New to Carnival

[signora]

I've never cruised on Carnival-I'm mostly a NCL person but I'm attracted to Carnival Freedom's itinerary next Xmas- La Romana and Aruba and Curacao. I have a couple of questions, which may receive subjective answers. One is how noisy the ship is: are there quiet places to hang out besides one's cabin? Also, of course, the food: does anyone know of any menus that have been posted on cc? I appreciate any help with my decision! Thanks--Amy

[rhinomike]

Everything is very similar to NCL.

[gatorsfam]

I've never cruised on Carnival-I'm mostly a NCL person but I'm attracted to Carnival Freedom's itinerary next Xmas- La Romana and Aruba and Curacao. I have a couple of questions, which may receive subjective answers. One is how noisy the ship is: are there quiet places to hang out besides one's cabin? Also, of course, the food: does anyone know of any menus that have been posted on cc? I appreciate any help with my decision! Thanks--Amy

 

Sounds like we're somewhat in the same boat - we seem to end up on NCL more often but enjoy Carnival and other lines as well.

 

Plenty of quiet places on the ship - usually lower deck outside is nice (6 I think?) hardly anyone there.. Also upstairs in the buffet is empty almost all the time and is a great place to hang out. Many of the lounges are empty a lot as well. You'll find that passing near the casino is more common due to the layouts so that can be a bit noisier, but overall it is easily avoided. I will say to avoid the pool deck on embarkation if you want quiet - we made the mistake of getting herded up there and it wasn't as nice of a start as we'd have liked, but it changed quickly once we started to figure our way around the ship and to the quieter areas for lunch.

 

Food is excellent - in fact I think it edges out NCL a bit - desserts are great and MDR service and variety are very nice - servers do a little show at the end of the meal which is nice too.

 

I think you'll find it to be a nice and enjoyable cruise.

[miataman19]

Go to Zydeco's website for the menu's you're looking for..:)

 

Zydecocruiser cruise home page

[CruzLover80]

In all ships regardless of cruiselines, have a spot that generally a quiet spot. Having been on both NCL and Carnival, I love the food on both. NCL has a better midnight dining option than Carnival. Deserts are better on Carnival than NCL and I prefer the MDR on Carnival. I do think food is objective, some may like certain things than others, so you can't really base food on everyone's opinion. I'm not a picky eater, so I am usually fully satisfied with both options.

[riffatsea]

Hmm? I wonder if NCL has improved a lot since our Alaska cruise many years ago??

On that cruise the only place I thought the food was good was in the specialty restaurants. I thought the buffet was horrible and the MDR was boring!

I think that Carnival's buffet with all of its separate stations is quite good and the MDR on most days offers great choices. Once in a while we cannot find anything we want to eat and on those days we'd pay the extra price for the Steakhouse or stay at the buffet.

There are definitely quiet places throughout the Carnival ships so no worries about that!

[kcwingwalker]

I've never cruised on Carnival-I'm mostly a NCL person but I'm attracted to Carnival Freedom's itinerary next Xmas- La Romana and Aruba and Curacao. I have a couple of questions, which may receive subjective answers. One is how noisy the ship is: are there quiet places to hang out besides one's cabin? Also, of course, the food: does anyone know of any menus that have been posted on cc? I appreciate any help with my decision! Thanks--Amy

 

IMO after looking at your past cruises you might be happier with another choice.

[miataman19]

Here is the link to the menu page

 

http://www.zydecocruiser.net/menus/CarnivalCruiseLineMenus.htm

[Jimmy Geegitz]

It seems like general opinion is that you have to pay for the good food on NCL.

[linga]

I've cruised on both. They are way more similar than different.

 

I haven't seen any difference between NCL and Carnival when it comes to quiet areas.

 

I also agree with CruzLover80 on the food.

 

I would not hesitate to cruise either Carnival or NCL. Because I have found NCL and Carnival basically the same, I've gone back to Carnival more often due to price. I can go more often! :)

[michelle1836]

the serenity area is quiet and adult only. but keep in mind that the Freedom is also going in for some changes/upgrades in the spring

[gatorsfam]

It seems like general opinion is that you have to pay for the good food on NCL.

 

NCL MDR food is fine.. paying for specialty you get a bit of a step up in food (subjective IMO), but you are really paying for the quieter atmosphere and privacy of a more intimate dining setting. I think so often people equate the two, but they are distinctly different. I've had wonderful specialty restaurant atmosphere with sub-par food (my preference) and the opposite in the MDR.

 

It is splitting hairs between Carnival and NCL - both have ups and downs and what we decide to focus on becomes more important to us and that is why over time people seem to gravitate more often to one line or the other

[signora]

Thanks so much for all your responses--they were very helpful. The menus were particularly interesting: if the food is as half as good as it looks it'll be great! More inclined to take this cruise than before. Anyone know if there is a wraparound promenade on the Freedom? And BTW which class is she? Thanks in advance! --Amy

[k2excursion]

Thanks so much for all your responses--they were very helpful. The menus were particularly interesting: if the food is as half as good as it looks it'll be great! More inclined to take this cruise than before. Anyone know if there is a wraparound promenade on the Freedom? And BTW which class is she? Thanks in advance! --Amy

 

No wraparound promenade. Freedom is in the Conquest class. Decks 3 & 4 have some outdoor space underneath or by the lifeboats. They are usually used as smoking spots. There are some nice quiet spots at the forward observation decks at the front of the ship on decks 6, 7, 9, & 10. Those spots can get very windy though.