I WON a Carnival Cruise! Which ship do I choose?

[tamtot]

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

I can relate with what you're saying.  14 out of my first 18 cruises were on Carnival  and only 4 out of my last 17 have been on Carnival.   As you can see from my signature, I have future sailings booked on the Enchanted Princess, Mardi Gras and Apex, all of them the newest from their respective lines.  Will also be cruising on the newly refurbished Oasis when she cruises out of Bayonne  for the first time this summer.

I can highly recommend the Celebrity  Edge, which we were just on as well as the NCL Escape, which is the only ship I have sailed on 3 times.

Interesting. My husband always tells me to "go with what you know", so that's why we've done 14? Royal Caribbean cruises now. Habit. So it's probably good that I've been pushed out of the nest into Carnival, so I can step outside my comfort zone:-) I would LOVE to try Celebrity one of these days.

 

 

[ontheweb]

Personally, I would choose by itinerary rather than the ship. Find which ship is going somewhere that interests you.

[3HrTourist]

On 2/8/2020 at 11:12 AM, cbaker1974 said:

I think this is a great perspective...at the end of the day, what we may be looking for is "something new" or "something different".  I admire all of the folks who are diamond or platinum or whatever top loyalty statuses are for different lines - some of the perks are really nice.  However that also comes with having to eat a lot of Guys Burgers or Chops steakhouse, or Cagney's ... I'm sure it gets old after awhile.  I'm eager to check out NCL next and will probably try to rotate lines to keep things fresh...some people like consistency, but I want to be careful not to fall into too much of a routine while on vacation.

Having returned to Carnival on a Vista class after many years, I agree with your assessment.  Carnival is focused on certain demographics, and I came to the conclusion that  I am no longer within that demographic.  Having gone with groups in the past, maybe I ignored some of the negatives.  Their entertainment is still excellent.  "Free" food is average, but many good options for extra $.  Their new app is very good.  Quiet areas can be found.  Some public areas are crowded.  The Havana area is a plus.  But to get back to this thread's topic - for a second cruise, yes, I would try Carnival again. 

[matymil]

On 2/6/2020 at 6:12 PM, coevan said:

 

 

every ship will get mixed reviews, we loved the Magic

You got that right. We are going on the Magic for the first time next month and ive seen everything from "its my favorite ship" to "its the worst ship in the fleet". Reminds me of when I went on the Sunshine and saw a ton of bad reviews and I LOVED it! Other people said it best every ship will get mixed reviews. My advice is focus more on the itinerary. If it were me and I had my choice I would go the western Caribbean or bermuda just because I had never been there before. Youre gonna have a blast no matter what ship you go on, Carnival takes good care of all of them.   

[dmdiver]

"Soooo, I think we're gonna do Horizon balcony, do adjoining,

and hopefully we'll be able to remove the divider and share our balcony with our travel buddies:-)"

 

Unless the dividers on Horizon are different from the ships we've sailed, there are only certain balconies that can be opened to each other.  There is a goccl document for each ship that shows whether that can happen.  You can start here, https://help.goccl.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4397, select the deck & it will give room descriptions & which balcony dividers can be opened.