Deck Space

[mgg42]

Hi all,

 

Question for recent Carnival cruisers. With the exception of a four day on Inspiration last summer, I haven't been on Carnival in a while. The last time before that was on Liberty. And while I had a great time, I found the pool deck a bit limited, especially on sea days. Honestly, it is one of the areas I really have given the edge to RCI, in particular the Oasis and Freedom Class ships. However, I have grown rather tired of what is, in my opinion, really terrible food in the MDR on RCI. And I find myself considering another Carnival cruise.

 

Honestly, for those of you who have traveled Carnival and some of the larger RCI ships, am I going to be disappointed with the pool deck? I am considering another ship the size of Liberty, or possible Carnival Dream (which doesn't seem to have a much larger deck).

 

Any feedback would be appreciated!

 

MGG

[stargate fan]

Hi all,

 

Question for recent Carnival cruisers. With the exception of a four day on Inspiration last summer, I haven't been on Carnival in a while. The last time before that was on Liberty. And while I had a great time, I found the pool deck a bit limited, especially on sea days. Honestly, it is one of the areas I really have given the edge to RCI, in particular the Oasis and Freedom Class ships. However, I have grown rather tired of what is, in my opinion, really terrible food in the MDR on RCI. And I find myself considering another Carnival cruise.

 

Honestly, for those of you who have traveled Carnival and some of the larger RCI ships, am I going to be disappointed with the pool deck? I am considering another ship the size of Liberty, or possible Carnival Dream (which doesn't seem to have a much larger deck).

 

Any feedback would be appreciated!

 

MGG

 

Personally, I think the Spirit class ships have the best pool decks. When we sailed Carnival Miracle in 2009, we spent a lot of time at the aft (back) pool. Not only was the pool itself a nice size, there was a wonderful ledge all the around the pool for sitting in two to three inches of water. There were also so many deck chairs available all day-no crowding of any kind.

[dogbert's mom]

I agree the Spirit class has a much larger pool deck but I must say we used the aft pool on the Dream and never had trouble finding chairs. The pool was crowded but chairs were available.

[LizaMM]

Overall. my personal favorite class on Carnival that I have sailed is the Conquest Class - Liberty is a Conquest Class ship.

 

However, I do think that the Spirit Class offer the BEST pool decks on Carnival. The layout is great and the pool size fits well. I have sailed the Legend (Spirit Class) and I LOVED the pool Deck layout but other than that personally I think Conquest Class wins hands down. It is all a matter of what is most important to you in the long run!

[DarthGrady]

Definitely Spirit Class.

 

They have three pools and carry less people than Dream which only has two pools. The Spirit Class deck layout is also better IMO than Destiny and Conquest classes. The Destiny and Conquest classes have the awkward tiered sun deck set up that eats a lot of space. The Dream class finally lost the tiered sun decks, but also lost a pool (and added people).

[k2excursion]

Even though I've always been a big fan of Carnival cruises, this is one area that I've always known could use improvement. Never enough space around the main pool area. That's what causes people to become chair hogs. Cruises out of Galveston always seemed to have open chairs somewhere around the main pool (even if it's up a level or in the tiered area). Maybe that's because Texas people see enough sun that they don't feel the need to lay out as much as us who experience long cold winters (just speculating). The people on my Mobile cruise seemed to never use even half of the available chairs around the main pool. In regards to the Dream, the area around the main pool (including the higher deck overlooking it) is definitely larger than the Conquest class ships (like Liberty). It's wider and longer, by about the same proportions, which is why pics may make it look about the same. I personally love the tiered suntanning area between the waterslide and pool; I wish the Dream hadn't gotten rid of that. The removal of the pool at the base of the waterslide (from Conquest class) was an odd choice. Dream's waterslides are absolutely spectacular though!

 

Sounds like Spirit class is winning with the responses though. I'll find out in less than 2 months, when I sail the Miracle!