Honest description of a Carnival cruise

[katz]

Our first cruise was on Carnival, out of Long Beach, Ca. It was a three day Mexican Riviera

cruise. It was a high school reunion and done cheaply so that everyone could attend. Carnival is not for us and we would never sail with them again. The ship was old and needed to be refurbished. The staff did not compare to other cruise lines. The passengers were not the type that we enjoyed traveling with. Many drunks and too many kids unsupervised at all hours.

 

I am glad that we tried other lines because we love cruising (now).

[margafer]

We have been on many lines and I just never thought of Carnival. However we did a longer cruise in Jan 09 on the Carnival SPLENDOR I thought it was truly great. This is a new ship with lots of amenities. Loved the large movie/tv screen on the pool deck.

Cabins were very large, but you do need to like pink on this ship.

We thought the food was good and the entertainment was spectacular but then again we were on a longer cruise so I think they put on extra talent.

[momofmeg]

yes I agree wih you the 1A grade looks quite economical and I would consider (despite my harsher comments!) taking a cruise for a good price

How did you find that cabin....was it acceptable? Roomy?

I wld consider the 5 day out of Charleston or Mobile to Mexico...looks like I will be out at the Pizza deck again though !!:D

 

It is a real shame that they stopped share cabins on most lines

it did help solo travellers when the price was reduced...I think HAL still does shares.

 

cheers happy sailings

 

Both of these cruises are far from the best Canrival has to offer-they are there for cruisers who dislike flying or who want the convenience/cost saving of not flying. Since you have to fly anyway as you are live in Australia-why not pick a better ship?

[momofmeg]

Our first cruise was on Carnival, out of Long Beach, Ca. It was a three day Mexican Riviera

cruise. It was a high school reunion and done cheaply so that everyone could attend. Carnival is not for us and we would never sail with them again. The ship was old and needed to be refurbished. The staff did not compare to other cruise lines. The passengers were not the type that we enjoyed traveling with. Many drunks and too many kids unsupervised at all hours.

 

I am glad that we tried other lines because we love cruising (now).

 

I did 2 cruises on Sovereign of the Seas. The first, a 4 day, was wonderful. The second-a 3 day-was similar to what you described. The 3 day cheapies always seem to attract that sort of crowd.

[GORDONCHICK]

One thing I have learned from CC is that two people can be on the same cruise and have drastically different experiences and opinions of the exact same cruise. The same can be said for me and DH. Our Carnival cruise was a few years ago, and I enjoyed it. DH did not. I am much more social and will go out and find things going on while he would rather find a quiet place and read, and he had a hard time doing that on that particular cruise.

 

From reading here on CC, I learned that the maitre d' would probably sing in the dining room and I guess I forgot to mention that to DH because his jaw dropped when it happened the first time. He was accustomed to quiet and serene dining, but I thought it was quite fun. He did loosen up during the cruise and didn't flop on the floor when the servers did their little dances and stuff, but he would have preferred a more quiet experience. But we both found the food and service to be very good.

 

We did experience all day lonnnnnnng announcements, which I could have definitely done without. Yes, there was a hairy chest contest, but I didn't go. I found the decor to be fairly avant-garde with a little deco thrown in - not my taste, but I didn't find it offensive (though had I run into nudes of a 12yo girl, that would have been offensive to me).

 

Bottom line, it depends on what you're looking for. I have a CC friend who is a vegetarian and he says Carnival has the best options for vegetarians by far. That combined with the very active evening clubs, makes Carnival his choice line, but his criteria is very different than ours. I think the poster who questioned what specifically the OP was looking for or expected what right on target. Lines do have specific target demographics. This is not to say that someone who isn't right in the middle of those for a particular line won't like or or have a good time. Most times, I am perfectly capable of making my own fun so I'm less dependant upon someone else to do that for me.

[momofmeg]

One thing I have learned from CC is that two people can be on the same cruise and have drastically different experiences and opinions of the exact same cruise. The same can be said for me and DH. Our Carnival cruise was a few years ago, and I enjoyed it. DH did not. I am much more social and will go out and find things going on while he would rather find a quiet place and read, and he had a hard time doing that on that particular cruise.

 

From reading here on CC, I learned that the maitre d' would probably sing in the dining room and I guess I forgot to mention that to DH because his jaw dropped when it happened the first time. He was accustomed to quiet and serene dining, but I thought it was quite fun. He did loosen up during the cruise and didn't flop on the floor when the servers did their little dances and stuff, but he would have preferred a more quiet experience. But we both found the food and service to be very good.

 

We did experience all day lonnnnnnng announcements, which I could have definitely done without. Yes, there was a hairy chest contest, but I didn't go. I found the decor to be fairly avant-garde with a little deco thrown in - not my taste, but I didn't find it offensive (though had I run into nudes of a 12yo girl, that would have been offensive to me).

 

 

Gordonchick, RCI also has the singing waiters-not as often-I think it was 4 nights out of 7. Disney also had the nightly singing waiters-except for the night we went to Palos-no singing waiters there-and I have no idea if we had gone to assigned dining i fthey would have sang that night-but I assume the waiters put on a show on that night also.

 

RCI has the belly flop contest and men's sexy legs contest-and I can't remember exactly what but NCL had some sort of silly pool contest also. So, Carnival has no monopoly on those 2 things.

 

Now, the constant announcements-that only bothered me when we did the southern Caribbean on Canrival Fascination, and that was because the announcements were done in English, Spanish, Italian, and German. They took forever-doing them in FOUR languages. ( I always wondered why they weren't done also in French, since it seemed the other major European languages were done)

 

Your husband sounds like my BIL. My sister called me last year after they booked Carnival Glory for their 25th. It was only 3 weeks out-so too late to cancel-but as my BIL is very shy, I strongly encouraged my sister to upgrade to a balcony, as I feared he would hate it. Which she did, and she was glad she did, as they ended up doing room service twice for dinner. He also did not like the singing waiters, or the fact that my niece had them sing Happy Anniversary to them-LOL! He refused to go to dinner the last two nights-so they ate on their balcony. I told her if she had asked me first I would have suggested they go for Princess, NCL (as they have lots of tables for 2) or even HAL. (even though I believe HAL would have been too subdued for them-I think he would have preferred HAL to Carnival)

[Cruzaholic41]

Gordonchick, RCI also has the singing waiters-not as often-I think it was 4 nights out of 7.

 

RCI has toned down the singing and dancing in the dining room. They only do it once, sometimes twice during the week now....and even then, all they do is parade and sing. They have stopped doing the macarena and making guests stand up to dance.

 

On the other hand, Carnival still does the competitions and conga line dancing.

[Roscoe13]

RCI has toned down the singing and dancing in the dining room. They only do it once, sometimes twice during the week now....and even then, all they do is parade and sing. They have stopped doing the macarena and making guests stand up to dance.

 

On the other hand, Carnival still does the competitions and conga line dancing.

 

What can you say about the conga line except...HOT, HOT, HOT!!

[Cruzaholic41]

What can you say about the conga line except...HOT, HOT, HOT!!

 

NOT, NOT, NOT!!

 

At least, not in the dining room.

[hubofhockey]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20070315/ap_tr_ge/travel_brief_cruise_outlook_1

 

This article is a couple of years old but provides a good sense of the types of passengers that various cruiselines are going after. Each line has its own appeals and not one size fits all. You can "try them all" as some have suggested or do your homework and a little research and try to figure out what the best ship, cruiseline, and itinerary is for you.

[momofmeg]

RCI has toned down the singing and dancing in the dining room. They only do it once, sometimes twice during the week now....and even then, all they do is parade and sing. They have stopped doing the macarena and making guests stand up to dance.

 

On the other hand, Carnival still does the competitions and conga line dancing.

 

It has been 5 and half years since I was on Carnival and 4 years since RCI- neither line am I found of-though I would cruise either again for the right itinerary.

 

To be honest with you-I didn't mind the singing waiters-I always thought that was for the kiddies, since the kids love it, not the adults. I also did not mind the pool contests-it was easy not be at the pool when that silliness was going on. No matter the line, I prefer the pools on port days or evenings during the second seating dinner time, as then fewer are around and I have the pool mostly to myself.

[Cruzaholic41]

I also did not mind the pool contests-it was easy not be at the pool when that silliness was going on.

 

Well yea...RCI and CCL still do the pool competitions. I was referring to the congo line dancing and Red/White/Blue competitions in CCL dining rooms.

[momofmeg]

Well yea...RCI and CCL still do the pool competitions. I was referring to the congo line dancing and Red/White/Blue competitions in CCL dining rooms.

 

I understood you- just adding my bit-saying I was not bothered by either.

 

One thing though-(more "bit adding") actually the conga line-I only remember that on Carnival. We did have the "macarena" on RCI-but those that participated, danced by their table.

[Corvette Girl]

Thank you for all the responses about your experiences on Carnival. It's something to think about.

 

To be honest, when it's snowing and cold here in Jan and Feb. I'd jump on ANY ship!

[marco]

And to piggy back on the above post by "Corvette Girl". Someone else is making my meals and cleaning my room. No matter what line or ship I'm on, the water is just as blue, the beaches just as inviting, the air just as invigorating, the sunrise just as beautiful, and I'm sitting next to the pool with some foo-foo shi-shi drink with a little pink umbrella in it and I"M NOT AT WORK!!!!!! You get no complaints from me!!!!!!! I've been on Carnival, I've been on Sea SilverSea and just about every other line in between. As far as I'm concerned, there is no such thing as a bad cruise!

[SavannahMoon]

Can anyone tell me about your experience on a Carnival cruise. We see some good deals on them in comparison to other lines, but I always heard that they were the "bottom of the barrel" in the cruise pecking order and never considered taking one.

 

To be honest, kids are cool, but we have visions of hordes of screaming kids all over and a ship with a decor like day care. (flame suit is on)

 

Bottom of the barrel????????? OMG.

 

I just returned from my first cruise, on Carnival Legend. It was SO awesome, I'm still on Cloud Nine.

 

And NO "hordes of screaming kids."

[CruiserChloe]

One thing though-(more "bit adding") actually the conga line-I only remember that on Carnival. We did have the "macarena" on RCI-but those that participated, danced by their table.

 

I wrote a review following B2B Carnival Imagination/Majesty of the Seas cruises. While both cruises were great, one of my biggest complaints about the Imagination was the singing and dancing in the dining room. It sorta "cheapened" the whole dining experience. It was really cheesy. In my opinion, there is no place for a conga line in the dining room.

 

On Majesty of the Seas, all they did was sing "Oh Solo Mia" on the last night.

[tuffy0317]

The food was good, the room was better, the entertainment was great (when they had it), the decor and ship arrangement were awful. DH must have had fun as he was in the week in review video. :o We had 600 kids on our cruise but never saw them. They must have kept the little ones happy at Camp Carnival.

 

Ditto! We had 800 kids on our cruise, 1/3 of the passengers, and they were only mildly annoying at times. I definitely recommend getting a balcony if you can afford it, as it was an oasis away from the kids (and the public!) for DH and me. Compared to RCL, with the exception of the hedious decor, it was about the same. The staff was fantastic.

[mom2tcdx2]

I have been slightly intrigued by the reputation Carnival seems to have. I have been on two cruises and found neither to be the wild party atmosphere at all. Yes there was singing/dancing at dinner, but no conga lines in the dining room. We thought it was fun and only took a few minutes out of dinner time, usually near desert, nor was it every night. I seem to remember 3 out of 7.

 

I didn't even see the hairy chest contest on the last cruise, guess I was doing other activities. I can't recall even running into a single rude, drunk or obnoxious guest the entire trip. Nor were there a lot of kids on our sailing, I remember seeing a few around the slide, etc but that was about it.

 

Dinners were good, wait staff was great, I enjoyed the ship decor.

[auntkaty]

I have had a lot better. The food and people were super - but the entertainment was scarce at best. If you like to be entertained by the theatre or lounge acts - forget it!! They had a few shows, mostly way too late for me and most of the lounges were closed. Not too many kids on board, we went right after New Years, room was okay - but I would go with Princess again without hesitation. Was the very best - next cruise we are going is with Celebrity - I heard it is even better than Princess. Can't wait.

 

Carnival should hire some of the contestants on America's Got Talent!

[SavannahMoon]

I have been slightly intrigued by the reputation Carnival seems to have. I have been on two cruises and found neither to be the wild party atmosphere at all. Yes there was singing/dancing at dinner, but no conga lines in the dining room. We thought it was fun and only took a few minutes out of dinner time, usually near desert, nor was it every night. I seem to remember 3 out of 7.

 

I didn't even see the hairy chest contest on the last cruise, guess I was doing other activities. I can't recall even running into a single rude, drunk or obnoxious guest the entire trip. Nor were there a lot of kids on our sailing, I remember seeing a few around the slide, etc but that was about it.

 

Dinners were good, wait staff was great, I enjoyed the ship decor.

 

Bravo for that!

 

Well I don't have much experience, the Carnival Legend was my first and only cruise, but I absolutely loved it.

 

I think their "bad rep" is a thing of the past. We saw EVERY age group on the cruise, from toddlers to the VERY elderly....also handicapped passengers, even a contingent of "little people." And every race and nationality! I thought it was great. Gone are the days of totally spring-break partier types.

 

Right now I think I'll for sure cruise again. And cruise with Carnival.

[ATL2LAS]

I am a fan of Carnival and have sailed on the same ship more than a few times. Its not the destination, but the people I have met each time I go that keeps me coming back. I have always chosen to try to do at least one solo cruise a year and my choice has been the Imagination. Sure, she's got some age on her, but she's been renovated. The crew have always been super, I can relax and unwind and the staff takes care of me. I have even recognized some of the same staff on my cruises. Its funny when they actually recognize you...Its like going to Vegas and staying at your favorite hotel. It feels like home when you get there.

[princesk8]

We have sailed on Carnival, RCCL and Norwegian. In comparing Carnival to Royal, yes Royal ships are decorated much nicer and are much bigger. But other than that, Carnival has bigger cabins, more entertainment and are much much cheaper. I will sail any cruiseline as long as a get a good deal. Still plan on trying Princess and Celebrity. One thing I will say about Carnival is their new ships are definitely better than the older ones. I'd been on Imagination before the Valor, and it was a big step up!

 

We are leaving next week for Carnival Freedom and can't wait. Sure I'm drooling to go on Oasis of the Seas, but would take two cruises a year over one even if that means I have to miss her for another year.

[momofmeg]

I wrote a review following B2B Carnival Imagination/Majesty of the Seas cruises. While both cruises were great, one of my biggest complaints about the Imagination was the singing and dancing in the dining room. It sorta "cheapened" the whole dining experience. It was really cheesy. In my opinion, there is no place for a conga line in the dining room.

 

On Majesty of the Seas, all they did was sing "Oh Solo Mia" on the last night.

 

You know, I would never do a back to back of 2 ships that do short cruises. I would perhaps do a 7 day and a 4 day-but not a 3 and a 4 day cruise together. If I could do that, I could do a 7 day-which would be a newer ship and MUCH better and nicer, no matter the line. Carnival's newer ships are much nicer than their older.

 

I saw a hard party atmosphere on my 3 day Sovereign of the seas in 2001, it was so different from our 4 day in 99 on that same ship, that I knew I did not want to do another 3 day cruise. Now I did make an exception once- April 2004, it was Carnival Miracle when she was brand new, we paid $800 a person for a balcony room (not a suite)-that alone-what it cost, kept the hard partiers off it seemed-so that experience was not bad-but that is also the only time I have seen brand new ships do short cruises, outside of repositioning some times.

 

Even repositioning short cruises, I know of a couple who did HAL Westerdam (much nicer than any Carnival ship) on a 3 day right before she repositioned, April 2008, and they said it was horrible, they had cruised the previous week, (so it was a back to back) and they said the whole atmosphere changed from "subdued and elegant"-to "party hard" in their fellow PAX.

[melsmom303]

rccl spectacular. carnival valor awesome nice ship and definatly not bottom of barrel. and guess what we didnt really enjoy our princess cruise at all. im thinking of trying ncl jewel next year. :rolleyes: