HAL vet back from 4 day Paradise with Review

[Carolin]

Thank you for the great balanced review Ron. :D

[LaurieHoffman]

I just reserved my lounge chair for my trip....:rolleyes: This area looks great.

 

[lollylew]

So would or will I sail Carnival again? Yes. If given a choice of CCL or HAL for the same itineraries I would take the cheaper ships which would probably by CCL (although HAL has a 50 dollar a day repositiong special right now for the left coast). I am eyeballing the Mexican Riviera. I doubt I will ever try NCL or RCCL as too many on this board flames them but I would like to try Princess too. No one flames HAL.

 

First of all, thanks for your honest, but overall positive review. I think people don't give Carnival a chance and yet, are pleasantly surprised when they do.

 

Now, this is all my OPINION but to me, I think that RCCL and Carnival are the same product. They cater to the same exact market. What happens is that the people who sail RCCL sometimes think they are better because they paid more for their cruise. I sometimes peruse the RCCL board here and there are far more threads asking whether or not RCCL is worth it for the $$. I know that for my last couple of cruises, I have priced out other lines and frankly, they didn't come close to Carnival's price. I have been happy with Carnival and feel that if I'm getting the same experience, why do I want to pay more?

 

People don't flame HAL because they don't flame Carnival. After your comparisons, I think that I might like to try HAL especially for some of their longer cruises. I would just need to read some HAL threads so that I know what to expect. :D

[FightOnRon]

I just reserved my lounge chair for my trip....:rolleyes: This area looks great.

 

 

I have a better picture but I didn't want to tie up bandwidth on this server. What you don't see are the two hottubs on either side of the ship. Where I took the picture is under a ledge that has a number of loungers for those that don't want the sun (like me, I take a medication that says to stay out of the sun,,hence SPF50) but want the serenity.

 

I wanted to shore one more thing. My firends were on thier first curise as we know. My buddys wife, as we were driving to the ship in our car, asked the question that I always thought was a joke because no one ever really asks it. She actually asked me if their ocean view stateroom is under water and they see the ocean. I guess real newbies don't actually get it.

[luv2gonow]

Fight on Ron....I have to say I am shocked about the custom thing.

 

I have been on 4 cruises.....and I have always caught a whiff of someone "partying". Even on DCL...LOL....

 

Seems kinda rude these guys bothering noone on their balcony meanwhile obnoxious drunks all good:rolleyes:

 

anyway.....i guess the moral of the story is to smoke all the dope on the last night....LOL....what are they going to start blood testing....LOL..

thanks for your great review

K

[AWorldCruise4Me]

Thanks for the great review. I've been thinking about trying Carnival. Most of my cruises have been Princess, then Celebrity, one HAL (which I thought was too low key for me) and one NCL (which I loved!). Going from the way-too-sedate-for-me HAL, to the tolerable low key atmosphere of Celebrity, to Princess who has a special spot since it was our first cruise, to the much more exciting and fun NCL makes me wonder if Carnival wouldn't be a nice change and headed in the right direction of fun.

 

Best,

Michelle

[FightOnRon]

Fight on Ron....I have to say I am shocked about the custom thing.

 

I have been on 4 cruises.....and I have always caught a whiff of someone "partying". Even on DCL...LOL....

 

Seems kinda rude these guys bothering noone on their balcony meanwhile obnoxious drunks all good:rolleyes:

K

 

These guys weren't even on a balcony,,they had an inside. I have read about the Paradise on this board and the "pot smoke filling the hallways" and I thought that was wrong (escept maybe during spring break). I am sure the smokers are smart enough to put a towel under their doors,,IMHO no harm no foul. As I saind, I smelled no smoke in any hallway, not cigarettes,not cigars, not pot. At least they aren't in the public bathrooms spilling thier guts from drinking and ship swaying as the many were doing on the first night.

 

I also read somewhere about Custom agents raiding the ship and I assumed that was one of those Royal whatever you guys call them making up a story. But it wasn't, I can testify. They were being led up and down the halls by a couple of CCL security guys. I actually wonder if they gave the room steward too much grief and that's how they got caught,,but I can't specualte as to the how,,just the why.

 

What I also wonder is who's juristiction are you under when crusing. Customs came aboard when we were docked in Long beach. Is that considered Federal property until you clear the terminal. Because in California posession can be a misdemeanor, a ticketable offense.

[FightOnRon]

Thanks for the great review. I've been thinking about trying Carnival. Most of my cruises have been Princess, then Celebrity, one HAL (which I thought was too low key for me) and one NCL (which I loved!). Going from the way-too-sedate-for-me HAL, to the tolerable low key atmosphere of Celebrity, to Princess who has a special spot since it was our first cruise, to the much more exciting and fun NCL makes me wonder if Carnival wouldn't be a nice change and headed in the right direction of fun.

 

Best,

Michelle

 

Well as I said I will probably base it on price,,unless I want a lower key cruise. If I do I will go to HAL,,but if I want a higher powered, who needs sleep, fun cruise it will be Carnival. I sometimes wonder if people are just looking for that one thing to tick them off and make the whole voyage terrible. I wasn't looking so I didn't find that one thing that ruined the entire cruise. The worst part of the cruise was trying to find a good seat in the showroom,,big deal, , that is work aroundable. It's called go early.

[lorasmom]

Here's a different view of the Serenity deck from last weekend... there's a matching hot tub on the opposite side of the deck (beneath me) that you can't see.

 

I dunno if it's always like this, but the one on the top of the pic was MUCH cooler than the one you can't see... :)

 

[FightOnRon]

Here's a different view of the Serenity deck from last weekend... there's a matching hot tub on the opposite side of the deck (beneath me) that you can't see.

 

I dunno if it's always like this, but the one on the top of the pic was MUCH cooler than the one you can't see... :)

 

 

The one in your picture was having problems I think. I may have visited this area 5 or 6 times and each time there was an engineer fooling around with it or it was covered. I think it is covered in your picture.

[luv2gonow]

These guys weren't even on a balcony,,they had an inside. I have read about the Paradise on this board and the "pot smoke filling the hallways" and I thought that was wrong (escept maybe during spring break). I am sure the smokers are smart enough to put a towel under their doors,,IMHO no harm no foul. As I saind, I smelled no smoke in any hallway, not cigarettes,not cigars, not pot. At least they aren't in the public bathrooms spilling thier guts from drinking and ship swaying as the many were doing on the first night.

 

I also read somewhere about Custom agents raiding the ship and I assumed that was one of those Royal whatever you guys call them making up a story. But it wasn't, I can testify. They were being led up and down the halls by a couple of CCL security guys. I actually wonder if they gave the room steward too much grief and that's how they got caught,,but I can't specualte as to the how,,just the why.

 

What I also wonder is who's juristiction are you under when crusing. Customs came aboard when we were docked in Long beach. Is that considered Federal property until you clear the terminal. Because in California posession can be a misdemeanor, a ticketable offense.

 

Ok....so no balcony....ur looking to get caught:rolleyes:

 

As for juristiction....interesting....wonder if these guys had a prescription from California....LOL....

 

You mentioned that they(customs) started from the bottom and went everywhere....I wonder if this was just a random check....cause if it was just those guys.....they would have just went there???

 

Now I'm curious why they were on this ship???? Wonder if there were many multiple complaints being that it was spring break.

 

Seems odd though.....ship didn't even go to Jamaica.....LOL....

thanks

K

[FightOnRon]

Ok....so no balcony....ur looking to get caught:rolleyes:

 

As for juristiction....interesting....wonder if these guys had a prescription from California....LOL....

 

 

Now I'm curious why they were on this ship???? Wonder if there were many multiple complaints being that it was spring break.

 

 

K

 

Actually the city of Long Beach has a lot of medical dispensaries too. I the Long Beach paper there are ads to get your medical card.

 

There were not a lot of spring breakers,,I don't think. The west coast colleges (like USC and UCLA etc) started this week. Obviously they could have been not from here but one of them had an unpleasant night.

[lorasmom]

The one in your picture was having problems I think. I may have visited this area 5 or 6 times and each time there was an engineer fooling around with it or it was covered. I think it is covered in your picture.

It was uncovered for the rest of the trip.. this was immediately after boarding :)

[luv2gonow]

Actually the city of Long Beach has a lot of medical dispensaries too. I the Long Beach paper there are ads to get your medical card.

 

There were not a lot of spring breakers,,I don't think. The west coast colleges (like USC and UCLA etc) started this week. Obviously they could have been not from here but one of them had an unpleasant night.

 

Yeah some for sure did not have a happy ending to their cruise;)

 

Were there dogs with the agents looking for that residual stank??? I would imagine those kids would have still had some in possession to actually get arrested....but who knows right??

thanks again for your awesome review and your fabulous pics:D

K

[luv2gonow]

Yeah some for sure did not have a happy ending to their cruise;)

 

Were there dogs with the agents looking for that residual stank??? I would imagine those kids would have still had some in possession to actually get arrested....but who knows right??

thanks again for your awesome review and your fabulous pics:D

K

 

think i confused this review with another regarding pics....can't find edit button.....i'm reading too many reviews:o

[AZAaronBoy]

Going on Carnival for the 1st time in May on the Paradise 4 Day. Have been on Princess 3 times so this is a great review to set our expectations.

[FightOnRon]

Going on Carnival for the 1st time in May on the Paradise 4 Day. Have been on Princess 3 times so this is a great review to set our expectations.

 

So a followup. I;ve been home for over a week and am jonesing for another cruise but my DW says I am taking her to Calgary first so I suspect my next cruise will be in 2012. I make no quams about admitting I would probably be a HAL cheerleader. I priced the curise I wanted using 2011 prices and HAL was 250-300 more per person for the same itinerary. If I find this to be ture in a year fomr now when I book,,I will book CCL. That extra money will about cover my bar bill and the parking I'll have to pay for. ALso, I can use my home port rather then drive to San Diego.

[mommyto2girls]

I have to say I loved reading this thread..We have cruised HAL, Carnival, RCCL, and Disney. I am a bit spoiled when it comes to staterooms. We cruise suites. Hands down HAL is the only way to go for being pampered regardless of your room category. The Neptune Lounge for suites is amazing and the rooms are great if you compare dollar to dollar it is not so bad. The amenities of a HAL suite cannot even be bought on another line. The problem is the demographic on HAL (we cruise out of Fort Lauderdale usually). HAL is very very lay back sometimes even boring. We are cruisng Carnival in a few weeks out of NY and I am really looking forward to the "life" onboard. We booked a suite although it has no amenities but I do like the space.

[FightOnRon]

Its a matter of what you can afford or what you want to afford. I will admit HAL is much classier and does have a lot of extra special amenities. I had never been in a cabin without a balcony, but I never have had a suite on HAL either,,just a verhanda. I think a cruise longer then 4 days warrants a balcony and it is more affordable for what I need, I will be on on CCL. Now if HAL give me an OBC or a good Mariner discount, I will go with them but if not, it will be CCL. Definetey a more lively ship hands down.

[maxamuus]

BTW,,someone once posted that alarm clocks lose time on ships because of the power not being steady. Our clock lost 5 minutes a day so every day I did reset it.

 

Interesting. Every cruise i noticed this but we always use the same cheap walmart 3 dollar alarm clock and i always assumed it was cause it was a piece of junk.