Carnival Cruise Line Rankings

[Jamericannn]

Please rank your top 5 cruise lines and give "short" description why.

[A&Jfamily]

Please rank your top 5 cruise lines and give "short" description why.

 

I can only do 3 fairly because those are the ones I have actually sailed. My ranking assumes price is not an issue, if it were, one and two would likely be reversed:

 

1) Princess. Her ships are more elegant. The food at the specialty Italian is OUTSTANDING. The wine bar is delightful. And most importantly, I found my fellow companions to be quite consistent with my expectations of dress and demeanor (no loud, sloppy drunks, no men wearing tank tops with armpit hair abounding in the MDR at dinner etc); it was simply well mannered normal people having a lovely vacation. My youngest (now 12) preferred their kids program as it was more active. They also have a wide variety of itineraries that Carnival cannot match, and that I will cruise someday when we are retired and can go for 2+ weeks at a time.

 

2) Carnival. I feel you get the most bang for your buck. I love sailing Carnival, but I don't always enjoy some of the rude, me first, it's my vacation and I will do what I want attitude. I am not saying this is a lot of people, but when you run into them, it's just plain annoying. And I have seen them on every Carnival cruise I have taken. But Carnival is great because they are the FUN ships and my kids have a blast; my teen prefers Carnival (more skimpy bikinis - by his own personal survey). Love the comedy club, martini bar and piano bar. And as long as I can have my balcony, I can escape for the peace and quiet I am after.

 

3) RCI. My first cruise and it put me off of cruising. The OV room was TINY - not even a chair in a corner because the bed took up 90% of the room. The food was "meh" and the service was certainly not done with a smile as with the other two lines I mentioned above. I walked away feeling like they simply didn't care, and wrote off cruising for quite a while. Many on here have confirmed the same experience with service and I am therefore not chalking this up to a bad cruise but rather a difference in character of the lines. I have not done their mega ships, and they don't really appeal because the price tag is huge, and we cruise for the ports, not all the extras like rock walls and flow riders. They don't offer anything I can't get at a much cheaper price (keep in mind I generally sail with kids, have 2 rooms and have to do so around their school schedule) on Carnival.

 

I have not cruised Disney - the prices are obscene. Therefore, until I am retired with grandkids I wish to spoil rotten, I don't plan on it. Someday when the price is right and we are not traveling with kids we will do QE2, X or other some such for comparison. But as long as Princess and CCL offer what they do, they have my business.

[momonthego17]

Good response A&Jfamily! I have only cruised on RC and Carnival and I agree with your observations about those two. Someday (when DH and I cruise without our DDs) we will try other lines, like Princess.

[Jamericannn]

I can only do 3 fairly because those are the ones I have actually sailed. My ranking assumes price is not an issue, if it were, one and two would likely be reversed:

 

1) Princess. Her ships are more elegant. The food at the specialty Italian is OUTSTANDING. The wine bar is delightful. And most importantly, I found my fellow companions to be quite consistent with my expectations of dress and demeanor (no loud, sloppy drunks, no men wearing tank tops with armpit hair abounding in the MDR at dinner etc); it was simply well mannered normal people having a lovely vacation. My youngest (now 12) preferred their kids program as it was more active. They also have a wide variety of itineraries that Carnival cannot match, and that I will cruise someday when we are retired and can go for 2+ weeks at a time.

 

2) Carnival. I feel you get the most bang for your buck. I love sailing Carnival, but I don't always enjoy some of the rude, me first, it's my vacation and I will do what I want attitude. I am not saying this is a lot of people, but when you run into them, it's just plain annoying. And I have seen them on every Carnival cruise I have taken. But Carnival is great because they are the FUN ships and my kids have a blast; my teen prefers Carnival (more skimpy bikinis - by his own personal survey). Love the comedy club, martini bar and piano bar. And as long as I can have my balcony, I can escape for the peace and quiet I am after.

 

3) RCI. My first cruise and it put me off of cruising. The OV room was TINY - not even a chair in a corner because the bed took up 90% of the room. The food was "meh" and the service was certainly not done with a smile as with the other two lines I mentioned above. I walked away feeling like they simply didn't care, and wrote off cruising for quite a while. Many on here have confirmed the same experience with service and I am therefore not chalking this up to a bad cruise but rather a difference in character of the lines. I have not done their mega ships, and they don't really appeal because the price tag is huge, and we cruise for the ports, not all the extras like rock walls and flow riders. They don't offer anything I can't get at a much cheaper price (keep in mind I generally sail with kids, have 2 rooms and have to do so around their school schedule) on Carnival.

 

I have not cruised Disney - the prices are obscene. Therefore, until I am retired with grandkids I wish to spoil rotten, I don't plan on it. Someday when the price is right and we are not traveling with kids we will do QE2, X or other some such for comparison. But as long as Princess and CCL offer what they do, they have my business.

 

 

Thank you for this. I just realize I made a mistake in my question. I meant to say top 5 Carnival cruise ships. I will edit it now. Your review was very useful though. Do you think Carnival's cabins are more spacious? I've never sailed any other cruise line but based on reviews that's what I assume. I agree with you that Disney's price is way too crazy. I don't know what is so special about it. I want to try Celebrity.

[Jamericannn]

Please rank your top 5 cruise lines and give "short" description why.

 

 

It is not allowing me to edit my post. I really meant to ask what are your top 5 Carnival Cruise ships

[evandbob]

After Nov 16 it could very well the Vista. I have an 11 day exploratory cruise on her over Thanksgiving.

I loved the Magic and I'm probably most familiar with the 5 Conquest class ships, probably sailed on those 20 + times? I stopped sailing the Fantasy class in 2006 because those ships were OLD then.

 

Favorite cruise line is Disney, followed by Celebrity. Princess was great for the Mediterranean and fantastic for the land/sea S/B Alaska cruisetour.

 

Carnival is my go to for regular cruising out of Florida to the Caribbean, and NCL is getting some play on their newer ships like the Epic and Breakaway.

Edited November 8, 2016 by evandbob

[Je Souhaite]

Carnival used to be up top, having the best bang for your buck, but now it's at my bottom, getting what you paid for.

 

Best CCL ship: Legend

Worst CCL ship: Destiny (now called Sunshine)

[Jamericannn]

Please rank your top 5 cruise lines and give "short" description why.

 

After Nov 16 it could very well the Vista. I have an 11 day exploratory cruise on her over Thanksgiving.

I loved the Magic and I'm probably most familiar with the 5 Conquest class ships, probably sailed on those 20 + times? I stopped sailing the Fantasy class in 2006 because those ships were OLD then.

 

Favorite cruise line is Disney, followed by Celebrity. Princess was great for the Mediterranean and fantastic for the land/sea S/B Alaska cruisetour.

 

Carnival is my go to for regular cruising out of Florida to the Caribbean, and NCL is getting some play on their newer ships like the Epic and Breakaway.

 

 

The Vista reviews are not great. Maybe the reviews will change when North Americans start traveling more on it. Maybe the Europeans taste is different. We shall see.

[Jamericannn]

Carnival used to be up top, having the best bang for your buck, but now it's at my bottom, getting what you paid for.

 

Best CCL ship: Legend

Worst CCL ship: Destiny (now called Sunshine)

 

Same ranking as the cruise critic board. I want to do the legend only because I want to do an Alaskan cruise. I am more a fan of larger ships.

[evandbob]

The Vista reviews are not great. Maybe the reviews will change when North Americans start traveling more on it. Maybe the Europeans taste is different. We shall see.

 

I'll find out in 8 days!

[sparks1093]

Carnival used to be up top, having the best bang for your buck, but now it's at my bottom, getting what you paid for.

 

Best CCL ship: Legend

Worst CCL ship: Destiny (now called Sunshine)

 

As long as I get what I paid for I'm happy. From what I can tell one pays more to sail on another line for arguably "better" food, a higher class of fellow passenger (whatever the heck that means), and other intangibles that to me don't make me want to spend hundreds or thousands more to obtain them.

 

OP, only sailed on two ships so far and I'd rank them 1. Pride, 2. Fascination (I would rank the itineraries taken as 1. Fascination , 2. Pride). Probably not a surprise.

[A&Jfamily]

Ranking ships I can do:

 

1) Sunshine (she is in a class by herself!)

2) Legend (or anything in it's class)

3) Victory - (or anything in it's class)

4) Fascination (she has balconies without paying the price tag of a suite)

5) Any non-obstructed suite on a Fantasy class ship

 

When we cruise on Magic (December) I am guessing that she will be in the top 3. And while I have done Valor, Glory and Conquest, these are my least favorite because I don't like the giant tiered fish bowl lido, the horribly smokey casino that can waft as far as the lobby, or the fact that I am required to go through the smokey casino, while going around my arse to get to my elbow to get from the front of the back to the ship on lower decks.

[debster11]

Top 5 Carnival ships

 

1. Carnival Pride--I loved everything about this ship from the decor to the food.

 

2. Conquest--I love the deck configuration and flow

 

3. Carnival Ecstasy-- Yes old but this was the first Carnival ship I went on and for that reason alone it will always be a favorite.

 

4. Carnival Triumph--I love the decor

 

5. Hopefully the Carnival Magic, my next cruise.

[dna529]

1. Valor- we enjoyed the new Guys and Red Frog

2. Conquest- enjoyed for similar reasons

3. Dream - cool slides and lots of food choices. Also the best mdr servers ever!

4. Pride - my first Carnival cruise and it was a new ship at the time

5. Fascination- used to be at our closest port and kids loved the waterworks!

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

[pcvtmom]

1. Sunshine (best Serenity area!) 2. Pride (love the layout and exceptional staff) 3. Glory (first time we had a fish and chips place) 4. Legend (sentimental...my son and daughter both got engaged on the Legend!) 5. Victory (like the Serenity layout)

Cruising on the Magic next June, and I expect this list will change! I've heard SO many positive things about her.

Edited November 8, 2016 by pcvtmom