Every Cruise is Different, Enjoy instead of Spending time Comparing.

Before sailing on the new Carnival Horizon I was reading posts and reviews on both the Vista and the Horizon to get ready for our family trip. I was seeing so many negative things I decided to stop reading them.

This was my 11th cruise. I have cruised on Disney (6 times), Royal Caribbean (3) and Carnival (1). My parents were also on this vacation and they have done even more cruising including these ships, Princess, Holland America, Norwegian and 3 Viking River Cruises.

We all had a great week on the Horizon. There we many, many things that we loved and there were also a few things that we didn't. However, instead of spending the vacation comparing it to past trips, or lamenting things it didn't offer or that we thought should be different, we just enjoyed what that ship and what it had to offer.

I'm not suggesting that some people don't on occasion have really bad experiences on their cruises but I have definitely decided that your personal approach has a big impact on your experience and enjoyment.

It is posts like yours that makes me wish CC had a "Like" button.

We have sailed on HAL and Celebrity and went on our first Carnival cruise this past February on the Victory. If we had believed 10% of the negatives we read we would have never booked a Carnival cruise.

Were there things we thought could be better? Yes. Did we dwell on those things? HELL no!

We had a great time and have two more Carnival cruises booked for next year.

Enjoy the good and don't sweat the small stuff!

Before sailing on the new Carnival Horizon I was reading posts and reviews on both the Vista and the Horizon to get ready for our family trip. I was seeing so many negative things I decided to stop reading them.

 

This was my 11th cruise. I have cruised on Disney (6 times), Royal Caribbean (3) and Carnival (1). My parents were also on this vacation and they have done even more cruising including these ships, Princess, Holland America, Norwegian and 3 Viking River Cruises.

 

We all had a great week on the Horizon. There we many, many things that we loved and there were also a few things that we didn't. However, instead of spending the vacation comparing it to past trips, or lamenting things it didn't offer or that we thought should be different, we just enjoyed what that ship and what it had to offer.

 

I'm not suggesting that some people don't on occasion have really bad experiences on their cruises but I have definitely decided that your personal approach has a big impact on your experience and enjoyment.

We sailed Vista Transatlantic in October 2016. It is still my second favorite out of 27 cruises sailed so far. I LOVED Barcelona, our first time in Europe, the ports, and reuniting with friends from different parts of the world. (We met on other cruises and have remained very close.)

Vista, however, is my least favorite out of the 17 different ships sailed. She, as well as Horizon and Panorama, would have to have extraordinary itineraries to consider sailing them.

They all have varying degrees of enjoyment but I have loved everyone of them

I see nothing wrong with comparing ships. We have done quite a few cruises and over time we refine what we like and what we do not so as to make better choices in the future.

Doesnt stop us from having a good time but I do like a balanced review telling me the good and the bad.

I'm not suggesting that some people don't on occasion have really bad experiences on their cruises but I have definitely decided that your personal approach has a big impact on your experience and enjoyment.

This message may have been drafted using voice recognition. Please forgive any typos.

Yes! I said we would never get on a ship with a blaring movie screen on it....of course you now cannot avoid it, so we just ignore it. Yes we miss the midnight buffet, but why get stuck on it? We cruise for itinerary, and whatever gets us there at an affordable price is our personal goal. :cool:

Yes! I said we would never get on a ship with a blaring movie screen on it.....

This message may have been drafted using voice recognition. Please forgive any typos.

It is posts like yours that makes me wish CC had a "Like" button.

 

I agree. Great post OP. I don't pay much attention to reviews. People have slammed every ship in the fleet - and probably the same holds true with other lines. Ship comparisons and reviews are relative and not that important to me. What matters to you may not make a bit of difference to me and vice versa. And barring some major disaster or illness onboard, I refuse to let minor things ruin or negatively affect my vacation. We only take one or two a year. I'm making the most of them!

I agree with the OP but also think that there are “vibes” to particular cruise lines, often self-labeled, that would help someone know if it might be for them. Carnival is the Funship. Princess is come back new. RC is bragworthy moments. These are all “tags” from each cruise lines’ advertising and speak strongly to what each line is promoting/targeting for their clientele.

I love posters who are optimistic and can simply enjoy a vacation. But I also like to know what to expect.

I am really looking forward to a European River cruise next year with my DH and boys who will be 15 and 21 - it will be new and different but I am sure we will enjoy it tremendously.

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I see nothing wrong with comparing ships. We have done quite a few cruises and over time we refine what we like and what we do not so as to make better choices in the future.

 

Doesnt stop us from having a good time but I do like a balanced review telling me the good and the bad.

I agree.

I cruise in the moment - and enjoy what that ship/cruise line offers.

When I get home, that's another story. I like to compare how I enjoyed those portions of the cruise experience that are important to me (cabin comfort and set up, food - MDR and other, daytime activities, casino, service) and then - along with consideration of those special things that ship/line offers - determines whether or not I would consider sailing that ship/line again. Or at minimum, what my parameters are (like for Royal, it has to be cheap, for Celebrity, it has to include perks).

I agree with the OP but also think that there are “vibes” to particular cruise lines, often self-labeled, that would help someone know if it might be for them. Carnival is the Funship. Princess is come back new. RC is bragworthy moments. These are all “tags” from each cruise lines’ advertising and speak strongly to what each line is promoting/targeting for their clientele.

 

I love posters who are optimistic and can simply enjoy a vacation. But I also like to know what to expect.

 

I am really looking forward to a European River cruise next year with my DH and boys who will be 15 and 21 - it will be new and different but I am sure we will enjoy it tremendously.

 

 

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Agree. Plan and Know what to "expect" and then be flexible and enjoy it. Don't go on Disney Cruise and be annoyed that there are so many kids, don't go on a lesser expensive cruise or older ship and expect it to have all the "thrills" of a new bigger ship or perks of the costly trip. If you go on ship with 4,000 plus people expect it just may be crowded at times and know you may not to get to do everything you want at just the time you wanted to.

Comparisons are inevitable and helpful but enjoy the trip you are on in the moment.

Before sailing on the new Carnival Horizon I was reading posts and reviews on both the Vista and the Horizon to get ready for our family trip. I was seeing so many negative things I decided to stop reading them.

 

This was my 11th cruise. I have cruised on Disney (6 times), Royal Caribbean (3) and Carnival (1). My parents were also on this vacation and they have done even more cruising including these ships, Princess, Holland America, Norwegian and 3 Viking River Cruises.

 

We all had a great week on the Horizon. There we many, many things that we loved and there were also a few things that we didn't. However, instead of spending the vacation comparing it to past trips, or lamenting things it didn't offer or that we thought should be different, we just enjoyed what that ship and what it had to offer.

 

I'm not suggesting that some people don't on occasion have really bad experiences on their cruises but I have definitely decided that your personal approach has a big impact on your experience and enjoyment.

Oh yes I do agree with you. I just did the NCL Bliss Panama Canal in May and found I was slightly disappointed in their so called wow factors like Observation lounge. I watched the K Carts and found them to be not something I would do. I still found things I did like though.

Throughout the cruise I met folks and we shared our experiences. As soon as I mentioned that I was going on the CCL Vista, most folks made a face and said "Oh no never Carnival they are lousy".

I merely told them that like NCL ships, CCL also have new ships and when I mentioned the Skybikes, some of them smiled and said "hmmmm that does sound interesting". So I made the point to them to try various lines and enjoy. One fellow said he hated Carnival but loved Princess. I nicely told him Carnival owned Princess and he was a bit shocked and had nothing to say.

So each ship has its good and bad just like countries. Keep on sailing

Agreed.

I keep reading reviews about the Horizon and it seems most people writing the reviews who went on the ship in the past several weeks have nothing but negative things to say. I'm like :rolleyes:.

Anyways, I've never had to come on a website to write such negative reviews about any cruise I've been on so I read these reviews with a grain of salt. Some of these people probably complain about any and everything in their daily lives anyway.

Before sailing on the new Carnival Horizon I was reading posts and reviews on both the Vista and the Horizon to get ready for our family trip. I was seeing so many negative things I decided to stop reading them.

 

This was my 11th cruise. I have cruised on Disney (6 times), Royal Caribbean (3) and Carnival (1). My parents were also on this vacation and they have done even more cruising including these ships, Princess, Holland America, Norwegian and 3 Viking River Cruises.

 

We all had a great week on the Horizon. There we many, many things that we loved and there were also a few things that we didn't. However, instead of spending the vacation comparing it to past trips, or lamenting things it didn't offer or that we thought should be different, we just enjoyed what that ship and what it had to offer.

 

I'm not suggesting that some people don't on occasion have really bad experiences on their cruises but I have definitely decided that your personal approach has a big impact on your experience and enjoyment.

If you do anything enough you will become more critical no matter how much you enjoy it. I can sail on the same ship and have completely different experience than previous time just by altering things I do. I also just am not going to notice some things that other people do, like if I ever meet my room steward or not or if every crew member greets me. If they just left me clean linens and towels at the door and I had to make my own bed and hang my own towels I would still have an enjoyable time. So I disregard comparisons between cruise lines for most of the things that are brought up in a review other than maybe a specific feature one ship has that another doesn't. I have no doubt I would enjoy any of them equally and have a great time. I my 55 years I have never been on a vacation that I can recall that I felt negative about overall.

If you do anything enough you will become more critical no matter how much you enjoy it. I can sail on the same ship and have completely different experience than previous time just by altering things I do. I also just am not going to notice some things that other people do, like if I ever meet my room steward or not or if every crew member greets me. If they just left me clean linens and towels at the door and I had to make my own bed and hang my own towels I would still have an enjoyable time. So I disregard comparisons between cruise lines for most of the things that are brought up in a review other than maybe a specific feature one ship has that another doesn't. I have no doubt I would enjoy any of them equally and have a great time. I my 55 years I have never been on a vacation that I can recall that I felt negative about overall.

Overall negative not something we have ever experienced.

Some have been better than others of course.

As long as our room steward does our cabin 2x a day not necessary to ever meet them.

However as we have gone along we know the types of entertainment we like and what we should avoid. That is one of the reasons most of our cruises these days are on Princess.

I stopped reading reviews YEARS Ago after I read one of a cruise I was on by a person that was only a few doors down from us. Every person was rude to them, no body was smiling, they waited forever every night to be served, and the ship was practically falling apart. Every body they spoke to agreed with them. I had had the exact opposite experience. In fact, to this day, that was my favorite cruise ever.

You can see the same thing here. Someone will start a thread about how horrible a cruise was and often someone else will come in and say they were on the same cruise and had the exact opposite experience.

I have learned that things that bother a lot of people just don't matter to me.

I am not looking for every nit picking thing and I don't compare but enjoy each cruise or vacation in general as they happen.

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I stopped reading reviews YEARS Ago after I read one of a cruise I was on by a person that was only a few doors down from us. Every person was rude to them, no body was smiling, they waited forever every night to be served, and the ship was practically falling apart. Every body they spoke to agreed with them. I had had the exact opposite experience. In fact, to this day, that was my favorite cruise ever.

 

You can see the same thing here. Someone will start a thread about how horrible a cruise was and often someone else will come in and say they were on the same cruise and had the exact opposite experience.

 

I have learned that things that bother a lot of people just don't matter to me.

 

I am not looking for every nit picking thing and I don't compare but enjoy each cruise or vacation in general as they happen.

 

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Well said! And that my friends is how you enjoy life!

OP= love your attitude.

I think sometimes people forget we are on a boat in the water and not on land. You have to be flexible.

I rarely critique and compare ships while on them. When cruising, I'm simply in the moment and enjoying the moment. I wait until I get back and do my critiquing and comparing (and yes, sometimes complaining) here on CC. I think most folks probably do it that way.

I've never been on a cruise I didn't enjoy. That doesn't mean there wasn't room for improvement on ALL of them. It doesn't bother me to read complaints, suggestions, etc.. unless it is the only thing a particular poster does. I stop taking them seriously when I see that pattern. There is good and bad in most everything. Ignoring one is as bad as ignoring the other IMHO.

I agree with the OP but also think that there are “vibes” to particular cruise lines, often self-labeled, that would help someone know if it might be for them. Carnival is the Funship. Princess is come back new. RC is bragworthy moments. These are all “tags” from each cruise lines’ advertising and speak strongly to what each line is promoting/targeting for their clientele.

Think about cable television networks. "The Nashville Network", grounded in Country Music and associated programming, became "Spike TV" and now "Paramount Network". What we know as "USA Network" today began life as a sports-themed network. "Bravo" used to be "the first television service dedicated to film and the performing arts". Now they broadcast everyone's favorite cruise-related television series, "Below Decks", and "Girlfriends Guide to Divorce". It was thought that there would be room in the mass-market for serving niche interests. What we've found is that it is still more profitable to serve mainstream interests. That's mostly because consumers, these days, are simply unwilling to pay enough extra to make satisfying niche interest the best use of capital.

That standard consumer behavior has shaped the offerings in our society. People bemoan the loss of uniqueness and diversity, but it is a natural and inevitable consequence of allowing media to be a business, and therefore allowing what consumers are offered to be shaped by what's most profitable.

And of course it carries over to other sectors, including vacations. So instead of consumers having a stable of twenty, uniquely different cruise line experiences available at a mainstream price, we're heading to a place (well, really, we're already there) where we will have a handful of competitors, competing with each other like consumers want - on price - and consequently offering essentially the same product, just with each pursuing different innovations which eventually percolate around to the rest.

Before sailing on the new Carnival Horizon I was reading posts and reviews on both the Vista and the Horizon to get ready for our family trip. I was seeing so many negative things I decided to stop reading them.

 

This was my 11th cruise. I have cruised on Disney (6 times), Royal Caribbean (3) and Carnival (1). My parents were also on this vacation and they have done even more cruising including these ships, Princess, Holland America, Norwegian and 3 Viking River Cruises.

 

We all had a great week on the Horizon. There we many, many things that we loved and there were also a few things that we didn't. However, instead of spending the vacation comparing it to past trips, or lamenting things it didn't offer or that we thought should be different, we just enjoyed what that ship and what it had to offer.

 

I'm not suggesting that some people don't on occasion have really bad experiences on their cruises but I have definitely decided that your personal approach has a big impact on your experience and enjoyment.

YES....I love this post! I don't weight too heavily on past experiences or comparisons when it comes to our cruise vacations; I try to have a great time, keep and open mind and go with the flow. Sure, there are were disappointments along the way in my years of cruising, but we have NEVER let that spoil our vacation.

It is important to have an idea of what you’re walking into so I always read reviews ahead of time. I don’t however let them or the little things that inevitably go wrong spoil my vacation. I certainly don’t take the time to compare anything while I’m looking at the ocean 😌.

I do think that, aside from the severely negative attitudes we see, it is important for people to be upfront about a ship/lines shortcomings. Speaking up about the more important things is the only way they will ever improve. Silence would only reward those who aren’t even trying so I’m glad people here let everyone know about the things they didn’t like. If I find that a reviewer is overly critical and it would be impossible to satisfy them I simply ignore their complaints.

I will compare when I get home so that I can adjust my expectations more and plan my next trip with whoever offers the most of what I want.

Just enjoy it as much as you can while it’s happening.

It is important to have an idea of what you’re walking into so I always read reviews ahead of time. I don’t however let them or the little things that inevitably go wrong spoil my vacation. I certainly don’t take the time to compare anything while I’m looking at the ocean 😌.

 

I do think that, aside from the severely negative attitudes we see, it is important for people to be upfront about a ship/lines shortcomings. Speaking up about the more important things is the only way they will ever improve. Silence would only reward those who aren’t even trying so I’m glad people here let everyone know about the things they didn’t like. If I find that a reviewer is overly critical and it would be impossible to satisfy them I simply ignore their complaints.

 

I will compare when I get home so that I can adjust my expectations more and plan my next trip with whoever offers the most of what I want.

 

Just enjoy it as much as you can while it’s happening.

like

It is important to have an idea of what you’re walking into so I always read reviews ahead of time. I don’t however let them or the little things that inevitably go wrong spoil my vacation. I certainly don’t take the time to compare anything while I’m looking at the ocean 😌.

 

I do think that, aside from the severely negative attitudes we see, it is important for people to be upfront about a ship/lines shortcomings. Speaking up about the more important things is the only way they will ever improve. Silence would only reward those who aren’t even trying so I’m glad people here let everyone know about the things they didn’t like. If I find that a reviewer is overly critical and it would be impossible to satisfy them I simply ignore their complaints.

 

I will compare when I get home so that I can adjust my expectations more and plan my next trip with whoever offers the most of what I want.

 

Just enjoy it as much as you can while it’s happening.

EXACTLY and perfectly stated. To me, the variety of opinions/ideas and shared info is what CC is all about. Of course, it is someone else's opinions at times, but I have found more to value than to 'throw out', and have made some decisions based on some of the "feedback" read on CC. That is how I look at posts on CC, they are "FEEDBACK" that you can choose to listen to or disregard!! But overall, these boards are really very helpful in a multitude of ways!!