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How many cruises with Carnival....


Alyssajones624
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Hi everyone! So how many Carnival cruises have you taken?

 

For those of you that stick with only Carnival what is that keeps you going back for more and more?

 

Any tips on how to plan for future cruises so it doesn't hurt the pockets? Do you plan last minute or book when you are on a cruise...

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I keep going back to Carnival because it is affordable and I can easily board a ship in my home town (New Orleans).

 

I book months in advance and usually save to pay for the cruise. I don't like having a lot of credit card debt.

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We have 15 cruises completed and 3 booked all with Carnival. We have enjoyed them all and just never felt the need to look elsewhere. We know folks that travel with other lines and that's fine. We just have always been satisfied with Carnival and anxiously look forward to the next cruise.

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Next month is my 3rd on Carnival but I am not loyal only to Carnival. I select cruises based on itinerary so I go with whoever has an itinerary I like. I usually cruise in a suite (or mini-suite/jr suite if it is too expensive) because I like the space. I usually book a year ahead so I can pay it out.

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I sailed mostly with Carnival around 9 cruises but in 2006 sailed one RCI Cruise. Liked the Carnival ones better but 3 years ago went back on RCI and the entertainment was far superior. I now cruise for itinerary so my December PC transit cruise on HAL was a no brainer my next cruise is on RCI to Cuba CCL just didn’t haven’t same dates and itinerary. Planning on a May 2019 Alaska Cruise either on HAL or Princess they have naturalists on board the lower end cruise lines don’t. My cruises are usually booked during a sale. Check May lots of deals

 

 

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We have 40 done with 1 booked, all with Carnival.

 

I like the affordability, we use to take 3 or 4 a year, now it's more like 2 and maybe 3. I like the familiarity and the sense of confidence that I know what is likely to happen when there are glitches.

 

We book usually 9+ months in advance and take advantage of reduced deposits, then make monthly payments.

 

When we no longer have responsibility for elder care, we'll probably start cruising more. But since we have to fly to our cruises, I'm expecting it will be 2 B2B's a year.

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We have completed 2 with Carnival and have 1 booked for next year also with Carnival. We plan on sticking with Carnival simply because we have had an amazing time on our first two cruises. Nothing has been done to make us want to try out anything else.

 

We have friends that cruise with the others, and that is fine. We just dont have a reason to switch. =)

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Started on the Sensation in 2000 sailed Carnival, Princess and Royal Booked on Carnival Liberty and MAgic for #29 and #30

 

I cant keep sailing carnival as its always the same. so have to mix it up. BUT if the price is great i will book. We are on the liberty with 6 people in two connecting balcony booked a long time ago and paid like 1800 total,.

 

the earlier you book the better the deal. Even last minute cruises have not ever been close to what we paid.

In 30 cruises only 2 ever came down in price

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I have been on 4 cruises all with Carnival then I have 3 booked with Carnival and 1 for Disney. I booked on Disney because DD loves the brand. After that, we would most likely stick with Carnival as it gives us more bang for our buck and we get to cruise more often.

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24 cruises in total with 7 being on Carnival. My only loyalty is to me and my husband and we like variety. We average two cruises per year and would have died of boredom doing the same line over and over and over again. Our favorites are Celebrity and Royal. We have one MSC under our belts which we really enjoyed as well. Not in any hurry to go back to NCL. Comparing to the other lines we like, we think Carnival excels in the variety of included food options, cabin sizes and storage and service is usually very friendly, if not the most polished. Where we find Carnival a bit lacking is in entertainment (too much dependence on guests as the "entertainers" and find Playlist Productions miles behind live shows on other lines) and the decor/design of older vessels. While we still consider Carnival, we only look at Dream class ships or Sunshine.

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Hi,

 

We have done 13, and echo all the others experiences. We like Carnival's MDR entertainment and interaction with our cabin stewards. They have many options for music throughout the ship. I always felt Carnival gave the best value for your dollar. I have to say lately we are finding bigger OBC on other cruise lines. We just do not see the levels of comps (free specialty restaurant) or OBC we are finding on Royal. The rates use to be the driver but now all things considered Carnival is not the most economical. Our last sailing was on Allure of the Seas and found that ship to be our favorite. I still find myself looking at Carnival's shorter cruises 3-5 days. We will continue to book these since you can find really good deals off-season. Hope this helps.

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All I can tell you is how I have booked with CCL directly.. Being an "aft rat," I always book Early saver, (Plus ALWAYS buying "outside" trip insurance.). Realizing I may never get a break on the cabin price.I book at least nine months in advance because of the limited cabin locations, and because the price usually never goes down.

If you go my route, you need to spy the CCL site daily to catch any advantages you might find in your favor.

I hope this helps!:)

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I sailed mostly with Carnival around 9 cruises but in 2006 sailed one RCI Cruise. Liked the Carnival ones better but 3 years ago went back on RCI and the entertainment was far superior. I now cruise for itinerary so my December PC transit cruise on HAL was a no brainer my next cruise is on RCI to Cuba CCL just didn’t haven’t same dates and itinerary. Planning on a May 2019 Alaska Cruise either on HAL or Princess they have naturalists on board the lower end cruise lines don’t. My cruises are usually booked during a sale. Check May lots of deals

 

 

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We've done 2 Alaska cruises with Carnival (2015 and 2017) and there was a naturalist on board both times. It was wonderful- she did educational lectures and alerted us to wildlife sitings throughout the cruise. They also had a park ranger come on board to narrate during our time in Glacier Bay. So don't count Carnival out if you're still looking to book.

 

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7, going on 8. Itinerary choices, pricing (more or less) ... but neither of those factors is absolute. I usually book several months out. We always cruise in Spring or Fall.

 

All in all, I'll readily choose another cruise line if they're offering an itinerary I want for the price I want, from a port that's within my driving range (we always drive, never fly). Carnival wins more often than not because they offer more choices at competitive prices.

 

And the crew. I like a friendly/sociable crew, and from Cruise One, Carnival has won that comparison hands down.

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Maybe 35 on Carnival and another 12 or so on other lines. One way to save is to use the 10% discounted gift cards you can get through AARP - a $2,500 cruise will then cost you $2,250. Do that 10 times and you've earned a "free" cruise. Another way to save is to use frequent flyer miles if you fly in for your cruises. I've redeemed over 2 million freq. flyer miles, that's a lot of free airfare.

 

Look for true sales, and once booked check for fare drops. I'm not loyal to Carnival, Celebrity and Disney were my most memorable Caribbean sailings, and I'm even trying MSC Seaside first time later this year. Hopefully, MSC's loyalty match program will give me perks similar to being Carnival Diamond.

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We did our first cruise to Alaska and it was on Princess, but the next 3 on Carnival and I have Cuba booked on Carnival for next year. I cruise with Carnival exclusively because

1) I get the 10% off discount gift cards

2) I stalk the Carnival site and John Heald's FB page to watch for discounts

3) I feel like I know all the Carnival rules

 

Over the years I have stuck to certain "brands". I buy my work clothes from the same department store and use their credit card which offers a discount. I know their return policy and I don't have to worry about learning so many different policies.I feel that way with "Sticking" with Carnival.

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Going on my 10th Carnival cruise in May! We cruise with Carnival because they have ships in New Orleans and Mobile. Both of those cities are an 8 hour drive from us. I could not afford to cruise once a year if I had to add airfare on top of the price of the cruise. We book about a year in advance and that gives me time to save up.

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I have 17 cruises sailed so far (all on Carnival) with number 18 booked for next April to Cuba!

 

I keep coming back to Carnival because it is affordable and I enjoy their product. I've always had a great time and wonderful service and any little hiccups we've had were not enough to keep us from sailing Carnival. Plus, at this point, I'm 100% comfortable and familiar with Carnival. I know what to expect, where to go, what their rules are and being Platinum now doesn't hurt either! I'm not opposed to trying other lines...but when I've priced them out, Carnival has always been the better deal! We will probably try Disney soon once our daughter and her little cousins get to be a bit older.

 

When I was younger and had less responsibilities, we would book closer to the cruise date (3 months out or less usually). I worked for the airlines, we got good deals on cruises and flew for free. That really helped from a cost perspective! Now that I'm married with a family, we tend to book further out (6 months to a year or more). Booking a cruise, airlines for three and hotel takes a little more planning. I'd love to be more spontaneous, but it's harder now. And we tend to cruise in off-peak seasons (fall or late spring) and avoid summer/school break times. But our daughter will start kindergarten in two years, so we will have to start cruising when most other families do!

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I sailed exclusively on Carnival for several years until I became Platinum, mostly because it was cheap and convenient, and also because I felt loyalty towards a product that I truly enjoyed.

 

But at some point in time I started branching out and trying other cruise lines. Long story short, I haven’t been back on Carnival since 2011. I’ve found that I prefer to try as many cruise lines and destinations as possible rather than remaining loyal to one cruise line or repeating the same ports of call because that’s what’s cheap or convenient. I keep checking Carnival though, and at the present time I’m truly interested in the Panorama, but I haven’t committed yet.

 

I’ve made some great memories on my Carnival cruises. But my priorities, interests and preferences have changed as I’ve aged which is why Carnival is no longer my “go to” cruise line like they once were.

 

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Edited by Tapi
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As you can see from my signature, have 23 CCL cruises (almost all 7 days or longer) but have gone over to NCL a few Bahamas/Caribbean cruises, and also for Hawaii, Western Med, and an upcoming Baltic cruise. I find NCL has a bit more "exotic" European cruises that fit into our schedule.

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More than 15? (don't feel like counting up signature block;))

 

We keep coming back because the price is right and when traveling with our two teen boys, it allows us to not spend a fortune on airfare but help them begin to explore the world closer to home on a spring break/Christmas schedule.

 

Now that they are maturing, and that we have taken almost all the week long itineraries Carnival has to offer, we will likely start spreading our wings. We have enjoyed Princess for Alaska and a Southern Caribbean and are looking forward to western Mexico with them this December. We chose them for that cruise because 1)we are following the path of the Love Boat and 2) because with the beverage package and $1 deposit sales that they run, it was more cost effective in the long run than Carnival.

 

We will continue to use Carnival for short get-aways or easy/cheaper vacations and begin to invest more in Europe or South America, where Carnival just doesn't compete. Carnival covers the Caribbean from the US the best of anyone with more ships and more itineraries. Princess is much more an international line for sailing the world's seas. Both have a place for us.

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I have 6 past cruises, DH has 3, we have 2 more coming up, all on Carnival.

 

We stay with Carnival because it fits our budget and the Fun Ships have what we look for in a cruise.

 

We cruise to get away from the hustle and bustle, relax, see the ocean from a lounge chair while sipping fruity cocktails while traveling to different places in a fun, casual atmosphere. We are pretty laid back and easy going, so we don't need non-stop stimulation and bells and whistles, theme parks, surfing, climbing up the walls, ice skating, etc on a cruise. So Carnival has been the best fit for us.

 

We booked a year out and then we each put $50 from each paycheck into savings, then we had more than enough to pay it off by the final payment date. Having Early Saver, we got our OBC with price drops. And we prepaid as much as possible so there will be barely any bill at the end to worry about.

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I began cruising in 2014. Since then I have taken a total of 17 cruises with Carnival and have 3 more booked this year for May, June and September. The value for my money and being within a few hours driving distance to 5 ports is what keeps me coming back.

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