Is Carnival the best 'young' thinking line?

[kbatschke]

We haven't cruised other lines, but I've seen references to some of the other lines catering to older cruisers, and being more sedate. Realizing that 'you are as young as you think/feel', are any of theother lines on the same fun/activity level as Carnival?

 

My wife and I are in our 40's and have had great experiences on Carnival. Just wondering if we should also consider other lines?

 

Thanks,

 

Karl

[crisp1]

RCI runs those ads targeting the Boomers. I've haven't cruised other than CCL in quite some time, and CCl has it's 'sedate' crowd too. I'll let you know about Princess in 2 months :)

[rucruizin]

Crisp1, when are you sailing Princess.

 

We too have sailed RCCL and Princess. We just like Carnival people better, more fun, more laid back. We are sailing on Princess for the 2nd time in March and the only reason for that is...10 day Southern itinerary Carnival doesn't offer. If they did...no question we'd be on the Carnival boards.

 

Princess ships are classier but other than that...Carnival is better for me.

I found Princess people to be uptight and not as friendly or willing to talk to you. I wasn't impressed with their food at all. Everything is personal preference and I didn't find the age thing in specific to be a problem. We were in our mid 30's last time we sailed Princess and there was a fair # of people our age...just more hoity toity. We actually spent more time with some older couples who were more fun.

[jewopaho]

RCI came pretty close for us. I'd have no problem booking CCL and Royal Caribbean interchangeably. We're a bit older than you, but enjoy a casual, laid-back experience, and love talking with crew members. Our Princess cruise (Caribbean Princess last November) was enjoyable, but a bit too sedate for us. Food was somewhat disappointing, but not an issue when it comes to booking.

 

RCI's new pricing policy makes it more difficult to find a deal, and Carnival offers more innovative itineraries (the 8-night Legend cruise is likely next up for us, after our 5/8 sailing on the Miracle). I can't speak for NCL, since there are no cruises to the eastern Caribbean (I live in the Tampa area, and ships leaving from here only sail western itineraries, so why go elsewhere?). Celebrity is now catering to those who prefer a more "premium" form of cruising, and HAL is the overwhelming choice of older travelers.

 

So we're back to CCL and RCI. All matters being equal, it's probably a toss-up.

 

Al

[DaytonCruiser]

I say give other line a try if you see something appealing. I would suggest you book similar ships and lenghts of cruises. It seems some cruisers get upset when the go from one line to the other, but switch from a brand new ship doing 7-10 day cruises to a 3 or 4 day cruise on and older vessel.

[karen2cruz]

Never having cruised Carnival before (but will be in October), I'd say that the Grand Class ships of Princess and Voyager class ships of Royal Caribbean are the most similar to Carnival -very much catering to a younger crowd and lots of activities. Our teens/young adults have enjoyed these ships. The promenade/mall, rock climbing wall and ice skating rink of the Voyager classships being the top vote. We look forward to our Carnival cruise to be able to compare.

[OK2Cruise]

We've done RCCL and Disney and loved both. We are on the Conquest next month so will be able to compare at that time.

[kbatschke]

We love Carnival, but would like to have access to some other ports and longer itineraries. We can dress-up as well as anyone I suppose, but we'd rather let our hair DOWN on vacation

[sunsetme]

princess is dull compared to ccl.

[hstrybuf]

DH and I started cruising in our 40's and have tried Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess. Not one bad cruise in the bunch! We've run into all kinds of people on each of those lines from the laid back to the hoity toity. We avoid those we don't like and have fun with those that we do like. It's all what you make of it and we would cruise on any of those lines again. :)

[WestKYCruiser]

It's all what you make of it and we would cruise on any of those lines again. :)

 

I agree. Our first cruise was with RCCL. The crowd was much older than we were (we are young) but we did have a good time. The next cruise we went with Carnival and have never turned back. While I had a great time on RCCL, I definately prefer Carnival.

[Cruising89143]

We haven't cruised other lines, but I've seen references to some of the other lines catering to older cruisers, and being more sedate. Realizing that 'you are as young as you think/feel', are any of theother lines on the same fun/activity level as Carnival?

 

My wife and I are in our 40's and have had great experiences on Carnival. Just wondering if we should also consider other lines?

 

Thanks,

 

Karl

 

I found RCI to be just as energetic as Carnival on the Navigator OTS back in December. A lot going on. I believe that a lot has to do with the makeup of the passengers aboard a particular sailing regardless of the cruise line. I also found RCI to be a notch above Carnival when all things were compared. I say step out of the box and try something else.