Anyone out there cruised on Carnival?

[Miss Dot]

Oh, I agree with all the posts made. We love Carnival!!!! Just avoid Spring Break and other such times.

We have booked another cruise this year for Dad's 80th Birthday!!! CAN'T WAIT:D

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

we love carnival and B2B

[pom]

have you been on all of these cruises? I have only been on the Fantasy, sure sounds like you are the personal to ask about cruises:)

[HNI]

We sailed the Carnival Elation when she was only 4 months old. It was a beautiful ship. We were in our early 50's and were among the oldest passengers. We had a great time on the 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise. A few years later we sailed on the Ecstasy on a Mon-Friday cruise with our then 19 and 21yr. old daughters. We saw little of them since they found numerous activities which were age appropriate. On the shorter cruise there were more tattooed drinker types. Quite a few reminded me of the probationers I had met in the course of my employment. There is also much more smoking on Carnival ships. As pointed out by others the longer the voyage the fewer rowdy booze cruise types.

 

For children thru teens I would recomment RCCL. We went on the Mariner of the Seas recently. It has a multitude of activities for active folks and very little smoking and I did not run into any rowdies. They have children activities for a wide range of age groups. Our voyage had about 200 kids on board. The next voyage, with school out was to have 600+ youngsters. Great for grandparents bringing their grandkids.

[*Luv2Cruz*]

We've been on the Carnival Destiny two times and we're headed to the E. Caribbean on May 15, 2010 with a CC Group. May not be the best date for cruising with school age children, but we've really got a good group package of pricing and amenities and we hope you can join us!:cool: We even have a $25 deposit which ends July 7, so call TODAY!;)

[ROSSIA]

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?

 

i have been on many,many, carnival cruises. They are fine. Some are better than others. Liberty is great. To avoid crowds and rowdy people, do not go during spring break or the disney trip plus cruises. Many children, and noisey. Rossia

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

have you been on all of these cruises? I have only been on the Fantasy, sure sounds like you are the personal to ask about cruises:)

 

yes i am going on the valor on 7/5 for 14 days to recoop from a operation best place to go

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

the best time is when school are in secition

[deepnite10]

we had second thoughts about cruising with CCL due to it s reputation as a party boat..let s just say its now more a FUN SHIP for all age groups..:D

 

we re 61&60..this is how we enjoyed our CCL cruise to the Western Carribean..

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1002079

[frannie]

My husband and i are looking for another cruise as i type . We are both 55+ and have had 13 cruises but only 1 many many years ago on carnival . We are looking for a cruise where we can have some fun and also relax for a good Price . We are looking at feb 2010 since we live in NS and its cold and snowy . What time of year do you folks consider spring break? Since the ships are getting bigger how is carnival handling Debarkation . We were on RCCL independence last feb and leaving the ship was a nightmare. Too many people and no organization by the cruise line. Any input is helpful

[bazarr2]

My husband and i are looking for another cruise as i type . We are both 55+ and have had 13 cruises but only 1 many many years ago on carnival . We are looking for a cruise where we can have some fun and also relax for a good Price . We are looking at feb 2010 since we live in NS and its cold and snowy . What time of year do you folks consider spring break? Since the ships are getting bigger how is carnival handling Debarkation . We were on RCCL independence last feb and leaving the ship was a nightmare. Too many people and no organization by the cruise line. Any input is helpful

 

I think spring break is March. We are cruising on the New Carnival Dream in February of 2010. Do not go the first week, feb. 06 is a super bowl week. So that will be crowded with superbowlers, but the following week looks good but they are booking up fast.

[WinnieinWA]

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.

 

I agree 100% She said it all.:)

[Clinker1]

Carnival is not our cup of tea. Tons of kids, noise, etc. We tried it once.........Never again.

[bazarr2]

Carnival is not our cup of tea. Tons of kids, noise, etc. We tried it once.........Never again.

 

Did you go in summer or during the holidays? We go in the winter when school is in session and have never noticed a ton o kids and if you don't like Carnival try Princess 10 dayers, we went on Emerald Princess in Feb. 09 and hardly noticed any kids, I actually felt sorry for the kids I did see.

[Dame Delilah]

We have done a few Carvival cruises (3 or 4 as I remember).....but not my favirute.....Thank you:)

[Clinker1]

If we had sailed on Canival on our first cruise, we would have never cruised again! The low point in all our cruising. We call it the Walmart of cruising...Men with running shoes, tattoos, ear rings and pony tails....

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

just did our 20 on carnival

[Georgiagolfer]

If we had sailed on Canival on our first cruise, we would have never cruised again! The low point in all our cruising. We call it the Walmart of cruising...Men with running shoes, tattoos, ear rings and pony tails....

 

Wow, even the 55+ group have some better than thou cruisers who have no clue what they're talking about. If you don't like CCL, great. Why do you have to put other cruisers down to try to make yourself feel better?

[uppitycats]

I've cruised on Princess, NCL and Carnival. Princess and NCL are very different experiences, in our estimation, but we'd certainly book on them again. We would never book another Carnival cruise unless it had a destination that was so specific that no other cruise line had it, and the price low enough for us to consider it.

 

We found it way too party-oriented (I'm not talking young people here, who tend to be rowdy wherever they are, but many many passengers of all ages), the decor gaudy and "cheap". My husband calls it "cheap Las Vegas strip gaudy". We had avoided "spring break", and were on cruises to Alaska which tend to skew older, and even so it was noisy and raucous late at night.

 

Combine that with the fact that, while the handicap accessible cabin was spacious and comfortable (I use a wheelchair), I could find no truly accessible bathrooms anywhere in the public area, so every time I needed to use a restroom, I had to retreat to my cabin. Not pleasant.

 

We felt like we should have worn earplugs and sunglasses for the entire trip. Never again.

[wwinfl91]

I would suggest looking at another line rather than Carnival. We have only done one Carnival cruise on the Legend last year a 7 day from Tampa to the Western Caribbean. It was our worst cruise experience and we would not sail on another Carnival cruise in spite of going on Carnival owned cruise lines like Princess and HAL.

 

The ship was dirty and the crew didn't seem to care. I'll try giving you a couple of examples. One was in the main dining room where they had a beautiful chandilier or it would have been had there not been lights out and cobwebs hanging from it. Another was we went and walked the ship most days and sat in one area of the ship several days in a row. There were several dirty glasses that were there at least 3 days. For all I know they may still be there.

 

The food was the worst we have had on any cruise. My wife got a steak that was so tough you could not cut thru it at all. We called the waiter over and asked for another one and he asked like we were asking him for his first born. Finally after 15 minutes which meant I and the other couple eating with us had finished their dinners he showed up with another steak that was just as tough as the first one. We sent it back also and asked for the grilled chicken which took at least another 10 minutes. The other couple finished their desert and left to go see the late show. I can't actually say we had a really good meal any of the nights in the dining room and service was the worst we ever had on a cruise ship.

 

The cabin steward did a good job and our cabin was clean but definitely was due for new carpet and some other refurbishing.

 

The passengers were generally louder and drank more than on other cruises we have been on. They didn't seem to like the idea of that standing in line or dressing for dinner was supposed to be something they should be doing. They also seemed to have problems reading signs as you often saw someone lighting up a cigarette or even a cigar in a no smoking area.

 

Anyway IMHO I would look to RCL, Princess or HAL rather than taking Carnival cruise.

That said there are a lot people who take Carnival cruises all the time and who seem to enjoy them. Different strokes for different folks. I suppose a cruise is what you make of it but it helps if the cruise line personnel help.

 

Have a great next cruise whatever you decide.

[MrCruzeaddict]

I think that you will find the rowdy crowds on the shorter sailings, like 3-5 days, but that is the same for pretty much all of the other lines. They are much lower in cost. People just want to get it all in during the few days. We're sailing on the Glory in mid Sept. with a small group of 22. Our ages range from 30s to 75! I agree that the food is generally better on the bigger Carnival ships. I think that this will be my 9th on Carnival.

 

 

Joe<----Just turned 55 :)

[Faith77]

I usually cruise out of NY when I visit my dad. Mostly I'm looking for convenience and price as I combine a visit with a cruise.

I took the Miracle out of NY for 5 night in June a few years back. I think these NY-Canada roundtrips tend to be quieter because they are not hot weather cruises. I had a good time and did not notice a big difference between this Carnival cruise and my Princess cruises. One thing I really like about Carnival are the entertainment options.

This September I'm doing another Carnival NY-Canada cruise (7 nights). The price was right and the timing and itinerary is perfect. I love the sailaway out of NY--this trip can't come soon enough.

Faith

[*Luv2Cruz*]

I'm going with an Official CC Group cruise out of NYC on May 15, 2010. We've always enjoyed Carnival, and going with a Group, out of NYC, before school gets out, is a great way to secure some great prices and amenities!:cool: See the links below if interested and hope you can join us!:cool:

[CruiserVette]

If we had sailed on Canival on our first cruise, we would have never cruised again! The low point in all our cruising. We call it the Walmart of cruising...Men with running shoes, tattoos, ear rings and pony tails....

 

 

Does this mean I can't wear my running shoes on HAL, Princess, etc. without being judged as a "lower class" citizen? I guess I'll just stick with Carnival. Geez...

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Just got off the valor I think it is time i give PO an other try.