I tried my hardest

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

I'm sick of the constant bingo and sell sell sell in your face and waiting for a chance to barge in and ask for some tea. I like the islands, just not their endless trivia or hairy chest contests. Nope. Id rather run my dogs on the beach...

 

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[VancouverKory]

I know what you mean!

 

I love Carnival but we wanted to take a cruise on RCI

 

so I booked the Independence of the seas for a 8 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise

 

it was only a couple hundred more at the time more than the Carnival Breeze so I said hey lets go for it.

 

then 1 month before final payment I see virtually the same 8 day trip on the breeze for $865 less!!!

 

so I am now booked on the breeze and have much more spending money :D

 

 

life's hard eh :D

[hloakes]

After our last experience on CCL, it was our goal never to sail them again. But after my job was eliminated and I have less income, that changed. We had big plans for our 25th anniversary that had to be scrapped.

 

My wife is a teacher so we are limited on when we can cruise.

 

Looking at something closer to home, comparing RCCL and CCL, similar cruises, same number days, same departing port, same week, RCCL was around $3K where CCL was around $2K. For us the choice was simple.

 

I believe RCCL has a better product, but I am not sure it is 50% better.

 

I am not super picky about the food, as long as it is good.

 

Even though we were not happy about the events of our last cruise, the ship was nice, the room was great, the crew was nothing but friendly and helpful, the food was good, so we ended up having a good time after we got over our initial tantrum.:eek:

[JerseyshoreBruce]

After our last experience on CCL, it was our goal never to sail them again. But after my job was eliminated and I have less income, that changed. We had big plans for our 25th anniversary that had to be scrapped.

 

My wife is a teacher so we are limited on when we can cruise.

 

Looking at something closer to home, comparing RCCL and CCL, similar cruises, same number days, same departing port, same week, RCCL was around $3K where CCL was around $2K. For us the choice was simple.

 

I believe RCCL has a better product, but I am not sure it is 50% better.

 

I am not super picky about the food, as long as it is good.

 

Even though we were not happy about the events of our last cruise, the ship was nice, the room was great, the crew was nothing but friendly and helpful, the food was good, so we ended up having a good time after we got over our initial tantrum.:eek:

Thats exactly what i mean....would love to book another line but its not 50% better so no to the higher price.

[halos]

Thats exactly what i mean....would love to book another line but its not 50% better so no to the higher price.

Bottom line is it boils down to budget. If prices and embarkation ports were all equal, CCL would be belly up.

[mrsd912]

We're looking at the NCL Dawn for October 2014 to Bermuda. No airfare means a savings for us which offsets a higher cruise fare.

 

Same here, I believe out next cruise will be on NCL out of Boston to Bermuda. We're not sure how we feel about only going to one port, but the savings in airfare, and only having a four hour drive to port makes it worth the trade off. Plus our next cruise will probably include other family and a baby (hopefully!), much easier to drive than fly with one I'm sure!

 

But I really do love Carnival, I wish they did warmer itineraries out of Boston though!

[graphicguy]

I'm sick of the constant bingo and sell sell sell in your face and waiting for a chance to barge in and ask for some tea. I like the islands, just not their endless trivia or hairy chest contests. Nope. Id rather run my dogs on the beach...

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

 

Kinda lost me here. All the cruise lines I've been on offer Bingo. Frankly, I've never been barraged on any line to play. I don't even know where to go to play bingo, on any cruise ship...past or present.

 

Tea? Again, I'm missing something. I've never had anyone barge in on me asking me for some tea. Trivia? I saw it once on my last CCL cruise, and I won it. But, I sought it out. It wasn't "forced" on me.

 

Hairy chest I've heard of, but never seen.

 

Honestly, I'm either not looking in the right places, or am clueless as to the existence of some of this behavior, but I'm truly lost with regards to this post.

 

Not meaning to be critical, but I see you've sailed CCL a lot. So, at some point, you must have really liked them.

 

I see you just did a Disney cruise. Just goes to show difference in taste, I won't book a DCL cruise. Last thing I want is to be stuck on a cartoon focused cruise. I love my kids, and did one Disney visit when they were young. But, now they're grown. I don't have to go down that road any more. It would make me absolutely "nutzo" (more than I am now) if I had to see or hear of anything more regarding the Little Mermaid, Pluto, Snow White, Cinderella, etc.

 

Again, different strokes, different folks.

[missabbi]

I think you both have missed the meaning in what you make it......i mean im not one to complain about every little thing like people i see around me at restaurants ect. I think its all about spending time with my family and friends and not worrying if i didn't like the "iron steak" or "mac n chesse" i hope you understand im just easy to please as well as to get along with. With that said i do hate a few things CCL has done or done away with...like i don't care what people say, the mattresses are not the same.....no more trays to carry drinks with your food.....less staff in DR........miss the fruit punch....and a few of the foods they did away with.

 

We had trays on the Pride two weeks ago.

 

My husband and I are like you. We don't care about chair hogs, what others wear to dinner, if our food wasn't perfect, we just want to relax and have fun. We had the grand suite on the Pride, the service and food were excellent, and we had a great time.

[missabbi]

LOL it is stupid....i would take a free cruise on any line. Even on Holland or Cunard.

 

Me too. I am not that picky.

[JerseyshoreBruce]

We had trays on the Pride two weeks ago.

 

My husband and I are like you. We don't care about chair hogs, what others wear to dinner, if our food wasn't perfect, we just want to relax and have fun. We had the grand suite on the Pride, the service and food were excellent, and we had a great time.

 

Glad you had a great time....thanks for the encouraging news :)

[JerseyshoreBruce]

Kinda lost me here. All the cruise lines I've been on offer Bingo. Frankly, I've never been barraged on any line to play. I don't even know where to go to play bingo, on any cruise ship...past or present.

 

Tea? Again, I'm missing something. I've never had anyone barge in on me asking me for some tea. Trivia? I saw it once on my last CCL cruise, and I won it. But, I sought it out. It wasn't "forced" on me.

 

Hairy chest I've heard of, but never seen.

 

Honestly, I'm either not looking in the right places, or am clueless as to the existence of some of this behavior, but I'm truly lost with regards to this post.

 

Not meaning to be critical, but I see you've sailed CCL a lot. So, at some point, you must have really liked them.

 

I see you just did a Disney cruise. Just goes to show difference in taste, I won't book a DCL cruise. Last thing I want is to be stuck on a cartoon focused cruise. I love my kids, and did one Disney visit when they were young. But, now they're grown. I don't have to go down that road any more. It would make me absolutely "nutzo" (more than I am now) if I had to see or hear of anything more regarding the Little Mermaid, Pluto, Snow White, Cinderella, etc.

 

Again, different strokes, different folks.

 

I never thought about it but your right...and i never have seen tea at all..The only time they sometimes get pushy is when your getting off at the ports with the pictures......kind of sad other lines don't do that cause thats one of the few pictures i do purchase.

[graphicguy]

I never thought about it but your right...and i never have seen tea at all..The only time they sometimes get pushy is when your getting off at the ports with the pictures......kind of sad other lines don't do that cause thats one of the few pictures i do purchase.

 

Yeah...for good or ill, it seems all the cruise lines are doing the picture "thing" gettin on the ship, getting off the ship, getting food, getting drinks, at the pool, on the pool slides, etc.

 

It doesn't bother me. My GF used to have to buy all of them. I remember when we were on the Epic, ws spent $400 on pics. That's just crazy! More crazy.....I agreed to let her buy them.

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Kinda lost me here. All the cruise lines I've been on offer Bingo. Frankly, I've never been barraged on any line to play. I don't even know where to go to play bingo, on any cruise ship...past or present.

 

Tea? Again, I'm missing something. I've never had anyone barge in on me asking me for some tea. Trivia? I saw it once on my last CCL cruise, and I won it. But, I sought it out. It wasn't "forced" on me.

 

Hairy chest I've heard of, but never seen.

 

Honestly, I'm either not looking in the right places, or am clueless as to the existence of some of this behavior, but I'm truly lost with regards to this post.

 

Not meaning to be critical, but I see you've sailed CCL a lot. So, at some point, you must have really liked them.

 

I see you just did a Disney cruise. Just goes to show difference in taste, I won't book a DCL cruise. Last thing I want is to be stuck on a cartoon focused cruise. I love my kids, and did one Disney visit when they were young. But, now they're grown. I don't have to go down that road any more. It would make me absolutely "nutzo" (more than I am now) if I had to see or hear of anything more regarding the Little Mermaid, Pluto, Snow White, Cinderella, etc.

 

Again, different strokes, different folks.

 

Sorry I didn't mean to confuse you.

 

-we had to get to the theater 30 min early to get seats for the show (they say) and wala, while you are a captive audience for 30 min, a bingo game is on and they go up and down the aisles selling bingo cards. Honestly no exaggeration. I know other lines have bingo but there is no coincidence that they plan bingo with the theater productions and game shows.

 

-the hot tea was for me. I kept trying to catch my waiter to ask for hot tea and when I finally got his attention to ask him for a cup of tea, he held his finger in my face and shushed me and said not right now. I was chilly from the ac in the dinner room and just wanted some hot tea. I finally asked a different waiter. I have never had that response from a MDR... :(

 

-I really loved my 2008 first CCL on the Holiday of all ships. I loved my 2011 Triumph. Each yr the CCL I took got progressively worse for service and cutbacks. This yrs was the most unenjoyable. (Altho the entertainment staff was great and the islands were nice.)

 

I just decided i was done, totally cruised out. (I never said that hairy chest and trivia is forced on you -not like the high pressure sales- but that seems to be about all the fun times shows during a sea day... Bean bag toss, belly flop, 80s trivia, bingo, karaoke...) It just got so been there done that. I didn't plan on going on any cruises.

 

Then Dad booked his 45th anniversary for mom on a 3 day DCL. None in our family had ever been. (I should point out, we have zero kids, none of us kids!) But he knew mom was freaked out by the fact that the CCL ship we had gotten off of had gotten stuck on the island, flew people back and cancelled the next sailing and that this happened 1.5 weeks after we debarked. (Close call!) She is very paranoid anyway so after that, he knew she would only trust the DC ships (and he was right.) So I got the rest of the kids together and we surprised them and snuck on the cruise with them so they wouldn't have to go alone. (They kept asking us and we said we just got off a cruise!) Anyway that 3 day DCL knocked my socks off and I have been an addict ever since. Instead of giving up on crowded low service cruising, I was stunned at the quality.

 

I should say that the more Lil Mermaid for me, the better. I travel with a mermaid tail and that's how I snorkel (no matter what line I go on).

 

You can call it a cartoon, I suppose? but it still has the highest in satisfaction not only on JD powers but right here on Cruise Critic...

 

Clearly I am not alone. Anyway I wanted to clear up the confusion.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

[Georgiagolfer]

Sorry I didn't mean to confuse you.

 

-we had to get to the theater 30 min early to get seats for the show (they say) and wala, while you are a captive audience for 30 min, a bingo game is on and they go up and down the aisles selling bingo cards. Honestly no exaggeration. I know other lines have bingo but there is no coincidence that they plan bingo with the theater productions and game shows.

 

-the hot tea was for me. I kept trying to catch my waiter to ask for hot tea and when I finally got his attention to ask him for a cup of tea, he held his finger in my face and shushed me and said not right now. I was chilly from the ac in the dinner room and just wanted some hot tea. I finally asked a different waiter. I have never had that response from a MDR... :(

 

-I really loved my 2008 first CCL on the Holiday of all ships. I loved my 2011 Triumph. Each yr the CCL I took got progressively worse for service and cutbacks. This yrs was the most unenjoyable. (Altho the entertainment staff was great and the islands were nice.)

 

I just decided i was done, totally cruised out. (I never said that hairy chest and trivia is forced on you -not like the high pressure sales- but that seems to be about all the fun times shows during a sea day... Bean bag toss, belly flop, 80s trivia, bingo, karaoke...) It just got so been there done that. I didn't plan on going on any cruises.

 

Then Dad booked his 45th anniversary for mom on a 3 day DCL. None in our family had ever been. (I should point out, we have zero kids, none of us kids!) But he knew mom was freaked out by the fact that the CCL ship we had gotten off of had gotten stuck on the island, flew people back and cancelled the next sailing and that this happened 1.5 weeks after we debarked. (Close call!) She is very paranoid anyway so after that, he knew she would only trust the DC ships (and he was right.) So I got the rest of the kids together and we surprised them and snuck on the cruise with them so they wouldn't have to go alone. (They kept asking us and we said we just got off a cruise!) Anyway that 3 day DCL knocked my socks off and I have been an addict ever since. Instead of giving up on crowded low service cruising, I was stunned at the quality.

 

I should say that the more Lil Mermaid for me, the better. I travel with a mermaid tail and that's how I snorkel (no matter what line I go on).

 

You can call it a cartoon, I suppose? but it still has the highest in satisfaction not only on JD powers but right here on Cruise Critic...

 

Clearly I am not alone. Anyway I wanted to clear up the confusion.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

 

All may be well with DCL, but DW and I would never consider them for 1 reason only. No Casino. If They had this, then would be willing to sail. Same reason we won't sail NCL Pride of America in Hawaii, No Casino.:(

[soccersharon]

Same here, I believe out next cruise will be on NCL out of Boston to Bermuda. We're not sure how we feel about only going to one port, but the savings in airfare, and only having a four hour drive to port makes it worth the trade off. Plus our next cruise will probably include other family and a baby (hopefully!), much easier to drive than fly with one I'm sure!

 

But I really do love Carnival, I wish they did warmer itineraries out of Boston though!

 

I felt the same way you did, until I read up on Bermuda. Really sounds awesome, and a more laid back experience.

 

My next Carnival cruise will likely be on the Breeze, somewhere down the road :)

[graphicguy]

All may be well with DCL, but DW and I would never consider them for 1 reason only. No Casino. Same reason we won't sail NCL Pride of America in Hawaii, No Casino.:(

 

I agree, except it goes even further than not having a casion.

 

We have 6 of us friends, all adults, leaving on the Breeze this coming Sunday. We all discussed what cruise we wanted to take. We looked at all the cruises available in August and Sept. We didn't even want to price a Disney cruise. We just aren't interested.

 

One can try to justify Disney as an "adults" type of cruise, but seeing the pics of their ships, no casino, cartoon charaters being the main theme of the ship as well as the focal point of the entertainment, there's no way I'd get my friends, or myself to feel a Disney cruise would be something I'd consider.

 

A family with kids? Maybe! But, typical Disney...look what it would cost for a family of 4 on a Disney Cruise. They price their cruises like their theme parks....way over the top for what you get.

 

But, know what? There's something for everyone in the cruise industry. We all choose what we want to do with our vacation dollars. It's your money. If Disney is where you choose to spend it, go for it.

 

I just can't see myself ever taking a Disney cruise. Maybe when I have Grandchildren I'd consider one (very reluctantly, if at all), but that's a long way away (I hope), as I'm too young for that....:D

[mommiemudd]

We have cruised Carnival, Disney, Royal and NCL. We choose our cruise based on port and time frame. We have a fall break in Oct, so I search all the cruiselines to see who is sailing to ports we want to visit. The cruises we have done on NCL were very comparable in price to the ones on Carnival. Disney was a lot more but we wanted to do it at least once with our child while she was still into all the characters. It was great-the shows are hands down the best. But I have received just as good as service with NCL. I think NCL is still our favorite but we are open to others- if they work for us! Our one cruise on Carnival was great-we had bad waiters the first night, so we looked around and saw one that was great, asked for his name and then sat at his section every night. We also had the same issue on NCL in March, so we did the same thing. If I'm not cooking and/or cleaning for a week. I am good! We have a group of 16 on the next cruise and the vacation will be what we make of it! I have planned as much as possible to hopefully avoid any issues. But we may have them anyway, we will deal with them and it will not ruin our vacation.

[sparks1093]

There's something for everyone in the cruise industry.

 

Ding, ding, ding:D.

[graphicguy]

We have cruised Carnival, Disney, Royal and NCL. We choose our cruise based on port and time frame. We have a fall break in Oct, so I search all the cruiselines to see who is sailing to ports we want to visit. The cruises we have done on NCL were very comparable in price to the ones on Carnival. Disney was a lot more but we wanted to do it at least once with our child while she was still into all the characters. It was great-the shows are hands down the best. But I have received just as good as service with NCL. I think NCL is still our favorite but we are open to others- if they work for us! Our one cruise on Carnival was great-we had bad waiters the first night, so we looked around and saw one that was great, asked for his name and then sat at his section every night. We also had the same issue on NCL in March, so we did the same thing. If I'm not cooking and/or cleaning for a week. I am good! We have a group of 16 on the next cruise and the vacation will be what we make of it! I have planned as much as possible to hopefully avoid any issues. But we may have them anyway, we will deal with them and it will not ruin our vacation.

 

They're all good, for many different reasons, and some of the same reasons.

 

BTW, out of all the ships I've sailed, the NCL Epic is my fave!

[CdrescherRBL152]

Oh my word, you guys are missing the point. All cruise lines charge those, yes, I never said they didn't. I said I wouldn't go on a CCL if the room was FREE because I'd still have to pay those incidentals and for a CCL, that's STILL too much! (Because you couldn't get me on one for free, because I'd still have to pay something for it and in my opinion, any $ for CCL is too much...) Nevermind. Sheesh. If you have to explain it ten thousand times, it's just not worth the joke!

 

So your only reason of posting is to trush CCL. Which opens the question when was the last time you were on a CCL ship.

 

 

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