Pride vs Conquest vs Splendor vs Dream vs Magic

[siamese5555]

I am trying to narrow down which ship to take for a Western Caribbean cruise in January. Does anyone have some pluses or negatives about one of these ships over the others? I have on 6 other ships--Glory, Valor, Freedom, Sunshine, Liberty and Victory. I know the Conquest is the same class as the Glory, etc.

 

One difference is the number of people on board. Pride is only 2100 up to the big ones Magic and Dream at 3700/3600. Pride is going into dry dock before my sailing and will get Guy's burgers (YES!).

 

Thanks for your input and advice.

[T. Advisor King]

I've been on a variety of Carnival ships and my only comment is that I'm not convinced the larger ships are more "crowded". They have more passengers and crew, but they also have proportionately more space. If you define "crowded" as referring to the number of people in a given square footage of deck space, then I don't think the larger ships are more crowded. There are more passengers and more places for them to be.

 

I would choose based on departure port, itinerary, cruise length, cost and available dates before I would choose based on picking one ship over another.

[k2excursion]

I agree that bigger ships are not necessarily more crowded. Dream & Magic were less crowded than the 2 smallest ships I've been on: Holiday & Celebration. The food lines on Dream & Magic were much shorter as well. However, Pride has the best public space to guest ratio of any of these ships. It will certainly be the least crowded of these ships. For me, Dream & Magic were slightly less crowded than Conquest. I haven't been on Splendor yet.

 

For my tastes, I would rule out Conquest based on the fact that they have the horrible Playlist Production shows. And if Pride is getting those in drydock, they would be out too. But I wouldn't want Pride anyway, because I don't like Spirit class ships. Spirit class ships tend to be more sedate & quiet with fewer activities going on. But I realize that many people prefer it that way; it's just not for me. Dream has been my favorite of all ships. Plenty going on but not overwhelming, great waterslides, the best shows of any Carnival ship, lively decor without going too far, just the best atmosphere.

 

Any ship you pick will have burgers. But if the particular brand of Guys burgers is really that important, you should note that Dream, Magic, & Splendor do not have it.

Edited September 15, 2014 by k2excursion

[Crusin Hogs]

Dream or Magic any day over the others listed