Carnival = Frat Party Boat?

[nolaAlive]

Doesn't RCL lead the league in drunks falling overboard?

[tedjazz]

Yea, that was my initial thought - but OP posed the same question on the RCCL board as well as here so all bases are covered. ;)

 

I guess they can sort through the RCCL and the CCL and come up with an answer.

 

Doesn't RCL lead the league in drunks falling overboard?

 

I never thought of it like that, what is the running total now? Frat Party Drunks would be doing Belly Flops over the side not just falling overboard.

[lookslikdi]

It WOULD have been funny if it wasn't my cabin door he was yelling at...

 

:(

 

I had the same thing happen to us last week on a 4 dayer out of San Diego. My wife kept yelling that he had the wrong room. After a short time he left.

[TV Dad]

I've cruised most of the major lines (Princess, Carnival, HAL, Disney, RCCL).

I think, with the exception of HAL & Disney, they all have the same atmosphere in terms of partying. I've actually seen more security on Carnival, to make sure nobody gets out of line, than on other lines.

I've also seen problems with drunks or weirdos on every line. . . it can happen anywhere!

BUT I think Carnival has shed its image as a frat house party boat.

Hope my two cents helps!

For those wondering. . . HAL skews to older more refined demos and I find it a quieter atmosphere than other major lines. Disney's a party ship . . . but it's a different kind of party:D

[RaMar]

To the OP: Definitely try them! Don't base your decision on other's opinions!

[spikester]

I have been on 13 carnival cruises, and 2 NCL. Most of the cruises were not the "frat house" party hearty atmosphere. However, there are always exceptions. I found the 3 day cruises to be the biggest "party" cruises. Especially the Sensation, because it goes on Thurs-Sun.

 

It also depends on the crowd. On the Freedom a couple weeks ago, there were a couple fairly large groups on board, and they were pretty rowdy but that was mostly at night and in the piano bar.

 

I was even on a spring break cruise, and the wildest stuff I saw onboard were "kids" (in their early 20s) drinking beer before noon. :eek:

 

The biggest frat party atmosphere you will find is probably at Carlos&Charlies etc.

 

The cruise that had the most people running amok all over the place was a "family" NCL cruise the last week in Aug to Alaska. And the people running amok were the 7-17 year old set who had nothing to do, and invaded the disco, the spa etc. I had to go to the cigar bar for some peace and quiet.

[FireIce0010]

Doesn't RCL lead the league in drunks falling overboard?

 

 

Leave it to a Carnivore to turn this thread south!!!!!:rolleyes:

[chasinraynbowz]

I am far from an expert, but neither my husband nor I drink and we have no problem cruising Carnival. The ONLY time we have ran into obnoxious drunks was a 3 day out of Port Canaveral. On the final day of the cruise (a sea day) guys were grabbing folks in street clothes and throwing them into the pool. Carnival finally put a stop to it when one man lost a bunch of money in the bottom of the pool :eek:.

 

Go... have fun!!

[kelz66]

Yes...yes it is...you my want to avoid it and not waste your money. :p

 

Here is the group picture from our last group cruise on carnival.

 

And yes...it was Formal Night.

 

[RatherBFishin]

Yes...yes it is...you my want to avoid it and not waste your money. :p

 

Here is the group picture from our last group cruise on carnival.

 

And yes...it was Formal Night.

 

 

 

Um... You mean Toga's aren't formal wear ?!?!

 

Btw... who's turn is it to bring the naked mannequin with the goldfish bowl "goodies" ?

[stobe1]

Thanks for all of the input. I really appreciate it. We will probably go with Carnival this time around to give them a try. We are seriously looking at a 6 night itinerary and it sounds like that's what most of you recommend anyway. Also, I have noticed that Carnival is a couple of hundred dollars cheaper per person than RCL on a comparable cruise length and cabin type.

 

I hope I didn't come off a a prude. I love to drink and have a good time just as much as the next person; but what I don't enjoy is lots of people getting obnoxious and rowdy. I admit that I have done my fair share of partying when I was in my 20's, but when I go on vacation, that's just not my idea of "fun".

[kelz66]

Um... You mean Toga's aren't formal wear ?!?!

 

Btw... who's turn is it to bring the naked mannequin with the goldfish bowl "goodies" ?

 

 

The Lido Deck Bar tender.

 

 

The "Super Shopper", the Cruse Director, and the Assistant Cruise director

 

[Safetyal]

You're wrong.

 

Carnival ships aren't 'frat party' ships. In all my cruises I've seen ONE really drunk, obnoxious guy. He was married on board before we set sail.

 

His new bride locked him out and he spent the night alternating between yelling at what he thought was his cabin door and crying in the hallway.

 

Other than that... nothing remarkable...

 

:)

 

 

Did you record it? That is definately Youtube material.

[jamscckmc]

If you take a 7 day in September there should be very few school age or college kids. the prices are great. the only down side is it's hurricaine season. My DD is off to college this year and DH & I are looking forward to a Sept cruise with hardly any kids on board. I will never go on any ship during college spring break, or Easter break for that matter. Now that we don't have little kids I find I have less tolerance for alot of unsupervised children running around.

[kelz66]

Thanks for all of the input. I really appreciate it. We will probably go with Carnival this time around to give them a try. We are seriously looking at a 6 night itinerary and it sounds like that's what most of you recommend anyway. Also, I have noticed that Carnival is a couple of hundred dollars cheaper per person than RCL on a comparable cruise length and cabin type.

 

I hope I didn't come off a a prude. I love to drink and have a good time just as much as the next person; but what I don't enjoy is lots of people getting obnoxious and rowdy. I admit that I have done my fair share of partying when I was in my 20's, but when I go on vacation, that's just not my idea of "fun".

 

OK..Seriously..you should be fine with that choice...the key is to avoid short 3-4 day cruises over the weekends. They will have a younger crowd than a week long cruise. :cool:

[mistyinca]

I just took my first carnival cruise on the 4 day paradise out of Long Beach. This is after 3 RCI cruises 2 on the Vision and one on the Monarch. There was very little difference between the paradise and the monarch when she was in LA.

 

The only thing that is RCI has over carnival is that they don't have that dam Fun ship freddy. he was hard on the eyes!:D

 

*thread jack alert*

 

TahoeBob,

 

Are you and your wife the ones I met in the show lounge for the game show game on the Paradise? I mentioned my father in law had a medical practice in SLT, CA.

[Islandbear]

With the drink prices, how do these guys afford to get so drunk?

 

 

 

Throw The Bottle!

[Happy Canadian]

My husband and I (50 somethings) have cruised for 30+ years and initially cruised RCCL almost exclusively. In 2002, we tried Carnival for the first time (great B2B Baltic and transatlantic intinerary - 27 days). We had avoided Carnival as we had the same perception you stated. Enough to say that we have only cruised Carnival since 2002! We have noticed an age difference on a 5 day Carnival cruise we took last year and of course avoid the "holiday" cruises but add my vote to others when I say go for it - great value and you get used to the "enthusiastic" decor.

[MrPete]

I am a loyal RCCL cruiser and we have never sailed on Carnival, but are planning a cruise for this September and are starting to take another look at Carnival. However, I am having second thoughts about booking a Carnival cruise because I have always had the impression that Carnival was one big frat party, which is NOT what we are looking for in a cruise vacation. We have this impression because we have heard from friends on several different occasions that this was the case; granted they went over spring break, so this may explain the abundance of college students and soon to be high school grads.

 

Is my impression wrong here? Should I give them a chance; or should I stick with Royal Caribbean? Maybe those of you who have sailed on both could provide some input.

 

Thanks!

 

Many times, I've asked if the advising friends actually went on a Carnival cruise, only to find out that they did not.

 

Some confuse easy English words, like FUN SHIPS, and think FUN = PARTY = DRINKING. I've been cruising Carnival for more than 20 years, from short 2 nighters to 12 nighters, and have yet to sail on ANYTHING that resembles a "PARTY BOAT".

 

But that's not to say it could not happen anywhere, even on land at a wedding, or such.

 

BTW, I've sailed both lines, and enjoy the Carnival EXPERIENCE better, even though RCCL has the nicer ships.

[spleenstomper]

Having only sailed one NCL cruise, we were very pleasantly surprised with the Carnival Fantasy. We did the 5 day with the kids and it was fabulous! I booked the Triumph for next year because it sails out of New Orleans (my first choice) and was so much cheaper than any other cruise we considered. We're getting a penthouse suite again, so that makes it even better (344 sqft for the cabin). While Carnival had the hairy chest competition (which was actually hilarious!), I didn't see any frat party type atmosphere and didn't see any obnoxious drunks.

[momofzeke]

I've cruised 3 times ~ all on Carnival ships ~ all during SPRING BREAK ~ never once saw any drunk frat party type behavior. In fact, on our Miracle cruise out of Tampa, our sons (early 20's at the time) were WISHING they could find more of a party. The ship was very quiet and tame.

 

The shorter cruises (3 & 4 day) certainly DO seem to have more of a "party" vibe to them, from what I've read here on the boards. Ours were all 7 day cruises. So, as long as you stick with a longer cruise, you should be fine.

[ivycruise]

We've only cruised on carnival during spring break, all 7 day cruises, have had tons of family fun and haven't seen the "party" problems you have heard. I use to hear the same thing and took awhile before I finally tried Carnival. Little did I know those people were passing on the same nonsense and as it turns out, hadn't actually been on Carnival.

 

I saw more intoxication on my shorter RCI Navigator cruises, not big problems, just more drinking, as mentioned, seems to be more of an issue on any 2, 3, 4 day cruises regardlesss of the line.

[Casino Player]

Doesn't RCL lead the league in drunks falling overboard?

 

No, I think that is NCL.

[StephenNSamantha]

My wife and I are both in our 30's. On our cruise on the Conquest in March 2008 we felt the majority of the cruisers were 50+. We felt very young compared to everyone else. Since it wasn't spring break time, there were very few kids.

[KMagz]

Doesn't RCL lead the league in drunks falling overboard?

 

Not since they instituted a surcharge for falling overboard.... ;)