Former Celebrity cruiser considering Carnival

[dave_k58]

14 hours ago, webzila said:

 

Is that a negative?

nope - just an observation

[OCruisers]

18 hours ago, Greensuz said:

I haven't cruised in quite a while.  My new husband and I are looking at Carnival Sunshine out of Charleston.  This is very attractive to us, because we live only about an hour from Charleston.  My previous cruises are mostly Celebrity.   I know not to expect everything on Carnival that Celebrity offers.  I love the Carnival price!  I'm also very open-minded, and not at all picky or a cruise snob.   Any encouraging comments from those of you who have cruised both lines?

 

We have cruised on both Celebrity and Carnival plus many other cruise lines.

Encouraging comments:

~ Charleston is just a few hours away from us so no long drive or flight.

~ More to do later in the evening than Celebrity.

~  It never hurts to try a different cruise line to see for yourself if it's a good fit.

 

Whatever your final decision ... Enjoy!  

 

[Roz]

I sail Carnival and I sail Holland America.  I shop at Target and I shop at Nordstrom.  I approach them with different expectations.  You'll be fine.  Enjoy your cruise.

 

Roz

[Joebucks]

It depends on you. The majority of reasons people choose Celebrity over say Carnival is because they are so damned obsessed over other passengers. This person wore shorts. This person ate a lot. This person was too drunk. If you're a busybody like that, Carnival probably isn't for you. Sure there's some other differences too, but I say go for it. Worst-case scenario, you've experienced Carnival, and decided it isn't for you.

[jimbo5544]

20 hours ago, Greensuz said:

 

Wow, pretty ripping post.  I guess ww shoild be plwased you lower your standards and cruise with the lower class. Maybe, just maybe your view is a tad jaundiced.  Just saying.  

[Miss SeaBee]

37 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Wow, pretty ripping post.  I guess ww shoild be plwased you lower your standards and cruise with the lower class. Maybe, just maybe your view is a tad jaundiced.  Just saying.  

 

That wasn’t my intent.  One of the reasons for not cruising Celebrity anymore is that I can no longer afford it. My question was because I assume the higher price tag for the celebrity cruise line was to pay for possibly better food, cabins, amenities, etc.  I would at least assume that more money equals more stuff?  Or else nobody would pay more?  I don’t know.  I guess I’ll find out.  Sorry if you were offended.

[Miss SeaBee]

6 hours ago, Cruisegirl6 said:

Thanks for those who compared Celebrity to Carnival.  I been on 83 maybe 84 cruises and just considering trying Celebrity but just didn't do it yet...I always heard the crowd on Celebrity is stuffy, that people go to sleep earlier so at night its pretty much "dead" and heard the casinos if they don't meet a quota they will close it late in the evening....do you find this to have some truth?

 

For those of you comparing Celebrity vs Carnival which celebrity ships are you comparing it to?

 

I won't go into detail what I think about Carnival because some people here can be real nasty and honestly, I am not a person who wants or likes to argue with anybody, with this being said, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!  

 

My advice, you can't compare the newer larger ships to Carnivals older ships, there is a huge difference in the food variety/quality/selection especially speaking about the lunch buffet.  I find the older smaller ships to be  very lacking and unappealing in the buffets and the MDR eh...for instance, we just got off the Elation two weeks ago, the best thing in the lunch buffet was the deli, now go figure that!!!  Again, I am beating around the bush to keep things on a positive tone.  The only thing you get to eat past 11pm on Carnival is pizza, yep, that is all oh wait they do have a Caesar salad if you ask for it, but that is all.  (Who wants to sit in their stateroom waiting for room service??)

I tried Guys Burgers again to give it one more try and found the consistency of the burger to remind me of opening up a can of wet cat food and the fries soaked in oil, yuck!!!!  Iguana Cantina used to be good but the quality of the meat well I won't go there either but you get the point.

 

Carnival does offer better comedy shows and nightly comedy and their steakhouse is our most favorite specialty restaurant and we will dine there every night to get an overall excellent experience.  They also have a live band usually playing outside the casino and play till around midnight, which we love. 

 

We are booked on the Mardi Gras for its first sailing out of Port Canaveral, and I feel because she is new she probably be the best choice to choose on a Carnival ship, then comes Horizon and Vista....my opinion.

 

 

 

Thank you so much for the great response!  If you’re looking at Celebrity, I prefer the newer ships, the solstice class.  I did one on the older, smaller Millenium. It was a nice cruise, but not my favorite.  The pax on Celebrity are definitely older.  People probably do go to bed earlier, but I was one of them, LOL!  One of my favorite things about cruising is just relaxing and recharging.  But my last cruise, I took my party-hearty sister and 20-something daughter and step-daughter.  They stayed out and partied until 2 am most nights at bars and dancing.  

[jimbo5544]

16 minutes ago, Greensuz said:

 

That wasn’t my intent.  One of the reasons for not cruising Celebrity anymore is that I can no longer afford it. My question was because I assume the higher price tag for the celebrity cruise line was to pay for possibly better food, cabins, amenities, etc.  I would at least assume that more money equals more stuff?  Or else nobody would pay more?  I don’t know.  I guess I’ll find out.  Sorry if you were offended.

Fair enough

[cruisinagain1960]

You will love the port at Charleston - it is so easy to get on and off the ship.  We are about 4 hours north of Charleston, so this is our preferred port as well : ))

[Steve551]

On 2/22/2019 at 3:25 PM, Greensuz said:

I haven't cruised in quite a while.  My new husband and I are looking at Carnival Sunshine out of Charleston.  This is very attractive to us, because we live only about an hour from Charleston.  My previous cruises are mostly Celebrity.   I know not to expect everything on Carnival that Celebrity offers.  I love the Carnival price!  I'm also very open-minded, and not at all picky or a cruise snob.   Any encouraging comments from those of you who have cruised both lines?

We have 18 cruises on Carnival & a couple less on Celebrity (do not remember for sure). Carnival is a more budget cruise line than Celebrity and it shows BUT we've never had a bad cruise on Carnival and feel that it's a good value for the money spent. I am looking forward to our next cruise on Carnival.

[CanWeGoYet?]

I've been on many carnival cruises, and two long cruises with Celebrity.  Transatlantic, transpacific.  I was surprised on my first celebrity cruise to see how similar the food quality was in the MDR, despite the menu descriptions of food sounding so gourmet on Celebrity.   I think the MDR is still fairly comparable, but imo quality has slipped a bit more since carnival has transitioned to the American Table.

Service from cabin steward is at least as good on carnival as I have found on celebrity. 

Gym classes, added cost exercise classes are better on Celebrity.

I prefer the production shows on Celebrity, now that play list productions are the standard on carnival.

I still like Carnival, but it seems to me fairly comparable price wise if you add in the free gratuity / drink packages that are often part of the promos on Celebrity.  I'd never buy an alcohol drink package on carnival, but even with the coffees I buy at the bistro, bottled water etc it really does add up.  

My only caveat for Carnival is if you are booking a cruise to see if it the cruise line fits with your expectations, find at least a 7 day cruise not on spring break.   The 3 or 4 day cruises / cheapest itinerary like Bahamas can attract a pretty rough crowd.  Had my 4 day bahamas cruise out of Miami been my first on carnival, it likely would have been my last.

Edited February 26, 2019 by CanWeGoYet?

[elcuchio24]

Without going into every specific my comment is this: we have cruised on a bunch of different lines, and always enjoyed them all. There is much more similar between lines than different. Enjoy!

[jimbo5544]

30 minutes ago, elcuchio24 said:

Without going into every specific my comment is this: we have cruised on a bunch of different lines, and always enjoyed them all. There is much more similar between lines than different. Enjoy!

 Best post on the thread.