pre cruise regret..waranted?

[ZRC1MLC2]

I've never been on a cruise before and never been out of country, so three months ago I booked a may birthday cruise. Only princess and carnival had cruises near when I wanyed it and departed on galveston.ended up picking carnival magic and was so excited but then as months went by I hear from more and more people..even family members saying carnival is bad cruise line and should of booked princess (heard that was owned by carnival so doesn't make sense) .I understand for the price I can't expect high class but did I really make a mistake choosing carnival over princess. Or is this all over hype over that one bad cruise and the concordia. I'm on low income and just going to applebees or chilis is considered special so I am not hard to please. That being said has anyone been on carnival magic in last year or so that can tell me how it went. Is carnival really a bad line ? Should cancel my booking and book princess?

There will always be those that love one cruise line over another. There will be things you like, love and other things you don't care for. The fact is that you cannot please everyone all the time but you can sure piss them off.

Carnival is considered a more budget friendly cruiseline but it is the largest carrier with the most ships and provides a great vacation for your hard earned dollar. It sounds like you have some snooty family members. I have cruised CCL, NCL and RCCL. There are certain things about each line that I liked more than another. You'll have a great time if you open your mind to do so. You could be on a luxury ocean liner and if you make up your mind that it is going to be crappy, in your mind it will be, no matter what. Chances are that you will be addicted to cruising after this trip.

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

The islands and ports will be wonderful. If the cruise isn't perfect, don't sweat it. If there are things you didn't care for, try another line next time. For now, enjoy your great ports!

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

[Dawnluv]

The email I received did not say who the guide would be.

[lisajm]

Was thinking of victor bodden tours for roatan, xunantech ruins for belize, and la casa en la playa for cozumel.

 

Victor Bodden is great! We had a private driver who drove a taxi anywhere we wanted to go. We did a zipline @ Victor's place. Our driver drove us around the entire island and was quite informative. We also took school supplies; crayons, tablets etc for the local orphanage. Then the rest of the time we chilled at a beach club.

That part of the cruise was the best excursion I have ever had. Don't get me started on the rest. My dh and I at the time were going through a divorce, the cruise and excursions were long paid for. I really did not want to go, but he convinced me. I truly felt one night that he was very close to throwing me off the balcony. But I did make it back stateside, we did get the divorce, life is good. 2 friends and I are 36 days out from our Eastern Carribean on the Conquest. No balcony, no dh's lol.

[pandarider123]

There will always be those that love one cruise line over another. There will be things you like, love and other things you don't care for. The fact is that you cannot please everyone all the time but you can sure piss them off.

Carnival is considered a more budget friendly cruiseline but it is the largest carrier with the most ships and provides a great vacation for your hard earned dollar. It sounds like you have some snooty family members. I have cruised CCL, NCL and RCCL. There are certain things about each line that I liked more than another. You'll have a great time if you open your mind to do so. You could be on a luxury ocean liner and if you make up your mind that it is going to be crappy, in your mind it will be, no matter what. Chances are that you will be addicted to cruising after this trip.

 

I would not be happy on a luxury cruise I'm the type that goes to Wal-Mart in pjs and a sweatshirt. They arnt so much snoody as they are set in thier ways

[pandarider123]

Victor Bodden is great! We had a private driver who drove a taxi anywhere we wanted to go. We did a zipline @ Victor's place. Our driver drove us around the entire island and was quite informative. We also took school supplies; crayons, tablets etc for the local orphanage. Then the rest of the time we chilled at a beach club.

That part of the cruise was the best excursion I have ever had. Don't get me started on the rest. My dh and I at the time were going through a divorce, the cruise and excursions were long paid for. I really did not want to go, but he convinced me. I truly felt one night that he was very close to throwing me off the balcony. But I did make it back stateside, we did get the divorce, life is good. 2 friends and I are 36 days out from our Eastern Carribean on the Conquest. No balcony, no dh's lol.

 

Did he take you to orphanage or did you suggest you wanyed to so something.it would be blessing to see those kids happy but doesn't seem like something people think abiut on vacation

[lisajm]

Did he take you to orphanage or did you suggest you wanyed to so something.it would be blessing to see those kids happy but doesn't seem like something people think abiut on vacation

He did offer to take us to the orphanage so that we could give the gifts in person. We did not do that.

[Dawnluv]

I loved the Conquest. We took it out of Galveston long ago. Glad things have worked out for u and wishing the very best for your future.

[pandarider123]

He did offer to take us to the orphanage so that we could give the gifts in person. We did not do that.

 

What was your guides name. Victor said my guide is TEX

[MyDogRudy]

So sounds like enjoyment on a cruise is more of way of thinking like it is what I make of it. The same people telling me that booking carnival was a huge mistake are same ones who have good jobs and go on more fancy vacations. I've never been on a vacatiin before so maybe will enjoy carnvial as a new experence.

 

I haven't read all the posts yet but I've cruised Carnival and LOVED it. The negative comments you got were from people who never cruised CCL before so they don't truly know, they are just passing on 'what they've heard.' Magic is one of Carnival's newest ships and has more options than those I've cruised on so I'm sure you'll have a great time. Don't worry at all...and this comes from someone who thought cruising would be cheesy or tacky before she got on a ship.

 

I've been to the ports you've mentioned and you can get lots of specific information on the Ports of Call forums but my quick advice is to at least book an excursion in Belize (either through the ship if you don't have time to research further or being someone who hasn't vacationed much isn't comfortable making those arrangements privately or book with an organization recommended on the Belize forum). The first time we visited Belize we just tendered to the island and walked around the port (shouldn't wander outside the gates there as area is not too safe) and found it boring. But, we booked a cave tubing excursion the second time and loved it. Roatan has a man-made beach area that's free that looked nice, we booked an island tour with Victor Bodden which for a group of six was only $25pp so reasonable and was fun. Cozumel you can do on your own grabbing a taxi downtown for shopping/wandering unless you want to do something more exotic like ruins or dolphins or a beach getaway.

 

I think you'll have a wonderful time between the ship and the ports you chose. Please don't worry...I was so pleasantly surprised my first cruise. Enjoy!!! The pre-planning for me is almost as fun as cruising which is good since we can't afford to do it very often.

[2 cruzen]

What was your guides name. Victor said my guide is TEX

 

I have read GREAT things about Tex. I think you lucked out getting him. He is very much requested. Have a blast.

[GlendaleCruiser]

I've never been on a cruise before and never been out of country, so three months ago I booked a may birthday cruise. Only princess and carnival had cruises near when I wanyed it and departed on galveston.ended up picking carnival magic and was so excited but then as months went by I hear from more and more people..even family members saying carnival is bad cruise line and should of booked princess (heard that was owned by carnival so doesn't make sense) .I understand for the price I can't expect high class but did I really make a mistake choosing carnival over princess. Or is this all over hype over that one bad cruise and the concordia. I'm on low income and just going to applebees or chilis is considered special so I am not hard to please. That being said has anyone been on carnival magic in last year or so that can tell me how it went. Is carnival really a bad line ? Should cancel my booking and book princess?

 

I've cruised Princess several times as well as Carnival. There is not a world of difference between the two lines. I always have more fun on Carnival and the food is better. Princess has prettier ships. Go and have a good time. You'll be glad.

 

Magic is one of my FAVORITE ships.

Edited December 14, 2013 by GlendaleCruiser

[twinmom38]

we have been on royal caribbean, princess, carnival and ncl.. we prefer carnival and have Miracle booked to Alaska in august... yes, its a matter of preferance.. but we really do like them best. sailed the new Ruby Princess last year and was sooooo disappointed. we are mid-fifties and enjoy alot of different things, including nightlife.. i think attitude is important, and if you tell yourself it will be bad, then it will... i hope you have a great time!

[larronry]

Our best cruise experience was on Celebrity. Our worst cruise experience was on Celebrity. I'm telling you this just to point out that when you hear bad things about a cruise doesn't always make it a bad cruise line and vice versa. I'm still convinced that had we gone on our originally booked cruise (cancelled due to emergency dry dock) we would never have had a bad Celebrity cruise but since it happened and we did a last minute booking on Princess I can compare Princess and Carnival.

 

If you had said you were going on the Caribbean Princess then I would say hands down go Carnival. Last ship in design series 1 full extra deck of just rooms so all the public spaces were just too crowded. That said I too found the food bland. I did enjoy the shows and entertainment but was surprised at the times of the day and night where no food was available. We noticed this when we came back on the ship at a port and there was no where to eat. It was 3 or 4 in the Afternoon. Made me look at the food schedule and I noticed that there was nothing after midnight or maybe it was 2am. So I would say not geared toward the late night partier.

 

On Carnival I've not had a bad experience. Well one with Camp Carnival but they were just trying to help.

 

It really comes down to what you want out of the cruise and if you are a late night person the I would say Carnival over Princess after all it is known as the Fun Ship.

[pandarider123]

Our best cruise experience was on Celebrity. Our worst cruise experience was on Celebrity. I'm telling you this just to point out that when you hear bad things about a cruise doesn't always make it a bad cruise line and vice versa. I'm still convinced that had we gone on our originally booked cruise (cancelled due to emergency dry dock) we would never have had a bad Celebrity cruise but since it happened and we did a last minute booking on Princess I can compare Princess and Carnival.

 

If you had said you were going on the Caribbean Princess then I would say hands down go Carnival. Last ship in design series 1 full extra deck of just rooms so all the public spaces were just too crowded. That said I too found the food bland. I did enjoy the shows and entertainment but was surprised at the times of the day and night where no food was available. We noticed this when we came back on the ship at a port and there was no where to eat. It was 3 or 4 in the Afternoon. Made me look at the food schedule and I noticed that there was nothing after midnight or maybe it was 2am. So I would say not geared toward the late night partier.

 

On Carnival I've not had a bad experience. Well one with Camp Carnival but they were just trying to help.

 

It really comes down to what you want out of the cruise and if you are a late night person the I would say Carnival over Princess after all it is known as the Fun Ship.

 

No food after 2am on princess? I have insomnia and up to 3am everynight. Now I'm glad I choose carnival.