First time on Carnival and was surprised!

[mexico5]

Hi, we just returned from our cruise on the Valor that sailed January 20th. We have sailed on NCL, HAL and Princess. First time on Carnival and have to say that I think it gets a bad rap! We do alot of research before our vacations and find that expectations are what make or break a trip...

 

We loved NCL and would not sail on HAL again. By everything we read we thought we were going to get a more upscale cruise on HAL and it was anything but. The passengers hardly dressed up for Formal Night and the lounges were filled more with passengers snoozing rather than sipping a martini. At times I wasn't sure if they were even alive!

 

Carnival had the best lunch options of all cruise lines. Ceviche tasted wonderful..just as good as in Mexico! Fried oysters, the deli was great where I had rye bread with cheese and sauerkraut (sp), boullabaise was good..my DH loved the fish and chips...

 

Our stateroom was great...an ocean suite...the quietest room ever and tons of space! Yes, you get no perks for suites on Carnival but the price point is amazing what you get.

 

We also expected there to be non stop party animals everywhere and this was simply not the case! All the guests seemed to be happy and having a good time but was not the "fun ship" we had heard so much about.

 

We did miss Grand Turk (the first time we have ever missed a port) but luckily for us it was the only one we had already been to.

 

Only thing that was kind of strange is the safe in the room...you didn't enter your password...you had to swipe your CC which for us was odd...as we like to keep our CC IN the safe...but not a deal breaker!

 

Oh, and the best surprise was how well they do "anytime dining"...never a wait for a table for 2...on HAL we had to make reservations because there was always an hour or so wait so what's the point of "anytime" when you have to make reservations? Carnival was just as good as NCL on that front.

 

So all in all we would sail Carnival again for sure!

[Tithonus]

Hi, we just returned from our cruise on the Valor that sailed January 20th. We have sailed on NCL, HAL and Princess. First time on Carnival and have to say that I think it gets a bad rap! We do alot of research before our vacations and find that expectations are what make or break a trip...

 

We loved NCL and would not sail on HAL again. By everything we read we thought we were going to get a more upscale cruise on HAL and it was anything but. The passengers hardly dressed up for Formal Night and the lounges were filled more with passengers snoozing rather than sipping a martini. At times I wasn't sure if they were even alive!

 

Carnival had the best lunch options of all cruise lines. Ceviche tasted wonderful..just as good as in Mexico! Fried oysters, the deli was great where I had rye bread with cheese and sauerkraut (sp), boullabaise was good..my DH loved the fish and chips...

 

Our stateroom was great...an ocean suite...the quietest room ever and tons of space! Yes, you get no perks for suites on Carnival but the price point is amazing what you get.

 

We also expected there to be non stop party animals everywhere and this was simply not the case! All the guests seemed to be happy and having a good time but was not the "fun ship" we had heard so much about.

 

We did miss Grand Turk (the first time we have ever missed a port) but luckily for us it was the only one we had already been to.

 

Only thing that was kind of strange is the safe in the room...you didn't enter your password...you had to swipe your CC which for us was odd...as we like to keep our CC IN the safe...but not a deal breaker!

 

Oh, and the best surprise was how well they do "anytime dining"...never a wait for a table for 2...on HAL we had to make reservations because there was always an hour or so wait so what's the point of "anytime" when you have to make reservations? Carnival was just as good as NCL on that front.

 

So all in all we would sail Carnival again for sure!

 

Now you need to go back and figure out, "who gave me this misinformation to begin with?"

 

And what other advice have they given you?

[hockeyluver]

Great to hear, and welcome to Carnival :p :D you dont need to use a credit card for the safe, any card with a magnetic strip will work. We use our airmiles card :)

[cruzinlisa]

Great to hear, and welcome to Carnival :p :D you dont need to use a credit card for the safe, any card with a magnetic strip will work. We use our airmiles card :)

 

I was about to post teh same th ing. Not that this helps you now OP, but for next cruise. We usually bring our Ameristar (casino) card.

[Georgie562]

Glad you had a great time! I always use and old gift card for the safe and works just fine.

[mexico5]

Now you need to go back and figure out, "who gave me this misinformation to begin with?"

 

And what other advice have they given you?

 

I am pretty sure I am not the only person that thought of Carnival as being a party ship and being on the low end of cruiselines! All you have to do is read the reviews and comparisons of other lines...

[mexico5]

Great to hear, and welcome to Carnival :p :D you dont need to use a credit card for the safe, any card with a magnetic strip will work. We use our airmiles card :)

 

Great idea! I thought we read in the manual thing in the room that it was to be a CC or Driver's license but we must have misread! Next time will use a "nothing card"!

[Tithonus]

I am pretty sure I am not the only person that thought of Carnival as being a party ship and being on the low end of cruiselines! All you have to do is read the reviews and comparisons of other lines...

 

The only ones that say it's a party ship are those that have never been on one.

[mexico5]

The only ones that say it's a party ship are those that have never been on one.

 

Well that's kind of my point right? You did read my subject line as "surprised"? :confused:

[Tithonus]

Well that's kind of my point right? You did read my subject line as "surprised"? :confused:

 

That's why I asked your source.

 

I never heard that description prior to my first Carnival cruise.

 

And any time I heard it after, I have always heard what the source of that statement was, always followed by crickets.

[gapearl]

Glad you had fun! Welcome to Carnival? Will your next cruise be on Carnival again?

[gusandgidgetsmom]

We always use a past sign and sail card. It works great.

Great to hear, and welcome to Carnival :p :D you dont need to use a credit card for the safe, any card with a magnetic strip will work. We use our airmiles card :)

[Cruzface]

Glad to hear!

[LHP]

Glad you had a good time.

 

 

I would point out that you picked a 7 day cruise which helps on the partying.

The 3 and 4 day cruises seem to get more of the partiers....

 

And I would suggest you cruise with Carnival when school is in session to get a more adult feel....

 

Overall, we love the product...but we do pick and choose "when" we go and on which ships we go on.

[cantwait2cruise]

Glad you had a great cruise!

 

The most partying I've ever encountered was grown adults stacking beer cans by the pool on RCCL. :eek:

[mexico5]

We always vacation when school is in! As far as cruises go we would never do a shorter than 7 day cruise as it is quite an effort to get to Florida...although we would not do a longer one either! 7 day cruise is perfect for us...we also do an all inclusive vacation and mini ones so can't be away from our pampered pooch for too long at a time!

 

When deciding on our next cruise we would look at Carnival, Princess and NCL. Would be based on itinerary and where we could cruise out of. Never want to cruise only one line or never want to sail on the same ship twice...it's nice to now have 3 options.

[tandemcruzr]

We always use a past sign and sail card. It works great.

 

So do we. We tried an expired gift card once, but it didn't work. Since then, we pack an old S&S card.

 

(Once on an earlier cruise, I accidentally used the current S&S card. Safe locked but would not unlock. Security had to come and reset the safe. And I had to get a new S&S card because I couldn't buy a DOD.) :o

[Duncarob]

I don't understand why people think Carnival is full of party animals. It always seems like mostly families to me.

[MLE Litella]

I don't understand why people think Carnival is full of party animals. It always seems like mostly families to me.

 

Ditto

[mexico5]

We are in our 40's and if I had to guess the average age it would be around 55?? Certainly not as many old people on there like we saw on HAL but I thought the crowd was great! We only had a chuckle once during dining...we thought the table next to us MUST have been Honey Boo Boo's relatives!

[jsfromsc]

Glad you had such a great time! I wouldn't bash any line, and I think many who do bash Carnival have not actually sailed with Carnival. And there are rude people pretty much anywhere you go. Your attitude does make a difference. We've never had a bad time on our cruises and we are not party people. We don't even drink.

[AFAMILY]

Thanks for the review mexico5. This will be our first time on carnival as well, only having sailed with NCL in the past, which we enjoyed.

 

Great to hear, and welcome to Carnival :p :D you dont need to use a credit card for the safe, any card with a magnetic strip will work. We use our airmiles card :)

 

This is a great tip and is greatly appreciated hockeyluver, thanks.

[nlktx49]

Carnival is the only line I've ever sailed, and it suits me just fine! It's really irritating that people who have never tried Carnival are so quick to bash it. Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise.

[Georgie562]

Carnival is the only line I've ever sailed, and it suits me just fine! It's really irritating that people who have never tried Carnival are so quick to bash it. Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise.

 

Same here. But once I reach platinum status this year with Carnival I think I'm gonna branch out for a little and try other lines. Not because Carnival is bad but just because I want to try new things. I dont see myself stuck on one sole cruise line for the rest of my life.

[abisha]

I don't understand why people think Carnival is full of party animals. It always seems like mostly families to me.

 

It used to be like that many years ago..back in the 80's. I cruised on the Carnival Holiday and trust me..it was a ship mostly of single young people (myself included..the group I was with were in our late twenties)..lots and lots of partying up all night, getting loud and drunk, etc. There were hardly any people with kids. I look back at my pictures and laugh. But that's where they got the reputation for being that way, and people who haven't cruised Carnival are going by hearsay from those times years ago.