Need advice re: selecting a ship

[firsttimecruiser77]

Hi all,

We have cruised Carnival before and we were supposed to cruise with Celebrity a few weeks ago but at the last minute we were bumped since we were going as "buddies" of a relative who works on the ship. I was so upset and we ended up taking a trip to Orlando instead but I still have that urge to cruise.

Here's my question: In looking at cruises, carnival seems to be less expensive by far compared to Royal Caribbean and Celebrity (our other two choices). WE can get a junior suite on Carnival for the price of an oceanview w/ balcony on RCCL. The carnival rooms are bigger. As I mentioned we cruised the Fascination and I was less than impressed. The food was mediocre and the ship was very worn. We are now considering either the Triumph or the Victory for an Eastern Caribbean itinerary. Are these ships a huge improvement over the Fascination or can we expect a bigger ship with the same activities and food? I'd rather pay more and have a decent room (rather than a suite) and a nice ship with good food, if thats the case. IS this a classic case of you get what you pay for or are these ships really an excellent value for the money?

Also, Carnival and its other lines seem to have had some problems in the past with outbreaks where RCCL and Celebrity have not. Anyone know if they are doing better in this area? We don't want to get sick while out to sea.

Thanks for any advice you can give about your experiences!

Fascination 5/02

[imatarb]

Good questions..since this will be my first Carnival cruise coming up, I'm not really in a position to offer advice about which ship. I chose the Victory, based on itinerary and age of ship.

I'm sure there are other more qualified seasoned cruisers out there who can help, so I wanted to give this post a BUMP!

Lisa [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Monarch of the Seas - '94
Royal Majesty - '96

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=9400d3&cdt=2004;5;9;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Until VICTORY is ours

[BigDoug]

We are just back from an eastern trip on the Triumph. I highly recommend this ship. The food and service were great. The ship was immaculate. Much nicer than the Fascination IMHO. Of course, the Triumph in fairness is much newer. Also, you should catch John Heald before he goes to the Valor.

I just noticed that there is CC cruise on the Valor for 3/13/05 with an eastern itinerary.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2005;3;19;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Beating the Winter Blues on the Legend


Tropicale 9/95
Sensation 9/97
Carnival Destiny 10/00
Fascination 3/02
Imagination 3/03
Carnival Legend 10/03
Carnival Triumph 3/04
Carnival Legend 3/05 (Working on it!)

[sea_u_onboard]

The older ships are going to seem "less then perfect". I would suggust one of the newer ships. The Conquest class ships are wonderful.

-- Cheryl

****Proud member of O.A.T.C.****
Check out my Homepage in my profile for Conquest info

10/99 Fantasy
12/01 Inspiration
03/02 Inspiration
03/03 Conquest

Short one on the Celebration
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=000080&cdt=2004;7;31;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0600[/img]
JULY 31, 2004