Help - will I be disappointed with Carnival?

[parolski]

I rarely can afford to cruise, have been on RCL twice and spoiled by the balcony rooms and great service! Am looking to cruise from Charleston on Carnival - to save some money. Will I be disappointed - should I save my money and fly down further south for one of the Royal Caribbean cruises? Hubby hasn't been to the Bahamas so would like to go there next.

 

I cruised on Carnival 25 years ago. Just to give you a laugh, room service at night had two choices for a snack; cream cheese and olive sandwiches, and something else which I forget. My how things have changed!

 

Thanks for your input on Carnival. I live in Maine and am looking for the best possible prices. Norwegian to Bermuda is our only choice in Boston. The only cruises I see in Maine are those Canada cruises - good grief, if I wanted to go to Canada :eek:, I'd drive there

 

Thanks for any thoughts!:D

[kiraryker]

I rarely can afford to cruise, have been on RCL twice and spoiled by the balcony rooms and great service! Am looking to cruise from Charleston on Carnival - to save some money. Will I be disappointed - should I save my money and fly down further south for one of the Royal Caribbean cruises? Hubby hasn't been to the Bahamas so would like to go there next.

 

I cruised on Carnival 25 years ago. Just to give you a laugh, room service at night had two choices for a snack; cream cheese and olive sandwiches, and something else which I forget. My how things have changed!

 

Thanks for your input on Carnival. I live in Maine and am looking for the best possible prices. Norwegian to Bermuda is our only choice in Boston. The only cruises I see in Maine are those Canada cruises - good grief, if I wanted to go to Canada :eek:, I'd drive there

 

Thanks for any thoughts!:D

 

We have been on 4 carnival cruises with other family members and have never been dissappointed - We choose by the ports, value, services and have loved everyone!!

 

I need action and love to people watch and we have young adults so Carnival fits perfect with all of us even my 70yr old father loves them! My Dad's wifes family were die hard Royal Carribbean fans but she talked them all into taking a family cruise on Carnival and they also found they loved it! For more laid back atmosphere just go to the adults only deck.

 

And my son loved the room service!! He ate it every night! We will be on our next cruise in Jan on the Magic can't wait!

[kiraryker]

Oh and the steak house (if your ship has one) is a MUST! It was worth the $70 for the hubby and I just to experience the atmosphere - very romantic evening and the food was done in such a way that it was a feast for the eyes as well as your tummy:D

[Bonnie J.]

We LOVE the Fantasy out of Charleston! We are going on her next Thrusday, the 27th for 5 days (our 8th Fantasy THIS year)and then in October we get on her again for 7 days. The 5 day goes to Nassau & Freeport. The 7 day goes to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay - Carnival's own FANTASTIC island then to Nassau. If you're coming from Maine, I'd say do the 7 day cruise. Fantasy does 7 days about once a month.

This ship doesn't have a lot of balconys but the cabins do have big windows. We have had suites with names, balcony, outside and now really like the inside cabins. Let me know if you have any specific questions. Thyey don't have a steak house.

[CimW]

You have to go with an open mind.

 

I have sailed on 4 different cruise lines and you know what? I have loved all of my cruises.

[RRLLAL]

Been on 11 Carnival cruises and they have ALL been great. You will not be disappointed.

[mrsd912]

Hiya neighbor!

 

I thought we would be disappointed after doing a lot of reading on this site, but wenwere thrilled with our cruise. We had an amazing time, the food was good, the service was out of this world! I know others on our sailing didn't have the same experience but we were so happy we're already planning our second Carnival cruise!

[NavarreCruiser]

We've been on 37 CCL (38th is Monday) and 23 RCI cruises and have never been dissapointed with either line.

[BettyPC]

We have been on Carnival twice and RC once. I was afraid of the FOOD on RC since i heard on the boards that Carnival was way better.

 

I enjoyed RC as much as I did Carnival - go be happy & enjoy!

[janetz]

I rarely can afford to cruise, have been on RCL twice and spoiled by the balcony rooms and great service! Am looking to cruise from Charleston on Carnival - to save some money. Will I be disappointed - should I save my money and fly down further south for one of the Royal Caribbean cruises? Hubby hasn't been to the Bahamas so would like to go there next.

 

I cruised on Carnival 25 years ago. Just to give you a laugh, room service at night had two choices for a snack; cream cheese and olive sandwiches, and something else which I forget. My how things have changed!

 

Thanks for your input on Carnival. I live in Maine and am looking for the best possible prices. Norwegian to Bermuda is our only choice in Boston. The only cruises I see in Maine are those Canada cruises - good grief, if I wanted to go to Canada :eek:, I'd drive there

 

Thanks for any thoughts!:D

 

Have you considered cruising from New York or New Jersey? There are more options then Carnival. NCL Breakaway, a new ship will be sailing out of NY next April. Celebrity and RC go from NJ. I am not inpressed with Carnival at all. My humble opinion. :)

[cruisecrazy82]

We have never been disappointed with Carnival either and we just sailed the 5 night from Charleston this past January and LOVED the Fantasy!!! We had such a good time that we went ahead and booked the 7 night on the Fantasy for January 2013!!! I do have a question for you though, since you are coming from Maine have you thought about sailing from Baltimore? RCCL & CCL sail from there, just a thought! :)

[Cruisegirl6]

My opinion....so nobody yells at me

 

There is a big difference in RCI vs Carnival

 

RCI

Buffet breakfast much better, includes fresh ham each day, two different type potatoes, decent bacon, scrambled eggs cooked alot better. Lunch buffets exceed carnivals they offer more meat entree dishes, choices veggies, larger salad bar with more items. What I like about the buffets here is that they have mini stations so you not have to stand in a very long line waiting, the flow of the buffets are so much better (layout). MDR better quality meats, get actual vegetable portions/servings.

Service overall excellent!! Cocktails less costly than Carnival. Fresh water pools and larger pools. Balconies larger in length. Most ships give you two specialty dining which are excellent. They have a 24 hour promenade cafe which serves, pizza, finger sandwiches, salads of different types, marinated veggies, mozzerella, proscuitto, pastries, cookies, etc. Love the viking crown lounge on top of the ship. Most ships have shower doors and not curtains. Entertainment excellent broadway production type shows.

 

Carnival:

Breakfast buffet always running scrambled eggs, greasy as heck bacon, hate those fried tiny little round what they call hash browns. Lunch buffet mostly consist of fast food type foods or inexpensive foods such as pasta, sandwiches, chicken fingers,etc. Usually only one choice vegetable they do have wok station and carving station. Salad bar just the same old typical items. MDR dinner inexpensive cuts of meat such as flat iron steak, 3-4 pieces of vegetable on plate such as broccoli, green beans and carrots not a serving at all. Desserts always much better. Late night only pizza, calzones, ceasar salad nothing else. More fun slot machines. Salt water small pools, balconies smaller in length.

I am only basing my experiences on Carnival with the fantasy class ships. Service always a hit or miss. Have not been on a ship yet with specialty dining will go next week on our first one, we have four evenings confirmed there. Entertainment most of the time for us is fair nothing better, the typical juggler, magician, game shows if your into that.

 

We going on the Dream next month and hope that since its a newer ship and larger we get more selection/variety and better options. Do like Punchliners comedy that they added. I also heard that ice cream is offered 24/7

 

I am going on the Dream next week because we been on the FOS/LOS 6 times in the past four years and just want to go out of Pt. Canaveral and just want a change of scenery. We have no other choices, never would consider a disney cruise, and then there is the Dream. We never had a bad Carnival cruise, but we know we get better on RCI.

[MrFunInTheSun]

You'll have a great time. Carnival offers a great product and value for the price. With that said, so does Royal Caribbean. Be sure not to go into the cruise comparing the two and make sure you go into it with a positive attitude and go with the flow. There are many areas the two are much alike as some other areas very different. You won't be disappointed.

 

Have a great cruise! At the end of the day your cruise will be what you make of it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Please excuse typographical errors.

[RRLLAL]

Lunch buffet is more than a buffet. There is the deli, the wok station, the carving styation, some shipsd have a burrito bar, they are adding an italian station, there is chinese food on the buffet, there is a specialty each day whether it be spanish, french, etc. Lunch is far far more than just the typical buffet line.

[Cruisegirl6]

RRLLAL Yes, correct there is a burrito bar and the international specialty of the day but not sure if these are offered on the older ships. I know the Dream has these. Also she just came out of dry dock and they added the Taste Bar.

[TullMan]

If I lived in Maine, I would take one of those Maritime cruises. I'm guessing you want warmer weather.

 

Carnival is what it is: cruising for all types of people. I have sailed on Princess and found it a little stuffy. I always come back to Carnival and am rarely dissapointed.

[ShakyBeef]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!:)

 

I see another poster mentioned it already, but I think it's worth repeating: you might want to consider cruising out of Baltimore. It's not a bad drive down from Maine; you can save lots of money on airfare. The port of Baltimore has a really smooth operation - by far the best port out of which we have cruised. RCL (Enchantment OTS, soon to be Grandeur OTS) and Carnival (Pride) both sail out of Baltimore year-round to the Bahamas.

[glorialagos]

Why not try the NCL Gem out of NYC? We did that over Christmas last winter and it is my favorite ship. We have sailed on the Fantasy. It was not horrible and we had a good time - just enjoyed the Gem much better and it would be close for you.

[Storm0075]

We have never been disappointed with Carnival either and we just sailed the 5 night from Charleston this past January and LOVED the Fantasy!!! We had such a good time that we went ahead and booked the 7 night on the Fantasy for January 2013!!! I do have a question for you though, since you are coming from Maine have you thought about sailing from Baltimore? RCCL & CCL sail from there, just a thought! :)

 

I have been looking at all of the different ports along the Eastern seaboard to see what has the best options at the time I am looking at. Carnival has great prices, but it isn't the only option out there. I live near Baltimore so the Pride has a huge convenience factor for us as well. And NY and MD are closer to ME

[Dr Fidelius]

I rarely can afford to cruise, have been on RCL twice and spoiled by the balcony rooms and great service! Am looking to cruise from Charleston on Carnival - to save some money. Will I be disappointed - should I save my money and fly down further south for one of the Royal Caribbean cruises? Hubby hasn't been to the Bahamas so would like to go there next.

 

I cruised on Carnival 25 years ago. Just to give you a laugh, room service at night had two choices for a snack; cream cheese and olive sandwiches, and something else which I forget. My how things have changed!

 

Thanks for your input on Carnival. I live in Maine and am looking for the best possible prices. Norwegian to Bermuda is our only choice in Boston. The only cruises I see in Maine are those Canada cruises - good grief, if I wanted to go to Canada :eek:, I'd drive there

 

Thanks for any thoughts!:D

 

Each line has its own culture (for lack of a better word).

 

What did you know about RCL before you sailed with them? Approach your Carnival cruise with the same open minded anticipation. All cruises are fun.

 

(Is the cuisine the most important part of a cruise for you? I ask because the only issue you mentioned with your earlier Carnival cruise was room service selection. According to the foodies I know, Carnival puts out average to good fare, and a foodie may well be disappointed. Me, I go on Carnival to sleep by the pool, watch pretty girls in bathing suits, and add to my collection of Ships on a Stick from the trivia games.)

[RRLLAL]

I have been looking at all of the different ports along the Eastern seaboard to see what has the best options at the time I am looking at. Carnival has great prices, but it isn't the only option out there. I live near Baltimore so the Pride has a huge convenience factor for us as well. And NY and MD are closer to ME

 

Miracle (or is it Splendor now?) out of NYC and Pride out of Bmore are Great cruises.

 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

[thomarvin]

I have sailed on both RC and CCl. I find the cabins on CCL to be bigger and nicer. If you are an active person then you will find RC better for the ice skating, rock wall, etc. However I am not that kind of person. My kids did all that the first time we cruised RC but not the second. To me it is not worth paying double the price for. I think the food is fine. I have never been to the steak house and dont plan on going. I have always been satified with the food in the MDR. I think there are alot more food choices with CCL and its available 24 hrs. RC closes things overnight. As long as I dont have to cook it or clean up after it I am super happy!! You will be very happy with CCL. This if from a fellow New Englander and we tell it like it is :)

 

Have a great trip.!!

[jules815]

We've cruised both lines and have never had a bad cruise.

 

:)

[Chigirlcruzin]

Oh and the steak house (if your ship has one) is a MUST! It was worth the $70 for the hubby and I just to experience the atmosphere - very romantic evening and the food was done in such a way that it was a feast for the eyes as well as your tummy:D

 

The steak house is great, but unfortunately, Fantasy does not have one.

[KG1924]

I have sailed on both RC and CCl. I find the cabins on CCL to be bigger and nicer. If you are an active person then you will find RC better for the ice skating, rock wall, etc. However I am not that kind of person. My kids did all that the first time we cruised RC but not the second. To me it is not worth paying double the price for. I think the food is fine. I have never been to the steak house and dont plan on going. I have always been satified with the food in the MDR. I think there are alot more food choices with CCL and its available 24 hrs. RC closes things overnight. As long as I dont have to cook it or clean up after it I am super happy!! You will be very happy with CCL. This if from a fellow New Englander and we tell it like it is :)

 

Have a great trip.!!

 

What does Carnival have open 24 hours other then Pizza? RC also has pizza either very close to or 24 hours. Neither are gourmet mind you (I have Chicago pizza to compare to!:p) Maybe it varies ship to ship, but on the Dream I felt that the buffet was closed at rather odd hours in comparison to RC ships (Voyager and larger) Not saying your wrong or anything, I just noticed the complete opposite.