For those who are exclusively Carnival cruisers

[KmomChicago]

4 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

We enjoy the value of MSC very much. We put it somewhere between Carnival and Royal Carribean . I'm constantly looking for best pricing for my family of four. Next August 2022 on the brand new Seashore out of Miami: 14 days in a balcony on a new ship for a family of four, drink packages for the wife and I and the kids, also WiFi- $5200. All lines compared equally with all included that's about what Royal wants for 7 days next August and Carnival is about $4000 for a week in a balcony for four and Cheers for 2 and WiFi. MSC is the new leader in value for us.......

 

That's a great price for what you are getting. No doubt about it. We would certainly be open to MSC, stars just haven't aligned yet. And I am looking forward to more reviews as they become more established in the US market.

[Wanna_Cruize]

5 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

 

Yes, that's what I meant.  I apologize for the mistake.

No problem, glad you're coming. We're on her in September also. 

[samiam0403]

I sailed exclusively with Carnival for my first 10-15 cruises, and loved it. On my Platinum cruise (on Holiday), when I ordered my first cocktail on boarding day the waiter gave me a big grin and said, 'Welcome home!' when he saw my shiny new platinum card. And Carnival did feel like home back then. Then, for my 40th birthday, we decided to shake things up and book a 10 day cruise in a suite on NCL. The newbie feeling of my first cruise came rushing back when I boarded that ship. Between the feeling of newness, and all the perks that came with the suite, I fell in love with cruising all over again. Since then, I'm not loyal to any one line - I still like 'coming home' to Carnival every now and again, but I'm sure enjoying exploring and discovering new ships on new lines. 

[SCBarker]

What would be most likely to get me to switch? Changes in my local home port. There's really no comparison money wise if your choice is to walk out your door and get onboard, or to plan flights and hotel to cruise out of somewhere else.

Right now there's 2 Carnival and 1 RCCL in Galveston, so I cruise Carnival about 66% of the time and RCCL about 33%. If they moved NCL in town, I'd probably try them out too.

If I have an excess of flight miles, hotel points, and vacation days, I'm not opposed to embarking out of somewhere else.

[toby #1]

 

After 48 cruises on Carnival, hubby wanted to do the Trans. on Horizon from Barcelona.  I didn't want to fly so I told him if he found a cruise to Barcelona I'd go.  He found a NCL cruise going to Barcelona.  We were not alone because there were so many Carnival people on it doing the same thing.  Since there were so many of us NCL gave us the royal treatment.  Loved it.  When we got home NCL sent us an offer we couldn't refuse so we did another cruise with them.

There are different things that we like on both cruise lines.

January will be my 59th cruise with Carnival.

[xDisconnections]

We have been through this after sailing 14 times on Carnival within a two and a half year period. It was fun at first but towards the end, there were a lot of service discrepancies and product inconsistencies combined with some cutbacks that bothered me at the time. We had a couple of unusual, isolated incidents towards the end of our time with Carnival and ultimately pushed us towards Princess and Royal Caribbean.

 

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time with Princess and Royal. We stopped sailing Carnival after our cruise on the Miracle in 2012 and it took almost 8 years for us to try again at the very end of 2019. I would consider sailing Carnival again but a specific criteria must be met for the purpose of said trip in order to move forward with a booking.

[kelkel2]

23 hours ago, nycruise1 said:

Have been on a couple other lines, but are taking our 15 straight Carnival cruise.  Got me to thinking, what would make us switch.  Not too much, but this is what I came up with:

 

- A really great deal--though Carnival is very competitive and usually priced the best anyway, and there would need to be a significant difference for us to switch

- Some sort of unique itinerary, though we cruise more for the ship than the ports so not sure what that would be

- If an organization or group we were connected with had a group cruise on another line we could consider it

 

Obviously it is wonderful we are so happy with Carnival that we do not look at other lines, and please no flaming, but what would make other loyal folks stray?

We took a cruise on Princess and decided it wasn’t for us. I think it was our second cruise ever? We’ve done 3 carnival since then and have another booked. What made us switch was just a good deal and wanting to see what else was out there. Although it was a nice cruise, it wasn’t really for us. Seemed too stuffy and formal. We like the dj and the games etc, listening to classical music in the atrium for dinner doesn't get me excited.  But now we know. 
I would always be interested in trying Royal Caribbean or NCL if the pricing was right. I could especially see NCL if they offered the kids sail free promotion again.   

[Jdfireman]

Carnival has been very kind to me over the years and still cruise on them to say hi to old friends that work onboard.

I wanted to see more of the world so we did the status match with MSC and were very happy with the change. Nice ships sailing the world and not just out of US ports . 

We decided to compare Havana with MSC Yacht Club the price was about the same when you add in the cheers package with Carnival. The MSC experience was hands down better value for the dollar with  personal service from start to finish and we enjoyed it. 

The crowd was different but like on all trips we make our own fun and could care less who the cruise director is. 

Both lines have great dedicated hard working staff.

We will still sail on CCL but we are expanding to more lines and will make the best of it 

[firefly333]

41 minutes ago, kelkel2 said:

I would always be interested in trying Royal Caribbean or NCL if the pricing was right. I could especially see NCL if they offered the kids sail free promotion again.   

Someone on the rcl boards asked about why no kids sail free lately and the answer was because of covid. Rcl would be unlikely to want to encourage unvaccinated kids to sail. Rcl normally has a lot of kids sail free sales. Maybe once they get down to age 2 and up approved vaccines. But then you still have babies. .. no cruise line is likely to have a kids sale free promo anytime soon.

[KmomChicago]

10 hours ago, SCBarker said:

What would be most likely to get me to switch? Changes in my local home port. There's really no comparison money wise if your choice is to walk out your door and get onboard, or to plan flights and hotel to cruise out of somewhere else.

Right now there's 2 Carnival and 1 RCCL in Galveston, so I cruise Carnival about 66% of the time and RCCL about 33%. If they moved NCL in town, I'd probably try them out too.

If I have an excess of flight miles, hotel points, and vacation days, I'm not opposed to embarking out of somewhere else.

 

I would think more lines will be getting into Galveston as it seems to be working out really well for those who are there already, and of course if I were in your situation it would be the same choice.  The need to travel to an embarkation port is a huge deterrent to cruising more often.  The absolute closest drive is Baltimore at 10.5 hours. My personal fly/drive formula is anything 6 hours or less, we will drive (in spite of my CC nickname, we are 1.5 hours to Chicago airports, 2 hours at airport, 1.5+ hours on flight, 1 hour to get out of the other airport), between 6 and 12 it's a case by case decision whether it's worth the hassle and expense for the time saved, and anything longer than 12 will be a flight unless we actually plan it as a multi-day road trip.

 

Flying involves so many additional irritations - must be on exactly THEIR schedule, though they might be delayed, limit on what you can bring and how much, must sit in tiny seats very close to strangers, have to pay for multi-day parking or an expensive ride to/from the departure airport, have to pay for rides from the destination airport to port, just being at their mercy in general.  

 

Driving isn't perfect either. It's kind of stressful and tiring, there is the risk of a mechanical problem or an accident or long annoying slowdowns. Either way, starting and ending trips with the logistics of getting somewhere far from home is always a bit of a bummer that we would love to be able to avoid.

[NCTribeFan]

I started with Carnival, then did one RCI, then it was back to Carnival when I was sailing with my then-teenaged DD, up until she was out of college.  Why?  Mostly price. And because I was on a budget, so stay in inside cabins, the size of those cabins on Carnival's ships were typically much larger.  RCI's inside was tiny.  Try sailing with a teenage girl in a 135 sq ft cabin for a week!  And once I hit Platinum, that was a little incentive just for priority boarding.

 

But then, I was solo most of the time.  I paid 200% every time except for 1 sailing on Pride out of Baltimore.

 

So I started looking around.  I sailed to Hawaii on HAL with a cousin and her friend.  Their 3rd-person fare was only $200 additional for a 14-night sailing, so split 3 ways made it very affordable.  And I loved the ship (Zaandam), the crew, the food and everything about it.

 

When I'd check HAL's prices, I typically got about a 30% discount after logging in (I think they're mostly casino rates; HAL's website isn't very transparent and doesn't show you various rates).  Then I got an offer for an 11-night sailing for $299/pp on Zuiderdam.  Jumped on that.  Also got a very good fare for my Koningsdam cruise so I upgraded myself to a balcony.  I'm sailing on a "free" casino offer on Eurodam in November for 10 nights.  So although I get casino offers from Carnival, the ones from HAL are much, much better.  I only JUST got my first-ever free cabin offer from Carnival.  Hmm.  5 nights on Paradise or 10 nights on Eurodam.  😁  Yes, there's typically an older demographic on HAL but the Caribbean sailings aren't packed with octogenarians like the Hawaii cruise was.  And I'm no kid any longer and have no desire to prove to myself and the rest of the cruising public that I can still Party Hardy!  I never have any problem finding something to keep me entertained.  Their bands in the BB Kings Blues Club are outstanding (mostly soul, some blues, some pop).  By far the best live bands on any sailings I've had.  HAL also lets you stack FCCs.  I had three I applied to a 12-night December sailing that includes their Have It All package (drinks, internet, specialty dining & tips), making it very affordable.

 

I also sailed MSC for 3 consecutive sailings (Divina 12/2018, Armonia 5/2019 (next to last sailing to call at Havana), and Armonia again 9/2019).  It's a different experience.  I personally enjoyed that Americans were in the minority and enjoyed hearing announcements in 4 or 5 languages! I have 2 FCCs to use with them.

 

Oh, and an eastbound TA on NCL Star.  Liked it much more than I thought I might.  Booked on Bliss for a quasi TA B2B for April/May 2023.

 

After 30 cruises, I'm a bit bored with Carnival.  It's exactly the same on every sailing.  I couldn't care less who the CD might be.  In fact, the ones people seem to love (the "high energy" ones) are the ones I don't care for.  They wear me out.  I just don't need the FUN FUN FUN shoved down my throat. 

 

So, as someone who wants a slightly less intense sailing, who likes to spend sea days reading and relaxing, who wants a little different MDR menu, and where I can sail solo for a slightly-more-upscale experience that doesn't break my budget, I'll happily get away from Carnival.  Variety is good.  I don't want another 40 cruises of the same old, same old.

[Spif Barwunkel]

For this year only, 2021, we are exclusively Carnival cruisers. Three of our four cruises were canceled and the only remaining one is a 12/04 Mardi Gras sailing. The three canceled cruises were with another cruise line, now our cruise line of choice.

 

We have enjoyed many past Carnival cruises but outgrew the pace, the vibe and the overall presentation, years ago. For us, a more easy-going, less frenetic style is preferred. I am sure it has a lot to do with our age, although we are quite capable of keeping up with whatever we decide to do.

 

Looking forward to seeing the Mardi Gras and once again experiencing the Carnival vibe. This is strictly a "ship" cruise and a chance to experience a brand new vessel. Great price on a great cabin and being that she lives only 30 minutes from home, kind of a no-brainer. 

 

We are anxious to cruise on the Mardi Gras and we promise not to get in the way of all you youngins.

 

   

[KmomChicago]

3 minutes ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

We have enjoyed many past Carnival cruises but outgrew the pace, the vibe and the overall presentation, years ago. For us, a more easy-going, less frenetic style is preferred.

   

 

I think this fact has a lot to do with certain reviewers really souring on Carnival after a while.  They perceive a lot of changes and downgrades and cutbacks, and while some of that is certainly accurate, I think in some cases the passengers themselves and their preferences simply change.  Additionally, with many things, the novelty / honeymoon phase eventually wears off. Your first hairy chest contest and Love and Marriage show may be surprising, funny, outrageous in a way that is kind of delightful, and entertaining overall.  Your 20th of either (or maybe 10th or even 5th) are been-there-done-that, stale, silly, and perhaps overly in-your-face and worst, flat out annoying.  Time to move on to something else.

 

This is why I think Carnival needs to get their act together with loyalty programs across the whole corporation. HEY DING DONGS!  Ya got peeps aging out of your entry-level program here!  Entice them to upgrade and jump over to a different concept!  And ya know what else? Some of them have MORE MONEY than they used to (maybe a lot more), and will get EVEN MORE (maybe a lot more).  So hey there, how about you figure out how to get them to bring their loyalty points over to Princess or Holland America, and later, Cunard and even SEABOURN!  Ya got a brand for anything anyone wants, but you could be doing more to progress them along your price points.

[sanger727]

I agree with the idea that IF you are interested in doing a Caribbean/Bahamas cruise and IF price is your primary motivator, then it's hard to beat Carnival. Especially if you live within driving distance of the Florida ports. 

 

But the distinction becomes less obvious when you start to include "perk" lines in the equation. For example you could sail on the Celebrity millennium on 1/27 from Ft. Lauderdale and get prepaid gratuities, the beverage package, and free wifi for $111 pp pd. Or you could sail on the Carnival Freedom out of Miami on 1/29 for $80 pp pd. And then add gratuities, the beverage package, and wifi which would make the cost well over $150 pp pd. 

 

And when you start looking at non-Caribbean cruises there are certainly many more options and itineraries if you include non-Carnival lines in the equation.

 

 

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, NCTribeFan said:

After 30 cruises, I'm a bit bored with Carnival.  It's exactly the same on every sailing.  I couldn't care less who the CD might be.  In fact, the ones people seem to love (the "high energy" ones) are the ones I don't care for.  They wear me out.  I just don't need the FUN FUN FUN shoved down my throat. 

 

For a different perspective, after 14 cruises on Carnival, I can't say that I've gotten bored with them yet.  Yes, the menus are often the same, but a lot of the time I like eating the same thing day after day, and when I'm interested in a change, it's easy enough to dine at a different place at a different time and get a quite different experience.  I've only had the same cruise director once (Felipe Couto - I don't think he's still around), and they in their own subtle ways make things different.  And I've grown used to having the FUN FUN FUN shoved down my throat at Carnival; it's part of their charm for me.  Maybe something will change for me when I reach #30 on Carnival, or maybe I'll find another cruise line gives me more of what I desire for less $$$.  But for now Carnival suits me and my needs a lot of the time.

[IntrepidFromDC]

2 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

 

I would think more lines will be getting into Galveston as it seems to be working out really well for those who are there already, and of course if I were in your situation it would be the same choice.  The need to travel to an embarkation port is a huge deterrent to cruising more often.  The absolute closest drive is Baltimore at 10.5 hours. My personal fly/drive formula is anything 6 hours or less, we will drive (in spite of my CC nickname, we are 1.5 hours to Chicago airports, 2 hours at airport, 1.5+ hours on flight, 1 hour to get out of the other airport), between 6 and 12 it's a case by case decision whether it's worth the hassle and expense for the time saved, and anything longer than 12 will be a flight unless we actually plan it as a multi-day road trip.

 

Flying involves so many additional irritations - must be on exactly THEIR schedule, though they might be delayed, limit on what you can bring and how much, must sit in tiny seats very close to strangers, have to pay for multi-day parking or an expensive ride to/from the departure airport, have to pay for rides from the destination airport to port, just being at their mercy in general.  

 

Driving isn't perfect either. It's kind of stressful and tiring, there is the risk of a mechanical problem or an accident or long annoying slowdowns. Either way, starting and ending trips with the logistics of getting somewhere far from home is always a bit of a bummer that we would love to be able to avoid.

Aha!  So THIS is why you're pushing for Carnival to enter the Great Lakes market!  The truth is out!  😉

[TNcruising02]

My husband and I like Carnival.  Most of the time when we cruise, we just want to relax, explore the port areas, and chill out.  I've cruised on Disney, Norwegian, and Royal, but we mostly cruise on Carnival.  We like their comedy shows, food options, and vibe.

 

I cruised on one of Royal's largest ships with one of my grandsons and it was amazing.  The shows were very good and the ship was incredible. I'll probably do that again with my husband because I told him he has to see such an incredible ship.  The downside is that we will have to reserve all of our shows ahead of time.  That's a bummer.

We are looking forward to our cruise on the Mardi Gras.  The ship looks amazing. I get the appeal of other lines.  There are pros and cons of every line and ship. Since I am a t-shirt/shorts/beach kind of person, I just want to chill out and have fun.  Carnival is a good fit.  I've dressed up for work for decades and am so over it.

[firefly333]

33 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

The downside is that we will have to reserve all of our shows ahead of time.  That's a bummer.

We are looking forward to our cruise on the Mardi Gras.  

Just a small correction. You do not have to book ahead of time... you choose to do this, but I know I got in a 2nd time to every show by going and waiting at the door for no shows. Did the theater shows twice and the diving show. True I'm sure you saw you could see shows on standby and choose not to..doesnt mean you can't. 

 

I'd almost like to see mardi gras after all this excitement, just not worth flying there. Breeze in oct is new to me, though I did dream and magic. Looking forward to each.

[TNcruising02]

10 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Just a small correction. You do not have to book ahead of time... you choose to do this, but I know I got in a 2nd time to every show by going and waiting at the door for no shows. Did the theater shows twice and the diving show. True I'm sure you saw you could see shows on standby and choose not to..doesnt mean you can't. 

 

I'd almost like to see mardi gras after all this excitement, just not worth flying there. Breeze in oct is new to me, though I did dream and magic. Looking forward to each.

We really like to get good seats, so prefer to always show up early.  I know they have standby lines, but we wouldn't get good seats. When we cruise on ships that require reservations, we still show up early.  Standby is an option, but doesn't work for us.

Edited July 5, 2021 by TNcruising02