First time Carnival Cruiser - already disappointed

[SurferJoe57]

Do your own holds online (you can do one every 24 hours), and book online without the inefficiency or risk of a TA or personal vacation planner making mistakes.

Yes. I know there are people that truly appreciate their Travel Agents, and some I'm sure are wonderful, but there's no reason not to book or put a cruise on hold directly.

[readyk]

As a person who love Royal and went on 3 Carnival ship. If you and your boyfriend do go, please try to kept a open mind. it took me three times to say yes i will go on another carnival trip. I will still pick Royal first, but I have no problem going on Carnival. Its so easy to fine everything wrong with any cruise line if that what you are looking for. I say go if you both agree to go with saying we are going to have a good time. For the price we got nothing to lose. At least we can choose for our self if it worth it. For all Royal and Carnival fans, talking down one, dont make the other better.

[HawksFan74]

As far as your 4A. I will warn you that during porting (which is normally in the morning) you are most likely going to really feel the vibration from the thrusters while docking... While this is normal, it can be unnerving to some.

I wouldn't think this would be an issue on Pride. The cabins on deck 1 only go as far back as the aft elevator lobby. The last 1/4 or so of that deck is the galley.

[katiel53]

I'd definitely cancel as your boyfriend doesn't want to do this cruise and you don't seem too excited about it yourself. I do understand why you are upset, but my thought is that the cabin had to be booked within the 12 hours and putting it on hold wasn't booking it in that you didn't pay a deposit.

 

I know Carnival said they made a mistake, but I am wondering if the mistake was in telling you that it could be held 24 hours with that rate, when in effect it wasn't available and the rate isn't finalized, at least to my understanding, until it is deposited.

 

You can be sure with a guarantee you probably would have gotten a cabin that wouldn't have been the greatest because if it were, it would have been snapped up.

 

So, for all the above, I believe canceling will be better as he will be looking for things to complain about and that will ruin the trip. Carnival isn't for everyone and especially not for those who already think it's not a good cruise line. There are many who don't like the policies of Royal Caribbean, NCL etc.

[meatloafsfan]

Why not have an honest and open conversation about brand loyalty - are there any other brands that he's always used but has tried their competitor? (like Tide, Kleenex, Coke, etc)? It doesn't seem like an issue of not liking Carnival but more of a mind set that he can't like Carnival because he likes Royal Caribbean.

 

I sailed the Pride for 14 nights last March - before that it was the Celebrity Equinox, the Celebrity Summit, the Disney Fantasy, the Explorer of the Seas, the Carnival Dream, etc. The Pride was one of our best cruises.

 

I find the various cruise lines more similar than different. The little differences are what makes things interesting.

 

On the Pride, love Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana - not to mention the great thin crust pizza made to order or Deli (great and open late). Carnival also has comedy shows basically every night and trivia 5-6 times a day. On the Pride is also the Alchemy bar and the Red Frog Pub - both different experiences than on Royal ships. Oh, and Dive In movies - something Royal doesn't really offer. And then there's the famous Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. :)

 

There is often a fear of the unknown or a feeling like you're "cheating" if you change cruise lines. You can give into those feelings and stay home, or he can put on his big boy pants and plunge ahead.

 

Bottom line is - what's the better alternative to your boyfriend - a cruise on Carnival (which will be different and maybe in his eyes not quite as good as his Royal experiences) or no cruise at all?

[elliair]

$350/pp is not a lot of money to spend on a vacation., I agree with some of the others who suggested that you cancel the cruise. It's already left a bad taste in your mouth, you're already upset with Carnival, and it can only go down hill here there. You're not going to be happy with the cabin, and a myriad of other things that will certainly come up. Worst thing would be your BF being a drag on your experience, and constantly comparing it to RCL. I've been on several Carnival ships and there's 2 of them that I would never cruise on ever again. It hasn't stopped me from cruising on Carnival, got one coming up in September. But that's just me. I look for itinerary, balcony price, then ship. It would be a no go if I felt like you and your BF do. Save your money and find something else to do.

[chudster]

I agree with some of the others who suggested that you cancel the cruise. It's already left a bad taste in your mouth, you're already upset with Carnival, and it can only go down hill here there.

 

I agree, cancel the cruise since you'll be starting off on a bad footing.

 

However, if you do go on the cruise, consider this a wonderful opportunity to watch how your boyfriend reacts: see if he is the type of person who gives the Carnival cruise a fair shake, or if he nit-picks it from the get-go and takes the word of his parents as gospel.

 

If he gives it a fair shake and likes it or dislikes it based on fair judgement, your boyfriend is a keeper; however if it's the latter, and he refuses to drop his bias and give the trip a fair shake, I would consider that he is not the type of person you want to be with.

 

Just my two cents, and worth what you paid for it.

[Rogueperson]

Cancel. Your BF is determined to hate Carnival, you will be wasting your money. You're quibbling over a difference of 100 dollars which still puts this cruise as a good deal vs. the Grandeur.

 

Ive been on both Grandeur and Pride. I have to admit that the Grandeur actually won out for me as "best cruise ever" over the 5 year champion of Carnival Liberty. But thats a high bar. The Pride was quite good nonetheless. For value, Pride wins out. Service was good on both, but in general, I have found Carnival to have better consistent service though Royal Caribbean's service levels reach higher marks, there are more times on Royal caribbean that misses the good service mark than Carnival.

 

If price was not a factor, i would choose the Pride for a fun cruise and I would pick Grandeur for a Relaxing cruise.

 

They are more similar then different.

[Illyria]

In general the quality of CSR agents and bugs/issues with most cruise line websites has very little to do with the quality of service on the ship.

 

I've only been on one Carnival cruise, and it was in the Med - the food was mostly mediocre but other than that it was a great cruise. I would still choose Celebrity or Princess over Carnival any day but for the right price and itinerary I'll have no problem going on another Carnival cruise. Any ship and any cruise line will have its ups and downs (especially since we're talking run-of-the-mill mass-market cruise lines). Your vacation is what you make of it; if your companion looks for only negatives, he'll find them. It's up to you to decide whether it's worth taking that risk (those are usually the kind of vacations when you need to take a vacation afterward).

Edited July 2, 2015 by Illyria

[bwelborn]

I have cruised on many different lines and have never had an awful cruise, we generally have a good time. I like RCCL and Carnival very much. I will say that the Grandeur of the Seas was one of the worst ships I have been on (that was last year). I would generally recommend comparing the actual ship rather than the line because it can vary so much.

[flyawayca]

I would cancel. Not because Carnival messed up, but because your boyfriend is already so against it.

 

I've done a couple family cruises. On one my uncle did not want to go. Did not. Wanted nothing to do with cruising. He kept talking about how much he would hate it before even boarding. Sure enough he complained the entire time making the trip worse for the rest of us (It was the RCCL Voyager of the Seas - BTW). If someone hates it because they can't be open minded I'm sure no matter how great it is they will find something wrong.

 

I say go on the cruise with a friend or family member to tide you over.

 

Also, I have cruised on most the main lines. If you can't see my signature I've been on Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Princess, and Carnival. I would (and will) sail every single one of them again. There are things I like and don't like about each. But honestly, overall, if I had to chose, Carnival is my favorite.

[Rogueperson]

I have cruised on many different lines and have never had an awful cruise, we generally have a good time. I like RCCL and Carnival very much. I will say that the Grandeur of the Seas was one of the worst ships I have been on (that was last year). I would generally recommend comparing the actual ship rather than the line because it can vary so much.

 

 

And this is why each cruise is unique. My amazing Grandeur cruise was over this last New Years Eve. Experience will vary immensely.

[Danacat222]

So when we called to reserve and the booking agent offered a 24-hour hold before putting down a deposit, we immediately decided to do that...

 

 

 

After over an hour on the phone, most of it on hold, I found out that the agent who had put the hold on had not done it correctly. She had manually put in the time as noon instead of midnight.

 

Every time i have put a hold on a cruise, either having my PVP do it, or having don it myself, i got an email confirmation of the hold (with a time stamp), and a reminder email. Did you get an email? That could have been used as proof of the hold.

 

Sorry that happened to you, but as others have already voiced, i think you are doomed do to your boyfriends projecting his parents' bad experience on you. Have you looked at the 4K interior cabins? You get an inside on deck 4 and there are doors that you can open and get some air and light. A great cabin for almost the same cost as an inside.

 

Good luck on whatever you decide.

[xeroxme]

Do your own holds online (you can do one every 24 hours), and book online without the inefficiency or risk of a TA or personal vacation planner making mistakes.

 

 

Perfect advice whether it's carnival, RCI, Princess whoever. No surprises.

[Surfwench]

Call up Carnival and ask how much to upgrade to a regular interior... probably $70.00 or so. Problem solved.

[HawksFan74]

Call up Carnival and ask how much to upgrade to a regular interior... probably $70.00 or so. Problem solved.

I thought a 4A was a "regular" interior? Personally, on the Pride (or any other Spirit Class ship), I would try to upgrade to a 4K (Interior w/ French Doors). Often not much more than a regular interior, but comes with natural light and fresh air.

[rlkubi]

I too say canceling would be for the best. Your boyfriend already hates Carnival and now you are irritated. IMO it's set up for disaster. I have now been on 22 Carnival cruises and one HAL. I love Carnival! You can't beat it for the price.

[dickinson]

Looks like I am in the minority saying DO NOT CANCEL. Many times we encounter small glitches to things we want to purchase but after a short while we forget (mostly) all about them. The rep you spoke w/made a mistake. Unfortunate. If you can get a manager to override then great. If not you really are not much worse off than before. Just watch for sales and you might be able to upgrade at little to no cost.

 

We used to cruise Carnival and loved it (never went on RCI) but after a break from cruising went on Princess and liked it (although first cruise we kept comparing it to Carnival but still liked Princess). After several wonderful Princess cruises we find that going on a b2b Carnival cruise on the Pride is a great deal for us. I was concerned with all the negativity I read on CC but then heard from a lot of people who have cruised both lines and say they like them both but for different reasons.

 

The bottom line is that anyone can have a bad cruise on any cruise line. Just because your bf's parents did not like the one Carnival cruise they were on (maybe school vacation with tons of kids, maybe too many elderly and they were younger, maybe lousy CD so activities were not to their liking, maybe bad food but that changes all the time as crew changes ships etc, or just maybe because the ship they were on needed refurbishing) is not a reason to cancel this cruise after bf said yes. You still are getting a good deal for a week long cruise.

Edited July 2, 2015 by dickinson

[Runaway Parent]

Self-fulfilling prophecy. It's not what happens that can make or break your cruise but how you react to what happens. Having said that, I'm sorry for the complications. Consider the possibility it's a coincidence you had issues. It can happen with any company.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

I guess that's what happens when you can't make a decision. Pride is a great ship. For $700 bucks for a 7 day cruise? Not much risk there even if Carnival doesn't live up to your expectations.

[Gopherpharm]

Go and bring a friend!

[hapytobehr]

To the original OP:

 

It's your decision whether or not to cancel the trip.

 

I will tell you that we have sailed on RCC, Norwegian and Carnival.

 

We had a terrible experience on the Carnival Triumph back in 2008. It took my hubby and I 7 years to finally try Carnival again and that was because we wanted to take a short trip from Miami.

 

We did that on the Victory and had such a great time, we sailed again the following month on the same ship.

 

We also did not like the Norwegian Epic but still sailed NCL 3 years later.

 

We have stuck to Carnival since, but would go on any cruise line depending on what itinerary I was looking for.

 

We sailed the Breeze in March and are leaving Saturday on the Conquest.

 

What ever you do, you both should keep an open mind and enjoy!

 

Happy sailing!!

[fair-winds39]

Well, i sounds like your BF might have issues with Carnival, so maybe you should think about canceling. I agree, it should have been handled much differently. They should have definitely done what you asked. It was their mistake.

 

Some food for thought....DH and I have been cruising forever. Our first cruises were with Celebrity, and we loved all of them. One year, my SIL convinced us to try the Carnival Legend, so we booked, and went on the Legend kicking and screaming. We were never going to take a Carnival cruise, no way!!! Well, we loved it. Since then, we've cruised on the Carnival Miracle, Victory, and this September we will do our 3rd cruise on the Carnival Pride. Funny thing was I didn't like the Pride on our first trip; loved it on our second.

 

I'm feeling about the same anxiety as you though, as far as other ships. We have another cruise booked on RCCL's Grandeur for February, and I'm not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling about it. I'm trying to stay away from the reviews. The only RCCL cruise we have been on was many years ago, so, fingers crossed for Feb. cruise. Whatever you decide, have a great vacation!!

 

From a longtime cruiser though, we've enjoyed all of our cruises, and we've tried a few different cruise lines. The only other thing I can tell you is that your vacation will be what you make it.

[Jenhem31]

I'm not one to ever advocate someone canceling a cruise, but I have one of those boyfriends as well. If I convince him to do something he doesn't want to he will point out every little thing. Sometimes it's easier just not to bother.

 

We went on a not so great Carnival ship for our first cruise. After that he vowed never to sail Carnival again. I got him onto the Breeze due to us having to cancel a Princess cruise and it was great. So now he's no longer Anti-Carnival, but will only sail Breeze if we do go Carnival.

 

We aren't brand loyal, we have sailed Oasis and Freedom class with RC and happen to be sailing the Breeze again in September. I hope whatever decision you make it all works out. As I point out to my guy, how bad can it be? You're on a cruise!!!!

Edited July 4, 2015 by Jenhem31

[tree.critter]

Your boyfriend has set this up as a cruise to fail before he ever walks on the ship. Any minor annoyance will become huge and he will manifest whatever he believes. If he believes he'll have a bad time, he will. Cancel.

 

I have had minor annoyances with Carnival but all the good that they offer, including the awesome staff has way made up for any inconvenience we've encountered. Cruised RCC twice, don't even acknowledge this normally, first cruise was basically good although the staff left a bit to be desired, the second RCC cruise sealed their fate with me. You will never get us on another RCC ship even if they gave a free cruise to us. To each their own.