If there was no Carnival, what line would you choose?

[moonvine]

I shy away from NCL because of the freestyle dining. I really like getting a chance to meet others on my cruises. I can eat alone with DH (or whomever I'm cruising with) anytime, but I look forward to the experience of getting to know other people.

 

Yes, people are different. The thought of eating with strangers gives me hives. I won't even go eat in the break room at work unless there is enough room there for me to have my "personal space." (About an 8 foot radius while I'm eating). Classic introvert/extrovert thing, I think.

 

Although from what I understand on NCL you can eat with people you have met if you choose to. I really would like to sail on NCL and try it - drat that single supplement.

[suziehmkr]

I understand what you're saying, but I'm still a bit leery when it comes to RCCL. We cruise to relax, unwind, and have some fun. The atmosphere on Carnival has always bean very conducive to that. I could be totally off base, but RCCL just seems a bit uppity.

I won't flame, I promise.

 

I think this depends on the ship & itinerary. Both times that we have been on RCCL we have had a great time and didn't find it stuffy at all, - we just regular people, which is why we like it and will be booking them for Alaska. Probably would consider Carnival for Alaska if they RT's, instead of just the one ship doing the 1-way. The only reason we picked Princess for Hawaii was because we wanted it to be during the holidays and our other choice was HAL.... had the choice been between Princess or RCCL there wouldn't be a question. We weren't that thrilled with Princess and will not cruise on them again unless price & itinerary are ideal... I think if you give RCCL a chance, you might be pleasantly surprised. I can't wait to get on a Voyager class ship... but alas, us West Coasters are the stepchildren of the cruising world. ;)

 

With that said, we are wholeheartedly anticipating our first cruise on Carnival!!

[Cuizer2]

Well, I have only cruised on four lines so far (though I can think of at least four more lines I want to try). I am not sure one of my prior lines is still in business. That just leaves Carnival, RCI and NCL. I like all three. I have a RCI cruise planned for June 2007 and have another NCL cruise on my to do list.

 

I still would like to try Costa, Princess, HAL and Celebrity. Would also like to try Disney, if someone will lend me their kid(s) for four days.

[GottaLuvCruising]

Would also like to try Disney, if someone will lend me their kid(s) for four days.

 

I expect you'd have way more offers than you could handle with that one!!

 

But feel free to try Disney without kids...we did...twice!

[newmexicoNita]

I would deffently not pick NCL, I do not want to go on a cruise for free stlye cruising. Other than that I think my next pick would be Wind Jammer, then Maybe Princess.

Don't want to start anything here, but have you ever tried it? I say that because it is gaining in popularity all the time. Not only do you have the choice of 7-10 restaurants, you can eat with the same people or different ones each night and eat at any time you choose as well as go resort casual if you choose. You get to stay in your cabin on debarkation day until your color is called, thus there is less backup when you exit the ship and you don't have to worry about carrying your carry ons all over the ship or wait in some lounge. I really hate to hear someone judge something if they haven't tried it. I feel the same when I hear people say "I wouldn't cruise Carnival cause it is a party ship" or I had a friend that went on the Fascination and hated the line" I just booked a couple on Carnival the other day that would not have liked Celebrity I don't think and another on NCL that wanted the freedom. NMnita

[newmexicoNita]

I'd LOVE freestyle (at least I think I would, I haven't actually tried it yet).

 

Non-eating-with-strangers person here.

Glad you mentioned you hadn't tried it so think you will like it. That is better than someone saying "I wouldn't like it" when they haven't tried it.Perkyblue, actually the good thing about freestyle is you get to know more people, not less and you have choices. You can eat alone one night, eat with 2 others some nights or at a large table. You make the choice. this beats being stuck, for 7 nights with people you have absolutely nothing in common with. It has happened to us and almost spoiled our cruise. Yes, you can asked to be moved but that is a bit uncomfortable. We did it once and ran into our old table mates a few days later. They asked us why we moved? Fortunately we chanced dining times also thus had a good excuese. One time we sat with a family of four; I do not think a total of 500 words were spoken by them in 7 nights and the ship was full. We couldn't get moved. We would ask them questions; the answers would be one or two words. The father and teen age daughter absolutely didn't know how to even answer simple questions: the 12 year old son was the most outgoing but hardly ever was around for dinner. NMnita

[Cuizer2]

I expect you'd have way more offers than you could handle with that one!!

 

But feel free to try Disney without kids...we did...twice!

 

I was recently at Disneyland for the first time w/o kids. It was not as fun. I realize Disney markets to adults, but I am not paying Disney prices w/o kids.

[PaulMedik]

We'd be cruising Disney for the next few years, then RCCL when our boys are older. After our boys are gone and it's just DW and I, we'd likely be sailing NCL or Costa.

 

We'll be trying RCCL regardless when the boys are older, but there's really nothing that stands out as appealing; We have rock climbing walls here in town, cliffs across the river from us and world class rock climbing in the New River Gorge less than 20 minutes away. We have ice skating rinks and the boys do enjoy them in the winter along with snow skiing, but I just don't think of those activities as summer time. :o

 

Carnival or no Carnival, we're gonna try RCCL; Not so sure about NCL as we can enjoy ourselves quietly on Carnival yet still have fun places to go should we so choose.

[Cuizer2]

Glad you mentioned you hadn't tried it so think you will like it. That is better than someone saying "I wouldn't like it" when they haven't tried it.

 

Freestyle has its advantages and disadvantages. I was on the Star, which was designed for Freestyle. That may be one reason it worked so well. I believe the older ships, not originally designed for Freestyle, are the ones creating all the negative PR for Freestyle dining.

[JerseyGirl97]

What is this freestyle you guys keep bringing up. I have picked up something about restaurants so I am assuming it has to do with dinner arrangements? :confused:

I saw a show on the DIsney cruise line on the Travel Channel a few weeks ago. Those are some beautiful ships and the childrens area looks amazing. Since this is a family vacation coming up a Disney cruise was not an option because my Dad is a poker man and would be bummed without a casino! Oh, Carnival is going to get a lot of his money....:p

 

I LOVE Disney World though. It is my favorite vacation spot. I just absolutely love it there. If I were to spend the money on anything Disney I think it would have to be on the resort itself.

[newmexicoNita]

Freestyle has its advantages and disadvantages. I was on the Star, which was designed for Freestyle. That may be one reason it worked so well. I believe the older ships, not originally designed for Freestyle, are the ones creating all the negative PR for Freestyle dining.

You are right; we have sailed only one NCL ship that was not designed for freestyle: the Sea, actually we did have a wonderful time cause we were with 2 other couples, but the ship was not meant for anything other than traditional dining. Not only are the older ships creating the concerns, the misunderstanding is playing a part plus at the very beginning there was some pretty big horror stories about the Star as a matter of fact, the Sun as well. The first 6 months there were lots of problems that needed ironing out. Now it runs beautifully. WE did the Jewel last Sept; they even have marquettes (spelling) around the ship letting you know what is avaiable, if there will be a wait, whether the dining room can handle large groups at this time, etc. NMnita

[Cuizer2]

What is this freestyle you guys keep bringing up. I have picked up something about restaurants so I am assuming it has to do with dinner arrangements? :confused:

 

 

I saw a show on the DIsney cruise line on the Travel Channel a few weeks ago. Those are some beautiful ships and the childrens area looks amazing. Since this is a family vacation coming up a Disney cruise was not an option because my Dad is a poker man and would be bummed without a casino! Oh, Carnival is going to get a lot of his money....:p

 

 

On NCL there is no set dining time. You do not sit at the same table every night and you do not sit with the same people every night. On the Star for example, there are ten restaurants. You can just show up, or you can make reservations. Three of the restaurants cost extra and require reservations. However, the food and service in these extra cost restaurants is better (would you pay extra if it was not?).

 

Here is a link to my cruise on the Star. While it is long, I do go into great detail early in the review in discussing Freestyle dining (there is also Freestyle disembarkation) ...

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=13327

 

The following is from my review ...

 

What sets Norwegian apart from everyone else is the Freestyle dining. As I mentioned, there are ten dining areas. Six are free, four cost extra, and only three do not require reservations (Aqua, Versailles and the Blue Lagoon). It is noted that Norwegian does not allow blue jeans, tank tops, shorts, T-shirts or beachwear in any of the restaurants after 5:00pm. It is also noted that Aqua and Versailles (the two main restaurants) get very busy between 7pm and 8pm.

 

The advantage of Freestyle dining is you can eat when you want. However, that is only true in three of the ten restaurants. All the other restaurants require reservations. What is the difference between making a reservation and having a set dining time? Also, for groups this can be a problem. In traditional dining you show up at your table at the assigned time. You know the rest of your group will either already be there, or will arrive soon. With Freestyle dinning, your group has to decide where it wants to eat and when. If you have ever tried to get a group to agree on anything, you know what a chore this can be. Also, if your group is large enough, you can guarantee that someone will show up at the wrong restaurant at the right time, or show up at the right restaurant at the wrong time. For me, I dont like having to take time out of my day to make a reservation. The whole idea of cruising is to have a carefree vacation. I believe that having to make reservations takes away from that experience.

 

The ten restaurants are:

 

Cagneys - Steak House - $20 extra The Soho - Pacific Rim - $15 extra Le Bistro - French Cuisine - $15 extra Ginza - Asian Fusion Cuisine - $12.50 extra Teppanyaki - Cooking just for you - A la carte pricing Sushi Bar - Japanese Specialty - A la carte pricing Endless Summer - Tex-Mex cuisine - reservations required La Trattoria - Italian Cuisine - reservations required Aqua - contemporary cuisine Versailles - traditional cuisine Market Café - buffet Blue Lagoon - 24 hour sit down fast food

[LHP]

Probably Princess. (on their medium size ships)

[JerseyGirl97]

 

On NCL there is no set dining time. You do not sit at the same table every night and you do not sit with the same people every night. On the Star for example, there are ten restaurants. You can just show up, or you can make reservations. Three of the restaurants cost extra and require reservations. However, the food and service in these extra cost restaurants is better (would you pay extra if it was not?).

 

 

Thanks for sharing your review. I actually think I would like freestyle dining. Especially on port days when you don't want to rush back just to make a dinner time. And the options! Holy cow! Sounds great.

My only question/concern would be the reservations. Do you have to pick at the beginning of your cruise what you want for the whole week or do you have to go everyday to make reservations for the evening? And then do you just tip as you go instead of one dinning room tip at the end? Thanks!

[mj cruiser]

We are going to try Royal Caribbean next year. I loved Carnival but wanted to try a different line. We are set on the Mariner of the Seas next Feb ...I will let you know!

[newmexicoNita]

Thanks for sharing your review. I actually think I would like freestyle dining. Especially on port days when you don't want to rush back just to make a dinner time. And the options! Holy cow! Sounds great.

My only question/concern would be the reservations. Do you have to pick at the beginning of your cruise what you want for the whole week or do you have to go everyday to make reservations for the evening? And then do you just tip as you go instead of one dinning room tip at the end? Thanks!

JerseyGirl< No you do not need to decide. The main dining rooms you do not need reservations at all; they are inclined to get a bit busy, like an Outback Steakhouse would about 7pm for about an hour. There are others that don't need reservations, but the very popular specialty ones do. You can make them anytime from embarkation to that morning: for best selection we usually book the day we embark. We decide; on sea days we will book at about 6:30 or so; on port days maybe later. The neat thing is you do not have that 6pm or 8:30pm. 6pm is often, as you said, too early and 8:30 is pushing it for some of us. I hope this helps a little. NMNita

[JerseyGirl97]

JerseyGirl< No you do not need to decide. The main dining rooms you do not need reservations at all; they are inclined to get a bit busy, like an Outback Steakhouse would about 7pm for about an hour. There are others that don't need reservations, but the very popular specialty ones do. You can make them anytime from embarkation to that morning: for best selection we usually book the day we embark. We decide; on sea days we will book at about 6:30 or so; on port days maybe later. The neat thing is you do not have that 6pm or 8:30pm. 6pm is often, as you said, too early and 8:30 is pushing it for some of us. I hope this helps a little. NMNita

 

That does help. Thank you. I really like the sound of it! :)

[moonvine]

Glad you mentioned you hadn't tried it so think you will like it. That is better than someone saying "I wouldn't like it" when they haven't tried it.

 

If they have rooms with 150% single supplement I am so there! There are other things I think I would like about NCL!:D

[Cuizer2]

Thanks for sharing your review. I actually think I would like freestyle dining. Especially on port days when you don't want to rush back just to make a dinner time. And the options! Holy cow! Sounds great.

 

My only question/concern would be the reservations. Do you have to pick at the beginning of your cruise what you want for the whole week or do you have to go everyday to make reservations for the evening? And then do you just tip as you go instead of one dinning room tip at the end? Thanks!

 

I called each morning. Except the first morning I did not make reservations for the main dining room, I just showed up above five minutes before it opened. I waited in a short line for about 7-8 minutes. Each morning I made my reservations. You can make reservations for the entire week on the first if you want. I usually showed up a little early and was seated right-a-way, even when there were other people waiting.

 

The down side of Freestyle is when you have a large group. If you have a group of twenty people, you know someone is going to show up at the right restaurant at the wrong time and someone else will show up at the right time, but the wrong restaurant.

 

As for tips, NCL has an automatic service charged ($10/person/day - $5 per child under 12 per day) billed to your room. For the extra charge restaurants (I paid extra five nights) I did add a couple of extra dollars, even though the extra charge includes a tip. For the free restaurants I did not leave an extra tip. The service at the main restaurant (the one night I was there) was not up to par. The service at the other free restaurant I ate at was good. The service at the extra charge restaurants was great.

[cruisin4kicks]

:D

I understand what you're saying, but I'm still a bit leery when it comes to RCCL. We cruise to relax, unwind, and have some fun. The atmosphere on Carnival has always bean very conducive to that. I could be totally off base, but RCCL just seems a bit uppity. Perfect example:

 

Valor 2/26/06 Sail-a-way

Overcast and cold, but the band was playing, the drinks were flowing, there was a lot of laughing and talking, and the Lido Deck was full. As we passed by one of the RCCL ships, there was probably somewhere between 150-200 people on deck watching us pass. Most of the Carnival PAX on the Starboard side were waving to them and yelling things like "have a great trip/cruise". I counted something like three or four people who bothered to wave back. The rest just stood there and watched. I overheard one guy, not to far from us, say, "Those people REALY need a cruise". Everyone around him busted up.

 

I don't know if I could enjoy myself as well in a "stuffier" atmosphere. If this causes someone to take offence, and If my perception of RCCL is inaccurate, please refrain from flaming, but instead point out where I am off and back it up with examples. As I stated earlier, we are not closed to other possibilities, at this time we are simply happy to stick with Carnival.

Ouch!!! I've been on a bunch of RCI cruises and have NEVER had an incident like you described. Everybody outside on a sail away has always been in quite a festive mood whether they were by the pool or along the railing. We've always been waving back and forth at the ships leaving port with us.

 

I've read that RCI and Carnival cater to the mass market where Celebrity and Holland America are a little more upscale. That being said, I would think that RCI and Carnival would appeal to the same people. Personally, the only "I'm better than you" type person I've ever run into on RCI was someone who was constatly comparing everything on RCI with Holland America and mentioning how not "up to par" RCI was and how much better Holland America was. That got so old so fast and unfortunately we kept running into him the whole cruise. Everybody else we've come across and actually struck up conversations with have all been down to earth type people on ALL our cruises.

 

This will be our first Carnival cruise (Fascination 5/19) and am looking forward to it. I'm assuming that everyone will be down to earth just like all the other cruises I've been on. In answer to the original posters question, obviously RCI would be my first choice. My second choice would be NCL (depending upon the ship).

 

I hope this isn't interpreted as a flame.

 

Tim

[GoodAsGold]

At this point and from my limited experience with three cruise lines, I would choose Princess.

 

The single, biggest reason I would pick Princess is DECOR. I think their ships are beautiful with their pastel and understated elegance. And, yet the two ships I've sailed, The Star and Sun Princess were just as much FUN as my Carnival cruises. The service was about the same. Some better, some worse, depending on the cruise. I vote for the freshwater POOLS on Princess. Food better in the Lido deck buffet. But I enjoy the dining rooms on Carnival.

 

Someday I would like to try Royal Caribbean.

 

 

And why? I'm just curious. :) Looking to see how the other Carnival fans weigh in on their priorities on choosing a line...is it service? Itineraries? Price? Ships? Other passengers (ages, social class, family-oriented, etc.)?

[GoodAsGold]

I'm curious, Fred...why would you get flamed?? We're all just saying what we would cruise on if there was no Carnival. And, in some cases, maybe even while Carnival is still going strong! :D

 

I would probably and I hope I dont get FLAMED ON:confused: select RCCL because they are 2nd best.

 

RCCL age group is about the same as Carnival, the prices are also great, food and service is Par.

 

Fred

[GoodAsGold]

I tried it and didn't like it. :(

 

I really would like to sail on NCL and try it - drat that single supplement.

[GoodAsGold]

Ain't THAT the truth! :rolleyes:

 

 

I can't wait to get on a Voyager class ship... but alas, us West Coasters are the stepchildren of the cruising world. ;)

 

quote]

[Cuizer2]

I can't wait to get on a Voyager class ship... but alas, us West Coasters are the stepchildren of the cruising world. ;)

 

With that said, we are wholeheartedly anticipating our first cruise on Carnival!!

 

I believe that RCI has a Vision for the West Coast.