Anyone out there cruised on Carnival?

[cimarrongirl]

DH and I are in our early 60's and are considering a Carnival Dream cruise in MaY 2010. We will be traveling with our DD and her DH plus their three children ages 10,14&16. We want to have fun and relax but don't want to have rowdy crowds on board. We have cruised on Princess and Celebrity but feel the kids would have more fun on Carnival. What do you think?

[jpg1747]

I'm 60 and love to cruise on Carnival. I think you'll all have a good time. The only time I would avoid any cruises is during spring break. But otherwise, I think Carnival has the same mix of passengers as Princess or RCCL.

[tennis837]

I agree with cimarrongirl, we love Carnival but we do avoid Spring & Christmas vacations. We found that early December or even October and November work great. We think the food is better on Carnival. We never find many children in early December on any line.

[cb at sea]

In May, you will have more kids than during "school season". But, you really won't have crazy partiers on a 7 nighter. Any cruiseline will have their share on 3-4 nighters---folks are trying to get the most "bang" for their buck!

[rwm]

I agree with everyone. I've been on 36 cruises but only 5 on Carnival. No problem as long as you choose one 7 days or longer and avoid Spring Break. I'm taking my whole family This Thanksgiving on the Liberty.

 

Rosemary

[Lovharvey]

We have been on 4 Carnival cruises and they have been great. Like one of the other posters, just avoid Spring Break and other major holidays when the kids are out of school. My husband and I always plan our vacations when the kids are in school. There are always a few kids because of different school schedules, but, on our cruise in March, most of the kids were younger and were very good. We seldom saw them except a couple of times around the pool, but, no problems. One fact that I neglected to mention, is the fact we are 55+.

[Georgiagolfer]

DW and I both are 60+ and we love Carnival. #10 with CCL is coming 5/30 on the Liberty. We have 3 cruises with RCI, and quite frankly, other than RCI costing more, not much difference in the cruise.

[mescat4]

I guess we hit the exception- we took four generations on a 4 day cruise on Carnivals Elation a year ago last Dec. just before Christmas.It was a family cruise to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. The atmosphere on the cruise was laid back with many family groups which I think toned down the partying. The ship is also big enough so that you can avoid the more boisterous, if that is your wont. Since we had only cruised with HAL to that point, I went in with minimum expectations and was pleasantly surprised with the entire cruise. The food was outstanding! My wife and I, both well into senior status did not feel out of place. I guess we were just lucky.

[cimarrongirl]

Mescat4 congrats on your 50th. Were celebrating 42 years this July.

[GlendaleCruiser]

Dittos to everything said, except:

 

Carnival may have a rep for boisterous partying but I have never seen it.

Granted, I don't stay in the disco unti 3:00am, but I've never seen rowdy behavior. Love the food. Always have had a wonderful and relaxing time! My kids are larger, so don't know about kids' camp, etc. My kids had fun when they were teenagers, though.

[winddawn]

DH and I are in our early 60's and are considering a Carnival Dream cruise in MaY 2010. We will be traveling with our DD and her DH plus their three children ages 10,14&16. We want to have fun and relax but don't want to have rowdy crowds on board. We have cruised on Princess and Celebrity but feel the kids would have more fun on Carnival. What do you think?

Kids do love Carnival, not only for their Camp Carnival program, but also for the water slides, etc. As far as rowdy crowds, you will tend to find rowdy crowds on the shorter itinerary cruises (3-4 day cruises). Longer cruises tend to be a little more laid back with fewer rowdies.

[Georgiagolfer]

Mescat4 congrats on your 50th. Were celebrating 42 years this July.

Congrats to both of you on your Anniversaries. DW and I celebrate 42 years:D on the Liberty in just over 4 weeks.

[cusyl]

Carnival is a great product for the money. The passengers all have fun and it is more relaxed. As others have said, just avoid the Spring Break crowd and it is great.:D

[jabcruiser]

Hi Colorado-me too. We sailed on Carnival in Nov 08 and liked it. Food surprisingly good and the specialty restaurant was exceptional-the adults should go one nite. Kids have a lot to do on Carnival-water slides, their own social area, ice cream bar. On our cruise not many kids, but they loved the giant Chess board too and Pizza bar was popular. We've also cruised NCL and HAL and Carnival would be better for kids for sure. Although for adults like us we much prefer HAL. Carnival is a lot more casual atmosphere than HAL which has more elegant/European feel. Have fun!

[jhorn4489]

I have been on 10 Carnival Cruises in the past 5 years. I love Carnival! The service is always excellent, food better than other lines, and the staff are wonderful. I would not suggest a 3 or 4 day as you will find more kids, and party people.

[SardisGrandma]

My daughter & I are booked on the Dream western cruise for may 1 2010. We can't wait to set sail. I've been on 2 other carnival cruises & loved them both.I am a 55+ & shes 38Oh my goodness hope she doesn't find this post. lol I referred to me as 55+, but I sure was quick to divulge her age!! Waterslide not just for kids either I love it. Plus they have a waterpark on the dream.

[babesinbonnets]

they will have a great time it is geared for all ages and there is so much to do for everyone. Have a great cruise:o

[Glamourgal]

We just signed up for our 3rd Carnival Cruise. For some reason I always feel that I am defending Carnival. I think there are so many out there that think Carnival is for the rowdy crowd and that it is a step beneath so many of the other lines. I DO NOT feel this way in the least. We cruised on the Victory last April and we were so pleasantly surprised and the food was better than any cruise I've been on thus far. I think you will have a wonderful time if you choose Carnival with your family. We will also be on a Carnival May of 2010 but on the Pride. Happy Sailing to all.

[gadawg66]

I just took my father (76yrs & USN, Ret.) on his first CC and he had blast. So much, that we were only back for about 2 weeks and he booked another one; Carnival Dream for Christmas 09....There is so much to do and so relaxed, age is only a #!

 

Have fun!:cool:

[katiel53]

My husband and I have sailed on many cruises on many different cruise lines. We live near Pt Canaveral, so if possible, we sail from there as we either go the day before, stay in a hotel thus extending our vacation by a day, or drive to the port the day of sailing.

 

We sailed Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas many times from there. Mariner left for the west coast, so when we wanted to sail from Pt Canaveral in February, there was no RCI ship sailing 7 days. We didn't want to drive to Miami or Ft Lauderdale, so our choice, other than a Disney ship perhaps, was Carnival.

 

I have to say we sailed many a cruise on Carnival. Our last one was probably 8 or 9 years ago on Carnival Triumph. (Maybe it wasn't that long ago, but it seems like it.) We hated that trip, bad service all over, poor food etc. We vowed never to sail Carnival again.

 

Well---you know how women change their minds, lol. We decided to try Glory. Another couple came along with us. They had never sailed Carnival, but had sailed with us several times on Celebrity. To make a long story shorter, we all loved Glory.

 

Our service, the food and everything was wonderful. We had a cruise booked on Liberty of the Seas, along with my dad, my sister and brother-in law for later this year. I talked to all of them and told them how great Glory is and it is a lot cheaper than our Liberty cruise. We all changed to sailing Glory for 10/17/09.

 

Our 25th anniversary is Dec. 26. We decided to do a cruise for our anniversary. We looked at Freedom of the Seas and saw the price. Even with our Diamond Plus balcony discount, we still would be paying a lot more than sailing on Dream. We decided that we would book Dream. Our price has just gone down $60 for our cabin. So far, not bad, lol.

 

We are very much looking forward to going on Dream, albeit a few days after our anniversary as we will have family here over the holidays. I know we will have a great time and other than HAL's bread pudding, there is no dessert better, to me, than the chocolate melting cake on Carnival.

 

As I joke to my husband, we are way over the hill, he more so than I, but we still enjoy being around young(er) people and although we can't do everything we used to, we still like to be around people who aren't ready yet to roll over and die. Carnival on a 7 day ship is fun, not a party boat. JMO.

 

Enjoy!

[rwm]

Katie - I agree with you. I had my family booked on RCL for Thanksgiving and they changed the itinerary and now we are going on the Carnival Liberty out of Miami for a fraction of the cost - even with nine of us flyiong from Philadelphia, it is cheaper plus now I booked all of us balconies. I love RCL (I'm also Diamond), but don't see that much difference in food, entertainment, etc. Plus Camp Carnival is great with the kids.

 

Rosemary

[mewzicklvr]

I took my husband in a wheelchair with my best girl friend assisting me and was sorely disappointed in that there wasn't much of an accommodation for the disabled.. this is a fine cruise if young people are involved. I watched the youth and young people .....this is the cruise that caters to 'youth' So to answer your question, if you like a more leisurely pace, investigate another ship.

[jpg1747]

Just got back from the 3 day Elation cruise to Catalina. As I expected, there was a few more "rowdies" than on the longer cruises, but they mostly stayed in the bars and were easy to avoid. Loved the adults only serenity area at the back of Deck 9 for some quiet time in the sun and hot tub. There were passengers of every age on board and I would definitely do this cruise (or another 3 day elsewhere) again.

[redhd62330]

I am 61 and have cruised on Carnival, RCCL and Celebrity. I love Carnival and have never been bothered with "rowdy" people. I love the food on Carnival and the entertainment. I really think you get the most value for your money. I am booked on Carnival Legend in August and can't wait to try the Dream. Go and have fun!!

[jpg1747]

I am 61 and have cruised on Carnival, RCCL and Celebrity. I love Carnival and have never been bothered with "rowdy" people. I love the food on Carnival and the entertainment. I really think you get the most value for your money. I am booked on Carnival Legend in August and can't wait to try the Dream. Go and have fun!!

 

 

We're the same age. I'm not bothered by the rowdies since I'm not much of a bar person anymore, but I did notice (as in "hear") them from time to time late in the evening. Definitely nothing that would keep me from sailing Carnival again. As a matter of fact, I noticed some of the same type of behavior on the 4-day Caribbean Princess cruise I took last year, so it's definitely not only Carnival. Rather, I think, it's what happens on any 3 or 4 day cruise.