the make up of the majoity of the population that is on the ship.

 

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The problem is that you opted for a 3-nighter, commonly known as a "Booze Cruise".

 

First time yes but the 2nd time was a 5 nights cruise. It looks like we have to go well above 8 nights.

Just sailed Carnival for the first time in August on the Miracle. I had apprehensions after teying to compare the other lines I sailed but quickly realized it a lot about negative preconceived notions. The bed was super comfy. The bartenders and servers were fun. We chatted with many people we met on board and had a great time. Only "negative" was repetative dining options,but I probably gained weight like I always do! Value for the money we paid was great in my eyes. Will consider again,especially when it means affording a 2nd cruise in 6 months- something we've never done before.

 

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