Honest Opinion - Carnival

[B-52]

My Wife and I have been on a few RCCL cruises, and have NO complaints.

I looked at the Explorer out of NJ for this coming June and did the prices ever jump!

Noticed that the Carnival Miracle sails out of NYC same time, same itineraries, but allot less expensive.

Should we take the chance? What are some honest opinions concerning this ship, or carnival in general?

 

BTW, we still have a deposit on Enchantment for 2008. Our favorite ship, but lacking in itineraries and length of cruises.

[wrp96]

Well for me you get an extra day cruising with the Explorer plus an extra port over the Carnival Miracle, so that would definitely go in the Explorer's favor, but I don't normally choose a cruise based on price.

 

Lots of people have great times on Carnival, and the Spirit class ships (of which Miracle is one) tend to get their best reviews. Although, I might have major problems eating in the Miracle's dining room after looking at some pictures of it (they sure had fun with the decor on that one).

 

My advice is look at reviews of the Miracle, and if you really like her itinerary and the price difference is extremely large I would go with Miracle, just to try out Carnival.

[ndsumfun]

I had been on two Carnival ships & really had no interest in cruising again. We then went on Enchantment. Boy, we were sure hooked then. Last year a friend of ours put together a cruise on the Destiny for May of this year. After some real thoughts we decided to go. It was a great deal. There were definitely differences but we did have a good time. I had decided that if the price was right that we could deal with Carnival......but then we went on a 5 day cruise on the Majesty a few weeks ago. OMG! It was fantastic. Brought back the memories of WHY we LOVE Royal soooooo much! With that said......I believe that you will have a good time on the Miracle. It's like many others have said......a cruise is what you make of it! If it's that much cheaper don't be afraid to go for it. It's not that bad! It's just not as luxurious (to me anyway).

[B-52]

I agree on the decor. Pictures I've seen were a bit too much. I think I'll book explorer for 2009, and stay with the Enchantment for this June.

Booked a GS while onboard last June.

The Itinerary is a little lacking, but we do enjoy 2 days prior in Ft. Lauderdale with a car. That makes up for it a bit.

[jwolf2006]

We went on the Miracle last year for a seven day Western Carribean cruise and had a great time. The food and entertainment were as good as on the EOS cruise we took this year and the accomodations were better. Their inside cabins are significantly larger than EOS and I liked the design and size of the ship better.

 

The downside was that it was a much more party atmosphere, sometimes to the point of sillyness (ship divided into color teams, dancing waiters, etc).

 

Bottom line is that we would be happy to cruise either line if price and itinerary are right. Already booked on Splendour of the Seas for next summer out of Venice!

[petesweet]

My Wife and I have been on a few RCCL cruises, and have NO complaints.

I looked at the Explorer out of NJ for this coming June and did the prices ever jump!

Noticed that the Carnival Miracle sails out of NYC same time, same itineraries, but allot less expensive.

Should we take the chance? What are some honest opinions concerning this ship, or carnival in general?

 

BTW, we still have a deposit on Enchantment for 2008. Our favorite ship, but lacking in itineraries and length of cruises.

 

I think age has a great deal to do with how happy you would be. We're in the senior citizen bracket. HATE Carnival. The blaring music in the cafeteria almost drove us crazy. We just came back from Explorer's New England/Canada itinerary, and we LOVED that ship. The ice show is spectacular, and the Royal Promenade is a wonderful place! Explorer is indeed a destination in itself, which I wonder if Carnival could ever be called.

 

Sure, the cabins (inside) are small, but that's where we sleep and bathe. Period.

[kidless]

We have been on 6 Carnival Cruises. We have had great times on all but found the last two a little disappointing. The food seem to go down hill, service wasn't as good and the other passangers just seemed..........hmmm how to say this nicely well they had no manners. But it could have just been bad days on those ships and we always had a good time cause life is what you make it. I would still recommend Carnival and would sail them again but we wanted to try something different.

 

 

The decor on Carnival is a bit tacky...........

[WhiteSoxFan]

My parents, mid 60's have been on a variety of lines, RCI, Costa & Carnival and they enjoy Carnival. They are about two weeks away from their third Carnival cruise. That said they always go with a pretty large group so maybe the actual ship & line matters less, I don't know.

[crusinmama06]

Oh here we go again...lol. ;)

 

You want honesty? There have been some really honest threads going on here the past few days about Carnival verses RCCL.

 

Here are the latest...

 

Mariner Verses Glory

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=644585

 

Adventure Verses Destiny

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=645385

 

RCCL cruiser considering Conquest

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=643347

 

And the most heated of all, WITH pictures...RCCL Verses Carnival

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=631554

[TXRed]

My Wife and I have been on a few RCCL cruises, and have NO complaints.

I looked at the Explorer out of NJ for this coming June and did the prices ever jump!

Noticed that the Carnival Miracle sails out of NYC same time, same itineraries, but allot less expensive.

Should we take the chance? What are some honest opinions concerning this ship, or carnival in general?

 

BTW, we still have a deposit on Enchantment for 2008. Our favorite ship, but lacking in itineraries and length of cruises.

 

Last year we did what you are looking at...except we went on the Conquest instead of the Rhapsody (our favorite ship)....and for us it was a huge mistake...we had sailed the Rhapsody 3 times prior...and thought let's try something different....please don't take this wrong...we have grandkids..but the amount of kids...young and teens was over whelming....and it seemed that few parents and/or staff were able to control them...even at late seating there were so many kids...screaming, crying, etc. it was not pleasant to go to the dining room...we had originally booked early seating and changed to late hoping it would be better ..it wasn't....I will not go into a lot of details....but if I was given a free cruise on Carnival I would NOT go..we didn't care for the gawdy glitz, we felt the food was not up to RC's standard....nor was the crew as professional. The ship was difficult to get around on, the elevators were occupied by kids most of the time...so we took the steps most of the time and were still over run several times...Carnival is obviously NOT for eveyone...we booked RC for our next cruise

[celtic_beauty]

You couldnt pay me enough to step foot on a carnival cruise......:D I will stick with RC & DCL

[helo driver]

Have been on 2 Carnival and 1 RCCL, have another RCCL booked for this spring. Preferred the RCCL, but for the right price would easily do another Carnival....bad day on a cruise is better than a good day at work. :D

[Cruising89143]

A lot of folks love Carnival. I used to be one myself until I tried RCI's Navigator of the Seas and noticed a major difference between the two. Never looked back. Carnival offers a good vacation value for many people but to me they do not meet the same standards of Royal Caribbean.

 

I guess a lot depends on what one is looking for in an overall cruise experience. For me it is good friendly service on a "consistent" basis, clean and well maintained ships, a great past guest program along with good food and entertainment. RCI gives me all of those. Carnival currently has no ships that can compare with RCI's Radiance, Voyager or Freedom class. Carnival is all about packing as many guests on board and it shows in many areas of the ship. You will find many of the folks that love Carnival have only cruised on Carnival or are going by price alone and that's fine if Carnival is delivering the goods. Also some will tell you that Carnival has the fun. Still have not figured that one out unless they are going by that big sign that Carnival has hanging over the side of the ship at embarkation telling you this!!!!!!!!!!! ;)

[kidless]

I second that about the kids on Carnival. They are always in the adult pools, there are always tons of them no matter what time of year....They are rude and not only do the parents not correct but the Carnival staff turns a blind eye. DH and I decided on the last cruise there were just to many lil abners for us...so that is why we are going RC

[kidless]

Oh my God.....CruisinGator is it really you!!! I'm back, been off the boards for a long time!!! Still working for Acos. I left them a while back stay home and take care of Granny now.....How's it been!!!!!

[crusinmama06]

I second that about the kids on Carnival. They are always in the adult pools, there are always tons of them no matter what time of year....They are rude and not only do the parents not correct but the Carnival staff turns a blind eye. DH and I decided on the last cruise there were just to many lil abners for us...so that is why we are going RC

 

 

I see you were on Sensation and the worst behavior I have ever seen on a ship was on Sensation. It took cruising to a whole new low. Did we let it ruin our time, nope. We still had a nice time. But it turned me off of Carnival for a while.

[Cruising89143]

Well for me you get an extra day cruising with the Explorer plus an extra port over the Carnival Miracle, so that would definitely go in the Explorer's favor, but I don't normally choose a cruise based on price.

 

Lots of people have great times on Carnival, and the Spirit class ships (of which Miracle is one) tend to get their best reviews. Although, I might have major problems eating in the Miracle's dining room after looking at some pictures of it (they sure had fun with the decor on that one).

 

My advice is look at reviews of the Miracle, and if you really like her itinerary and the price difference is extremely large I would go with Miracle, just to try out Carnival.

 

You talking about this one Wrona???

 

 

[Bases5]

I think Carnival, RCCL and NCL all have a close product with 1 leading here and another there. Heck, I have never been on a bad cruise but I have been on better and worse cruise within the same lines.So many little thing's makes up the big picture.

I can tell you that if you sail one line a couple times you kind of get into the flow of how things are done. Then you switch lines and things are a little different so it might not seem as comfortable. We are creatures of habit and little changes (for better or worse) put a little funk in our style. That by no means reflects good or bad about a particular line in our view, But to other it does.

A small example

We like to purchases (not Smuggle) a bottle and mixers form the CRUISE LINE to have cocktails in our cabin. This is normally a expensive venture but we like it non the less. RCCL is the only one that does not offer this service, (of the lines I have sailed.) So right off the bat my first thought aggravation disappointment, So right there I'm a little down on RCCL (its human nature) and a little more picky from the beginning. I know this sounds stupid but it does happen. We had a great time overall and will sail them again and have sailed them again. I have had these experience with other lines for other issue. We personally don't care for the bigger ships, Voyager class and higher. That's us, but will we sail one again "absolutely"

(some people only like Fords and nothing else will do) Experience different lines and enjoy all they have to offer.

We look at itinerary price and ship in that order

[wrp96]

YIKES!!!:eek: Gordon, why do you do that to me?!? You gotta give people warning before you show stuff like that!! And yes that is the one I was talking about!

[Sue L]

YIKES!!!:eek: Gordon, why do you do that to me?!? You gotta give people warning before you show stuff like that!! And yes that is the one I was talking about!

 

 

No kidding just made DH hold on to the wall before I showed it to him and we just ate dinner!!!!

[crusinmama06]

Gordon, your posts should come with a "PUT YOUR PROTECTIVE SUNGLASSES ON NOW" warning. :eek:

[sea-cruise]

We were only aboard Carnival once...That was the Miracle. We took the grandchildren, who were teenagers. We walked into that dining room and their eyes popped open like bullfrog's. All they could say was...."oh man...no way". :eek: :confused: :eek: :confused:

[kidless]

I see you were on Sensation and the worst behavior I have ever seen on a ship was on Sensation. It took cruising to a whole new low. Did we let it ruin our time, nope. We still had a nice time. But it turned me off of Carnival for a while.

 

Sensation was the first cruise we ever took, it was 7 days out of Tampa we took a 5 day this September on the Sensation and it had really gone down hill as far as other guests, service and food. We had a great time nothing could really spoil it for us. But it was frustrating at times you'd try to get off an elevator on your floor and a zillion kids would come pushing in before anyone could get off.

[Jsme]

I love Carnival. I also love RCCL. lol There are things about Carnival I like better than RCCL and vice versa.

Carnival's food is just awesome. There rooms are bigger, they give you robes to use and they have an amenities bowl of samples for you to use in the bathroom.

 

RCCL has cheaper drinks than Carnival.

[DqALEX]

I have been on the Carnival Miracle and I can say it was my best Carnival cruise. The food, service, the ship itself it was a very good cruise. Im booked again on the Miracle for its this Christmas/ New Years cruise. I picked it because of the ship and its a 9 day cruise. I also booked my first RCCL cruise for this August out of Cape Liberty. IM looking forward to it. IMHO the Miracle is one of Carnivals best ships