HAL Guy Went Over to Carnival for the Right Itinerary and Actually Really Liked It!!

[Bostonjetset]

Hey Everyone!  I just got off a Carnival cruise for the first time in ten years and wanted to share my thoughts with all the lovely people on this board that I've come to know over the years.

 

Whilst I am not "married" to any cruise line, HAL has become my preference over the years.  I sail based on itinerary, schedule, & price and HAL generally has the best combo of the three to fit my needs.  That said, I have and do sail other lines...I just usually check HAL first.  The one line I have tried to avoid in the last decade has been Carnival; not because I had any bad experiences on them in the past but because I felt I have outgrown that type of cruising.  They were great as a first or second cruise but they do have sort of a "reputation" among seasoned cruisers.  Well I am here to say that we just sailed with them for a partial transit of the Panama Canal and it was a wonderful experience.  I don't know that I would pick them for every sailing but for the right itinerary I wouldn't hesitate to sail with them again.  The food was mostly as good as our last HAL cruise and I hate to say it but the MDR service was actually better than we experienced on the K'dam last August.  I attached the link to my review on the Carnival boards below but I wanted to share some general thoughts with you all here as well.  

 

In the last year [since April 2023] I've sailed on HAL twice [Rotterdam to Scotland, K'dam to Alaska], NCL once [Bliss to Mexican Riviera], and this one Carnival cruise [Pride to PC].  All had their plusses and minuses but I was genuinely shocked how much we enjoyed CCL.

 

Food:  The MDR food on CCL was terrific and so was the extra-charge steakhouse.  Honestly I think it was better than we had on K'dam, Rotterdam, or Bliss.  The service we had on K'dam was just poor on multiple occasions in the MDR that it felt like a different HAL from the past; Carnival doesn't seem to be suffering from the same level of understaffing that HAL was just a few months ago so I hope HAL has gotten their act together by the time I'm on Volendam this June.  The buffet on Pride was lackluster, ESP the desserts, so HAL wins there but Carnival has Guys Burgers [very good] to compete with Dive-In and a burrito cantina on the Lido that is also terrific so we never ate in the buffet except for breakfast on disembarkation day. We had breakfast in the MDR every other morning.

 

Decor:  Both K'dam and Rotterdam are beautiful ships and the 20+ y/o Pride cannot compete there.  It still looks like the inside of a pinball machine.  I hear CCL's new ships look better but this was an oldie so not so pretty.  HAL for the win here.  The NCL Bliss is pretty too but it's just too huge and I really like the more midsize ships.

 

Entertainment:  This is a bit of a mixed bag.  NCL's newer ships like the Bliss have Broadway style shows [we saw Six: the Musical which was amazing] so it's hard to compete.  That said, NCL was boring during the day IMO unless one loves drinking and bar hopping. Carnival had okay traditional cruise ship singing/dancing shows about half the nights in the main theatre which were decent.  HAL has the StepOne dancers some nights who I think are very good but they repeat a lot.  HAL axed Lincoln Center which was a stupid mistake I think.  Carnival had classical musicians in the lobby every day though they DID play electric violins.  I would say it was a tie here...just depends on what people like.  Carnival DOES have a great adults-only Serenity area though that is completely free AND have an enforced [as far as I could tell at least] age limit.  I never saw kids in there and it had a pool and a hot tub.  NCL charges extra for those kind of areas.  HAL has the aft pool but my last trip on Rotterdam in Europe it was overrun with children during Dutch holiday week.

 

Service:  Both CCL and NCL only service the staterooms once per day which I don't love but between the two CCL was leaps and bounds above NCL.  Our steward was efficient, friendly, and always came to clean in the morning whilst we were at breakfast.  On NCL it was a struggle to get him to clean at the same time with him sometimes coming at 3.30pm whilst we were relaxing in the room AFTER having been in port most of the day; it was truly bad.  Also NCL charged the most for daily grass at $20pppd.  HAL still does twice daily servicing which I prefer [or they did as of last August] so they get the win here.  Also, they have free room service which is nice on a port day.  NCL and CCL both charge.  HAL also wins with the on-demand TV content...NCL charges and CCL had limited TV content.

 

Anyway, if you want to read the full review it's below.  Just wanted to share my thoughts.  Hope everyone who celebrates had a Happy Easter.

 

 

 

[RuthC]

I appreciate the comparison between lines. Thank you for posting it, especially in such a succinct fashion.  

[Lildare]

Thanks for sharing, the lack of silverware coming and going would be unusual might speed up long dinners though.

[Roz]

I've taken some fun and interesting cruises on Carnival.  Three that stand out are Hawaii., Alaska, and Panama Canal.  Carnival is more high energy than HAL, and I like their food in the MDR.

[Kay S]

I like Carnival myself, but my husband isn't sold.  I can talk him into it once a year or so.  I really like the deli.  HAL is the current family favorite, however.

[foodsvcmgr]

I think picking the right ship and itinerary on Carnival will yield a more traditional result, not the rough clientele and drunken party experience that some of their shorter cruises are infamous for.

Thanks for the report and glad you enjoyed.

[Roz]

Carnival cruises that are 8 days or longer have a completely different vibe and passenger mix than the short booze cruises. 

 

I used to be able to book 1A or 4A cabins as a solo for 150%, but Carnival quit offering those fares. 😥.

[BermudaBound2014]

I sailed on Carnival for the first time since 1996 in January and just got off the 35 day kdam.

 

My thoughts are very similar to yours. Carnival of 2024 is much different than the carnival I remember. The food options were MUCH better on Carnival and the activities blew HAL out of the water. I do believe that HAL had significantly better service. 
 

With that, carnival is anything but subdued. It’s a vibrant atmosphere with high energy. Based on the demographics of the Kdam cruise I just finished (which was MUCH older but it also was much a longer cruise), I would not recommend carnival to those who enjoyed the discussions about metaphysics ;). Carnivals theme is FUN and they bring it all day everyday. 

Edited March 31 by BermudaBound2014

[Mary229]

23 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

I sailed on Carnival for the first time since 1996 in January and just got off the 35 day kdam.

 

My thoughts are very similar to yours. Carnival of 2024 is much different than the carnival I remember. The food options were MUCH better on Carnival and the activities blew HAL out of the water. I do believe that HAL had significantly better service. 
 

With that, carnival is anything but subdued. It’s a vibrant atmosphere with high energy. Based on the demographics of the Kdam cruise I just finished (which was MUCH older but it also was much a longer cruise), I would not recommend carnival to those who enjoyed the discussions about metaphysics ;). Carnivals theme is FUN and they bring it all day everyday. 

Not metaphysics, just the old fashioned kind 😉

[Bostonjetset]

50 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

I sailed on Carnival for the first time since 1996 in January and just got off the 35 day kdam.

 

My thoughts are very similar to yours. Carnival of 2024 is much different than the carnival I remember. The food options were MUCH better on Carnival and the activities blew HAL out of the water. I do believe that HAL had significantly better service. 
 

With that, carnival is anything but subdued. It’s a vibrant atmosphere with high energy. Based on the demographics of the Kdam cruise I just finished (which was MUCH older but it also was much a longer cruise), I would not recommend carnival to those who enjoyed the discussions about metaphysics ;). Carnivals theme is FUN and they bring it all day everyday. 

How was the dining service on the K’dam 35 nighter? Hopefully it improved from my Alaska trip. The anytime dining service was just bad for several dinners and breakfast in the MDR was not good from a service standpoint either. And they bungled a Canaletto reservation I had made and paid for over 3 months in advance. It was a noticeable drop from their pre-Covid standards. 

[dchip]

Thanks for your thoughts. We sailed on the Carnival Miracle (older ship) with our kids and grands in 2022. We were very apprehensive. We had a blast!!

 

The steak house was the best on any of our 44 previous cruises with Princess and HAL. Truly amazing food and presentation. They made an error in our reservation for 10. In turn we ended up with the best tables in the house, 4 bottles of wine, comped cocktails and drinks for the kids. We didn’t ask for a thing. It was a triple anniversary dinner. 

 

Because you don’t dress for dinner, the dressy nights were really dressy. Everyone glamed up. We were impressed. 

 

We are going to give it another go in 2025 on the same type of ship, the Legend. Both of these cruise are Alaska 10 days RT San Francisco. Another huge plus. 30 minutes from home. 

We love our long cruises on HAL but glad we took a chance on Carnival. 

[DAllenTCY]

I sailed on the Carnival Horizon in March 2023 and I was impressed with dining....so  I booked on the Carnival Panorama August 2023 expecting the same food options and quality.

 

The dining in specialty restaurants aside....I was disappointed.

 

Two nearly identical ships...not the same experience.

 

David

[lyndarra]

4 hours ago, Bostonjetset said:

Decor:  Both K'dam and Rotterdam are beautiful ships and the 20+ y/o Pride cannot compete there.  It still looks like the inside of a pinball machine. 
 

Love it.😄

[Bostonjetset]

49 minutes ago, DAllenTCY said:

I sailed on the Carnival Horizon in March 2023 and I was impressed with dining....so  I booked on the Carnival Panorama August 2023 expecting the same food options and quality.

 

The dining in specialty restaurants aside....I was disappointed.

 

Two nearly identical ships...not the same experience.

 

David

It's amazing how much things can differ from ship to ship even within the same line.  I guess a lot of the food depends on who the head chef is.

[Bostonjetset]

2 hours ago, dchip said:

Thanks for your thoughts. We sailed on the Carnival Miracle (older ship) with our kids and grands in 2022. We were very apprehensive. We had a blast!!

 

The steak house was the best on any of our 44 previous cruises with Princess and HAL. Truly amazing food and presentation. They made an error in our reservation for 10. In turn we ended up with the best tables in the house, 4 bottles of wine, comped cocktails and drinks for the kids. We didn’t ask for a thing. It was a triple anniversary dinner. 

 

Because you don’t dress for dinner, the dressy nights were really dressy. Everyone glamed up. We were impressed. 

 

We are going to give it another go in 2025 on the same type of ship, the Legend. Both of these cruise are Alaska 10 days RT San Francisco. Another huge plus. 30 minutes from home. 

We love our long cruises on HAL but glad we took a chance on Carnival. 

Oh the Legend is a sister to the Pride.  I sailed on her way back in 2013.  That class is such a great size for a ship.  I think the Miracle is also one of the 4 "Spirit" sisters.  Have a wonderful cruise.

 

I agree that the steakhouse was wonderful on Carnival.  We ate there the first night so received a free bottle of wine for every two people at the table.  It was a house wine so nothing fancy but I'm not a huge drinker so one glass was enough for me anyway.  The gesture was nice.  Also, the smoked oysters starter was one of the most elaborate cruise line dishes I've seen presented in years.  They came in a smoked-filled cloche and were unveiled table-side with a majestic waft of incense-infused smoke the swirled around in front of us.

 

I compare that to K'dam last August when I booked Canaletto for our first evening [months in advance] and when I got there was told they no longer open on the first evening and they just moved my reservation to another random day without any notice at all.  They let me book it online and took my money without a problem but couldn't even let me know they changed it until I walked up there for my reservation.  Then, they couldn't even fix it to a night I wanted at the hostess stand; they said I had to go to guest services in the lobby to fix it.  They [guest services] did give me a better night of my choosing but it was a pain and they certainly didn't go out of their way to fix it even though it was their mess-up.  And no comps, no wine, nothing for the inconvenience.

[jlawrence01]

I was on the Carnival Splendor in February 2019 on a seven day Mexican Riviera cruise.  It was our first cruise since 1992 and we had low expectations.

 

We thought the food was very good and the service was excellent.  In all fairness, we ate almost all of our meals in the MDR as we had great and attentive service.  We also liked the included casual restaurants - Indian and BBQ a lot also.  We really did not stop at the buffet as it was so busy.

 

We did not like the "frat boy" entertainment but we would occasionally head to the main theatre and would watch a lot of the movies on deck,

 

We were happy enough that we started to plan to do a repositioning cruise on the ship as it was heading over to Singapore.  However, the week before booking, I received an invite to a family wedding that I had to attend.  I think that the cruise lasted as long as the marriage.

 

My biggest reservation about booking another Carnival Cruise is that we did not like the fact that there was more drunkenness on that ship.  Also, some of the patrons just do not know how to behave in public.  The crowd is very loud and can be aggressive.  I will not be any more specific.

 

Since then, we have done six more cruises on HAL, Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean, and NCL.  We have enjoyed the Konigsdam and the Eurodam overall with very few issues.  The only line that we will not consider again is NCL.

 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing.

[ski ww]

Thank you for your balanced report. 

[mcrcruiser]

Tthanks for sharing . Here  in the Long Beach area of Calif Carnival sails  the 2019 built Pamorama cruise ship to Mexico . Problem for us is one it is too far to drive to ,2nd the traffic in that area id bumper to bumper ,about one hour to get through  that bottle trap . So a no Carnival cruise for us from long Beach Ca . 

when we sailed on  Miracle ,a mid size ship of 86000 tone to as far into Mexico as Alcapulco  it was wonderful .Carnival decided to move that ship from SD to australia & stopped sailing from SD ,Ca 

[rodndonna]

Thanks for your detailed report.

 

We've done a couple of CCL cruises before Covid and enjoyed them very much - even as introverts !

 

Since Covid we are trying to make our way through all the mainstream lines  - have made it on HAL, Celebrity, and NCL. Princess is in 2 days. Still need to work back in CCL, Marella (our most cruised before Covid) and curious about MSC.

 

To make matters worse (or better?) we are attempting to cruise each line in a relatively newer (larger ship) and an older (smaller) ship within the fleet as I think that has a big impact.

 

It's an ongoing study that works well within our dog friendly short (12 days or less) cruise itinerary options. 🤔

[cruisemom42]

5 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

It's an ongoing study that works well within our dog friendly short (12 days or less) cruise itinerary options.

 

Wow, very impressive. I hope you'll write up something summarizing your thoughts on all of them once you've finished your "study". I would be very interested to hear your thoughts across the broad spectrum.

 

[Bostonjetset]

8 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

Thanks for your detailed report.

 

We've done a couple of CCL cruises before Covid and enjoyed them very much - even as introverts !

 

Since Covid we are trying to make our way through all the mainstream lines  - have made it on HAL, Celebrity, and NCL. Princess is in 2 days. Still need to work back in CCL, Marella (our most cruised before Covid) and curious about MSC.

 

To make matters worse (or better?) we are attempting to cruise each line in a relatively newer (larger ship) and an older (smaller) ship within the fleet as I think that has a big impact.

 

It's an ongoing study that works well within our dog friendly short (12 days or less) cruise itinerary options. 🤔

Ooooh I am interested to read your comparisons. I’m interested in MSC too. We’ve yet to sail with them but probably will eventually as they are in NYC year round and have super cheap deals so would be great for a cheap getaway. Don’t know I’d risk an expensive trip with them until I’ve tried them first though as I’ve heard so many mixed reviews. My next is with HAL and then our first with Disney next year. 

[rodndonna]

1 hour ago, Bostonjetset said:

Ooooh I am interested to read your comparisons. I’m interested in MSC too. We’ve yet to sail with them but probably will eventually as they are in NYC year round and have super cheap deals so would be great for a cheap getaway. Don’t know I’d risk an expensive trip with them until I’ve tried them first though as I’ve heard so many mixed reviews. My next is with HAL and then our first with Disney next year. 

 

We "think" when we bite the bullet top try MSC - we are going to go Yacht Club. It's a departure for us typically being insiders with the odd splurge but never higher than an aft. I don't "think" MSC would be a preferred line for us, but it seems the cheapest way to check out "ship within a ship" experience (which I also "think" is not really for us).

 

I would be curious what you think of Disney -  for the price point.

 

Soooo many lines to sample and compare ...😀

 

 

[Roz]

Carnival's Spirit class ships - Spirit, Miracle, Pride, and Legend were built on the same platform as HAL's Vista class - Noordam, Oosterdam, Zuiderdam, and Westerdam.  To me, the perfect size and deck layout for a ship.  

 

I've sailed on Spirit and Miracle, and all 4 of the Vistas.  

[jimdee3636]

@rodndonna

FYI: The Yacht Club on MSC ships has inside cabins, for considerably less than balconies. (I haven't sailed on MSC but I just checked out the YC pricing on a 7-night cruise out of Miami in November, and YC insides were $1,800 pp less than YC balconies, but with all of the YC perks). So maybe you can splurge while still keeping to a reasonable budget.

 

Jim