Anyone out there cruised on Carnival?

[jima53]

Late 50's couple here and our last cruise was about a week ago on the Fascination with over 700 kids aboard. You wouldn't know they were there. Maybe we got lucky with the older ship but it was a great cruise. Our 3rd. on CCL and we look forward to one next fall hopefully.

 

Jim

[BILLP1]

How can you not realize that there are 700 kids on board? I am 67 and I bet I would know they are there at night in the restaurants.

[RTanner]

Our first cruise was CC (Celebration, out of JAX) and we loved it. In fact, I think the food we had on that cruise might have been the best quality we've had on any of our cruises!? But then, since food quality has began to slide downward across the whole industry, it's kind of hard to compare.

 

As far as kids go, we ALWAYS cruise during the time kids are in school. We also stay away from the short 3-4-5-day cruises. Nothing against the youngsters but, honestly speaking, if we have a choice (and we do) I prefer the company of adults. We also are adverse to cruising on these massive new ships. We much prefer the smaller ships of around 1900-2000 pax.

 

I have nothing against Carnival and wouldn't hesitate to use them again IF we could find an itinerary which matched our desires. The dancing and singing waiters didn't bother us and I have a deep respect for carnival in holding the line on traditional dining (or so I'm led to believe).

 

One thing we can always be certain of, one of the worst days on a cruise is usually better than an average day at home! (Except one cruise line I won't name but it surely isn't Carnival!)

[vickila]

Our first cruise was CC (Celebration, out of JAX) and we loved it. In fact, I think the food we had on that cruise might have been the best quality we've had on any of our cruises!? But then, since food quality has began to slide downward across the whole industry, it's kind of hard to compare.

 

As far as kids go, we ALWAYS cruise during the time kids are in school. We also stay away from the short 3-4-5-day cruises. Nothing against the youngsters but, honestly speaking, if we have a choice (and we do) I prefer the company of adults. We also are adverse to cruising on these massive new ships. We much prefer the smaller ships of around 1900-2000 pax.

 

I have nothing against Carnival and wouldn't hesitate to use them again IF we could find an itinerary which matched our desires. The dancing and singing waiters didn't bother us and I have a deep respect for carnival in holding the line on traditional dining (or so I'm led to believe).

 

One thing we can always be certain of, one of the worst days on a cruise is usually better than an average day at home! (Except one cruise line I won't name but it surely isn't Carnival!)

 

We sailed on the new Carnival Dream in November -- it was only in NY for 2 sailings. The age groups were varied, but all had a wonderful time. In particular, I think Carnival's cruise directors know how to relate to people well -- we had Josh -- and he did a super job for all age groups. By the way The Dream is a beautiful ship with a "neat' laser light show up in the pool area some nights set to different types of music and large screen images. A nice night thing to do. Also on this ship there was a Comedy Club -- with 4 different comedians for 8 days. They had Adult Only Shows twice nightly. A nice addition to the normal theatre show.Vicki

[pridejunior06]

We love Carnival. I am 55, my DH is 46. Our first experience cruising was on HAL - not for us. We have a younger outlook and prefer a ship with more diversity. Plus, being early retirees we are both nightowls and Carnival's activities are open late, well past midnight. We live in Las Vegas, home to some of the greatest restaurants in the world, and we find the food on Carnival to be very good, even excellent at times. The service is wonderful, the ships are always clean, and Camp Carnival is great for kids - keeps them occupied with having fun and out of the adult areas such as bars, discos, etc. Wal-Mart of cruising? Well, if enjoying a bargain and the opportunity to meet and mingle with people of all income levels and interests means Wal-Mart, I'll happily shop there. (Oh, I already do!) If you feel the more sedate activities would be more your style, try the great Trivia games, the showroom, late dining and eschew the disco for the easy listening entertainment. What's so great about Carnival is they provide many different choices with a wide variety of activities at any given time so you can always find something that you personally find interesting. I'm looking forward to sailing on the Dream but before then we have the Mexican Riviera and then Alaska later this summer - on Carnival, of course.

 

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?

 

 

My DH and I (he's 47, i'm 56 - whoo hoo sr's discounts finally! LOLOL), we travelled on the Carnival Pride back in 06 and LOVED it - i totally agree with the posters who say it's good for all ages, the food was great and we did not have ANY problems with party hearty people - but we're not clubbers so didn't go up to the nightclub at all. Lately we've (i've that is!) been doing Princess cruises - which i love to - last was a suite on the Island going from Ft. Lauderdale straight thru to Vancouver, BC - older ship but nice suite and fantastic steward. Our Carnival steward was excellent too and we were upgraded to a Jr. suite (almost as big as the full suite on the Island) which meant priority check in etc. ahhhhhhhhhhh...

we've sailed on Celebrity (my very first cruise!) and HAL - never again on HAL unless it is the only ship that carries the exact itinerary we want - had a lousy trip up the coast (Vanc rountrip to juneau) - no surf and turf for us one night (they were all out !!!), was going to take 1.5 hrs one morning to bring an order of TEA, yes that's all it was TEA! and the mini-bar was a tray with an ice bucket and 4 warm cans of pop!

 

anyhoo -- i'm sure you will have a wonderful cruise on Carnival -- we will cruise with them again one day i'm sure.

[bots99]

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.

Agree. The Carnival demographic is not much different than Princess or RC. Not just spring break, if u can also avoid school vacations you may have a nicer cruise no matter the line.

[Dancer Bob]

I'm also 60, like both Carnival and RCCL, no experience with Princess. I also avoid school vacations, no problems with children any other time.

[Nowisthetime1]

Have been on 12 Carnival cruises and in our 60's. Carnival is our favorite cruise line overall. You get a nice mix range of age groups and everyone appears to always get along and have a great time. We too never travel Spring Breaks or High School graduation times. Never take less than a 7 day cruise to avoid the partiers. Camp carnival appears to have alot to do for the children and those children we have spoken to seem to enjoy theirselves. We have been on the new Dream and it was not our favorite ship. It is a beautiful ship but the common areas are much smaller than other Carnival ships and depending which floor or area you are on their is a sewage smell. We were in one of the new Cove Balconies on the 2nd floor and the rear of the 2nd floor had a bad smell most days. We were told it is an engineering problem and they can seem to fix it. Other parts of the ship we never smelled anything. Please enjoy your anniversary and I am sure all of you will have a fantastic time. Best wishes!

[texast518]

Been on Conquest three times, really like it. Try to go 1st week of May. We went in Aug., lots of kids, but hardly ever saw them.

[mescat4]

recently finished an 8 day San Diego-Acapulco on Spirit. Loved the ship and cruise. Food better than HAL and Princess. Large senior contingent- but all ages got along great. Did anytime dining and we never had a bad table- met interesting folks at every meal. Entertainment spectacular. Plenty of opportunity to dance to OKOM (our kind of music) Dissappointments for me were lack of seminar/lectures and movies that you would find on HAL but overall for the price it was a fabulous experience and we will probably do it again and we are in our mid-70's.

 

Ev and Sybil

[Gablin]

I cruised Carnival once back in the eighties and more recently, when they had a totally nonsmoking ship. Carnival was a bit vulgar for me way back, but I had a good time on the Paradise, with family, including teens. I can't really find any fault with Carnival recently, other than weak coffee.

 

For family cruising, I would prefer Royal Caribbean, for the ice rink, climbing wall, and other kid activities, and for just myself, I prefer HAL or Celebrity for a more relaxing atmosphere. I'm genuinely old and prefer dignity, quiet, classical music, formal nights, destination lectures, etc.

 

I do believe that you can have a good time on any cruise ship, if you decide to do so.

[iancal]

We took an 8 day ride on the Carnival Spirit last Feb. It was a very good cruise and compared favourably to our Princess and Hal cruises. It was our first Carnival cruise. I think that if you carefully choose the ship, itinerary, and time to meet your preferences then you will be fine. There are a lot of old stories out there about Carnival...so much so that we almost did not book. We are glad that we did.

[SemperFi_Cruiser]

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'm 66 - taking my 11th Carnival cruise this weekend on the Liberty. Two more scheduled for this year. I'm a solo cruiser, but our cruise in Sept is a big family gathering, 21 of us so far, my kids & grand kids. Camp Carnival gets rave revues for the kids, they love it. My first cruise was on the Celebration in 1988 and just stayed with Carnival. Every cruise I've ever had on them has been great. I've cruised twice on RCCL - they were great cruises too, but now that I'm a Platinum cruiser on Carnival, I guess I'm just hooked! :D

[aggie1]

We took our family DH, myself, DD,SIL,granddaughters 7 & 3, and two sons ages 30 & 35 on the Carnival Conquest out of Galveston on 08/09 New years cruise and had a wonderful time. Our cabin steward was awesome as we had adjoining balcony cabins and sons had window cabins down the hall. The only thing I requested was that we all eat dinner together every night. Our waiter treated the girls wonderful. One granddaugher wanted to try the soups every night and the other the salads. After that they wanted their pizza and cheesburgers. One night all the guys went to Alfreds Bar and enjoyed their cigars and drinks. Carnival was a great choice for the family although granddaughters did not want to be in Camp Carnival but with us. Took some great excursions and had wonderful family time.

[MilVet]

Only been on CCL. 11 or 12 times? Look below. We enjoy CCL. Only had one bad experience but not all CCL's fault. Swine Flu cruise last year that had to turn around and go back to LA and then to SF. Ever been to SF in Mar :(?

Oh BTW, DW and I are 63.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

23 times

[adrina]

My husband,My Self and our 13 yr old son took a cruise over the Canadian march break...It was amazing...it didn't see any crazy party crowds there were some ppl that were enjoying themselves but nothing crazy...My son made some many friends in the kids clubs that was busy all day long...he would hang out until late at night and was able to leave us messages on the phone in our room so we knew where he was and that he was okay throughout the day/evening...

 

I have already booked our next carnival cruise ....

 

take care and enjoy ur trip

[Honey and Cinnamon]

totally agree with everyones response. Carnival has the better food, the best months that I have traveled was Nov, Dec... although Dec 17-31 has teens from the xmas holidays you hardly see them unless they are in the pool area's and the dining rooms.

We mostly go on the ship and eat in the buffet, because there is so many of us liking alot of different foods. One of my grandkids children is from India, he was adopted and he does not like beef, he said his cow's are sacred. He is only 15. So we have to abide by what he wishes. He eats only fish, my son and his his ex wife have a challenge with him. Not with the other children all (6 of them) He was the child they wanted then she got pregnant, then they did not get along. long story another thread for that.

But we love Carnival. I loved the Legend, easy to get around we took the entire family last July although it was hot, the good times the kids had, was a family reunion all over again this time we had 14 of us, two sets of families and DH and I... Cinna-monn which is my husbands real first name and He always calls me Honey, so we combined this for our names on here.

I even won some money on the slots so I gave all the gk's some extra money to buy gifts for themselves.

They had a nice time. the best time for just DH and I is Jan when all the kids are in school till March... Spring break and its nutso then. overall you will have a nice time at carnival no matter what its the Party ship and they make it a party every night!:)

[Chudley]

We've been on Carnival, Princess, RCCL, Celebrity and HAL. I love Carnival. I've never seen the partiers although I did see alot of that on one of the RCCL cruises with a younger group that was onboard. The Carnival food is head and shoulders above the others, especially in the specialty restaurants. I had my choice of booking any cruise for this October and I chose Carnival...........and we are getting older:p

[Texaswinediva]

I've been on Carnival once. It was with a large group and had a

wonderful time. The food was very good.

If you don't like the hairy leg contest or belly flop you don't have to

watch.:)

[silviaeaston]

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:

My first (and last) Carnival cruise was this past Jan.2010. Let's just say that the ambiance is not for me. I have cruised with Holland, Royal Caribbean, Costa, and others.

I disliked the humongous TV screen that they have by the swimming pool. Here were the 4 or 5 musicians having to "complete" for attention vs. the TV. I don't watch much TV at home and am certainly not going to go to a vacation to watch TV screen. GAG

I'm booked on a Holland cruise for Dec. and before I paid any money I enquired about the

possibility of the TV screen. Any other ship has this "feature"?

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Make it 24 times now

[LHP]

Our 18 year old just sailed his 35th Carnival cruise.

 

I am 55 ...hubby is 50 and obviously, we love the product.

 

However, I will say that we try not to cruise when school is out.

 

I am not crazy about cruising out of Mobile....love Tampa or Port Canaveral.

New Orleans is ok as well....but the non-Florida ports can draw an interesting crowd sometimes.

[got2gocruisin]

I'm a lady 56 stuck in TN ,if you ever decide you want some company on one of those solo cruises "LET ME KNOW" I've been dying to get back on Carnival!!!!!!! Linda "got2gocruisin":)

 

 

 

I'm 66 - taking my 11th Carnival cruise this weekend on the Liberty. Two more scheduled for this year. I'm a solo cruiser, but our cruise in Sept is a big family gathering, 21 of us so far, my kids & grand kids. Camp Carnival gets rave revues for the kids, they love it. My first cruise was on the Celebration in 1988 and just stayed with Carnival. Every cruise I've ever had on them has been great. I've cruised twice on RCCL - they were great cruises too, but now that I'm a Platinum cruiser on Carnival, I guess I'm just hooked! :D

[Grumpy100]

We have been on 3 carnival cruises and one more coming up next month out of New York and have enjoyed all of our cruises. Just avoid Spring break or the summer and you shouldn't have too many roudy kids.

We have also done NCL five times, Princess twice and one time on Costa.

Avoid Costa.