what do you love about Carnival?

[nycruise1]

First I will ONLY do assigned dining. I really dislike freestyle (I know to each his own). Like having the same table, same servers, them getting to know us and our tastes. To me, far outweighs having to eat at a set time.

Enjoy the atrium parties, dancing in the elevators, Dive in movies, water slides, food (I think it really is very good).

Music options, esp the bands playing in the Red Frog Pub.

Will be taking the Horizon and the Sky Ride soon, will see how that is.

 

But as others have said, it is difficult to compete with Carnival's pricing.

Also if you sail frequently, their VIFP program is better than what many of the other lines offer.

[dsotm73]

First I will ONLY do assigned dining. I really dislike freestyle (I know to each his own). Like having the same table, same servers, them getting to know us and our tastes. To me, far outweighs having to eat at a set time.

 

 

You can (and we do) request the same table and servers with YTD.

 

 

 

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[hockeyguru32]

Hi all, I live on the East Coast and have only sailed NCL because the Boston and NY cruise ports are easy for me, and I can only go certain times of the year as I am an educator. However, I am looking at flying to NOLA and taking the Carnival Dream to the Caribbean during my February break.

 

 

 

Thanks for all the help!

 

 

What do you love about Carnival? EVERYTHING

How does it compare to NCL ( if you've been on both) Food is better on CCL and you don't have to book shows

I love NCL for the freestyle dining..does Carnival have something similar? Yes it's called Your Time Dining (YTD)

I am looking at booking a balcony as the prices are a lot cheaper than most other ships for that category. Cabins are bigger than NCL

I would also love to hear any cons about this cruiseline. No cons for me but go in with an open mind and ZERO expectations and make your own pros and cons

[Retired LEO]

Also if you sail frequently, their VIFP program is better than what many of the other lines offer.

 

WOW...This is the funniest one yet. Thanks for the laugh.

[Doggielover68]

I don't really have any loyalty to one particular cruiseline, but we almost always sail on carnival because the price is the best and they have more port intensive itineraries. I'm not a fan of sea days so ports are important to me. I also find the crew members to be incredibly friendly when you take a minute to really talk to them, the cabins are spacious, ships aren't crammed with as many people as some other lines depending on the ship, frequent reduced deposit sales making it easy to reserve far in advance, and more.

 

 

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[Doggielover68]

WOW...This is the funniest one yet. Thanks for the laugh.

 

 

 

Hmm? Priority boarding and free stuff. What's not to like?

 

 

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[Don Kehote]

On Carnival, we are all equally trashy, and I love it.

[AmBear]

Gonna upset some but,,,,

We love the 'casual' dining in the MDR, even formal night really isn't formal for most!

Another thing is I'm allergic to women's perfume, and the 'STINK' on Carnival is less then on other cruise lines!

[vacationlover16]

I have done four on carnival (fifth one coming up in October) and two on Royal. I have to echo the fun factor! Everyone was friendly and just enjoying themselves & their vacation. I’ve enjoyed all six cruises but the two Royal were my least favorite. It’s always interesting to me the stereotypes people have of Carnival. On my Royal cruise in May a lady was literally on a pole doing stripper moves by the pool! Security had to come tell her to get down.

 

 

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[scpirate]

Carnival does roundtrips from Charleston, SC.

We live in Columbia and wish carnival went somewhere besides Bahamas out of Charleston.plus price is higher out of Charleston.so we go to Florida.

[never_cruised]

The food on carnival is just ok and your fellow cruisemates can be less than desirable due to the low pricing on Carnival.

This is so far what has stopped me cruising with Carnival when over in the States how bad is it ?

[Doggielover68]

This is so far what has stopped me cruising with Carnival when over in the States how bad is it ?

 

 

 

It's about the same as any public place and any cruiseline. There are people that suck, there are people who are fine. Carnival may be one of the cheaper cruise lines, but it is still not cheap by any means.

 

 

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[never_cruised]

It's about the same as any public place and any cruiseline. There are people that suck, there are people who are fine. Carnival may be one of the cheaper cruise lines, but it is still not cheap by any means.

 

 

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May try the newer ships

[Trueblueky]

May try the newer ships

Try longer cruises. In our experience, a short Bahamas cruises is more likely to be a "booze cruise" than a week or more to the Caribbean, and more likely to have lots of children, a mix that likely relates to available time and available money.

 

We never had a two-week vacation during our working years, but can now afford that in terms of time and money. I suspect many families are in that situation.

[AAAAmerican]

Having a Shareholder Benefit is wonderful as well the Dividend on the Common Stock not to mention the Compounding of the Dividends and Reinvestments.. CCL :NYSE LSE CUK : NYSE LSE

It pays more than all the Banks too in Interest..:D

[Don Kehote]

This is so far what has stopped me cruising with Carnival when over in the States how bad is it ?

You can pretty much use these boards as a litmus. Lots of people are cool, some are not, some are so bad you block them permanently.

 

The ratios are pretty close to what you get on board.

[jetta8300]

We have sailed multiple lines including Norwegian, and we really like some things about Carnival. We love the alcoholic drinks. Carnival has consistently the best bar drinks. by far. Norwegian drinks were terrible and mass made in jugs..probably because most people have the "free" unlimited drink package Norwegian offers.

 

We love the Dive In Movies with Carnival. We miss this on other lines. Other lines have movies a night or two a week if you're lucky. They typically use their screens for shows or parties, other things going on.

 

We think the "free" food on Carnival is MUCH better than the other lines. Especially Blue Iguana, Guys Burgers, are excellent compared to the buffet food on other lines. Overall the free/included food even at the buffet and mdr with Carvinal in our opinion, better than either Norwegian or Royal.

 

We also love the adult only serenity areas in Carnival, with the padded chairs. Norwegian has a similar area of the ship that you actually have to pay for. which we found ridiculous.

 

Unfortunately, you will see better things on Royal and Norwegian. Mainly the nightly entertainment (broadway shows), bigger balconies in the rooms, and overall nicer ships. But Carnival definitely has it's benefits.

[mdwcruises]

Carnival web site actually works!

[cheermomof2girls]

We prefer to cruise from Galveston (closest) so our options are more limited than some. We have only done on RC, and it was an older ship, a four night. It was fine. I loved their sushi place, didn't like their steakhouse or MDR. Missed Guys burgers A LOT. lol.

 

One of the biggest things that I missed was how friendly the crew is on Carnival. They just weren't on RC. I spoke to one dealer about it at the casino on RC and she was surprised, said she has worked for both, prefers to work for RC. But she was one of the only friendly crew members we met, except for the waiter at the sushi place. Most were nice just not friendly.

 

We keep coming back to Carnival because we love the alchemy bar, guys ,etc and it's easy and affordable for us and our family.