Carnival Venezia shocked by reviews

[jpolm]

Hi All I am a new cruiser on Carnival only been on the Celebration which I thought was lovely. I am use to the Big RCCL ships but changed it up last yer to go with friends and we had a blast. (all in our 50's)

 

I was looking at holiday cruises and the Venezia popped up and honestly this ship is just gorgeous to me why such bad reviews is it because it's still new and crew still new.

 

 

[DanJ]

I just got off Venezia 9 days ago and loved it, easily my favorite Carnival ship of the 5 I have been on. Classy not flashy, because it's not really a Carnival ship, it's one of a few Costa ships the parent company moved over to Carnival. If I had to guess, it might get mixed reviews because of that fact that it's not a Carnival ship. Doesn't have the big red funnel, doesn't have some of the name brand Carnival bars like Red Frog and Blue Tequila, and the waterpark is pretty small (essentially a waterslide). It definitely has enough places to eat and drink, it has a Guys Burger, it has the steakhouse, sushi and teppanyaki places and an Italian restaurant, as well as the usual Lido buffet. Has a great theater, awesome Piano bar and several other lounges to see musical and comedy acts.

 

The last Carnival ship we were on was the Dream over 10 years ago now and I just have trouble remembering much about it. The Venezia will leave a long lasting impression on me. But I guess it comes down to what you are after on the ship too. 

[totz808]

I was on the Venezia two weeks ago and I loved it.  My main complaint was that they didn't run the AC enough in some of the public spaces, so many places like the buffet or Gondola lounge were rather hot and sometimes even humid.

 

We ate at the steakhouse, Il Viaggio, and the teppanyaki.  All were excellent and worth the price. 

 

The crew were amazing, the food ranged from decent to great, the comedy was pretty good.  I had probably the smoothest embarkation and debarkation I've ever had.  I don't really have that many complaints, and a lot of it wasn't the ship's fault, in that I never wanted to spend time in the outdoor areas because of the humidity.

Edited Monday at 09:45 PM by totz808

[pyropoodle]

I think everyone has specific reasons for not liking aspects of the Venezia.  i'm sailing on her in a couple of weeks and Venezia is not my favorite ship.  it will be my 2nd time sailing and we honestly booked it because 1. i have a big trip next year so i needed a cruise in there to hold me over until vacay comes around next year 2. it was sailing out of NYC (where we live) so i didn't have to deal with planes/ hotels and extra things like that.

 

i DO like the decor, i like the muted tones and the cute umbrella tables inside the Lido buffet.  the things i do not like about her are quite possibly due to the fact that i have young children. the main pool area is small (big deck, small pool)  and my kids love the pool and the splash pad/ waterslides. they like to go back and forth between these two things.  the splash pad area is pretty removed from the pool and there doesn't seem to be a way to go from one area to the other without going back inside the ship (from the splash pad area), taking an elevator down and then traversing to the pool area. the only stairs that we could find that lead from one area to the other were at the far end of the deck, it just wasn't user friendly.  i'm sure my description of this is not doing it justice.  we kind of just decided the kids can stay in one place until they are bored of that and then go to the other but we were not going to just go back and forth between the two areas since it was so cumbersome.

 

Another thing that is not my favorite is that there are these squeeze points in the buffet area where essentially if someone is standing there in your path, you are standing there until they move, there didn't seem to be a whole lot of space to maneuver around people in certain areas.   i'm on vacay and i very much go with the  flow, so i didn't let it ruin my vacation, it was just....bad design.   they didn't seem to anticipate crowd flow. 

 

another thing that i hated was the smell of the casino smoke. they may have addressed this by now, but when we sailed last, it was just billowing out of the casino to the deck above some times. you could not walk through without smelling like you were right there in the action..and that action was taking place a whole deck below you.  i think they may have corrected this but i'll find out in a couple of weeks. 

 

i don't hate this ship, just not my favorite, but hey, when given the opportunity to sail or not to sail, i'll choose to sail every time.  

 

 

Edited Monday at 10:48 PM by pyropoodle

[staceyglow]

What exactly did the negative reviews say?

 

My experience is that on customer-based reviews, you have to drill down. If what they didn't like about the ship doesn't matter to you, or is actually a plus for you (for example, the kids' club was bad when you don't have kids), then you have to take that into account.

[MsTabbyKats]

6 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

What exactly did the negative reviews say?

 

My experience is that on customer-based reviews, you have to drill down. If what they didn't like about the ship doesn't matter to you, or is actually a plus for you (for example, the kids' club was bad when you don't have kids), then you have to take that into account.

The initial reviews were really bad.  So bad, that I was thinking of being a "no show" on our Jan 2024 sailing.  However, DH and I both loved it....so much we're doing the same itinerary in 2 months.

The brunch was excellent!   The other food....hit and miss.

[pyropoodle]

i don't think i'd ever NOT book a ship over what a stranger on the internet says, or even a friend for that matter.  i need to find out for myself.  my priorities are not other people's priorities. 

 

if you are on the fence, but it is something in your budget, easy for you to get to, has ports that thrill and delight you or ports in a city that interests you, you should do it.  

[Jamman54]

We enjoy this ship very much. Just completed our second B2B on her, and have been aboard her for a total of 35 days. Our review will be going up shortly. No ship is perfect, but we would absolutely sail on her again.

[bg2310]

I for one don't take very seriously the complaints and issues of others. We all have our own idiosyncracies and pet peeves, things we enjoy or do not. In some cases it can also be how the person handles a situation why they have a bad experience rather than the experience itself.

 

So, I take all that stuff with a grain of salt and don't really let it affect my decision until I experience it myself. Basically, if it's an itinerary and ship you really want to go on, and everything is working out for your and your budget, then live a little and do it and find out for yourself!

 

Everyone is different, and each cruise is different. Just because one person had a certain situation or experience, doesn't mean that's the norm and could in fact be just how that person interprets it.

[Ashpalo]

1 hour ago, Jamman54 said:

We enjoy this ship very much. Just completed our second B2B on her, and have been aboard her for a total of 35 days. Our review will be going up shortly. No ship is perfect, but we would absolutely sail on her again.

I’m anxiously awaiting your review! 😁

[IntrepidFromDC]

I have done about 30 cruises, all Carnival except one on MSC.  Venezia is in my top 5 Carnival ships easily.  There was a time when quite a few cruisers were saying the crew was not happy, and I believe it because I experienced it - but I got past it really quick for all the upsides Venezia offers.  As someone said, it's classy - not flashy.  Plus it sails out of Manhattan, an added bonus.

[DeniseTr]

I've seen a couple great recent reviews on her, and didn't see much of concern. I agree, early reviews concerned me. 

I'm sailing Oct 4, and the only thing that I'm still concerned about is the casino smoke. I've always had an issue with that on all ships I've been on. It seems like you have to walk thru casino to get places, and smoke hits me like a wall. My concern with the Venezia reviews is that smoke apparently invades other areas of the ship. 

I'll reserve judgement and hope it's not bad. 

 

[CruiseAdict218]

I think she’s a great ship, I’ve said on her 3 times and reviewed her 2/3 times which are linked in my signature. 
 

Like all ships, she has her positives and negatives but never had a bad time at all so I would recommend the ship at least once. 

[eas2225]

After 8 times on the Pride, once each on the Legend, Miracle and Horizon, we sailed on the Venezia in April and loved it!

 

Serenity doesn't have a pool, but there are 2 large hot tubs and plenty of comfortable seating.

 

Lots of decent to good food choices, and we enjoyed the music at all the locations throughout the ship.

 

We'll be on her again in just a few weeks, and looking forward to enjoying all the different bar/lounges, and comfortable seating everywhere.

[geovet]

Which decks would you avoid booking a cabin to avoid the smoke?

 

[pohlerbear]

14 hours ago, Ashpalo said:

I’m anxiously awaiting your review! 😁

Me too! I am cruising on Venezia in October and can't wait to see this review 🙂 

[Wanderrr]

Once we were on the ship it was very nice as many above have said. Not you typical Carnival ship.

 

It was getting to and from the ship that was our problem.

 

It took as long to get from the airport to the dock entrance as it did to fly from Detroit to the airport.

 

It took 2 hours to get a wheel chair for my wife.

 

The ship, as I said was very nice, but a bit large for our old legs. We much prefer the Pride or the Sunshine (especially Sunshine's Serenity waterfall).

 

Going on the Pride next week and then on the Magic for our birthday's in January. Can't get here soon enough!

[ProgRockCruiser]

4 hours ago, geovet said:

Which decks would you avoid booking a cabin to avoid the smoke?

 

I believe the issue is (was?) the smoke rises up from the Casino area on Deck 4 into the public areas of Deck 5 via the stairwells (I guess), where the Steakhouse, Bonsai Sushi, Piano Bar, etc are located, or maybe via the atrium area, which would be where more Fun Shops are located.

 

No cabins would be directly impacted.

[Stick93]

1 minute ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

I believe the issue is (was?) the smoke rises up from the Casino area on Deck 4 into the public areas of Deck 5 via the stairwells (I guess), where the Steakhouse, Bonsai Sushi, Piano Bar, etc are located, or maybe via the atrium area, which would be where more Fun Shops are located.

 

No cabins would be directly impacted.

Smoke was not the issues when I was on it, except for the casino, and very close to it. The ship is very nice - practically too nice for Carnival. I thought the ship was too dirty (for sure not clean enough) and the common furniture was over worn. The Havana/Terraza area where the outdoor furniture was  is in terrible shape -stained/pulling and ripped. 
 

Staff was great but summer cruises from NY on Carnival are not for people who like certain basic behavior. The only way to go is getting a suite/Terraza access and hanging out there. 

[DanJ]

I didn't find casino smoke a problem inside on deck 5 at all. For cabins, I suppose you might want to avoid the starboard side where the smoking areas outside on deck 5 are, but that might only be a bother on deck 6 along that stretch with people smoking right below you. It is annoying on deck 4 to get from the theater or atrium to anything else aft, that you have to go through the casino. 

 

I will say regarding the casino, that I got a chuckle out of the gambling addicts sitting at slots at least a half hour before the casino opened each night that we were in Bermuda. And there were a lot of them. 

Edited Tuesday at 08:49 PM by DanJ

[171510Cook]

I see that Venezia does not have Thermal Suites, so that will be my downvote of the day. I always try to book Spa Staterooms to take advantage of the thermal suites and larger hot tub. 

[Mike45LC]

6 hours ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

I believe the issue is (was?) the smoke rises up from the Casino area on Deck 4 into the public areas of Deck 5 via the stairwells (I guess), where the Steakhouse, Bonsai Sushi, Piano Bar, etc are located, or maybe via the atrium area, which would be where more Fun Shops are located.

 

No cabins would be directly impacted.

There is a sculpture in the middle of the casino, piercing the ceiling.  This is a perfect smoke-vent, allowing the casino's smoke to escape into Deck 5, right outside the Steakhouse, Italian, Teppanyaki, and Sushi.  

[jpolm]

Thank you everyone!

[kdr69]

On 9/16/2024 at 6:18 PM, bg2310 said:

I for one don't take very seriously the complaints and issues of others. We all have our own idiosyncracies and pet peeves, things we enjoy or do not. In some cases it can also be how the person handles a situation why they have a bad experience rather than the experience itself.

Totally agree on this

[DanJ]

8 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

There is a sculpture in the middle of the casino, piercing the ceiling.  This is a perfect smoke-vent, allowing the casino's smoke to escape into Deck 5, right outside the Steakhouse, Italian, Teppanyaki, and Sushi.  

My recollection from 2 weeks ago was this was glassed in from deck 5.