Why I decided it's Carnival From Now On...

[Mommabear2Five]

We're just back this week from a cruise on another line, our second cruise outside Carnival, and I'm now 100% sure I will stick with Carnival from now on.

 

Let me explain...

 

I'm still new to cruising, our first only 18 months ago, but we've sailed 7 times since; 5 with Carnival. We had a few bumps with our CCL cruises, but nothing you wouldn't expect on any vacation. And the one thing that always made up for it was the amazing crew and staff we interacted with. For me, its all about the Guest service we have recieved, even when we weren't expecting it.

 

On one our our cruises, the carpet inside our balcony door was wet. We contacted Guest Services and they sent someone right away. It wasn't a big deal at all and we asked for no compensation. One of the GS staff contacted us the next night, told us they were crediting our Sign and Sail account $100 and send us champagne and strawberries to our cabin as an appolgy. Great Guest service.

 

On our recent RCI cruise, we had several unauthorized charges on our on board account (glitch in the system they said) and we spent hours trying to get it taken care of on our first day at sea. I'm talking hundreds of dollars in charges, enough that our account was locked and I couldn't even get a drink from the bar even though I had the drink package. No appology, no attempt at service recovery. Not ok. And this is only one example of the difference between the two lines.

 

Carnival wants me to have fun. They jam pack Fun Times with lots of activities. Their entertainment staff is always interacting with the Guests. Their deck parties are high energy and the food and service in the MDR is always top-notch.

 

Call it a budget cruise line. Call it the bottom of the barrel, but I call it the cruise line for me.

 

If I wasn't already booked and paid for our upcoming May cruise before last week, it would have been our last cruise on another line. I'm a Carnival girl. And proud of it.

 

#carnivalforlife #carnivalorgohome

[jakesnana]

Don't set your sights too high for the Majesty of the Seas. It's an OLD ship that RCI brought back for the short cruise market. I might sail on it to just get a weekend away, but I wouldn't expect much.

[winddawn]

We're just back this week from a cruise on another line, our second cruise outside Carnival, and I'm now 100% sure I will stick with Carnival from now on.

 

Let me explain...

 

I'm still new to cruising, our first only 18 months ago, but we've sailed 7 times since; 5 with Carnival. We had a few bumps with our CCL cruises, but nothing you wouldn't expect on any vacation. And the one thing that always made up for it was the amazing crew and staff we interacted with. For me, its all about the Guest service we have recieved, even when we weren't expecting it.

 

On one our our cruises, the carpet inside our balcony door was wet. We contacted Guest Services and they sent someone right away. It wasn't a big deal at all and we asked for no compensation. One of the GS staff contacted us the next night, told us they were crediting our Sign and Sail account $100 and send us champagne and strawberries to our cabin as an appolgy. Great Guest service.

 

On our recent RCI cruise, we had several unauthorized charges on our on board account (glitch in the system they said) and we spent hours trying to get it taken care of on our first day at sea. I'm talking hundreds of dollars in charges, enough that our account was locked and I couldn't even get a drink from the bar even though I had the drink package. No appology, no attempt at service recovery. Not ok. And this is only one example of the difference between the two lines.

 

Carnival wants me to have fun. They jam pack Fun Times with lots of activities. Their entertainment staff is always interacting with the Guests. Their deck parties are high energy and the food and service in the MDR is always top-notch.

 

Call it a budget cruise line. Call it the bottom of the barrel, but I call it the cruise line for me.

 

If I wasn't already booked and paid for our upcoming May cruise before last week, it would have been our last cruise on another line. I'm a Carnival girl. And proud of it.

 

#carnivalforlife #carnivalorgohome

I agree with you that Carnival staff are the best! Most truly care about passengers and providing a quality cruise experience. Here are a whole bunch of reasons I feel that way:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45349685#poststop

Edited March 10, 2016 by winddawn

[JABrown104]

I was set on carnival just hours after my first cruise! #carnivalforlife

[teaach]

Been on 7 cruises with NO.8 coming up. They have all been on Carnival. I am always thinking about booking a diff cruise line, but nothing is appealing to me. This upcoming cruise is a Journeys Cruise and I am looking forward the the Throwback day and other interesting things, I love John Heald's blog on Facebook. I always book an ext aft and I am mesmerized by the wake. I always want to book one of the diff specialty restaurants, but I can eat at two of them for lunch free. I am not a tight wad, I just don't believe in throwing hard earned money away. I love the people on Carnival, I love my balcony, I love the food and the ports. I even had a Mex Riviera Cruise that stopped at NO ports due to Swine Flu epidemic and I was upset. Carnival did right by us: free drinks, OBC and 50% off next cruise, I made lemonade out of lemons. Someday I might stray to another cruise line, but for now I am loyal to the whale tail.It gives me chills. I also don't consider my self a Walmart cruiser, but I do shop there if there is a bargain. Have a great day!

[Mommabear2Five]

Don't set your sights too high for the Majesty of the Seas. It's an OLD ship that RCI brought back for the short cruise market. I might sail on it to just get a weekend away, but I wouldn't expect much.

 

Believe me, moment we got off IOTS on Monday, I was already looking on Carnival's site to see if they had something comparable for May. We still have until March 17 to cancel without penalty. Unfortunately, there's nothing that matches the dates that we have.

 

It's a bummer; our May cruise was purchased for our kids for Christmas. While our younger two and oldest son have cruised with us on Carnival before, my older two daughters, both in college, will be having their first cruise experience. My husband and I talked it over the last two nights and have decided that we are going to go with no expectations and we're just gonna have fun with our kids.

[golfb4cruzing]

Somehow I got into a Tupperware Rally. Put away the pom poms people. Just because they jump around and remember your name, they are not the end all of the cruising industry. Lots of other lines to try. Unless, cheap and in your face is your thing.

[Mommabear2Five]

... Carnival did right by us: free drinks, OBC and 50% off next cruise, I made lemonade out of lemons. Someday I might stray to another cruise line, but for now I am loyal to the whale tail.It gives me chills...

 

Exactly!

[Mommabear2Five]

Somehow I got into a Tupperware Rally. Put away the pom poms people. Just because they jump around and remember your name, they are not the end all of the cruising industry. Lots of other lines to try. Unless, cheap and in your face is your thing.

 

My pom poms are red and blue baby!

 

I happen to like when people call me by name - it's actually one of the oldest guest service tricks in the book. And, what I'm saying is YES I like the jumping up and down, in your face. And who doesn't love cheap?!?

[cruisinfanatic]

We're just back this week from a cruise on another line, our second cruise outside Carnival, and I'm now 100% sure I will stick with Carnival from now on.

 

Let me explain...

 

I'm still new to cruising, our first only 18 months ago, but we've sailed 7 times since; 5 with Carnival. We had a few bumps with our CCL cruises, but nothing you wouldn't expect on any vacation. And the one thing that always made up for it was the amazing crew and staff we interacted with. For me, its all about the Guest service we have recieved, even when we weren't expecting it.

 

On one our our cruises, the carpet inside our balcony door was wet. We contacted Guest Services and they sent someone right away. It wasn't a big deal at all and we asked for no compensation. One of the GS staff contacted us the next night, told us they were crediting our Sign and Sail account $100 and send us champagne and strawberries to our cabin as an appolgy. Great Guest service.

 

On our recent RCI cruise, we had several unauthorized charges on our on board account (glitch in the system they said) and we spent hours trying to get it taken care of on our first day at sea. I'm talking hundreds of dollars in charges, enough that our account was locked and I couldn't even get a drink from the bar even though I had the drink package. No appology, no attempt at service recovery. Not ok. And this is only one example of the difference between the two lines.

 

Carnival wants me to have fun. They jam pack Fun Times with lots of activities. Their entertainment staff is always interacting with the Guests. Their deck parties are high energy and the food and service in the MDR is always top-notch.

 

Call it a budget cruise line. Call it the bottom of the barrel, but I call it the cruise line for me.

 

If I wasn't already booked and paid for our upcoming May cruise before last week, it would have been our last cruise on another line. I'm a Carnival girl. And proud of it.

 

#carnivalforlife #carnivalorgohome

I've had bogus charges on Carnival. Didn't make me stop going. You can't judge a cruiseline by 1 ship

Better luck on the Majesty

[Cushing985]

I get it! When we were on a Hawaiian cruise (R/T from San Diego) on the Spirit, we got a call from our son about two days into the cruise letting us know our Greyhound had passed away in his sleep at the Greyhound rescue place we boarded him in (same place where we got him).

 

He went through Corporate in Miami and they, in turn, contacted the ship and then they put the call through to our cabin. The call lasted about 30 minutes and they didn't charge us a dime. The even re-connected us when the connection was lost.

 

I think any other line would have charged us as satellite time is expensive. Although we're not married to Carnival (have had cruises with Celebrity and want to try RCCL) we do consider Carnival our "Home" cruiseline. Their Guest Services won us over not only for that incident but during our other cruises with them as well. Their crews are some of the friendliest we've found, ships are clean, food is good and the service is always outstanding. Are they perfect? No, no cruise line is perfect much like no human is perfect.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Cushing985

[Mommabear2Five]

I've had bogus charges on Carnival. Didn't make me stop going. You can't judge a cruiseline by 1 ship

Better luck on the Majesty

 

I totally get it, that's why we gave RCI another shot after our August cruise (the one that they changed the itinerary after final payment to 3 days in Nassau for ship maintenance. We booked May for that. Last week's trip was very last minute and we choose the ship/line because it was the only ship leaving a Florida port that day that had any cabins.

 

I also know that Carnival isn't perfect - but they do try to recover when things happen. I have not gotten that same service on RCI.

 

I hope we have a better experience on Majesty - but since it's the first sailing after drydock (I really need to do better research before booking) my expectations are low.

[Mommabear2Five]

I get it! When we were on a Hawaiian cruise (R/T from San Diego) on the Spirit, we got a call from our son about two days into the cruise letting us know our Greyhound had passed away in his sleep at the Greyhound rescue place we boarded him in (same place where we got him).

 

He went through Corporate in Miami and they, in turn, contacted the ship and then they put the call through to our cabin. The call lasted about 30 minutes and they didn't charge us a dime. The even re-connected us when the connection was lost.

 

I think any other line would have charged us as satellite time is expensive. Although we're not married to Carnival (have had cruises with Celebrity and want to try RCCL) we do consider Carnival our "Home" cruiseline. Their Guest Services won us over not only for that incident but during our other cruises with them as well. Their crews are some of the friendliest we've found, ships are clean, food is good and the service is always outstanding. Are they perfect? No, no cruise line is perfect much like no human is perfect.

 

Sorry to hear about your pup. That's a nice thing they did for you. I work as an entertainment and guest experience manager for major theme park in FL and I can tell you that we look for any way possible to assist guests when things like this happen. Guest recovery and assistance is the biggest factor in net promotion. Carnival understands that as well.

[evandbob]

Glad you found your cruise fit, OP. I've only had a small experience with RC and it was kind of meh.

 

But there are other lines out there that just beg to be booked. Namely NCL, Celebrity and Disney.

 

I've cruised Celebrity out of San Juan on the Summit for less than what the Fascination, a much older, more boring ship would cost. NCL's entertainment is tons better than Carnival's. Disney had the best deck party, go figure.

[jtdlmc]

I totally agree with you. We just got of RCI Freedom of the Seas and after the first couple of days my whole family said they much preferred Carnival! There are lots of little things that Carnival does better and bigger things too - such as debarkation. We may cruise on RCI again under certain circumstances (this last cruise on RCI was actually quite a bit cheaper than any Carnival cruise of similar date/ship/itinerary at the time of booking) and we also have plans to try NCL, but as of right now I am looking to book with Carnival again.

[Jamman54]

As you can tell from my signature, the VAST majority of our cruises have been on Carnival. Though we ventured to other lines from time to time, we never felt compelled to repeat a cruise on that line, even though we had a great time on them all. I guess we feel at "home" on Carnival. Since we are now "semi-retired" I know we will try other lines again, but Carnival will always be our "go to" cruise line.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Jamman54

[Savlamara]

GREAT POST! I'm an NCL convert myself and I will never go back!

 

Carnival is the best. Ignore the people with tunnel vision. You get issues with everything EVERYWHERE at least at some point, its the effort and recovery that matter and thats why Carnival is my cruiseline for life as well. ;-)

[luv2trvlnow]

I get it! When we were on a Hawaiian cruise (R/T from San Diego) on the Spirit, we got a call from our son about two days into the cruise letting us know our Greyhound had passed away in his sleep at the Greyhound rescue place we boarded him in (same place where we got him).

 

He went through Corporate in Miami and they, in turn, contacted the ship and then they put the call through to our cabin. The call lasted about 30 minutes and they didn't charge us a dime. The even re-connected us when the connection was lost.

 

I think any other line would have charged us as satellite time is expensive. Although we're not married to Carnival (have had cruises with Celebrity and want to try RCCL) we do consider Carnival our "Home" cruiseline. Their Guest Services won us over not only for that incident but during our other cruises with them as well. Their crews are some of the friendliest we've found, ships are clean, food is good and the service is always outstanding. Are they perfect? No, no cruise line is perfect much like no human is perfect.

That was very nice of Carnival to do this for you. But I will disagree that other lines will charge you for calls like this. Last year we were on the Celebrity Summit when I heard a CNN news report that a tornado had hit our town and destroyed a mobile home park. I freaked out since my son lives in a mobile home park there. The woman at the Guest Services desk arranged for me to make phone calls back home to make sure everything was all right. NO CHARGE! I am happy to report that all was good back home (at least for my family), but it was a relief to be able to call to find out and not have to run up a high phone bill.

 

As you can see I have several cruises on Carnival. Most of my cruises have been very good. But other lines must be doing all right too or no one would be cruising with them. Remember different strokes for different folks. What works for one might not work for someone else and visa versa. It doesn't make anyone right and someone else wrong. Just different. And that is part of the fun.

[Bella8286]

Totally agree! We just got back from a Royal Caribbean cruise and will never go back, and we've sailed them several times.

 

The customer service and food was HORRIBLE.

 

IDK how ANYONE can complain about Carnival. Best prices, best food, and best customer service we've had.

[tbmrt]

Coming back to Carnival after quite a few years. The last two years we were on Celebrity and although the service, food, ambiance and iced martini bar were amazing, the "Fun" aspect seemed to be missing.

 

We always look forward to dancing, drinking and have great memories of sailaways on other ships and were disappointed at seeing just two couples on the dance floor at sailaway. Also missed the piano bar and lounge fun.

 

Hoping to enjoy our upcoming Dream cruise and then coming back to Carnival for more fun in the future.

[Cushing985]

That was very nice of Carnival to do this for you. But I will disagree that other lines will charge you for calls like this. Last year we were on the Celebrity Summit when I heard a CNN news report that a tornado had hit our town and destroyed a mobile home park. I freaked out since my son lives in a mobile home park there. The woman at the Guest Services desk arranged for me to make phone calls back home to make sure everything was all right. NO CHARGE! I am happy to report that all was good back home (at least for my family), but it was a relief to be able to call to find out and not have to run up a high phone bill.

 

As you can see I have several cruises on Carnival. Most of my cruises have been very good. But other lines must be doing all right too or no one would be cruising with them. Remember different strokes for different folks. What works for one might not work for someone else and visa versa. It doesn't make anyone right and someone else wrong. Just different. And that is part of the fun.

 

Good of Celebrity to do this for you...they're one of our favorites also. We've never had a bad cruise...the so-called cruise from hell but Carnival seems to be consistent (at least in our opinion) in their customer service and the crews in general. We do intend to broaden our horizons and try other lines and go on Celebrity again but will always consider Carnival as our home.

[tallnthensome]

I've sailed on multiple lines. I thought our trip on RCCL and the Independence of the Seas last year was one of the best yet. Too many lines and options to be loyal to one especially if you haven't tried the others. I always felt RCCL was the most well rounded in the categories. If you want boring, try Holland America. They have the best food and some of the best ports though.

[cruzeluver]

Sorry for your issues on Royal, but those issues occur on all lines. Glad you have found a line that you want to stick with, but I cannot imagine cruising the same line over and over and over again. We like Carnival fine but also love Celebrity and Royal. We now have so many more ships/itineraries/ports of embarkation to choose from, not to mention the different experiences each line provides.

[Mommabear2Five]

Glad you found your cruise fit, OP. I've only had a small experience with RC and it was kind of meh.

 

But there are other lines out there that just beg to be booked. Namely NCL, Celebrity and Disney.

 

I've cruised Celebrity out of San Juan on the Summit for less than what the Fascination, a much older, more boring ship would cost. NCL's entertainment is tons better than Carnival's. Disney had the best deck party, go figure.

 

We want to try Celebrity because of the great reviews, but Carnival will be our go to for the shorter getaways that we love. Disney is amazing, I will not argue that, but even with my deep discounts, I won't sail them at this time. I love the Mouse and the company, but on vacation, I need to get away from it all. Also, on the Cast discounted sailings (which would be the only ones i could afford :D ) there is too high of a chance of running into the cast that I manage. I don't my Cast to see me dancing on the bar, lol.

[Mommabear2Five]

I've sailed on multiple lines. I thought our trip on RCCL and the Independence of the Seas last year was one of the best yet. Too many lines and options to be loyal to one especially if you haven't tried the others. I always felt RCCL was the most well rounded in the categories. If you want boring, try Holland America. They have the best food and some of the best ports though.

 

 

Sorry for your issues on Royal, but those issues occur on all lines. Glad you have found a line that you want to stick with, but I cannot imagine cruising the same line over and over and over again. We like Carnival fine but also love Celebrity and Royal. We now have so many more ships/itineraries/ports of embarkation to choose from, not to mention the different experiences each line provides.

 

 

I guess I'm just now understanding what my cruise style is and have found that it fits best with Carnival. And everyone is different. We cruised Sunshine last May and it was our favorite ship, cruise, experience to date, yet, you'll find others that completly disliked the ship. It's all in what you look for in a cruise and what your expectations are.