Thinking of trying Carnival

[lauren0309]

I've sailed on Princess and Royal Caribbean and just saw some good deals on Carnival. I have some questions:

 

Do you get a choice of anytime dining or traditional dining?

 

Can you take your luggage off the ship by yourself when the cruise if over? I've done this on both Royal Caribbean and it makes getting off so much faster and less crowds

 

Can you bring wine aboard?

 

Do they have theme nights like White Hot or Caribbean night?

 

Do they have games as far as trivia, bingo, etc.

 

Is the buffet open for late night snacks.

 

Just want to know what to expect if I book with Carnival. Any other information would be greatly appreciated.

[montekat]

I'm sure you will be getting much more detailed answers, but the quick answer is: Yes, to all of your questions.

[Chowder_17]

I've sailed on Princess and Royal Caribbean and just saw some good deals on Carnival. I have some questions:

 

Do you get a choice of anytime dining or traditional dining?- Yes, you can chose either

 

Can you take your luggage off the ship by yourself when the cruise if over? I've done this on both Royal Caribbean and it makes getting off so much faster and less crowds- Yes, there is self disembarkment

 

Can you bring wine aboard?- Yes, one bottle per adult over 21

 

Do they have theme nights like White Hot or Caribbean night?- no

 

Do they have games as far as trivia, bingo, etc.- yes

 

Is the buffet open for late night snacks.- The buffet is open until around 10, but there is pizza and room service 24/7. There is a late buffet on the deck party night.

 

Just want to know what to expect if I book with Carnival. Any other information would be greatly appreciated.

 

What ship/itinerary are you looking at doing?

[SkyMaster]

I

 

Do you get a choice of anytime dining or traditional dining? Yes, Just specify what your preference is when you book.

 

Can you take your luggage off the ship by yourself when the cruise if over? I've done this on both Royal Caribbean and it makes getting off so much faster and less crowds Yes,, you can do "self assist" debarkation, if you can easily carry all your luggage

 

Can you bring wine aboard? Yes, One bottle per adult.

 

Do they have theme nights like White Hot or Caribbean night? Yes. Usually one night during a seven day cruise. Usually a deck party of some sort. Mexican night our last cruise, with GREAT Mexican buffet.

 

Do they have games as far as trivia, bingo, etc. Yes. They have the usual games, including all you've mentioned.

 

Is the buffet open for late night snacks. Not every night. Once again, the buffet is open on the "special night". The pizza, and ice cream/frozen yogurt is 24X7, but not the regular buffet.

 

Just want to know what to expect if I book with Carnival. Any other information would be greatly appreciated.

Expect to have a GREAT time aboard your Carnival Cruise.

[freddymale]

I've sailed on Princess and Royal Caribbean and just saw some good deals on Carnival. I have some questions:

 

Do you get a choice of anytime dining or traditional dining?yes you can choose either when you book your cruise

 

Can you take your luggage off the ship by yourself when the cruise if over? I've done this on both Royal Caribbean and it makes getting off so much faster and less crowds

 

Can you bring wine aboard?yes you can 1 bottle per person I think

 

Do they have theme nights like White Hot or Caribbean night?i thnik they do on most ships

Do they have games as far as trivia, bingo, etc.yes they do to both

 

Is the buffet open for late night snacks.the pizza place is open 24 hrs

 

Just want to know what to expect if I book with Carnival. Any other information would be greatly appreciated.

 

hope that helps

[nytraveller53]

I've sailed on Princess and Royal Caribbean and just saw some good deals on Carnival. I have some questions:

 

Do you get a choice of anytime dining or traditional dining? Yes

 

Can you take your luggage off the ship by yourself when the cruise if over? I've done this on both Royal Caribbean and it makes getting off so much faster and less crowds Yes

 

Can you bring wine aboard? Yes

 

Do they have theme nights like White Hot or Caribbean night? It depends

 

Do they have games as far as trivia, bingo, etc. Yes... and it's great!

 

Is the buffet open for late night snacks. Yup.

 

Just want to know what to expect if I book with Carnival. Any other information would be greatly appreciated.

You will love Carnival. You'll find it a much better value than Royal, in my opinion.:)

 

Go for it!

[klondike11]

I've been on 6 Carnival cruises as early as the Carnivale and as recent as the Liberty. I have tried RCCL, Princess and recently the NCL Epic. Carnival by far is the best! The Epic has everyone beat with entertainment, but I prefer assigned dining with FUN servers, not a bunch of stuffy people that seem to make you feel like hurry up and eat! Plus I think by far Carnival has the best food and I include deserts. On Epic they had the exact same choices of deserts every night, no matter which dining venue!

 

The topper is the size of Carnival's rooms-no matter which type of room you get, they are by far bigger than any other line. In this case it is "size that matters."

 

Good luck and happy cruising!

[OrlandoD]

Living so close to FL ports we've tried both and been very happy. Honestly there are some things one or the other will do better than the other but on the plus side we liked anytime time dining it worked well for us - they knew our requests for table very quickly and accommodated us when we wanted another location. We always do self disembark! I like being able to bring some wine aboard (RCCL won't let you). After a show, we really like Carnival pizza late at night (perhaps an acquired taste? - I've seen some reviews that slam it.)

 

The time of year and itinerary will give you different cruisers of course, but we do find the Carnival vibe is just more fun. (hey! it's a CCL thread I'm gonna say it!) I find the cabins about the same, we've sailed with balcony, OV & interior on both. Never had an issue with service on either - some attendants were more attentive than others but that goes for either line.

 

Here's the thing - Is the deal you see on Carnival going where you want to go, about the time you want to go there and is the price significantly different enough to entice you to want try it? Go for it.

 

 

Happy Sailing!

D

[lauren0309]

In reply to the above, we're thinking of going on Carnival Valor. I've been to Cayman Islands and Cozumel but never to Belize or Roatan. There arent too many itineraries that have islands I haven't been to. I've been to most so it seems like I'm going to have to duplicate a few no matter what itinerary I take.

[Frank12]

The answer to all of your questions is yes.

Give it a try. I think you'll like!

[TheGrandparents]

Our very first cruise was on Premier in 1989.

 

It was a great trip but the one thing that I remember most was sitting in Nassau one evening relaxing on board our dark, quiet Oceanic.

Next to us was berthed a Carnival ship that was all lit up, music playing and a conga line was roaming the deck.

 

We just booked our 3rd Carnival cruise the other day.

(and it being another balcony room)

 

Keep your mind open and you can expect to have another great cruise.

 

Plus you probably saved a bundle over most other cruise lines.

[LHP]

In reply to the above, we're thinking of going on Carnival Valor. I've been to Cayman Islands and Cozumel but never to Belize or Roatan. There arent too many itineraries that have islands I haven't been to. I've been to most so it seems like I'm going to have to duplicate a few no matter what itinerary I take.

 

One other suggestion to consider...

 

if you are not traveling with children (and are not tied to the school calendar), I would recommend cruising when school is in session.

 

These are usually the best time to get good deals on Carnival. It seems when school is out, the rates (for all cruise lines) go up.

[lauren0309]

Our kids are all grown so we always cruise when school is in session. I work for the school district but thankfully they let me go when school is still in session.

[cruisinbanddirectors]

Having cruised both Royal and Carnival, we felt they were pretty comparable. Some slight differences, with each line doing some things we liked better than the other. There is more of a "fun vibe" on CCL but it might also be considered a bit less refined at times. That doesn't bother us, and as far as bang for your buck, CCL has seemed to be the best!

 

I think you will enjoy it...give it a try and find out first hand!

[madge57]

I'm sure you will enjoy your cruise regardless of the cruiseline!! Give it a fair shake and come up with your on conclusion. We went on the Valor and had a great time at these ports!!! Belize we went cave tubing had the best time ever!! Take a chance you never know unless you do!!! Good Luck and Happy Cruising!!!

[hfweather]

I'll be honest with you, I alternate cruiselines between Royal Caribbean and Carnival. I just got off Carnival today and now wish my next one was going back on Carnival instead of the Royal Caribbean one I already have booked. This cruise I just got off of, was my favorite one yet. On our sea days they had so many activites going, it was hard to chose what to go to and do. The sea days went so quickly I couldn't believe it. I think you should give Carnival a try, I think you'd love it too!

[misguidedangel]

I have to mention that the Deli, for those ships that have it, is open until 11pm at night and the late night buffet usually is open from 6-930 or 10pm at night and you can even get warm chocolate melting cake at the lido buffet.

 

Pizza also has ceasar salad if you feel a little peckish.....

 

Lido Deck Party night is awesome. The band starts playing around 9-10pm and plays until late. The deck party is so fun! Deck Party on the Splendor was amazing cuz the dancers did a mini show to the band and then everyone else got in and many of the dancers and CD stayed for a while after...

[buckeye82]

We have cruised on many lines in the past and decided to try Carnival for the first time over the holidays. We got back two weeks ago. We had a great time! We will definitely sail with them again!

[BarJen]

In reply to the above, we're thinking of going on Carnival Valor. I've been to Cayman Islands and Cozumel but never to Belize or Roatan. There arent too many itineraries that have islands I haven't been to. I've been to most so it seems like I'm going to have to duplicate a few no matter what itinerary I take.

 

 

We sailed on the Valor last April with the same itinerary as the one you are looking at. This is a great route as I am sure you enjoyed GC and Cozumel. In Roatan we did a private tour stopping at a great local restaurant called Berties, stopped and some great photo spots and followed up with a stop at Victor Bodden's monkeys where you can go right into the cage and interact and take photos...my wife and I really enjoyed that!

Belize we did the canopy tour excursion (zip line) which was really fun and the best part about it was that we got to see some of the coutry side of the country as they take you into the jungle where the zip lines are.

The Valor is a nicely laid out ship, the service was great, over all I would definitly sail on the Valor again.

I can't compare differences with other cruise lines like you have been on but in response to your original post on this thread, I can pretty much answer yes to all of your questions.

Carnival isn't called the "funships" for nothing! :D

 

Barry

[cellalot]

We have sailed RCCL 7 times, Princess twice, and once on Disney, NCL, Celebrity and a few others overseas. That said, we are platinum with Carnival and overall we prefer them since they seem to have a little something for everyone and seem to consistently have the best value. And yes to all your questions.

[BarJen]

I think also being that you have sailed with Princess (part of Carnival Corp) that you may be eligible for the past guest discount if it is available for the sailing you are considering.

Can anyone confirm this?

 

 

Barry

[love to read]

My wife and I have sailed Carnival, Princess, and Royal Caribbean in that order. We cruised again with Carnival last May and have booked another Carnival cruise for May of this year. We really enjoyed the atmosphere much better, and also the food was much better (IMO). Give it a try. How could you not have fun on a cruise with any cruise line. Vacation is always what you make it to be.