HAL Grandparents taking 11 on Carnival

[brainyblonde]

We are HAL "frequent flyers"... 137 days. There is not much about HAL we don't know. However, DH turns 70, so he is taking eleven of the family on Carnival. (Try taking 11 for a week on HAL!) Six adults, five children, ages 10-15, Carnival Legend, August 12, Tampa, four balconies.

 

My question: What do we need to know that is different than HAL?

 

I have been a frequent poster on the HAL Board, love Cruise Critic!

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Brainyblonde

[RuthlessBoss]

We are HAL "frequent flyers"... 137 days. There is not much about HAL we don't know. However, DH turns 70, so he is taking eleven of the family on Carnival. (Try taking 11 for a week on HAL!) Six adults, five children, ages 10-15, Carnival Legend, August 12, Tampa, four balconies.

 

My question: What do we need to know that is different than HAL?

 

I have been a frequent poster on the HAL Board, love Cruise Critic!

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Brainyblonde

The ship doesn't sleep! The kids will be quite at home on a Carnival ship.

[PROCRUISE]

CCL ships don't close down at 2100 hrs. Grandchildren will probably love Camp Carnival. One can do as much or as little as you like on CCL but there is always some activity going on. It will be a big change for you, but as senior citizens ourselves, we enjoy Carnival. We also enjoyed our cruises with HAL and would go again, but only for itinerary. Enjoy!! Oh, and prepare yourself for the decor on The Legend. It made us smile. :)

[Hugh0906]

We are HAL "frequent flyers"... 137 days. There is not much about HAL we don't know. However, DH turns 70, so he is taking eleven of the family on Carnival. (Try taking 11 for a week on HAL!) Six adults, five children, ages 10-15, Carnival Legend, August 12, Tampa, four balconies.

 

My question: What do we need to know that is different than HAL?

 

I have been a frequent poster on the HAL Board, love Cruise Critic!

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Brainyblonde

 

Well for starters the ship doesn't roll up the promenade at 10pm.

 

There is a steakhouse. It is 35.00 instead of 25.00.

They won't have the fabulous bread pudding on the lido.

They won't have 6 kinds of egg Benedict, but will have omelettes and eggs cooked to order as well as standard egg Benedict.

 

You can't order a full dinner off the main dining room menu as you can on HAL for your cabins.

 

Service throughout is okay, but not as good as HAL.

 

It will be louder then you are used to.

 

You can only bring one bottle of wine per person and there is a 12 pack limit on how much soda you can bring on board. They do sell an unlimited soda card however.

 

The pizza is better on CCL

The deli is better. <particularly if you enjoy a reuben>

 

While the dining room food is subjective, I think HAL's is still a bit better.

 

The cabins will be nearly identical other than decor.

 

You may or may not get a gift basket in the bathroom. The razors, lotions etc. Plan on bringing your own stuff.

 

They rear lido will have more shade then the Vista ships which I really hated on the Vistas. I can't speak to the R's and S's.

 

Lastly the Legend won't have the complete outside promenade where you can walk all the way around the ship

 

Go and enjoy.

 

Hugh in Dallas.

[jbhcw]

We..and grandkids have sailed Hal and Carnival...10 year old loved the Liberty a few years ago...the water slide was a huge draw:)

 

The Legend is a Spirit Class ship...long and narrow..but we love that class...lots of nice quiet places....

 

Carnival has a Sushi Bar open from 5-8 I think...nice to have a pre dinner drink and some sushi!!

 

Room service is limited on Carnival...but pizza is great and available 24 hours a day on the lido deck...also they have soft serve ice cream and yogurt available too

 

Hal may have it a touch over Carnival on the food...but MDR still has some decent choices...Chocolate Melting Cake with two scoops of vanilla ice cream is one of them:D

 

On the Liberty they had a "Stay up all night" thing for the kids...there was a cost to it but kids were escorted back to cabin around 2-3 am...ours didn't make it...we had to go get him around 1 am:) But he had a great time at Camp Carnival....also there was a pretty big arcade on board...he really enjoyed spending time there.

 

We love both Carnival and Hal...think you will enjoy the cruise:)

[brainyblonde]

Thanks all, especially Hugh!

 

From all your responses I know DH made the correct decision booking a family cruise on Carnival. The grandkids will be delighted, they like pizza better than rack of lamb anyway.

 

DH and I will return to the sedate HAL, but this time we will enjoy the smiles on faces and memories of a family that came together for a week.

 

Brainyblonde