Carnival for Europe--will we regret it?

[kwokpot]

13 hours ago, icft said:

@kwokpot I looked at your profile pic and your pic in post #9 above. Favorite shirt? 😁

 

I like it though.

I know and it is. It's a dress shirt from Banana Republic and it's one of those non iron shirts, so it's perfect for travel. It also works with jeans or nicer chino type pants. Being retired and usually cruise anywhere from 6-12 cruises a year, so I have to remember to not always take the same clothes, lol.

Here is a photo with me in the SAME shirt from this past week on the Celebrity Solstice, lol. I promise I do have more than one dress shirt!

 

Edit: Ok, I just realized we're talking about a different shirt,lol. That one is also from Banana Republic and a iron dress shirt. The one below is another one of my go to travel dress shirts. 

Edited February 27, 2023 by kwokpot

[kwokpot]

22 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

Have you been on X since the pared the dinner buffet down ?

We just disembarked the Celebrity Solstice in LA and i didn't get to try the buffet for dinner or even get to check it out so I can't confirm the offerings. At breakfast and lunch it was similar to previous offerings with carving stations for various cuts of meats. One thing I did notice is the iced tea is now SWEET TEA; I don't remember it ever being sweet tea before and it was horrid. 

[kdr69]

Belly Flop contest? 😮 Oh my it has been awhile hasnt it.

[LibertyBella]

When, oh when, will Carnival announce if it is going to Europe (and which ship(s) will be used?  Many other cruise lines have their 2024 itineraries UP, and some also have 2025. 

 

I am strongly considering Carnival for Europe next Summer, as we have a lot of credit card points to use.

 

Should we try to communicate with them that there is a lot of interest?

 

 

[BlerkOne]

Just now, LibertyBella said:

When, oh when, will Carnival announce if it is going to Europe (and which ship(s) will be used?  Many other cruise lines have their 2024 itineraries UP, and some also have 2025.

 

Carnival only has a limited presence in Europe and prefers not to poach customers from itself. Carnival customers are typically from the US and incredibly fickle.

[Joanne G.]

21 hours ago, MedCruise_2022 said:

 . . Like some of you, we are waiting for the Carnival 2024 Europe sailings-hoping to book a B2B to Norway and Northern Europe.

 

I have a 12-day Northern European cruise on Carnival this coming July, followed by a 9-day British Isles itinerary.  I am disappointed that as of this morning, there are no excursions whatsoever offered for 3 of the ports on these 2 cruises.  I would consider private tours or using public transportation into city, but my first choice for convenience in unfamiliar ports is a ship-sponsored excursion, or even just a shuttle into town.  I can't finalize my plans when I don't know if Carnival will offer anything for Nynashamn (for Stockholm but about 36 miles away), Tallinn in Estonia, or Portree in Scotland.  

 

The lack of excursion choices in these 3 ports, along with what @Eli_6has said about Carnival's tender process, led me to give up on waiting to see what itineraries, if any, Carnival will have in Europe next year.   I booked NCL with a friend for N Europe, Norway fjords on Royal Caribbean with another friend, and the Mediterranean on Celebrity solo.   I have been on many enjoyable Carnival cruises in the Caribbean, and I find them a good value.   But I don't think Carnival will be my first choice for Europe in the future. 

 

Despite my current frustrations, I know I will find something to do in every port, and I expect to have a good time, first time on a ship since before covid.

 

For those considering Carnival in Europe, just do lots of research in advance - which are tender ports - and do you have any status that will get you on an early tender - where exactly is the port in relation to the places you want to see (see Nynashamn/Stockholm above), and how comfortable are you making independent plans if excursion options are few or none.   

 

 

 

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, Joanne G. said:

I have a 12-day Northern European cruise on Carnival this coming July, followed by a 9-day British Isles itinerary.  I am disappointed that as of this morning, there are no excursions whatsoever offered for 3 of the ports on these 2 cruises.  I would consider private tours or using public transportation into city, but my first choice for convenience in unfamiliar ports is a ship-sponsored excursion, or even just a shuttle into town.  I can't finalize my plans when I don't know if Carnival will offer anything for Nynashamn (for Stockholm but about 36 miles away), Tallinn in Estonia, or Portree in Scotland.  

 

The lack of excursion choices in these 3 ports, along with what @Eli_6has said about Carnival's tender process, led me to give up on waiting to see what itineraries, if any, Carnival will have in Europe next year.   I booked NCL with a friend for N Europe, Norway fjords on Royal Caribbean with another friend, and the Mediterranean on Celebrity solo.   I have been on many enjoyable Carnival cruises in the Caribbean, and I find them a good value.   But I don't think Carnival will be my first choice for Europe in the future. 

 

Despite my current frustrations, I know I will find something to do in every port, and I expect to have a good time, first time on a ship since before covid.

 

For those considering Carnival in Europe, just do lots of research in advance - which are tender ports - and do you have any status that will get you on an early tender - where exactly is the port in relation to the places you want to see (see Nynashamn/Stockholm above), and how comfortable are you making independent plans if excursion options are few or none.   

 

 

 

For Tallin I wouldn't bother with an excursion. The old town is walking distance and it's where you want to go. For Nynashamn/Stockholm yo can take the train from Nynashamn to Stockholm and return. The train station is walking distance from the ship pier. IMPORTANT HINT: By you train tickets AHEAD of time from the internet and you'll receive an e-ticket via email that's good for ANY train that arrives in Nynashamn. There's only one manned ticket booth and only one ticket machine on the platform and you can't buy tickets on the train so you can imagine the lines that form when everyone gets off the ship and tries to buy a ticket. Buying it online and you won't have to queue up and then just take whatever train comes when you get there. The schedules are all online. Then you just show the ticket taker you e-ticket email and you're all set!

[MedCruise_2022]

3 hours ago, Joanne G. said:

I have a 12-day Northern European cruise on Carnival this coming July, followed by a 9-day British Isles itinerary.  I am disappointed that as of this morning, there are no excursions whatsoever offered for 3 of the ports on these 2 cruises.  I would consider private tours or using public transportation into city, but my first choice for convenience in unfamiliar ports is a ship-sponsored excursion, or even just a shuttle into town.  I can't finalize my plans when I don't know if Carnival will offer anything for Nynashamn (for Stockholm but about 36 miles away), Tallinn in Estonia, or Portree in Scotland.  

 

The lack of excursion choices in these 3 ports, along with what @Eli_6has said about Carnival's tender process, led me to give up on waiting to see what itineraries, if any, Carnival will have in Europe next year.   I booked NCL with a friend for N Europe, Norway fjords on Royal Caribbean with another friend, and the Mediterranean on Celebrity solo.   I have been on many enjoyable Carnival cruises in the Caribbean, and I find them a good value.   But I don't think Carnival will be my first choice for Europe in the future. 

 

Despite my current frustrations, I know I will find something to do in every port, and I expect to have a good time, first time on a ship since before covid.

 

For those considering Carnival in Europe, just do lots of research in advance - which are tender ports - and do you have any status that will get you on an early tender - where exactly is the port in relation to the places you want to see (see Nynashamn/Stockholm above), and how comfortable are you making independent plans if excursion options are few or none.   

 

 

 

Have been waiting for 2024 Carnival Europe sailings since December last year. I just recently booked NCL for October 2024 for a  12-day port intensive (dream) cruise from Haifa to Rome (with ports of call at: Jerusalem, 1 in Cyprus, 2 in Turkey, 4 in Greece, and 2 in Italy). We are looking forward to it (but somewhat intimidated by the amount of planning/logistics for it).

As to your query "...do you have any status that will get you on an early tender"-- we are not platinum or diamond Carnival cruisers, but we are working on it (wink)

Still waiting for 2024 Carnival Europe sailings though! 

Thanks.

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, kwokpot said:

For Tallin I wouldn't bother with an excursion. The old town is walking distance and it's where you want to go. For Nynashamn/Stockholm yo can take the train from Nynashamn to Stockholm and return. The train station is walking distance from the ship pier. IMPORTANT HINT: By you train tickets AHEAD of time from the internet and you'll receive an e-ticket via email that's good for ANY train that arrives in Nynashamn. There's only one manned ticket booth and only one ticket machine on the platform and you can't buy tickets on the train so you can imagine the lines that form when everyone gets off the ship and tries to buy a ticket. Buying it online and you won't have to queue up and then just take whatever train comes when you get there. The schedules are all online. Then you just show the ticket taker you e-ticket email and you're all set!

In agree about Tallinn. We had Rick Steves' Scandavia book and followed his detailed walking tour.

[Eli_6]

I am anxiously awaiting for Europe 2024 and also the Firenze schedule (to find out if they are doing a TA), too, because I have a $5k future cruise credit that expires in August 2024. In the past several years, Carnival has typically posted their Europe season about 18 months in advance. However, the fact that the Legend isn't booked anywhere tells me they are probably having one...it is just a matter of where/when they are going. 

 

If they are not having one, I would really like to know so I could make other plans for that future cruise credit.  My 10 yo son and I both have to sail on my FCC booking (because we were both on the original booking the FCC is for) so I have to use it when my kids are out of school.  

Edited February 28, 2023 by Eli_6

[ashkir]

On 2/27/2023 at 7:55 AM, Eli_6 said:

Be aware that the British Isles cruise for Carnival has numerous tender ports.  If you are not in a Suite or Diamond/Platinum, I would stick with Carnival excursions for the tender ports as otherwise it might take you a long time to get off the boat.  There are not tender companies in most ports so they use a couple of the life boats that only have a capacity of about 40 to unload all of the passengers and it can take hours. 

Thank you! I'll be Platinum for Europe 2024, I am planning on it to be my first platinum cruise! ❤️ 

 

I saw there were a few times where they stayed at Belfast overnight, hoping to find one of those in 2024. 

[cruisequeen4ever]

Do it; Europe is the destination where the ship least matters. It’s all about port exploration there. 

[MedCruise_2022]

FYI:

The Carnival 2024 Europe sailings are now open.

 

[BETSY DOLL]

On 2/26/2023 at 9:35 AM, elaine5 said:

We prefer Celebrity, Disney, Princess for the Caribbean, and sometimes RCCL (Europe). Carnival has a European itinerary we are interested in. Haven't  been on Carnival in 15+ years-we sailed on a brand new ship in Europe (great experience-similar to Celeb/Princess). This would be older ship. We are in our early 60s, active, enjoy wine/food, things like "fake" Beatles/rock stars concerts onboard, but not crazy, loud entertainment, belly flop contests, etc. We sailed on the oldest RCCL ship in Europe in an OV cabin this summer and it was fine, though we did eat in the buffet for dinner a few nights based upon MDR offerings. We are fine to lower our expectations for Europe, where the ports are the main focus and we're off the ship most days. We'd not have been as happy (on that older RCCL ship) if that was a Carib. trip with lots of sea days. For those who prefer Celebrity and have done Carnival in Europe, how did it compare? 

What is the ship, date and itenerary

[jimbo5544]

On 2/26/2023 at 9:35 AM, elaine5 said:

We prefer Celebrity, Disney, Princess for the Caribbean, and sometimes RCCL (Europe). Carnival has a European itinerary we are interested in. Haven't  been on Carnival in 15+ years-we sailed on a brand new ship in Europe (great experience-similar to Celeb/Princess). This would be older ship. We are in our early 60s, active, enjoy wine/food, things like "fake" Beatles/rock stars concerts onboard, but not crazy, loud entertainment, belly flop contests, etc. We sailed on the oldest RCCL ship in Europe in an OV cabin this summer and it was fine, though we did eat in the buffet for dinner a few nights based upon MDR offerings. We are fine to lower our expectations for Europe, where the ports are the main focus and we're off the ship most days. We'd not have been as happy (on that older RCCL ship) if that was a Carib. trip with lots of sea days. For those who prefer Celebrity and have done Carnival in Europe, how did it compare? 

No

[Joanne G.]

21 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

Do it; Europe is the destination where the ship least matters. It’s all about port exploration there. 

Very true, but for me, excursion options are important, and Carnival's options for my 2023 cruises have been somewhat of a disappointment.  Refer to my post in the "Carnival Legend 2024 Itineraries Announced" thread for details.

 

My basis of comparison is from a 14-day NCL British Isles cruise that was ultimately a covid cancelation but for which I had already booked from among multiple appealing excursion choices, from a past Celebrity Mediterranean cruise, from a Princess Scandanavian cruise, and from a 2024 Celebrity Mediterranean cruise for which I can already see excursion options.  

 

Clearly, this is not a factor for those who prefer independent tours or exploration on their own.  

[elaine5]

On 2/26/2023 at 1:19 PM, elaine5 said:

thanks. it's the carnival pride.

oops--it's the Legend. I think same layout. Now looking at Aug 2024 Dover-Rome.

Edited March 4, 2023 by elaine5

[Cruising_Addict]

I can’t tell you if you will regret it because I’m not psychic. I can only tell you that while I have only done Carnival cruises, I love the cruise line. My husband and I did a Mediterranean on the Horizon in 2016 and had a fantastic time. We are doing Norway this year and Wales/Scotland/Ireland next year. All on Carnival. We have not found a reason to want to jump ship yet. We are not big drinkers or partiers. But we are always able to have a fun and relaxing vacation on Carnival. 

[LovesAllTravel]

We sailed on the Carnival Pride in July 2022, British Isles itinerary. I love the Spirit class ships, they are the perfect size IMO. Easy to get from one place to another without walking the length of a football field.

 

One word of caution though on European cruises. I guess it could apply to all cruiselines, not just Carnival. On our British Isles cruise, all but one port were tender ports. And the “tenders” were the lifeboats. If you book an excursion through the cruise line, you’ll get priority tender tickets. Next up for priority tickets are platinum and diamond members. Last ones to get tender tickets are the rest of the passengers, which could be 1,000 passengers standing in line to get tickets to get off the ship. If you book an independent excursion and you’re not platinum or diamond, you risk missing your tour. We witnessed many people who did not know “the drill” (meaning, get up at the crack of dawn to get in line for tender tickets) and didn’t get off the ship in time and missed their tour.

We loved the Pride so much that we booked the T/A from Rome to Tampa in October/November 2023. 
 

[happy cruzer]

If you are chosing based on the itinerary be sure to look at the time in port as well.  Others mention that tender ports mean alot of time spent tendering versus touring but the port time also matter.

 

Some lines overnight in ports which can be great.  Some lines get priority berths in ports vs. tendering.

 

Small ships can visit more unusual ports.

 

Some cities are quite a long commute for a port day and might be better for a starting or ending port.  For example Rome with take alot of time to get to from Civitavecchio.

 

As usual, the devil is in the details. 

 

[Joanne G.]

One more thing to consider - probably not unique to Carnival - is that excursions in Europe can be expensive, from about $70 for a short city tour on up to over $200 and more depending on the activity.  I had sticker shock booking mine - and I’m a solo, not paying for a family!

 

Of course there are options besides ship-sponsored excursions.  But for those who like the comfort level of ship excursions, budget accordingly!  

[elaine5]

Thank you. We are experienced cruise travelers in Europe. Ship is just a floating hotel for us. Thanks for info about tender. That is a consideration, as we don't have any status with Carnival and do not typically book ship's tours. Still debating....

[happy cruzer]

On 3/7/2023 at 6:49 PM, elaine5 said:

Thank you. We are experienced cruise travelers in Europe. Ship is just a floating hotel for us. Thanks for info about tender. That is a consideration, as we don't have any status with Carnival and do not typically book ship's tours. Still debating....

Yes, the ship is a floating hotel but one that arrives and leaves at set times.  There are no guarantees (a port can be totally missed) but making sure about time in port and distance to the site you want to visit will help determine what itinerary to choose as you and other experienced cruise travelers know.

 

We are tending more to land travel to visit sites and cruises for vacation/relaxation.

 

Have you decided?

[ninjacat123]

On 3/7/2023 at 7:49 PM, elaine5 said:

Thank you. We are experienced cruise travelers in Europe. Ship is just a floating hotel for us. Thanks for info about tender. That is a consideration, as we don't have any status with Carnival and do not typically book ship's tours. Still debating....

DH and I are booked on Pride this October out of Rome.  The tender issue was my concern specifically in Santorini.  After much chatting on the Greece Port of Call boards, I decided to bite the bullet and purchase a Carnival excursion to get us to Oia, which was our goal. Like previous posters have said, non priority passengers may never get to the port due to tendering.

[Joanne G.]

1 hour ago, happy cruzer said:

Yes, the ship is a floating hotel but one that arrives and leaves at set times.  There are no guarantees (a port can be totally missed) but making sure about time in port and distance to the site you want to visit will help determine what itinerary to choose as you and other experienced cruise travelers know.

 

We are tending more to land travel to visit sites and cruises for vacation/relaxation.

 

I get your thinking.  As I make plans for my upcoming European cruises, I am clearly facing the big limitation of cruising - not enough time in port, especially with tendering and for someone like myself who is nervous about using local public transportation in unfamiliar, non-English speaking cities.   Unless I am sure I can walk to a city center, which is uncommon, I tend to book a ship-sponsored excursion.   The excursions may not be exactly how I would want to spend my time, and they add considerable cost to my vacation, pretty much negating the conventional wisdom that a cruise is a good value vacation.    

 

That being said, I am looking forward to my European cruises this year and have more booked for next year.   Overall it suits me for places I would like to see but don't have a desire for a multi-day land visit.  I have become realistic about budgeting for the cost of excursions, and I fully understand the risks of missing a port. Sadly, it has happened to me - still trying to get to Bruges!

 

19 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

DH and I are booked on Pride this October out of Rome.  The tender issue was my concern specifically in Santorini.  After much chatting on the Greece Port of Call boards, I decided to bite the bullet and purchase a Carnival excursion to get us to Oia, which was our goal. Like previous posters have said, non priority passengers may never get to the port due to tendering.

 

I did the same thing for Edinburgh - booked a ridiculously expensive "on your own" excursion simply to have priority getting off the ship, even though a public bus is available for a fraction of the cost.  I hope your excursion in Santorini is like one a friend and I did years ago - excursion in the morning and time on our own in the afternoon, returning to the ship by the cable car.   

 

Sorry, I wandered off the subject of the OP's question.  As experienced European cruisers, they know all these issues.  I can't answer regarding the Carnival experience in Europe or a specific Carnival ship - other to say if they are looking at this year, the Pride is due for drydock before starting the season, though none of know exactly what will be done.  I hope elaine5 comes back to tell us what they decided.