Carnival 55+

[LKitt82566]

We were on the Destiny 4 years ago and loved the ship. We loved the islands and had a great time. Destiny had washers and dryers so maybe just take a few day outfits and wash and dry them. Destiny also had a few coke machines around. We were in a balacony cabin and enjoyed the great views.

We did not like San Juan and prices there. We fly down the day before since we were going in the winter from Cincinnati and wanted to make sure we got their in time. We had my brother and sister-in-law along for their first cruise and now they are hooked too. Great for us, we now have a cruising partners.

 

Wishing you calm seas, blue skies, and warm sunshine.

 

Wish we were there now. Cincinnati is cold and iced at the moment with several days before the temperature gets warm enough to melt the ice.

 

LKitt

[sunrise2]

litkit - thank you for the nice send off wishes. Can't wait to go. I will keep the washer and dryers in mind. In a way I am glad that we are not going in a day earlier. I would not be happy in a pricey place right now. We just had my DH's son's wedding this past New Years Eve. It was a 3 day event so there went my get in a day early for this trip!

 

Talk to you soon! Looking forward to getting out of the cold for now!

[LKITT]

Be sure to come back and let me know how GREAT your trip was!

 

Wish we were cruising this year, but maybe next year. We are doing a 2 week short term mission trip to the Northwest area of Haiti.

 

LKitt

[marcyjane]

I love Carnival as well, 55+ cruiser too!!!

Had more fun on carnival than any lines so far.

Have sailed RCL & Norwegian, Like RCL as well, but Carnvial is still my favorite.

Took NCL to Alaska, due to price and departing city and will also be doing NCL in May for Hawaii again due price, vacation limited time and a way to see more of Hawaii in a short time.

My husband has passed and I've got long time girl friend from highschool that I have talked into cruising to Hawaii with me. I hope she will like cruising as much as I do.

Don't know why, but just not into the Solo cruising yet.

Marcy

[mutual]

Our only cruise with Carnival was such a bad experience that we haven't sailed with them again. However, after reading this board maybe we'll try again if a good deal pops up.

 

We sailed on a Panama Canal cruise on the Carnival Holiday. Air, transfers and cruise were booked through Carnival. The ship and ports were enjoyable, but boarding and getting off the ship ruined the vacation. When we arrived in LA, Carnival transferred us to the pier. It was raining and Carnival had a small tent erected alongside the ship. However, everyone waiting to board couldn't fit in the tent. Many waited outside in the rain for more than one hour before boarding started. We were lucky to find space in the tent, if you could call that lucky because we were packed in like sardines.

 

After more than one hour in the tent boarding started. Even though the cruise was ok it was hard to erase the memory of the rain and the tent. Toward the end of the cruise we were starting to feel ok about Carnival, but then had to endure a disembarkation that was almost as bad as the embarkation. It wasn't raining, but Carnival arranged for large trucks, which served as luggage vans to be parked at the pier in San Juan. Each airline was assigned a van. Carnival had us booked on Delta. There were two Delta reps by the van. No lines. Just a mob scene pushing and shoving to get to the Delta reps. It was so bad that I told my wife to go outside the mob while I struggled with our luggage to inch up to one of the reps. I saw many couples go to a nearby cab stand to take a cab to the airport even though they prepaid for a Carnival transfer. Carnival made absolutely no effort to maintain order or to release passengers from the ship slowly to avoid the mob scenes. After arriving at the airport and waiting for our plane everyone was complaining about their experience getting off the ship.

 

The experience was so bad that it was several years before we decided to try a cruise again. Then we booked a back to back on Royal Caribbean (Brilliance of the Seas). Departed from Barcelona, cruised the Med and then did a transatlantic to Miami. Embarkation and Debarkation smooth as silk. It was so enjoyable that we booked another back to back on Royal Caribbean (Jewel of the Seas) the following year (Fort Lauderdale, transatlantic to the Baltic and disembark near London). Another fabulous cruise with St. Petersburg as the highlight.

 

We have another back to back booked for the fall. This time on Royal Caribbean's sister line Celebrity. Board in Athens, cruise the Med then transatlantic to San Juan. Then we saw another bargain pop up on the internet and booked a one week Mexican cruise on Royal Caribbean.

 

We now love to cruise. As I said before all of you have convinced me to maybe give Carnival another chance if the right cruise pops up in the future.

[mutual]

Double post.

[San Diego Ellie]

I just found this area today, though I have been on cc for several months. We will be taking our first Carnival cruise, on the Spirit, on March 15. From what I see on our roll call, most people are very young. If any of you have gone on the Spirit out of San Diego, are there many of us 55+ on the ship typically?

[margincall]

I M Glad To See So Many 55+ Enjoy Carnival. We Are Going On Our First Cruise Ever In November On The Valor And Cannot Wait

[paris1]

:) we are both in the 55 group looking for a 10 cruise can anyone help us

[judyzoo]

We're just off the Valor, so were on during at least part of the spring break. We were pleasantly surprised that we didn't see a lot of young kids or drunk young adults on the ship. Lots of under 55's, certainly, but some of us older cruisers also.

[paris1]

Our first cruise was awful. there were hundreds of high school graduates on there and they were either puking and drunk or screaming or playing drinking games on the islands. yuk it was awful, never again in june.:eek:

[wizard-of-roz]

What a great site.......My DH and I will be on our second Carnival cruise, at the end of May.

We just got off of the Oosterdam on April 21st and absolutely loved it.....what a wonderful ship. We loved her so much, we booked again for next year! :)

We've stayed away from Carnival because, well, mostly because of the reputation and what we saw on our last cruise on them, in 1994. Loud/roudy/rampaging teens and early twenties type passengers. Although, our grandson (7 years old) had a great time....we found ourselves avoiding the crowds more than enjoying them!

We're going to try them again. Truthfully, we love to cruise so much...I'm sure we will make the best of any situation.

We love Celebrity/Princess and Hal....I am not crazy about NCL.....to plastic for my liking! And, although we've done RCCL, it's been a while. But, they too will get a chance, hopefully, in the future! ;)

[nlvc12]

:) we are both in the 55 group looking for a 10 cruise can anyone help us

 

Paris1 - if you're still looking for an answer, it looks like the only 10+ cruises with Carnival are on the Freedom, out of Rome (Cittavechia), Italy.

 

Happy Sailing!

 

nlvc12

[LHT28]

:) we are both in the 55 group looking for a 10 cruise can anyone help us

:confused:

What is a 10 cruise??

[jpg1747]

I'm booked on my first Carnival cruise this November. Thansgiving week is one of my favorite vacation times because I only have to use 3 vacation days. I've cruised on several other lines before and my favorite so far is Princess. I'm trying Carnival because of the great 1A rates for solo cruisers. I found a terrific airfare from Baltimore with Air Tran.

 

I've been checking out the Carnival boards and it looks like they're more 55+ friendly than in the past. My older sister cruised on Carnival recently and she liked it. I'm listed on the roll call for this cruise and it would be nice to meet up with some other 55+ and/or solo cruisers. I like the freedom of cruising alone -I can do what I want, when I want.

 

I've been to both San Juan and St. Thomas before. They're both lovely ports. I've been to private islands before - love the beach time there. The first time I go to a new port I book the most extensive tour I can find to learn as much about it as I can. After that I can go back and spend more time at the places that interested me the most. This time I'm going to just wander around San Juan and do my scuba in St. Thomas. I also like to have lunch in port whenever I can to sample the local cuisine.

 

Anyone else going on this cruise?

[wizard-of-roz]

Judy: We, too, are doing Carnival, after a long, long absence.....I wasn't crazy about the crowds, in the past!!!!!:o

I have also heard that they have become more 55+ friendly!

We won't be doing the Caribbean but I'm sure you will have a wonderful time.....it's all about YOU....you know that!!!!

Make it fun; have a foo-foo drink; watch the horizon; eat good and shop! I love the caribbean for shopping!

Have a wonderful cruise!!!!!:p

[mfeenker]

Hello All,

Just booked the Valor over Halloween.

[wizard-of-roz]

Michael: BOO!!!!! Get it? :D "Halloween!" :(

Awwwww! Forget about it!!!!! Have a wonderful cruise!

[mfeenker]

Michael: BOO!!!!! Get it? :D "Halloween!" :(

 

Awwwww! Forget about it!!!!! Have a wonderful cruise!

 

Thanks Roz,

Yes I get it. I have to take the June cruise, then attend the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM then the Halloween cruise.

[marmi]

we just booked a cruise for next march and we will be 55 by then.

I wonder if I can get a rebate with Celebrity

 

We do not want to cruise with HAL anymore, the people on board were over 70 and we heard that Carnival is mostly for young people

[wizard-of-roz]

We just got off a HAL cruise (Oosterdam.) It's just not true that the majority of the folks are over "70!"

There was such a wonderful mix of people of all ages, including teenagers and small children. You don't hear or see them as much because Mr. James Deering, (the hotel manager), makes sure that the programs, onboard, are dedicated to all ages and that the children are well cared for and have stuff to do to occupy their time!;)

We had some teenagers approach us and ask for certain items, I asked what for and they said that they were on a scavenger hunt and would win prizes for returning with the most items. They were very engaged in what they were doing and brought a smile to our faces......instead of us feeling intruded upon, we enjoyed watching them.....

Give HAL a try and don't be afraid of the "age thing!" We had a wonderful time and were over 50! :p

[Roz]

Hi, this is plain ol' Roz, not to be confused with Wizard-of-Roz. :D

 

I just realized a few weeks ago, while searching the Net for cruise deals, that I'll qualify for 55+ rates in November. Wow, that's hard to deal with! (The age, not the discount.)

 

Question for you - is the discount based on your age when you book, or the age you'll be when you board?

 

Marmi, don't necessarily believe the stereotypes that people float out there about cruise lines and ages. I just back from a CC group cruise to Hawaii on the Carnival Spirit, and the average age had to be 60-65.

 

I've cruised HAL 5 times, and the ages were all over the map, depending on time of year, destination, # of sailing days, etc. I find it interesting that you find the ages on Celebrity acceptable but not on HAL.

 

Another question - do you find the 55+ discounts thru a TA or by booking with the cruise line directly? Or does it even matter?

 

Roz

[richkinkade]

Nobody checks your documents until you board, so I'd guess that's the important date. I find senior and military discounts at an online TA that has sponsored links on these boards.

[wizard-of-roz]

We just returned from the Carnival Elation, 6 day cruise.....

OMG! What a mess!!!!!!! The teenagers, onboard were like a "gang" of hoodlums! They held other children in elevators, against their will, terrifying them; they beat-up two children so badly that they gave them bruises and a sprained ankle!!!! They ran up and down hallways and staircases, banging on doors very late at night; they ran screaming and pushing their way through crowds of people! It was ridiculous!!!

They were finally detained by the security, onboard! They're parents were at the pool or out drinking!!!!

One parent (of a child who was beat up) is going to file a "criminal complaint!" Upon arrival in San Diego!

My husband and I, who were witnesses to some of the antics, were asked to fill out a "witness" form! Of which we did!

Other than that......the cruise was truly just "hoo-hum"!

The entertainment gets a "10+" The dancers were wonderful and the comedians were excellent!!!!!

The food gets a "5" (both at the buffet and the dining room!) BORING! BORING! BORING!

The crew everywhere but the dining room and entertainers get a "4"

Our room steward was wonderful and gets a "9+"....toilet paper seemed to be a premium.......He loses on replacing it!!!!!

The overall cleanliness of the ship is very good!

There is very little signs of "wear of tear" in public spaces...EXCEPT...

...The public restrooms....."blow dryers" for hand washing?? And, horribly stained toilets...with no seat covers.....:eek: YUCK!!!!!!!!!!

The furniture and toilet seats in the cabins really need repair.....they look so worn and torn.....

The SMELL on the Riviera Deck (especially towards the back of the ship) is so disgusting that getting room service was not an option.....who can eat while smelling sewer gases?????:eek: BIG! BIG! YUCK!!!!!

We apprised the "Information Desk" of all of the above.......

We met some truly wonderful people on board (inspite of the difficulty with some of the children and their parents!)

We will not be taking Carnival again........There are lots of choices out there and we're booked on them!!!!!:p

[LPast50]

:confused: Hi All! I just found this thread.....tell me more about Solo....I'm about to retire and I'm running out of relatives that can cruise on short notice. My friends like short cruises and I prefer the longer ones:D