Europe cruises

[ChinaShrek]

In 2020, it appears that the Carnival Legend will have several cruises in Europe.  I am interested in taking one of the 9-night cruises out of Dover in June 2020.  I have sailed Royal Caribbean and Holland America, but I am considering Carnival because I like the itineraries and price.  I especially like the cruise that goes to Portugal and ends up in Barcelona.  Has anyone taken a Europe cruise on Carnival?  Was it any different than Carnival cruises out of the US?  Would you do it again?  I am a bit worried that the ship could be a party ship with lots of drinking.  (I know I am stereotyping the Brits here, but they are famous for their Stag and Hen parties in Europe.)

[trvlgirlmq]

I have done a Med cruise with Carnival in 2016 and have already booked Legend for July 2020.  It wasn't any different than the Caribbean cruises I have taken except for longer port times. It was not a booze cruise or big old party boat but we did have FUN!  I don't think you will have to worry about any stag/hen parties the trip is a bit long for that.  You will probably mostly encounter other Americans with some British people thrown in the mix. 

[rlkubi]

We are booked on the cruise from NY TO Dover in June. Love these cruises.  Have done 28 cruises with Carnival and never seen a party cruise.  People who have never done Carnival stereotype them. Love Carnival!

 

[Essiesmom]

There are several roll calls for the TA in June on the book of faces, and the one I am on has a poll regarding age.  Of the 230 who have responded, the largest age category is 56-65: 37%.  The percentage over 46 is 80%!  The cruises in Europe may skew a little younger, but not much.  EM

[xDisconnections]

2 hours ago, ChinaShrek said:

Has anyone taken a Europe cruise on Carnival?  Was it any different than Carnival cruises out of the US?  Would you do it again?  I am a bit worried that the ship could be a party ship with lots of drinking.  (I know I am stereotyping the Brits here, but they are famous for their Stag and Hen parties in Europe.)

Europe cruises on Carnival, especially those longer than 7 days, attract an older demographic when compared to cruises in the USA and you won't experience as much of a party crowd as you are expecting..

Edited January 5, 2019 by xDisconnections

[heatherbelle]

Hi

 

a med cruise on Carnival will not be a party cruise.  Not many Brits cruise with Carnival Carnival tend not to advertise here in the UK).  As a nation we are not alcoholics, don’t know where you have picked up that perception, but hey ho!  We did invent the pub though.

 

The hen parties etc in Europe where our teenagers go and drink to excess are no worse than the American kids going to Cancun and getting drunk there.  They are on holiday without their parents and kids in Europe can drink legally and travel overseas from the age of 18.

 

I have done two Carnival Med cruises and one Caribbean cruise and all three have been fine, all cruises were for 7 days or more.  I do remember one of my US friends having a bar bill totalling over a $1000 and drinking lots of fish bowl cocktails.

[nybumpkin]

We did a 12-day Baltic cruise round-trip from Dover in 2013 on Legend and a 10-day Athens to Barcelona in 2016 on Vista. Neither was a party ship (truth be told, neither have our other 22 Carnival cruises), and the passenger age tended to be higher - although, since we sailed when school was out, there were plenty of kids - ours included. I did notice differences in some food items - a welcome change. I'd love to do the TA on Legend in 2020, but the timing just doesn't work for us - so we're doing a TA on QM2 this summer that does an overnight in Iceland.

[bakersdozen12]

My husband and I did a Mediterranean cruise on the Carnival Horizon this spring with a couple friends of ours (also from the US). We had a wonderful time. I’ve never felt that any of the eight Carnival cruises we have been on have been “drunken party ships.” I feel like this is a reputation Carnival has but does not deserve. They are definitely fun cruises, however. If anything, our Europe cruise might have been filled with people who were a bit more mellow, because I think European cruises attract a different clientele than Caribbean cruises. I did not notice any wild Brits that you have described. 

 

In any case, we are now booked on the 9-day Dover round trip (Norwegian Fjords) cruise. So yes, I not only would cruise Carnival in Europe again, but I will be in 2020. I find Carnival to be perfect for my husband and I because we are never bored on any of our cruises. We are not young (my husband is 50 and I am 42), but we not so old that we don’t like to have fun. We are also not drinkers, so we wouldn’t enjoy Carnival cruises if they were just drunken party ships. On the contrary, Carnival provides the right mixture of fun and relaxation for us. No matter where we sail with them (Caribbean, Alaska, Mexican Riviara, or Europe).