Differences between lines

[sublarry]

My wife is looking for a vacation over labor day weekend. We have only booked Carnival (5 times) before. Mainly because it is cheapest. From those that have cruised carnival and others what are we missing for the extra $100 or so per person? We don't mind the kids and some drunk crowd so much even though we don't drink. They are fun to watch most of the time and I cant imagine all boats not having that.

Thanks in advance for the responses!

[ehfl]

You can find better shows elsewhere, as well as ships with more activities (ice skating, surfing, etc). Also, be sure to check prices yourself. If a TA is saying that Carnival is always cheaper, that's not the case.

[lisa e]

It depends on what you are looking for and how much you want to spend. I like the smaller ships because they sail places the large ships are not able to dock. Plus several lines are all inclusive. I also like the atomsphere of some smaller ships.The main reason we sail Carnival is we have two 9 year olds. If we traveled without kids Carnival would not be my first choice. I think if I had to choose a favorite line with large ships it would be Celebrity.Since Carnival has raised there prices I would definately shop around..Each line offers different experiences. When we travel the ship is important but not as much as the destination..We also do land vacations because some places you cannot get to by boat :)

[beachbum53]

My wife is looking for a vacation over labor day weekend. We have only booked Carnival (5 times) before. Mainly because it is cheapest. From those that have cruised carnival and others what are we missing for the extra $100 or so per person? We don't mind the kids and some drunk crowd so much even though we don't drink. They are fun to watch most of the time and I cant imagine all boats not having that.

Thanks in advance for the responses!

 

All cruise lines have their "peak" and "off-peak" periods, and Labor Day weekend would fall within the peak period for most cruise lines, so rates will be higher in general. If you're flexible about when you can go, and can wait until off-peak rates go into effect, you might want to look at cruising a little later in Sept. On the plus side, there'll be fewer kids on board then, but, if you're planning on a Caribbean cruise, it is hurricane season, so you may miss a port or two because of bad weather. If you haven't already done so, compare what's available with several cruise lines for the time period you're considering. Look at Carnival, RCCL, Norwegian, Princess, Celebrity, etc. at the itineraries and costs for each of them, as well as what on board amenities each has to offer. Then you'll be able to decide which cruise is the best one for you.

[MickCruiser]

Not sure I would agree with the Labor Day week being peak. Our cheapest rate on a 7-8 day cruise was Labor Day week. And when we were on the ship that week there were hardly any kids....all back in school.

 

That was two years ago and I am sure it may have changed.

 

Just a different perspective. Enjoy your cruise! :-)

[msmagpie83]

Generally, Carnival is cheaper, but I've been on RCCI too... I feel like RCCI has better food and more options as far as activities. But, RCCI's ship based shore excursions are also more expensive compared to Carnivals. That being said, compare prices- when I booked my Freedom of the Seas (RCCI) for September, it was the same exact price as Carnivals.... so I chose RCCI. Shop around... it's also cheaper some times to book through the company's direct websites.

[MichaelJess]

We usually take Carnival because of the price and we've always found the food to be better. Usually, we've found more activities on Carnival. But, we've also always found a younger group and more drinking and smoking (and problems associated with those activities) on Carnival.

 

My daughter and I did NCL. We seemed to have less activities and, therefore for her, a duller time. It wasn't very upbeat. The food was okay. I did miss having a larger table with the same guests each night at dinner. A dinner plus though, the same waiter seeked us out and served us all but one night. The one night we weren't with him he did come to visit our table.

 

Husband and I did Holland America for our first cruise. The ship was the oldest we've traveled but it seemed to have a better fit for me. The other passengers were slightly older than us at the time (we were 30's then and 49/50 now). Everything was classier. I remember more trivia type games rather that Carnival Belly Flop contest. I also think part of enjoying Holland America was that we were on a smaller ship.

[OCruisers]

My wife is looking for a vacation over labor day weekend. We have only booked Carnival (5 times) before. Mainly because it is cheapest. From those that have cruised carnival and others what are we missing for the extra $100 or so per person? We don't mind the kids and some drunk crowd so much even though we don't drink. They are fun to watch most of the time and I cant imagine all boats not having that.

Thanks in advance for the responses!

 

No, all ships are really not like that. Also, Carnival is not always the cheapest.

 

Problem is ... you are pretty much limited to Carnival or RCCL for a Labor Day cruise in the Caribbean.

 

Do at least consider giving RCCL a try. You'll never know for sure until you do it for yourself.

 

Have a great time on whatever you pick. :)

 

LuLu

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[sublarry]

Thanks for the input so far. We are open to changing the dates a little bit. We would like to try the others if the prices are comparable. She has been looking thru several of the cruise selling sites like Avoya and cheap cruise.... We do like the mid-size ships the best it seems. I think we are planning going all out for a Alaska cruise in 2015 for our anniversary. We just thought maybe shows would be better somewhere else, but we have always enjoyed most shows and especially the comedy clubs on Carnival.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Thanks for the input so far. We are open to changing the dates a little bit. We would like to try the others if the prices are comparable. She has been looking thru several of the cruise selling sites like Avoya and cheap cruise.... We do like the mid-size ships the best it seems. I think we are planning going all out for a Alaska cruise in 2015 for our anniversary. We just thought maybe shows would be better somewhere else, but we have always enjoyed most shows and especially the comedy clubs on Carnival.

 

On CCL now there are only about 3-4 nights of entertainment unless you consider karoke or the newlywed game etc.

 

RCI and others have entertainment every night.

 

Worth the extra $ to me since we don't gamble or hang in the bars.

 

Just a heads up. You are not allowed to mention the names of travel agencies or travel agents on here.

 

Your post get deleted when you do that.

 

Bill

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Yea Carnivals weakest spot is the shows.

[sublarry]

Ooops. I kind of wondered that when I did it.

[sublarry]

We don't drink or gamble much. Really most of the time is people watching by the pool. We have just started doing the excursions on our own the last few cruises so the added price probably would not bug is much. The port reviews and the forum really saved us a lot of money in Progresso and Cozumel on our last cruise.