Re: how would you rate a carnival curise

Miss Shelly · ‎03-28-2011

We are seasoned cruisers and have been cruising for over 20 years. My oldest daughter worked onboard Carnival as a Youth Counselor for 2 years after college.

We've done Carnival, Royal Carribean, Celebrity, Disney, Princess, Norwegian. I've personally never had a "perfect" cruise or a "bad" cruise. Each is different with good points and some not so good.

I've taken several cruises Thanksgiving week on Carnival. Many families are on board and the atmosphere is nice. It is one of my favorite times of the year to cruise.

If I knew what Ship, how many days, cabin type, departure port, and intinerary then I could give you more specific info.

FancyPhillyshopper · ‎05-02-2017

Carnival started as a party cruise decades ago but almost all cruise lines now are trying to appeal more to families, and some specifically focus on more (wealthy) seniors (e.g. Viking river--no children).

The length of the cruise, the time of year, and the destinations may have an impact on the type of passenger and the overall cruise culture (and the cost).

I have been on many different cruise lines and they all have strengths and weaknesses. I enjoy Carnival because of all the fun activities offered on board--never a dull moment. Getting a bargain price is also nice. If this is your first cruise, you will get an idea of the experience and then can decide to try other lines in the future. Carnival owns Cunard, Princess, Costa, Holland America---Royal Caribbean owns Celebrity and Azamara, and there are also NCL and MSC. Each ship/line has a different flavor but the cruising experience is similar.

Cruise lines offer points for frequent travelers just like airlines.

I am an active traveler and take a lot of shore excursions, but also enjoy the nightly shows, the discos, the photographs, the daily activites, the multiple dining opportunities and so forth offered by all cruises.

Nuttmeg · ‎03-09-2010

@tockerman wrote:
want to take my first cruise over Thanksgiving and found this one at like 250 a person. if you do not think it is a good cruise line which one would you choose.

I have cruised for about 20 years. A 4 day cruise over a holiday will be a fun ship. Please find a quiet cabin in your price range. I like cruise critic.com for information about sailing the seas. The cruise company.site also has info.

YouTube is another resource. Enjoy!!

FranandZoe · ‎03-09-2010

After going on two Royal Carribbean cruises we went with Carnival two years ago - it was a AAA trip. It was great - no problems whatsoever. And the cabin and bathroom were much larger than RC's. Lots more closet/drawer space too. I wouldn't hesitate to go with them again.

Financialgrl · ‎03-13-2010

I was friends with a group that loved to cruise and went on one Carnival cruise many years ago. Wasn't my "thing" because it was cheap it got a lot of younger passengers who got drunk and liked to party.

Took two of my nieces (both 19 at the time) on Royal Caribbean and we all really liked that. I found it to have more younger families but not the drunks/party boat atmosphere as on Carnival.

As I got older friends switched to Princess - had older crowd and rarely saw kids. It had more trivia kind of games, demonstrations in the atrium and cookouts on the upper pool decks. The music they had in the evening was usually classic rock geared to the older crowd and later they switched to music geared more for a younger crowd.

I'm in my mid 60s and depending upon who I travel with as to if I'd choose Royal Caribbean or Princess. If I was traveling with younger relatives (20s/30s) I'd choose Royal Caribbean and, though I'm younger than most of my friends I'd cruise Princess when going with them.

Go for it - try anything once. Your price is cheap and if you don't like it, you can switch and try another cruiseline to see if it suits you better or you may find that cruising isn't really for you but you won't know til you try it.

Lipstickdiva · ‎03-10-2010

I belong to a cruise community on FB. It seems a lot of people cruise on Carnival and love them. Carnival Breeze seems to be a very popular ship.

I have no experience with them. People used to talk about how cheap they were. Anytime I've looked to book a cruise, they were not cheaper than Royal Caribbean or Norwegian.

I wouldn't let that cheap price fool you. Sometimes these lines just run a special on something that is amazing. And that $250.00 per person is probably the base rate and doesn't include taxes, gratuities, etc. I've seen RCL run specials for $199.00 per person for a short cruise.

DH and I prefer the smaller ships and shorter time frames. Our first cruise was on RCL's Empress which is their smallest ship and I think the oldest. I loved it.

As someone else said, many of the weekend cruises are booze cruises regardless of what cruiseline you are on. And watch when you go because if it's over any kind of break, it could be full of college age kids.

DH and I did the Norwegian Sky last year. I wanted to be on the cruise for my 50th, which happened to be in March and was spring break. We lucked out because we only had I think 500 college age sprink breakers on our cruise. The week prior we were told it was 1100 and the week following 1300 were scheduled. I cannot imagine because the 500 were bad enough. Several times we saw security walking around with a picture in their hand looking for someone and in the Bahamas, 2 college age guys were kicked off the ship.

We leave for our third cruise in a little less than a month. I am giving Norwegian one more shot but if they don't deliver this time, I'm booking back with RCL.

I was steered away from Holland America and was told by several, including people in the cruise community I belong to, that HA is a geriatric cruise line and most passengers average 60+ and by 10:00 the ship is dead because everyone is in bed.

ScrapHappy · ‎03-28-2010

@tockerman wrote:
want to take my first cruise over Thanksgiving and found this one at like 250 a person. if you do not think it is a good cruise line which one would you choose.

Carnival Cruise Line is for the 20 something crowd. More of a party all day and all night atmosphere. Royal Carribean is a good cruise line. So is the Disney Cruise Line. Disney cruises, however, are the most expensive. I've been on both. I like the Disney cruise better. Yes, there are a lot of kids, but there are many who cruise that line without kids. On the ship there are plenty of adult only areas.