Carnival made me appreciate Celebrity

[Gracie115]

Just got off the Silhouette and yes we were docked next to the Liberty. At one point that jumbo-tron TV was killing my nap. All I was thinking was thank goodness I am not on that ship. I as well took one cruise on Carnival and NEVER again. Crazy on choosing a housekeeping time.

 

Our room was directly across from the room we were in on the Silhouette a few years ago.....how I wished we had been there still!!! Thanks for validating the noise factor.....I just couldn't believe the decibel of the noise all day every day.....ugh...lesson learned:rolleyes:

[Duanerice1]

The thing with Carnival is you have to be careful which ships and which itinerary. Years ago we used to take the "booze cruises" becasue we could get some great deals (we live in S Florida). Heck we used to even get inside cabins at the time becasue the price was so good. I don't think we could take those again :)

 

About 2 years ago we did a last minute Carnival for my wife's birthday which is in May when no Celebrity ships were in port here. We took the Breeze for 7 nights. Got upgraded to a spa veranda cabin for under $600 pp. We really liked it. And yea it was a bit more lively than Celebrity but since we really don't hang out at the pool at all it wasn't bad. Actually like the "bit more lively" as our 10 night Eclipse in December was a tad boring. Could use a little more excitement.

 

Food was actually pretty good as was the service. I love the fact they have Guy's burgers and Blue Iguana as their casual places to eat. Also like the Comedy club that was going on every night as was the high energy piano bar. Having a movie at the pool on the big screen was actually pretty cool. The thing about Celebrity is after 5 pm there is dinner and a show. If you don't drink there is not much going on.

 

Their spa put Celebrity to shame. Not the spa services but the spa itself. In addition to everything Celebrity had, they have a medium size Therapy pool. Loved it. That's one area Celebrity fell down on, the spa should have it's own hot tub/therapy pool.

 

Anyway, I wouldn't hesitate to go Celebrity again. I was actually looking for another may cruise and and seriously thinking Carnival. Not that it matters but we are Elite on Celebrity and that is usually our line of choice.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Duanerice1

[richard1s]

Carnival and Celebrity are extremely dissimilar, night and day really. We have been on 25 cruises but only one on Carnival (Spirit)– I couldn’t convince my wife on an encore.

 

But the most enjoyable people we ever met on any cruise were on that ship and the absolute best, craziest fun casino at sea we ever experienced was on the Spirit.

 

Carnival lacked touches some consider “refinement” or "elegence" but I’ll take some unabashed fun over that any day. But as an overall product, in my opinion it’s hard to beat Celebrity

[Florida_cruisers]

As you can see by my signature, Carnival was our first and only cruise with them. Once I tried another cruise line, never going back. I'd rather stay home. Their tacky neon decor and "different" type of clientele is enough for me.

[Gracie115]

Their tacky neon decor and "different" type of clientele is enough for me.

 

Nice way of putting it....."different" ..... :)

[bobndee]

In St. Maarten on our Thanksgiving Silhouette cruise, we were walking back to the ship (there were about 5 in port that day) and came across no less than 3 groups of people who were having to carry/hold up at least one or two members of their party who were so drunk they could not walk. I commented to my wife that I would bet my life they were headed for the Carnival ship. And, that is indeed where they went. We have been in so many ports over the years and just sat on the balcony watching drunk passengers come back aboard a Carnival ship. I know this happens on other lines but seems to be more prevalent on Carnival.

 

 

We just came back from the Eclipse. On the shuttle from the hotel to the ship we met a family of 5 or 6 people who were going to a Carnival ship. They were all wearing matching T shirts. The front said "** Family Booze Cruise" while the back said "We're Going to Get Ship Faced".

 

'nuf said.

[cruzeluver]

We like both lines and over time see the differences shrinking. With Carnival, we will only book their newer ships, but they do many things very well. Chef's Table is a quite amazing experience and rivals any food options on Celebrity. Their standard staterooms are larger and storage is much better (especially compared to S-Class). I also think they daytime activities are more varied than Celebrity. We do prefer the main dining room experience on Celebrity and ships feel less crowded. We also really enjoy Celebrity's specialty dining.

 

We like Royal as well. Most "wow" factor in terms of design. Never have pledged allegiance to one line as we find it too limiting. I get that some like the predictability but we do not. Not only does loyalty limit the ships we could experience, but the ports and itineraries as well.

[Gracie115]

We just came back from the Eclipse. On the shuttle from the hotel to the ship we met a family of 5 or 6 people who were going to a Carnival ship. They were all wearing matching T shirts. The front said "** Family Booze Cruise" while the back said "We're Going to Get Ship Faced".

 

'nuf said.

 

Yes indeed....:eek:

[cyntil8ing]

I have been on eight or ten cruises each on Celebrity and Carnival. My kids mostly prefer Celebrity as they are not into the madness of the kids clubs. However, they are beyond excited to try all the new stuff on the Carnival Vista this summer. And I am really looking forward it too!

 

I like both lines. In my opinion, food is a bit better on Carnival, especially beef dishes and desserts, not to mention indian vegetarian available every night in the dining room, variety in the buffet, choices in pay restaurants, and don't forget 24 hour soft serve ice cream and pizza! Cabins and bedding are also better on Carnival, though I prefer the more restful, peaceful decor on Celebrity. Entertainment is generally better and more available on Carnival, and we don't go for the belly flop or hairy chest variety, though I enjoy the soloists playing around the ship on Celebrity. Staff is equally great on both, though I prefer being called the more formal madam over my first name.

 

I always find it fun to point out that in my experience, the one time I have seen a fist fight in the dining room was on Celebrity, and the one time I have seen someone wearing a wife beater on formal night was also on Celebrity. I've been jostled in the elevator without apology and treated rudely by fellow passengers more often on Celebrity.

 

Generally though, I get what people say about typical passengers on each line, though I think of Carnival passengers in more flattering terms -- loud, happy, fun, friendly. I think extroverts might be more at home on Carnival, while introverts are happier on Celebrity. As an introvert married to an extrovert, we are comfortable on either.

[JMG]

I will never forget our first cruise on Carnival - perhaps 10 years ago. There were no seats in the terminal. So, we were standing in line with others and suddenly we started hearing animal sounds. I leaned over to DH and said We are NOT on HAL this time! Later in the cruise a gentleman entered the talent show and yep...he did animal sounds!

 

We have been on several on the lines and to be honest, every cruise had its good points and bad points.

 

On Carnival DH got a kick watching the Grandmothers look at the guys that were looking at the young gals! One gal pulled a "melon" out of her swim top during one of the pool games. We also had a gal dancing in the front of the theater except she did not have anything on under her skirts. She was escorted from the room!

 

Probably our "worst" cruise was on The Norway. It was great to be onboard a classic ocean liner but there was a price to pay. At that time, Norwegian was in bankruptcy and the Norway was old with leaking pipes. The hallways were filled with cardboard to absorb the water. We are glad we did that cruise...The Norway was an interesting ship.

[Guindalf]

Our second ever cruise was on Carnival (Sensation) for a 5-nighter out of Tampa. The first was the 4-night on the Sovereign of the Seas. We hated it! After about 24 hours, we were wishing it was over.

 

There were many drunks all over the ship and a lot of noise. We just didn't feel comfortable. Not the line's fault, but it didn't help that we were diverted to Cozumel for a medical emergency and then went on to Costa Maya, with no excursions offered. We missed our scheduled port of Grand Cayman, which, at the time, was to be a highlight. Like I say, I don't blame CCL for the detour, just for not giving us any options of things to do in Costa Maya which was still under-developed at the time.

 

So, it was back to RCCL until I decided we would try Norwegian. Love, love, loved it! We stuck with them for several cruises, not least for the Freestyle aspect, which was wonderful. About three years ago, I managed to secure a suite on NCL, which was huge. We got all the perks - drinks and full dining packages (before they added grats to them and the latter was EVERY night!) and onboard credit, all for under $1000 each!

 

Last year, we decided that we might give CCL another chance as it had been 13 years since our bad experience and no, it wasn't any better. I agree with the noise and the biggest issue was when we were watching a movie and they stopped it before the end and never finished showing it! I could catalog all the things we didn't like, but there's no need. As someone said upthread, people cruise for different reasons and CCL is not for us, even if the Guy Fierri Burger Bar was the best at sea!!

 

Looking forward to the Equinox in October. SiL and her husband love X and we enjoyed the Zenith all those years ago, so I think we'll have a good time. We've got the drinks package, which I plan to upgrade to premium (wife doesn't drink, so she's happy with the basic), to help if not! ;)

[SusieV]

Everyone I know who tried Carnival first doesn't cruise again. I keep telling them they should have listened to me :rolleyes:

 

I don't get how people are okay with only one room servicing a day though. Either you don't get fresh towels and clean made up bed in the morning or else you don't get turndown with the next day's sheet and the pillow chocolates. I want both! We often shower twice a day on a cruise and I want fresh linens.

[cyntil8ing]

I don't get how people are okay with only one room servicing a day though.

 

The once a day service is by choice, not by default. If you get the card and select both morning and evening service, you will get them both.

[starri]

Everyone I know who tried Carnival first doesn't cruise again.

 

My husband's first two cruises were on Carnival. He prefers X, but we had a lot of fun both times.

 

I hate the default bashing of Carnival. Maybe it's not something that appeals to a lot of X cruisers. It wouldn't be my first choice, but for some people it is, and that doesn't somehow make them inferior.

[bluwes]

Everyone I know who tried Carnival first doesn't cruise again. I keep telling them they should have listened to me :rolleyes:

 

I don't get how people are okay with only one room servicing a day though. Either you don't get fresh towels and clean made up bed in the morning or else you don't get turndown with the next day's sheet and the pillow chocolates. I want both! We often shower twice a day on a cruise and I want fresh linens.

 

I know its hard to read every message in a thread , but I did post that you still get both services in one day. You can get everything you mentioned, don't believe everything you read

[dh1drill]

Wife and i do B2B cruises first cruise on carnival, rccl or ncl with kids and grand kids send kids and grand kids home and the second cruise on celebrity or princess just the 2 of us we like carnival just pick the right ship and itinerary no 3 or 4 days short cruises ships are mostly older ships long story short i am platinum on carnival never had a bad cruise with carnival.

[trishkri]

I would take Celebrity any day over Carnival. That said, there are a few things I like better on Carnival - the fruit and cheese dessert plate and the molten lava cake in the MDR, Reubens, potato salad and soft serve at the grill and a few more options for entertainment during the day.

 

 

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[nimiq]

Hello all,

 

I don't think it's fare to compare both cruise line but that being said Carnival has improved in many area the past few years.

 

Here are a few of them :

 

Guy's Burger ( best burger at sea)

BlueIguanaCantina (amazing Mexican food)

Red Frog pub ( fun for beer lovers)

Alchemy Bar ( great atmosphere and drinks)

Newer ship decor much improved on previous older ship.

Spacious cabin

Water work (Kids and adults like me love it)

Great comedy club

Adult only pool Serenity very confortable and quiet

 

Those are only a few of the stuff that make me think of cruising again with them.

 

I don't know why people still think Carnival is a cheap company maybe it's because you can admit that they are actually improving while some others are cutting back.

That should be the right focus.

 

My opinion of course.

No matter what me when on vacation I only take the best out of them.

 

Thanks

Sea ya

Eric

 

 

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[tassie cruiser]

we have been on three Carnival Cruise and three Celebrity Cruises. Both have their pros and cons. If you are over 60, and can't handle kids Carnival is definitely not for you. If you are cruising with kids under 18, Carnival is great as they have a ton of games, trivia, comedy shows (both PG and R versions), and other things for family activities. We felt the food in the MDR on both lines was comparable, with Celebrity taking a slight advantage. Celebrity needs a Comedy Club or another venue for after dinner aside from the mediocre theater shows.

 

 

Totally agree with what you said. Love Carnivals / RCCL atmosphere onboard,

Any cruise is a great cruise

[caribill]

Everyone I know who tried Carnival first doesn't cruise again. I keep telling them they should have listened to me :rolleyes:

 

I don't get how people are okay with only one room servicing a day though. Either you don't get fresh towels and clean made up bed in the morning or else you don't get turndown with the next day's sheet and the pillow chocolates. I want both! We often shower twice a day on a cruise and I want fresh linens.

 

No pillow chocolates on Carnival. Not even on RCCL anymore.

 

But without the evening turndown on Carnival you would not get the towel animals.

[Nicstar]

Only two cruises in my repertoire. One Carnival (first cruise) and one Celebrity. About same length of time and to pretty much same ports. Even with some of the annoying factors on first cruise it didn't put me off cruising. In fact made me want to do more.

 

As others have stated both had good and bad points and I don't really prefer one over the other. In actual fact my next cruise will prob be Carnival because it will prob be solo travel again and I just cannot afford Celebrity with the single supplement on my wage. Having said that, if I happened upon a surprise windfall then I would book on Celebrity again- i loved their gym!!

 

I do agree that each line attracts different clientele, and I did notice a calmer atmosphere on Celebrity, but I find it takes a lot to annoy me and make me avoid an annoying situation again. I am pretty good at tuning out to annoyances around me so prob have a bit of tolerance for stuff others don't want to deal with. The thing that would make me choose one cruise line over another would be the friendliness of the staff, and on Celebrity I encountered a couple of really rude people who just shouldn't have been in the jobs they were. And the friendliest MDR staff I would vote for Carnival.

 

I don't think I want to try any other cruise line as i dont want to have to have more to compare and make choices over! 😂

 

 

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Edited January 25, 2017 by Nicstar

[Gracie115]

I know its hard to read every message in a thread , but I did post that you still get both services in one day. You can get everything you mentioned, don't believe everything you read

 

We were asked by the housekeeping steward if we wanted morning OR evening service. We were not given a choice of both.

 

We also realize that many people don't mind, and even enjoy the mind bending noise level and "FUN" that Carnival represents. That's good, that's why we have choices. Our cruise on Carnival made us realize, even more than we already did that Celebrity is much more our style. I go on vacation to relax and recharge....when I got off the Carnival ship the only thing I felt was relief.......

[mafig]

Our last cruise on Carnival was our last.

 

One plus was that the food was always pretty good. Service too. One time DH asked for another entree and the waiter ran to get it. Not walked quickly. Broke into a run.

 

Other than that we thought we were smart to book a cruise before Christmas. Not Christmas week, but before. There were over 1,000 kids on this cruise.

And it showed. Kids running in the halls at midnight, without their parents, where were they?

 

Balcony neighbor. Constant smoking and throwing cigarette buts overboard. Spitting overboard too. Constant shouting to his wife from the balcony to wherever she was in the cabin. Must have had relatives in insides, because there were always 8-10 of them on the balcony.

 

The female across the hall from us was very popular. We would be awakened by male "friends" banging on her door in the middle of the night. One was yelling "open the (blank) door." We did call Security.

 

Can you imagine if that was our first cruise?

[KuffMUp]

To be fair this was 10 years ago so it might be better now, but it was mostly the clientele that turned me off and like the OP said the constant noise.

 

I hated our first Carnival cruise and almost didn't go on another cruise. Tried a second one and I was done with them. The clientele were horrible. Yelling at the staff that they were stupid, didn't put any alcohol in their drink, on and on. Now, I have a friend that loves them. I am happy for him since he found a product he liked. When we sail out of Miami, we stay at Embassy Suites. At the manager's reception we try to guess which tables are going on which cruise line. So far, we are 100%. I wish I were as lucky in the casino,

[cmalagngl]

Smoking policies, Celebrity wins!