A Little Worried, my Mom says....

[winddawn]

Carnival is best described as an "informal" cruise line. It is very relaxed with dress code and the staff calls you by first name. Most passengers are friendly.

 

Some find the informality to be too relaxed and want more perks and to be treated like VIP's and not "just" guests. If so, Carnival will disappoint you greatly.

 

We like the informality and heavily prefer the relaxed atmosphere, so it is our cruiseline of choice.

 

My parents sail with Princess and the only thing different about their drunks is they paid a lot more for the privilege. Mom comes come with stories about middle aged women polishing off $75 bottles of wine by themselves... Lol.

This! Love! You've so got it figured out! Lol.

[Lerin]

 

Is there that big of a difference between Carnival and Celebrity?

 

 

Yes, been on both and Celebrity is probably our least favorite line.

Their food is better in the speciality restaurants. The MDR and other locations are comparable. Oh their martini bars are pretty spectacular But Carnivals are pretty good.

 

Everything else is better on Carnival. EVERYTHING*

 

*unless you are 95 years old and never do anything but listen to talk radio all day long. In which case, Celebrity is fine.

[Ykgorbie]

We took our first cruise about 8 years ago and have now completed #10 - all with Carnival, so I have really nothing to compare it to. Hubby and I are now in our mid 50's and are not ready to cruise on a snooze cruise, lol. We have tossed around the idea of trying another line, but as my husband says, "If it ain't broken, don't fix it" ! Have a blast on your cruise - you will LOVE Half Moon Cay - it really is paradise !

[PAPERBKWRITER]

I'm a frequent cruiser (16 with Carnival) and a lot more on other lines. Took my cousin with the last 4 times (first 2 on Carnival) when we did a Celebrity she told her daughter (who's cruised once on Celebrity) that she liked Carnival better. The daughter was shocked since she heard all "the stories" about Carnival drunks on her cruise. On that Celebrity cruise we had a big table and all the Celebrity people talked about how bad Carnival was but none had ever cruised them. When I mentioned we were Platinum on Carnival you'd have thought I dropped an F bomb it was so quiet. In the past IMO Celebrity was better BUT not the last one. AND Carnival IMO is usually the best value.

[esdoorn]

Thanks again everyone for your comments! It is appreciated!

 

 

My parents can be blunt and somewhat 'snobbish' at times, I think my mom was just looking out for us. She just wants us to enjoy our cruise since it is our very first cruise and she was the one that convinced us to take a cruise.

 

I told my mom not to worry as we have heard many good things about Carnival and also to remember the fact that we survived a week a Cuban 3 1/2 Star all-inclusive resort. Man, you should have heard her when we told her we were going to Cuba this was the look on her face :eek:, it was pretty funny.

[Guest]

Is your mom Jewish?Sounds like mine.

[Rosethorn40]

I was one of those people that said I wouldn't be caught dead on a Carnival Cruise. My opinion was based solely on the opinion of people I met at dinner on Princess cruises. Then one of my best friends wanted to try a cruise. She's a teacher, who can only go when school is out, I'm a cheapskate who won't pay the premium prices during school breaks. We settled on a 3-day Carnival Cruise sailing out of Galveston (I thought I could manage to grin & bear it for 3 days). Even though an old ship (The Ecstasy), and filled to the brim (MLK holiday weekend) I had a wonderful time. Food was good, service was excellent, fellow passengers very nice. I've been on 3 more since then, with another booked (The Vista) next December. All were very enjoyable.

 

I feel that Carnival gives excellent value for the prince paid. It may not be 5-star luxury, but you should manage to have a good time.

[Jeffrey1950]

Mother does not always know best....I love Carnival. Have been sailing them for a few years now. Food excellent, service good, room clean only complaint is balcony door slamming but you cannot blame Carnival for that just thoughtless neighbors.

[esdoorn]

Is your mom Jewish?Sounds like mine.

 

 

No....she is Scottish and a Retired Church Minister to boot!

[Djptcp]

DH and I have been on 36 cruises and our 25th on Carnival is in just a few weeks. I have not witnessed very many inebriated passengers in 20 years, but it's the obnoxious and ill mannered children that we find annoying sometimes. We have noticed some drunks on NCL and Holland America, but again it was usually the junior high kids sitting in stairways after midnight using foul language that amazes us.

[Sparky2]

On 14 CCL cruises, we have never witnessed any obnoxious drunks. Maybe tipsey but not drunk & obnoxious.

 

We sail in January on B2B cruises - 6 + 8 days or 7 + 7 days.

[evelynaw]

......that my wife and I will be very sorry to have booked a Carnival Cruise. She said that Carnival will be filled with loud drunks, the food will suck and why didn't I take her advice and book with Celebrity.

 

Is there that big of a difference between Carnival and Celebrity?

 

Our hope is for a decent room, decent food, nice staff and enjoy our ports of Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Nassau. The major reason for booking with Carnival is it fit our holiday schedule the best.

 

I have only been on one cruise (it was with Carnival), so I can't tell you about any differences between the 2 lines, but I can let you know about our experience with Carnival.

 

The room was nice enough. There was a decent amount of hanging storage for our clothes, which I appreciated since there was no iron to get rid of wrinkles. The bathroom wasn't anything special, but again had lots of storage. The hair dryer in our room was my biggest enemy because it took what seemed like forever to dry my hair and had such a short cord that I had to be seated to use it. One of our dinner table mates said that she loved the hair dryer in her room, so it may be a hit-or-miss item.

 

I'm probably a teeny bit of a food snob and I found the food ranged from just okay to decently good. We found that the lunch buffet had long lines and mediocre food, so we avoided it for the most part. Guys burgers was one of my favourites, burritos were okay but too salty for me, grilled sandwiches were better than expected, pizza was okay, main dining room dinner was tasty but it could get repetitive in its offerings, and sea day brunch was good for the most part (except for when I got an eggs benedict and it seemed like my hollandaise spent a lot of time under a heat lamp). Overall it was alright, but I don't understand the people who rave about how great it is.

 

I found the staff to be super friendly. Lots of up-selling from the spa and some from the bar, but nice enough about it when we weren't interested.

 

As for the loud drunks... There were definitely some people drinking, but I didn't have any bad experiences with other passengers. There was more of a party atmosphere on lido when the hairy chest competition and miss carnival competitions were being held, but those didn't last too long and things quieted down quickly.

 

When I saw other ships in port, they seemed to have more of an upscale country club feel, whereas our Carnival ship had more of a casual upbeat feel.

 

Overall, we had a fun and enjoyable vacation, and that's all that really matters :)

[stevenr597]

There really is no comparison.

 

Carnival is advertised as the cheapest or most inexpensive cruise offered by the mainstream lines. They have had major cutbacks on the quality, and preparation of foods, entertainment such as Broadway or Las Vegas type shows, service etc. They are generally the most crowded boats with long lines for most services such as lunch or dinner at the buffet. On the other side, you will get a week on a ship for about 1/2 the price of Celebrity.

 

Celebrity has tried to be more mainstream/upscale. Their ships are less crowded. Service and quality of the food is much better as compared to Carnival. Shows are outstanding. On the other side they are generally more expensive than Carnival.

 

It is a choice, cost of cruise as compared to the cruise experience.

 

We are Platinum Level or Carnival and Elite on Celebrity. We generally try to avoid Carnival, in that to us, my time off is more important than spending more on a better experience which most people have with Celebrity.

 

I guess it is like driving a Fiat to a BMW. Both will get you to where you want to go. The experience with each car, getting there, is much different.

[Lurkyloo]

......that my wife and I will be very sorry to have booked a Carnival Cruise. She said that Carnival will be filled with loud drunks, the food will suck and why didn't I take her advice and book with Celebrity.

 

Is there that big of a difference between Carnival and Celebrity?

 

 

 

Our hope is for a decent room, decent food, nice staff and enjoy our ports of Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Nassau. The major reason for booking with Carnival is it fit our holiday schedule the best.

 

I have never cruised Celebrity, but have friends (who are 60's) who cruised Celebrity and they said never again! Everyone was in bed by 8, music was boring, food was ok, ports were great but she felt like she was sailing in a floating retirement home. I have another friend who said it was an ok experience, and a guy couple I know loves Celebrity - so there you go! Depends on what you are looking for and probably where you are going. I have never had a bad cruise, but Carnival is my favorite for just relaxing, and having fun. It has more of a casual "upbeat" feel to it and we have never had a problem. Go into it with a positive attitude and you will have a great time!

[SUSIEK]

......that my wife and I will be very sorry to have booked a Carnival Cruise. She said that Carnival will be filled with loud drunks, the food will suck and why didn't I take her advice and book with Celebrity.

 

Is there that big of a difference between Carnival and Celebrity?

 

 

 

Our hope is for a decent room, decent food, nice staff and enjoy our ports of Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Nassau. The major reason for booking with Carnival is it fit our holiday schedule the best.

 

Hello,

 

We have sailed on both Carnival and Celebrity. We find the passengers on Carnival to be much more friendly. At least that was the case when we sailed last year with our 9 year old son. We found most passengers were not happy that he was sailing ;-0

 

Aside from that I found the food, activities and general atmosphere to be better on Carnival. It just suited us better.

 

I do think Celebrity is trying to reach a younger demographic and I don't think the loyal more seasoned cruisers with them care for that. That is the impression we got.

 

If you want to try an upscale I would definitely go for Princess over Celebrity. We have enjoyed many Princess cruises.

 

Have Fun!!!

[SUSIEK]

There really is no comparison.

 

Carnival is advertised as the cheapest or most inexpensive cruise offered by the mainstream lines. They have had major cutbacks on the quality, and preparation of foods, entertainment such as Broadway or Las Vegas type shows, service etc. They are generally the most crowded boats with long lines for most services such as lunch or dinner at the buffet. On the other side, you will get a week on a ship for about 1/2 the price of Celebrity.

 

Celebrity has tried to be more mainstream/upscale. Their ships are less crowded. Service and quality of the food is much better as compared to Carnival. Shows are outstanding. On the other side they are generally more expensive than Carnival.

 

It is a choice, cost of cruise as compared to the cruise experience.

 

We are Platinum Level or Carnival and Elite on Celebrity. We generally try to avoid Carnival, in that to us, my time off is more important than spending more on a better experience which most people have with Celebrity.

 

I guess it is like driving a Fiat to a BMW. Both will get you to where you want to go. The experience with each car, getting there, is much different.

 

Funny..... Our Carnival Breeze cruise cost more than the Celebrity Reflection cruise. We did have a balcony on both and we are Platinum on Carnival and Elite on Celebrity. I guess Celebrity is having a hard time selling out?? I personally was not impressed with Celebrity on our last sailing. If I am looking for a more upscale line I would definitely choose Princess over Celebrity. To each his own :-)

[cruzeluver]

I have never cruised Celebrity, but have friends (who are 60's) who cruised Celebrity and they said never again! Everyone was in bed by 8, music was boring, food was ok, ports were great but she felt like she was sailing in a floating retirement home. I have another friend who said it was an ok experience, and a guy couple I know loves Celebrity - so there you go! Depends on what you are looking for and probably where you are going. I have never had a bad cruise, but Carnival is my favorite for just relaxing, and having fun. It has more of a casual "upbeat" feel to it and we have never had a problem. Go into it with a positive attitude and you will have a great time!

 

See, this is why I say there are stereotypes about all the lines and I have learned to ignore them. Celebrity has plenty of nightlife with multiple bars, the casino, the dance club and live music going late into the night. Not sure where this idea comes from that everyone is in bed by 8. While the average age of passengers on Celebrity may be higher than on Carnival, its hardly a floating retirement home. We have seen plenty of young couples, families with children as well as older cruisers on Celebrity. Length of cruise and destination affect the age demographic far more.

[Tapi]

For whatever it's worth, one of my friends, who worked for Carnival for almost 10 years, had only sailed on Carnival. He finally sailed on a different line when he cruised aboard Celebrity. Up until then, he had feverishly argued that Carnival delivered just as much as other cruise lines for a lower price. I told him to give me a full review when he returned. Long story short, he ranked Celebrity a 10 and Carnival a 6 in comparison. He had to admit that there was a significant difference. He's still cruising on Carnival, but he loves Celebrity.

[cruisincountrygirl]

......that my wife and I will be very sorry to have booked a Carnival Cruise. She said that Carnival will be filled with loud drunks, the food will suck and why didn't I take her advice and book with Celebrity.

 

Is there that big of a difference between Carnival and Celebrity?

 

 

 

Our hope is for a decent room, decent food, nice staff and enjoy our ports of Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Nassau. The major reason for booking with Carnival is it fit our holiday schedule the best.

 

I've been on several cruises now--only with Carnival, and I've encountered maybe half a dozen drunk people who were even remotely "in your face" about it and even then it wasn't bad. We like Carnival because we can have fun things to do, or we can relax. Our kids have great programs to attend, and the staff are really nice.

I've never been on Celebrity, but I probably won't for a while--Carnival is the best deal out there financially, and you get a LOT for your dollar.

[_beachgirl_]

It's really all subjective. What one person might think is awful food, others might think it's some of the best they've ever had.

 

I've only been on Carnival and NCL and I can say that without hesitation I would always choose Carnival over NCL. Way more fun (and we're not drinkers), so much more to do, the cruise directors are great and I find the food to be perfectly fine. I'm not a foodie though and I'm kinda picky. But for the price of Carnival, it's a great vacation.

 

Go in with an open mind.

 

I'd like to try Royal Caribbean as well but I haven't been able to swing it yet because Carnival always has such good deals.

 

I think you'll really enjoy your Carnival Cruise. Hope you have a blast!!

[esdoorn]

Thanks everyone!

 

I must admit that one of the biggest factors for us, beyond price for deciding to cruise Carnival is the ship has a stop at Half Moon Cay, which I understand is a wonderful destination. My Mom has never been to HMC and I fully intend on showing her the pictures upon our return.

 

Another factor is that we read on this site that there is a couple who have sailed on the Sensation I believe it was 100 times and figured it can't be that bad if someone is willing to cruise on it that number of times.

[Tapi]

...it can't be that bad if someone is willing to cruise on it that number of times.

 

 

I'll be completely honest with you. Our sailing on the Sensation was, by far, the worst cruise experience of any cruise line we've ever sailed on. True, it was only one sailing, so I will give the Sensation the benefit of the doubt and say that our sailing was an exception and not the norm.

 

It was a short weekend cruise, and fellow passengers left A LOT to be desired. Excessive out of control behavior like he we had not witnessed before. We even witnessed a racially motivated fight right in the middle of the atrium with glasses flying while some people screamed and others joined in.

 

The ship was filthy. There was trash, dirty dishes and cups stacked everywhere. It seemed like the crew either couldn't keep up with the overly rowdy group, or they just didn't care. Another evidence of this lack of care happened when someone flat out vomited right in the stairwell area leading to the shops and main theater. The crew placed a yellow cone to mark warn people. We walked by again a few hours later, and the vomit was still there, now dry and crusted still with the yellow cone.

 

Lastly, the Sensation just looks outdated. Yes, you need to go fully knowing that she's one of the oldest Fantasy class ships, so her decor screams early 90's neon Las Vegas. While some people don't care about her decor (or some may actually enjoy it), we found the extensive use of purple chrome and ever changing neon lights to be a bit too much. Just not very pleasing.

Edited November 26, 2015 by Tapi

[momof3cruisers]

Thanks again everyone for your comments! It is appreciated!

 

 

My parents can be blunt and somewhat 'snobbish' at times, I think my mom was just looking out for us. She just wants us to enjoy our cruise since it is our very first cruise and she was the one that convinced us to take a cruise.

 

I told my mom not to worry as we have heard many good things about Carnival and also to remember the fact that we survived a week a Cuban 3 1/2 Star all-inclusive resort. Man, you should have heard her when we told her we were going to Cuba this was the look on her face :eek:, it was pretty funny.

 

My in laws can be the same way. They took us on a cruise a few years back and my kids begged to go on the Breeze, but there was no way FIL was sailing on Carnival. (No, they've never done a CArnival cruise.) so, we went on the Allure. It was fun, but overall we like feeling like we are in a ship on the ocean plus service and dining room food were anywhere from bad to lackluster. When it came time to book our next cruise, I wanted to try Royal again. (Esp since due to a few major screw ups on their parts I had a $700 future credit.) husband and kids all vetoed that idea and demanded Carnival, so we are getting our Breeze cruise in Jan.

[momof3cruisers]

Thanks everyone!

 

I must admit that one of the biggest factors for us, beyond price for deciding to cruise Carnival is the ship has a stop at Half Moon Cay, which I understand is a wonderful destination. My Mom has never been to HMC and I fully intend on showing her the pictures upon our return.

 

Another factor is that we read on this site that there is a couple who have sailed on the Sensation I believe it was 100 times and figured it can't be that bad if someone is willing to cruise on it that number of times.

 

Just remember that it is an older and smaller ship without all the bells and whistles. My kids' first cruise that they all remember well was on the Ecstacy. It was excellent. Great food, funny comedy, entertains games and shows. the entertainment staff recognizes people quickly on a smaller ship and the service was beyond excellent. Friendly, happy, and did their jobs very well. But it was simple, a pool, a couple of slides, just a few alternate dining options. Small shops, etc.

 

I'd suggest spending time reading some Sensation reviews with pictures to get an idea of what to expect. Take the good and the bad, but just remember, your trip is what you make it. You have the chance to relax and vacation with someone you love.

 

There are plenty of places to enjoy the sea in quiet, either inside or out. The main pool area will be a busy place during the middle of the day so you can do that if you are interested or head somewhere out of the way instead.

 

We did the same itinerary as you have, I think. I swear, I'd sail on a barge if it took me to HMC. And the cabana will make it even better.

 

Have a lovely time.

[esdoorn]

Just remember that it is an older and smaller ship without all the bells and whistles. My kids' first cruise that they all remember well was on the Ecstacy. It was excellent. Great food, funny comedy, entertains games and shows. the entertainment staff recognizes people quickly on a smaller ship and the service was beyond excellent. Friendly, happy, and did their jobs very well. But it was simple, a pool, a couple of slides, just a few alternate dining options. Small shops, etc.

 

I'd suggest spending time reading some Sensation reviews with pictures to get an idea of what to expect. Take the good and the bad, but just remember, your trip is what you make it. You have the chance to relax and vacation with someone you love.

 

There are plenty of places to enjoy the sea in quiet, either inside or out. The main pool area will be a busy place during the middle of the day so you can do that if you are interested or head somewhere out of the way instead.

 

We did the same itinerary as you have, I think. I swear, I'd sail on a barge if it took me to HMC. And the cabana will make it even better.

 

Have a lovely time.

 

 

thank you for your comments.

 

Our 5 day cruise to Grand Turk, HMC and Nassau (March 2016) was originally scheduled to be on the Victory out of Miami, but with the dance of ships the Victory is going t be going out of PC and the Sensation out of Miami. Carnival gave us $150.00 in OBC to keep the same sailing dates etc but on the Sensation instead of the Victory.

Edited November 26, 2015 by esdoorn