Thinking about trying carnival...

[crazidude1400]

I am thinking about trying a cruise on Carnival...Does anyone have any strong opinions about why not to try it? What would make RCCL better than carnival, and vice versa?

 

P.S. I know I may get some VERY biased asnswers.

[cb at sea]

Since you're planning to try it, I think you should! Then you will really know which you prefer. I mean, it's your money--it should totally be up to you how you spend it!

[crazidude1400]

Good point--I was not expecting that. Good way to look at it.

[piercetc4]

i agree with cb- try it and see how you like it- we have done destiny, victory, and conquest- they were all great cruises- let us know what you think when you get back- happy cruising

[Micki Dee]

We have done 1 carnival cruise. We were on the Imagination. I personally did not like it.

 

It was very hard to get around on the ship. You cannot get from one side to the other without having to up then down then around. It was very confusing.

 

I think that the food on RCL is much better and RCL's dining rooms are much nicer.

 

They also didn't have great game shows like the Newlywed game or the notorious quest(which is a highlight on my cruise).

 

Being 40ish, I prefer RCL because it seems they cater to an older crowd, so if you are looking for a party boat, then Carnival might be for you.

 

My aunt and uncle only cruise Carnival so I guess it's a matter of choice.

 

If the price is right and you find an itinery that's for you-go for it.

[Nitra]

I personally did not like Carnival for a lot of reasons but I think you should give it a try if you are interested. I know a lot of folks like them and like Royal Caribbean too, so give it a try, but I do recommend trying a newer ship. Maybe pop over to the Carnival boards and read a bit, look at reviews, do your research.

[wrp96]

There are some people that absolutely love Carnival and can't stand RCCL. There are some people that love RCCL and can't stand Carnival. There are some people that love both, there are some people that hate both. You won't know what category you fall into until you try them both, so I say go for it.

[LAKaye]

We sailed on the Legend two years ago (review is available from back then). The one negative thing that I still vividly remember was the outrageously cheeseball decor. Plastic urns everywhere. Should have been called the Carnival Urn.

 

Plusses I still remember: Having a clean and brand new laundry facility 10 steps from my stateroom was heaven, and I remember that DBF loved the fabulous 24/7 pizza.

 

Do sail on a newish ship though....

 

Leslie

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

We sailed on the Carnival Valor once. It wasn't to my taste at all. But why not try Carnival for one cruise (then come back to RCI)? I won't go into my reasons for not sailing Carnival again, but they did have excellent bedding on Valor and the food was OK. The showroom spectacular was energetic.

 

You may discover things about Carnival you do enjoy. I often feel that when push comes to shove, it is the itinerary that matters most. I do choose itinerary before the ship. The ship comes second, often a close second.

 

So if Carnival is sailing an itinerary you cannot find on Royal Caribbean at a convenient date, give them a try...and then come back to Royal Caribbean.:D

[Inshape]

Been on Triumph two times and Miracle. Then I realized how much better I enjoyed the Explorer cruise we took after going on Triumph the second time. After Explorer I went back to CCL and did Miracle and then it became even clearer. Then we did Mariner in jan of 2006: 1) Decor is nicer on RCI, 2) more activities; esp on Voyager class ships- but we have kids with us and we also like to rock climb, in line skate, mini golf, and ice skate 3) nicer design: no up to go down 4) Less smoke 5) even though cabins are a bit smaller on RCI it is nicely designed for maximum storage and usage, 6) balcony doot on RCI are sliders not open and shut regular doors...really like this, 7) love RCI showers with the semi-circle plastic doors not the curtain on CCL,8) got tired of the constant announcements on CCL, 9) tired of the hairy leg contest, bow legged contest, hairy chest contest, sexiest mans walk contest... on CCL, 10) really felt the embarkation and debarkation was a breeze and organized on RCI as compared to the total herding mentality on CCL 11) Loved the service on RCI in the dining room : the wait staff actually cut the kids food so DH or I do not have to 12) Love collecting those shipdollars to get freebies 13) meet and mingle on RCI is nice 14)loyalty program is nice 15) evening shows in the main theater on RCI is not interupted constantly by the bar staff going up and down and across serving drinks while I am trying to watch the show. On RCI this does not happen and the theater seats are very nice--no bad seat!

Hope that helps. The prices on RCI are a bit higher. I would go in an inside vs a balcony on CCL. With the early booking, TA incentives to book and using the RCI visa for additional ship board credit it comes out very close to a CCL cruise and IMHO there is no comparison. LOVE RCI, will be on our third one soon! ( 2nd time on Mariner)

[jad7984]

I am thinking about trying a cruise on Carnival...Does anyone have any strong opinions about why not to try it? What would make RCCL better than carnival, and vice versa?

 

P.S. I know I may get some VERY biased asnswers.

 

Go for it. The ships are fun, though not as spectacular as RC's ships. The food on RC and Princess are much better, IMO.

 

Have fun!

[tjaker11]

try carnival and form an opinion, that is what i would do

 

happy sailing either way

[Guest LetMeGo]

Well it has been widely suggested that RCCL has better children's programme and more "activities" on board. If you're mainly interested in the ports, and sailing between them in a comfortable surrounding, there should be no worries with Carnival.

 

Choosing a ship is down to taste... It's generally said that shorter (and therefore cheaper) cruises tend to attract the younger people, but on a seven day cruise the demographic is pretty much identical to RCCL. The latest class of ships that Carnival has (despite what the people on this board might say :D ) is the Spirit-class (Spirit, Pride, Legend, Miracle) which many people rate superior to the other new ships because they are less crowded and have a slightly more seinsible deck plan.

 

The advantages of the Spirit-class (even over the RCCL ships) become apparent in itineraries with lots of views to look at, because over 80% of the cabins in these ships are on the outside.

[Mlkkc]

I love both lines because they are so different. One is more classier(Rcl) and one is just a party ship, oh well it depends on my mood but never had a complaint about service on either line.Try it would love to hear your opinion of Carnival.

[The Grumpus]

Good luck, after my one and only experience with Carnival, I would rather have had needles pushed under my fingernails but who knows... you might like it. To each his own.

 

 

It was a bad experience... couldn't wait to get off the ship. I can give further details if you want really want but I prefer to forget that cruise.

[sunlover5]

Last March was our first Carnival and it was on their new ship the Liberty. We enjoyed it very much (Eastern route). Pluses were bigger cabin, food was good. It didn't bother us you couldn't get from one end to the other without going up and down(we are walkers!!) I would just do your homework about the ships. We were planning on the Destiny this coming Feb. and friends(and these boards) strongly suggested we switch to the AOS. We did last week and we are so glad we did. Seems Destiny is having a lot of trouble and is pretty old. THere are many who love the Destiny, but we were not happy once they dropped Aruba. Main reason we booked it. Whatever you choose, have a good cruise!!!:)

[runner15km]

Try it, you might like it. :D I hope to sail all of the cruiselines at least twice. We liked the bigger cabins on Carnival, the service on Celebrity and the fun times on NCL. I known it hard not too, but don't get into a comparison mode when you sail a different line.

[edpeeks]

Most of the (biased) bases have been hit here. I agree with other posters in that I cruise both of them. We like the Voyager class ships when we sail with the kids. When it is just us two we go Carnival. Being a veteran the military discount is unbeatable. We like to take 3 cruises a year and the Carnival discounts allow us to do that. We are interested in cruising Celebrity and Oceanic but will save those for very special occasions.

It has been said many times before..."I've never been on a bad cruise." and that is still true for this cruiser. The number one reason I like to cruise so much is that when I hit that atrium after going through the boarding process I know for a whole week, I don't have to make a real decision. I don't have to think.

Also another thing I have learned on these boards is that everyone has an opinion. And those opinions have nothing to do with your reality. Go, have fun, don't think that everything is going to go perfectly, and form your own opinion so that as soon as you get home you can start planning your next cruise (which is the ONLY way to get over the post-cruise depression).

[Kudos2Fly]

I'll be cruising Royal Caribbean in a little over 30 days for the 1st time. So I can't compare. But I have been on Carnivals smaller ships and have done the Destiny. But I haven't been on anything newer then that yet.

 

Also, keep in mind that Carnivals "party ship" are more of the carribean schedule. I have herd the Alaska and Med. cruise have a different cruise pax. More older group of people.

 

I have done a lot of 4 and 5 days cruise and always have enjoyed Carnival. And we are not full swing party people and we don't have kids. I just like the light carefree style Carnival has.

 

Try them you might be surprised what you think of them..

[DonnaK]

Good luck, after my one and only experience with Carnival, I would rather have had needles pushed under my fingernails but who knows... you might like it. To each his own.

 

 

It was a bad experience... couldn't wait to get off the ship. I can give further details if you want really want but I prefer to forget that cruise.

 

I couldn't agree more! I wouldn't sail Carnival again if it were free.

 

The ship was dark, very smoky, garishly decorated, and its layout was very awkward (for example, the Lido buffet was located between two pools and the elevator so there was a constant and unappetizing flow of bathers in various states of wetness and undress walking through while we were eating. And, the kids club is in an out-of-the-way place in the front of a passenger deck, not next to the pool, so it is underutilized.) The public space to passenger ratio is too low, so the ship feels very crowded and overrun with kids. We were packed into the dining room like sardines - the waiter kept pushing us in closer to the table till we were crushed against it so he could pass behind us.

 

RCI ships are elegant, bright and airy while still being fun. Although they accomodates more passengers, it is much larger so the people have more space to spread out, and it feels much less crowded. The layout flows better, and the kids club is in a location where it is convenient, so therefore it is used.

 

But the most glaring difference in the two lines is the quality of service. On Carnival, it was HORRENDOUS. The crew to passenger ratio is again very high, so they cannot provide the individualized and attentive service that RCI provides. For example, on our recent Mariner of the seas trip, our waiter was assigned to just one table of 12, and the assistant waiter had two of these tables. On the Carnival Miracle, our waiter had 4 tables of 6 and 2 tables of eight. It took forever to get served, there was never enough silverware on the table, and forget about any special requests (like a refill on my glass of iced tea) b/c it took literally 15 minutes to arrive.

 

The buffet food quality was slightly better on Carnival, but the cabin size was the same (or at least seemed to be. I didn't measure)

[737NG]

:) Try it what do you have to lose. We tried Carnival and decided we liked RCCL better but you may think differently. We like to try different lines just to see what they have to offer...just as we are doing Princess next year, our first...if we don't like it, back to RCCL in 08'..

[bigsky]

We like things about both. When they talk about hard to get around, it depends on the class. We've been on many Carnival cruises and found in Jan. when we went on the Liberty, I hated it. That's the class that's hard to get around and makes u feel congested in small places.

But some people it may not bother...The Pride is a much better layout.

Again, it's all subjective. I think the service is very good...I liked their food better in the diningroom than Royal..and the entertainment was better. But I'm sure some won't agree. That's why we're all different and have different opinions.

I would agree to stick with the newer ships.

You may try it and it's not for you...but you won't know until YOU try it. You really can't go by what others think.

You might be pleasantly surprised or just decide it's not for you.

[Chuggiebug]

I totally agree with most of these posts. Try it and decide for yourself. I personally would have a hard time deciding my favorite between RCCL and Carnival. I really have seen NO difference in food quality or decor. I do like the larger Carnival rooms (but who really spends that much waking time there?) and am disappointed that you can not get ice tea 24/7 on RCCL.

 

I am looking forward to the ice show on Mariner of the Seas in a few weeks and lvoe the minature golf on RCCL!

[samtig]

We have been on 3 Carnival & 2 Norwegian cruises. Enjoyed them all. Each cruise line is different, as is each ship. Just research on cc before booking - we've learned a lot on here. We're going to try RCI in Dec. to compare. Food and entertainment are subjective, but in our opinion, Carnival had the best of both. Rooms are bigger too. They are not the party cruiseline anymore. Sure, you can party hearty if you're inclined, but there's also plenty to do otherwise. We haven't been on a cruise we wouldn't do again! Enjoy.

[Sue L]

Crazidude,

 

 

I am curious as to why you have the same question posted on the Carnival board, saying you are planning to try Carnival? Trying to get two bashing threads started?

 

 

 

Sue