Need a new itinerary, is Carnival that bad?

[kendon]

We have cruised with Princess many times, but the itinerary is getting old. As we are looking into a cruise for this summer, Carnival seems to be flooding the Caribbean. Is this line as tacky as many say? In the past we preferred Princess over RC and NCL. We sail for both the itinerary and the ship equally,so keeping that in mind, any comments are welcome.

[Toto2Kansas]

To us it is like comparing apples to oranges, they are both fruits with a totally different flavor.

If it is one of Carnival's newer ships, you should be OK, but the older ones are still lacking.

I sailed on Carnival for the first time in over 7 years recently just to see if it had changed. I must admit it was a short cruise. But I was NOT impressed at all.

 

Tahitian Princess 10/14/04

RCI-Legend of the Seas 3/27/05 Panama Canal.

One Phantom Booking still open with Princess.

[cruzenmama]

tacky isn't a word I would use to discribe Carnival. It is not as "upscale" as you probably prefer, but tacky, not in my opinion.

 

Jeanne-Marie

 

Caribbean Princess 10/16/2004

Triumph 4/26/2003

Triumph 4/13/2002

Sensation 96-01

Destiny 97

Costa Victoria 99

Horizon 95

Noordam 89

 

[Jacqueline]

I have heard good things about the Spirit.

I would look for the most expensive cruise on Carnival you can find to avoid the booze cruise people. They are looking for the $399 trips.

 

Jacqueline

Constellation 3/20/04

HAL Westerdam 7/30/04

Tahitian Princess August 2003

Grand Princess Western Caribbean 2003

Brilliance of the Seas Baltic 2002

Ocean Princess- Alaska 2001

Celebrity Zenith- Bermuda 2001

Grand Princess Med 2000

 

[louallard]

I just sailed on the Carnival Miracle, and have

sailed on other Carnival ships before. I was pleasantly surprised this time. I had no complaints and if they have an itinerary that you prefer on one of their newer ships than give them a try. Keep in mind it is not Princess or Celebrity and enjoy

 

Lou

[geoherb]

If you prefer Princess over NCL and RCI, then stay away from Carnival. I'd rate it below the others.

 

Celebrity and HAL would get my vote if you're looking for something different.

[Italy52]

Chris "Crusingislife" did a nice comparrison between Carnival and Princess. You might want to do a search and check out what he had to say. I believe Chris also has a website detailing his past experiences on Carnival.

[wystiria]

lol, here we go this is always a "hot" topic.

 

in all honesty if it is the itenery you are looking for then you should be happy on carnival. I honestly don't like the spirit class ships as much I find them a little small....heh and the legend is fullllll of urns But I can't say I have ever had a bad cruise

 

I am an Itenerary type person so this is what I look for.

 

Oh and as for the "booze cruise" crowd, avoid spring break times and you should be fine (march april). more often than not the carnival ships have a mostly older crowd....trust me I know I have been on a lot of them and there are almost never any other cruisers my age (late twenties 30's) hmmm that and popular summer times when you get the families...just keep that in mind.

 

later all! can't wait for the TP!

 

Wystiria~

Tahitian Princess 10/14/04-10/24/04 Back to Back!

Legend 1/03

Holiday 1/02

Destiny 1/01

 

[srphnx]

Not a fair question, this line vs. that, within the Carnival fleet there are different feels and to some extent within the Princess fleet as well.

It is true that more "nightlife" priortizing types find carnival but avoid spring break mardi gras at sea times and the differences are not that wide.

Carnival isn't the largest in the world by accident, they put forth a decent product and have many fans.

 

Life is at it's best when your address floats

<FONT color=red>Alaska</FONT>

Diamond Princess 05/04 ~~ Mercury 06/02

Rhapsody o.t. Seas 05/98 ~~ Legend o.t. Seas 09/95

<FONT color=red>Mexican Riviera</FONT>

Diamond Princess 12/04

Diamond Princess 11/04 ~~ Diamond Princess 04/04

Sea Princess 01/02 ~~ Vision o.t. Seas 04/02<FONT color=red>

West Coast-Baja Mexico</FONT>

Ecstacy 09/01

<FONT color=red>Eastern Carribean</FONT>

Century 12/97

<FONT color=red>Western Carribean</FONT>

Century 9/96

 

[Jolimont]

I haven't sailed Princess yet so I can't compare, but I had a wonderful time on the Carnival Triumph last year. Ship was clean, food was better than I anticipated (I'm a caterer), service was so-so in the cabin, pretty good in the dining room, great at the bars and lounges. Entertainment was pretty good, althought I wouldn't go to the Vegas style shows again, but the lounge entertainers were a lot of fun. My 4yo LOVED Camp Carnival. I saw no horrid drunkeness, no unrully children, nobody puking in the halls. Hubby needed the ship's doctor and felt they took great care of him. I really have no complaints about it and I had such a great time I promised myself I'd go again every year because it felt like a real vacation to me, unlike many of the other "vacation" things we do. It was also much cheaper than the Princess cruise we're going on next week, so as far as value is concerned it's really great!

 

Diamond Princess HERE WE COME! Alaska has never been so cool! 5/22/04

May 31, 2003 Carnival Triumph to Western Caribbean.

 

[RosieR]

I agree try, one of the newer ships of Carnival. Have been on 3 Carnival cruises and loved each one. The Legend out of New York was a blast. In my opinon the Carnival had the best food and that included my one HAL cruise. I've been spoiled with the suites on Hal but can't wait till I sail Carnival again.

 

Fantasy 08/92

Grand Princess 09/01

Destiny 05/02

Grand Princess 09/02

Carnival Legend 09/03

HAL Zuiderdam 11/03

Caribbean Princess 09/04

[Kellyann]

We've been on 6 Carnival vacations and thoroughly enjoyed all of them. My favorite is the Spirit but that doesn't mean that the others weren't terrific. We were on HAL's Zuiderdam last November and that was great too. We are trying the Princess line just for something different not because we had any previous issues.

 

When you can look out the window or over a balcony and see the beautiful Caribbean sea, or sit on a white sand beach, or sit at a pool with a foo foo drink, eat like a king, enjoy all kinds of entertainment, meet new friends, how bad can it be. Carnival has a quality product and like the others said, it really depends on the season and length of cruise what class of people are on board. Whichever you choose, enjoy.

Kellyann

[toban]

Our first cruise was on Carnival Spirit to the south carrib. Next time we cruised on Celebrity. They are both excellent. Everyone raves about the food on Celebrity but we found it no better than Carnival. There's more night life on Carnival. We found Celebrity became a ghost ship after the second show!! We would not hesitate to cruise Carnival again but would avoid school breaks. We are now planning our next cruise on Princess due to the itinerary. Can hardly wait......

[g0294]

been on two the glory and the sensation, they were both great cruises, food was very good, we have no complaints

 

caribbean princess 10/16

[bcs819]

I have been on two Carnival cruises and have nothing bad to say about them. However, I do not go on a cruise to be pampered and waited on hand and foot. If you are looking for good food (and plenty of it), a nice ship, a pleasant staff, a decent nightlife and a fun time, you would enjoy a Carnival cruise on one of the newer ships. If you want to be escorted to your cabin and have someone carry your tray in the buffet line, you won't. The only misbehavior I saw on either Carnival cruise was by children, and it was no better or worse than what you see in the mall. And I will say that for all of the ridiculing of the hairy chest contest that goes on by non-Carnival fans, my stomach hurt from laughing so hard...

 

Bernie

 

 

"so many cruises, so little vacation time"

Diamond Princess - September 2004

Grand Princess - March 2003

Carnival Pride - June 2002

Carnival Victory - June 2001

 

 

 

[CruiseFever]

If you like Princess I believe you will like the Carnival Legend for sure. Other Carnival ships, maybe, but the Legend for sure.

 

Our last Carnival cruise prior to our first Princess cruise was on the Legend and the two experiences were, in general, cut from the same cloth.

 

I'll stick a link at the end of this for more details but looking at Carnival from a Princess perspective I would ask you:

 

Have you ever been to Las Vegas and did you like it?

 

Carnival ships have a Vegas-like feel ranging from subdued (The Legend) to brash and gaudy (the older ships Toto refers to)

 

Do you have the ability to make a cruise what you want it to be?

 

If so, you can do Carnival easy. We enjoyed 9 Carnival cruises, each one more than the one before it, because we learned the Carnival system and how to work it to provide what WE wanted out of a cruise. So far, I think Princess provides the product we had to work for on Carnival which makes it easy for me but I fear it will become boring in the long run.

 

While each Carnival ship has a unique theme to provide variety, I have a hard time telling which ship's atrium I am looking at on photos of Princess ships. Right now that's a good deal, I believe I will feel as comfortable on one Princess ship as I am on another. On Carnival you may or may not feel that way, the decor and theme of the ships is just that different.

 

To me, and this is only MY opinion, those are the two main, consistent differences. Food and service may be great on one Carnival ship and just good on another. I've never had fair or bad.

 

The itineraries are indeed varied and with the number of ships Carnival has in the water you've got a lot to choose from. The best pricing will be on the older ships within each class and on the older classes in general.

 

Another real gem in the Carnival fleet is the Carnival Victory. She alternates between an East and West Carribean route the highlight of which I think is a call in Cozumel till midnight. Even the most subdued passenger can get into the swing of things on that one. Reasonably priced you can expect to get a balcony on that ship for what you'd pay for a mid level outside on Princess.

 

But cabin categories and ammenities is one huge difference between the two lines above balcony level. If you're used to a mini-suite or better on Princess you'll be sadly dissappointed on Carnival. This was one of the differences that stuck out like a sore thumb on our first impressions of Princess vs Carnival. This one is easily documented and not open to interpretation; you just don't get hardly anything with the upper tier cabin categories on Carnival.

 

On the Carnival Victory the best value in perhaps the entire fleet is a 9A wraparound aft balcony. Priced more than a standard balcony but less than a minisuite, this space is great and features a 40 foot long balcony.

 

Of course there are many similarities.

 

They're all big ships on the ocean, there are embarkation, muster drill and other event issues to be discussed, formal night has a myriad of meanings and just recently I found out that another hot button issue is travel insurance.

 

Finally, the notion that all Carnival passengers are of the "party till you puke" variety is not accurate. We are NOT party people and managed to have a fabulous cruise each time.

 

You will indeed be able to find a party-like event someplace on a Carnival ship but, to tell you the truth, I have not seen ANY Carnival venue that can light a candle to Skywalkers for the late night crowd.

 

Yeah that's what I said

 

Happy Cruising

 

Chris

 

www.LifeIsCruising.com

 

Next up:

Caribbean Princess 06/26/04

Star Princess 10/24/04

Diamond Princess 12/22/04

Carnival Miracle 03/13/05

 

[jemingway]

kendon, please listen to Chris. When it comes to Carnival, noone is better informed.

 

JV The 4 stages of cruising: planning, anticipation, experience and reflection.

[Guest]

We have never cruised on Princess (although we hope to!) so can't compare Carnival to Princess. However, we did take a 14-day Celebrity cruise as well as three Carnival cruises of different lengths, so have some experience with a more upscale cruise line.

Our last cruise with a shorty -3 days on the Ecstasy, with a group of 9, who were all a little apprehensive about being on a Carnival cruise. The bottom line is that we all had a better time than we expected. On all the Carnival cruises we have taken, the food has been very good, with a wide variety of entertainment. The dining room staff worked very hard to please, and the room was clean.

Yes, there was a higher level of service on the Celebrity cruise we took - for example, if you ate at the buffet, a waiter would carry your tray to a table for you -- and the ship was not as glitzy as the Ecstasy.

My DH much prefers crusing on Carnival because he likes the wider assortment of entertainment.

[kendon]

Thanks to you all who have spent the time on this board to provide me with such fair and sensible opinions. I didn't want it to become a Princess vs. Carnival. I just needed some generalities to go on, which is what it became. I think I may take the Carnival plunge this summer. This Princess crowd is the best!

[christiansmom]

My first time on Carnival I was dragged aboard kicking and screaming. Thought I would hate it but absolutely loved it. We sailed the Victory and had a great time and found the staff and fellow passengers to be wonderful. Carnival snob, no more, although I would definitely lean towards the newer ships.

 

I love Princess...you are definitely pampered more and it is more upscale but both offer a great product in my opinion.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Lisa

christiansmom

[mek]

The last time I was on Carnival was 2 years ago this July. Since then we've been on RCCL 2X and Princess 1X. We're leaving on the Grand in 3 weeks and have the Caribbean booked for November. While I love Princess, we had a great time on the Carnival cruise and wouldn't hesitate to go on one of the newer ships again. The food was much better than RCCL and entertainment was great also. Cabins are spacious. My only objection to Carnival is the interior decor - somewhat corny and over the top, but after a few days you tend to get used to it. I like to try different lines and ships.

[MaryPoppinz]

Where are you looking to go to on Carnival that you can't get on a Princess itinerary?

 

"I'm gonna book myself on that Princess Cruise."

-- Fox Mulder, X-Files 'Three Words'

[dimonzr4me]

Princess is our favorite cruise line, followed by Carnival!

 

4/9 2005 Dawn Princess