Gonna try Carnival ! Can you convince me why I should ?!! ;)

[DKNE]

Cruised many times, traveled tons and now we are seriously looking at a Carnival Cruise, for the first time. I cruised Carnival Festivale 20 years ago, so I don't really count that as a carnival sailer. Mostly cruised Royal or Disney.

 

Really want to do an itinerary with Jamaica, Turks or Grand Cayman Islands. So that leaves us with Breeze, Sunshine, Dream, Magic, Liberty and something else I can't remember. Our kids will be 9 & 11.

 

Any tips, help, pointers, suggestions I will take them all. We are leaning towards a balcony (usually with the kids we do outside cabin) so we are good with either.

 

Also what's the advantage of sailing out of Tampa, Miami, Galvaston or New Orleans. We always sailed out of Florida or San Juan Puerto Rico.

 

NCL has kids sail free, which makes me want to lean towards them (epic) but reading a ton of stuff that seems to be consistently the same thing being said, I think Carnival is where I am heading.

 

Thanks in advance for your fantabulous ideas !! :D:D

[Ron_L]

We've been on Carnival three times (Valor, Imagination and Breeze) and have enjoyed them all. We also went on the Celebrity Summit last December and enjoyed that. We're booked on the Epic in a couple of weeks and I'm sure that we will enjoy that, too :D

 

It's really what you make it. We enjoy the ships and seeing different ports and go with the flow while on board. If you want to party or participate in the various contests, etc. great. If not, there are plenty of places where you can get away from those activities.

[okgirl]

Cruised many times, traveled tons and now we are seriously looking at a Carnival Cruise, for the first time. I cruised Carnival Festivale 20 years ago, so I don't really count that as a carnival sailer. Mostly cruised Royal or Disney.

 

Really want to do an itinerary with Jamaica, Turks or Grand Cayman Islands. So that leaves us with Breeze, Sunshine, Dream, Magic, Liberty and something else I can't remember. Our kids will be 9 & 11.

 

Any tips, help, pointers, suggestions I will take them all. We are leaning towards a balcony (usually with the kids we do outside cabin) so we are good with either.

 

Also what's the advantage of sailing out of Tampa, Miami, Galvaston or New Orleans. We always sailed out of Florida or San Juan Puerto Rico.

 

NCL has kids sail free, which makes me want to lean towards them (epic) but reading a ton of stuff that seems to be consistently the same thing being said, I think Carnival is where I am heading.

 

Thanks in advance for your fantabulous ideas !! :D:D

 

Carnival is an excellent value. They have great kids clubs and loads of activities.

 

With kids your age I would choose the Breeze. It's the newest of the ships and has more amenities than any other ship in the fleet. It sails out of Miami so it's just as convenient (and sometimes cheaper) to fly into Ft. Lauderdale (FLL).

 

The kids will love the ropes course and waterworks and sports square.....there really is so much to do on the ship you'll wish you had booked a B2B.

[Sheebah]

We chose Carnival because of price and convenience to home port. We've found the food and service to be pretty similar. Also, carnival is great for kids (ours is 5).

 

We love carnival but princess is our favorite overall line as it offers understated ships and very nice mini suite cabins with bathtubs.

 

If I were in your shoes, is chose the port that is easiest/most direct/least expensive to access and narrow it down from there :-)

 

 

Carnival Miracle video tour:

[Rosethorn40]

Carnival offers an excellent value. We normally sail on Princess, but really enjoyed Carnival a lot. I find our fellow PAX to be down to earth, friendly. All ages from the very young to the young at heart will be found on board. Lots of family groups.

 

Don't sail out of Galveston, even though I personally loved the Magic. That port is a huge hassle. Fog often delays the ship leaving or returning to port, and immigration is the worst I have ever encountered (A number of PAX still travel with birth certificates instead of passports, and that slows things down, plus Texas has strict liquor laws that catch people by surprise when they try to bring 2 liters of alcohol back-Texas only allows one liter duty free). The main airport in Houston is a long drive in heavy traffic to and from the port. We found the Carnival transfers to Galveston to be so disorganized and poorly run (We almost missed the ship because they didn't have enough buses) that we hired a car to take us back to Houston. That didn't go well either, our driver was 2-hours late picking us up (This was through Super Shuttle) and we missed our flight.

 

I have never been on the Breeze, but she is a sister ship to the Magic, which I loved. Lots to do for both kids and adults. We were still discovering areas of the ship on day 7.

 

You may get suggestions to forgo Jamaica, but I loved it. There is a river tubing excursion on the White River that you can book though the ship or on your own that would be a great family activity. I've been on many an excursion on many an island and it's one of our all-time favorites.

 

Bon Voyage on whatever you decide.

[Aplmac]

Value

 

For

 

Money

 

.

Edited March 23, 2014 by Aplmac

[LHP]

I would give the Breeze a try.

 

We have sailed all the Carnival ships and the Breeze was wonderful.

[Whenisdinner]

Carnival = more fun, better food, more fun for kids, bigger cabins, fantastic value.

 

Just got back from 8 nights Grand Turk, DR, Aruba, Curacao on the Freedom.

 

Food was awesome (much better than our NCL Alaska trip)! Prime Rib 2 nights, lobster 1 night, filet 1 night and count-em THREE (3) Brunches! Woohoo! Warm Chocolate Melting Cake every night!!!! All in the MDR. No need to upgrade to primo upcharge restaurants. Gained 10 lbs :D

 

Cabin and MDR service was great. We did anytime dining (2 kids) so we could avoid repeating with slow waiters (only 1 night of 8 was iffy service).

 

TONS of stuff to do for kids old and young. 5 age groups of kids clubs each with a dedicated physical space and staff (2-5, 6-8, 9-11, 12-15, 16+). Yours will be in 9-11 group which can come and go as they wish -- you can allow or disallow this when you sign them up. Compare against kids club on NCL Pearl which were all in the same in a big room. Our 11 yr old didn't care to be surrounded by 30 screaming 5 yr olds, so she never went back.

[xeroxme]

I would cruise carnival if you're looking for a fun upbeat atmosphere. My wife and I have Cruise princess the most which we truly enjoyed for peace and quiet.. For fun we enjoyed carnival the most for night life etc.. I have cruised RCL Allure.. while A big ship and they get you on and off fast.. The nightlife is best on Carnival.. If you are looking for that!! The carnival Cruise Lines staff prefer working on Carnival fun ships over their other brands such as princess because of the energy and nightlife. DW and i are on the breeze in April 2014

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[outerbks]

We are going on our 27th Carnival cruise in 28 days. We hate it and you should book another cruise line so you keep the prices down for intelligent vacationers.:cool:

[gelo7]

Give it a try and have a great cruise.

[wrigley80]

Why not give it a try?? They are a great cruise with good food, friendly staff, fun ports of call, and exciting onboard activities

[Aplmac]

We are going on our 27th Carnival cruise in 28 days.

We hate it and you should book another cruise line

so you keep the prices down for intelligent vacationers.:cool:

Yes, I second this emotion. Don't go Carnival.

 

We just did our 9th. cruise on Carnival (out of twelve overall)

and we hated it so much I'm looking to book another Carnival cruise very soon.

 

You should book something stodgy and boring like Cunard

to help keep prices down for us intelligent vacationers.

.

Edited March 23, 2014 by Aplmac

[seeing this world]

Hi I am Canadian and all i have ever done is Carnival, i am comfortable on Carnival.

 

As a Canadian the only down fall i find is disembarkment at Tampa.. In Miami and Fort lauderdale you can disembark with everyone and not have to pre clear customs on the ship like you do in Tampa. By having to pre clear in Tampa , you will have to haul the whole family out of bed on the day you are to leave the ship down to the main lounge, wait for the customs guys and ladies to show up and do a pre clearance with them. Yep down there at 6 30 in the morning, You wait in the main lounge with all your family along with maybe a few hundred other Aliens. This can take up to 2 hours and depends how many aliens there are on board. You have to be out of your room by 8 30 and you still have not had a coffee or breaky. Then you have clear customs once again to get out of the terminal. If you are travelling home that day it can make for a very long day.

 

I like Carnival, the food is good, entertainment sometimes is hit and miss, family comedy, rooms very clean. I have been told kids clubs are great..

 

I now check to see what the disembarkment process is before we book, it has to be a really special cruise out of a port that has the same process as Tampa.

 

they have a great bon voyage department where you can pre order bottles for your room if you are a drinker, you can bring soda and water on board. a bottle of wine each for each adult in your room. I love buying the Faster to the fun pass for our room if we have tender ports it has some perks that goes along with it. yes we are a Carnival family..

Edited March 23, 2014 by seeing this world

[txmom11]

No, I can't convince you to try it.

 

I have some suggestions though. Research it, and if you think Carnival will work for your family, do it. If someone else "convinces" you to try it and you don't like it, then you'll be irritated because they told you it was a good idea.

 

I love Carnival and think it's a great value for the money. Is it perfect? Nope, but we always have a ball.

 

Good luck! Let us know what you decide. :)

[mek]

I think everyone should try different lines just to find out what is out there. Try it once - only you can decide it it's a good fit for you.

[GRANNYOFSIX]

Cruised many times, traveled tons and now we are seriously looking at a Carnival Cruise, for the first time. I cruised Carnival Festivale 20 years ago, so I don't really count that as a carnival sailer. Mostly cruised Royal or Disney.

 

Really want to do an itinerary with Jamaica, Turks or Grand Cayman Islands. So that leaves us with Breeze, Sunshine, Dream, Magic, Liberty and something else I can't remember. Our kids will be 9 & 11.

 

Any tips, help, pointers, suggestions I will take them all. We are leaning towards a balcony (usually with the kids we do outside cabin) so we are good with either.

 

Also what's the advantage of sailing out of Tampa, Miami, Galvaston or New Orleans. We always sailed out of Florida or San Juan Puerto Rico.

 

NCL has kids sail free, which makes me want to lean towards them (epic) but reading a ton of stuff that seems to be consistently the same thing being said, I think Carnival is where I am heading.

 

Thanks in advance for your fantabulous ideas !! :D:D

 

Not sure, but I believe Carnival is having 3rd and 4th guest sail free if in same cabin on many, many sailings through 2014.........sure might be worth looking in to........HAPPY CRUISING:):):):)

[mzloolue]

As for where to sail from, what would you like to do in the port city?

How long will you be there?

 

New Orleans has a lot to see and do that is totally appropriate for kids.

 

With my kids I always tried to find fun educational places to visit and things to do.

And I would research things so that I could have the kids prepared for what they might be seeing.

[DKNE]

Thank you ALL for your wonderful help, and ideas. We are really leaning towards the Breeze. No matter what we look at it always goes back to the Breeze, due to many of the on board things that our kids can do and us big kids too!!

 

If dh can change his week vacation to the prior week, that he currently has booked off, it will be the Breeze, as it has the perfect itinerary for us and we looked at booking the ship over a year ago, but did a land trip instead. So I think its in our blood to go, cause we keep going back to it lol. But our current week off vacation the Breeze goes to Honduras and Belize, and I am not keen on either place.

 

We aren't fussy people, not nit pickers, we make the most of everything! Being on 6 cruises we know there can be good and bad with all lines, not just one in particular.

We live in Canada but fly out of Buffalo, way cheaper for us and one of the reasons why we want to book a cruise is because last month we went to Florida, & SouthWest messed up (malfunction plane and no other planes to take us home as it was the last flight out of Tampa) and we were stuck in Tampa airport on a 9 hour delay (and add a massive snow storm hitting Buffalo and area), we got home the next day, BUT they gave us a $400 voucher towards our next flight. Certainly can not allow that to go to waste ! ;)

 

Thanks for your help guys ! Really appreciate it.

[DKNE]

As for where to sail from, what would you like to do in the port city?

How long will you be there?

 

New Orleans has a lot to see and do that is totally appropriate for kids.

 

With my kids I always tried to find fun educational places to visit and things to do.

And I would research things so that I could have the kids prepared for what they might be seeing.

 

Port city we don't do a heck of a lot. We just fly in the day before, because we fly from Buffalo, so winter weather, we don't want to risk a delay. We usually just chill-ax at the hotel pool and then try to be one of the first ones on board the next am ! ;)

[DKNE]

Yes, I second this emotion. Don't go Carnival.

 

We just did our 9th. cruise on Carnival (out of twelve overall)

and we hated it so much I'm looking to book another Carnival cruise very soon.

 

You should book something stodgy and boring like Cunard

to help keep prices down for us intelligent vacationers.

.

 

You guys crack me up. I literally laughed out loud !! :p

[morganboys]

with sailing both carnival & royal all I can say is because the price is lower in most cases.

[CatlinSTJ]

No, I can't convince you to try it.

 

I have some suggestions though. Research it, and if you think Carnival will work for your family, do it. If someone else "convinces" you to try it and you don't like it, then you'll be irritated because they told you it was a good idea.

 

I love Carnival and think it's a great value for the money. Is it perfect? Nope, but we always have a ball.

 

Good luck! Let us know what you decide. :)

 

I have to agree with this and it sounds like you've decided to give it a whirl :-). Look up videos of the Breeze on YouTube and track down the Guy Fieri Family Vacation episode on the Breeze - very cool. It's nice to see real people in action and what the ship is like to decide if it's right or you.

 

 

Next cruise: Carnival Breeze June 2014

[BenjiRodney]

Because I know I am going to have a great time and get a good vacation for a great price. Been on 10 Carnival Cruises and looking forward to #11 in November.

[Mizzouaholic]

Because they're cheaper and more fun than other lines