Advice for a long time Princess Cruiser trying Carnival-What's fun on Carnival?

[CruisingObsessed]

Hi everyone. After years of cruising Princess, which we do like; we are in the mood to try something different. Hoping for more activity, more stimulation so we picked the Carnival. They advertise fun! And some of the excellent picture reviews on this board have me really excited to get onboard! Thanks to all who have posted those. :D

 

Anyone know what's different and what's the same? What are your favorite things about a Carnival cruise? What's the entertainment like--especially parties, game shows, etc?

 

Thanks in advance for any replies!

[OCruisers]

We are very long time Princess cruisers who do sometimes also cruise on Carnival.

We don't expect things to be like they are on Princess. Different is not always bad.

People on Carnival ships always seem so happy! It's fun to be around happy people. :)

 

LuLu

~~~

[Rosethorn40]

We love Princess too (#12 is only 5-days away), but found we really like Carnival as well. I love the relaxed attitudes on board. Example the room steward calling us by our first names. On Princess it's always "Sir Martin" & "Madame"-that's a little too formal for us. We have found the food to be usually good on Carnival, but a "Foodie" might be disappointed. Entertainment is similar on board both ships.

 

It depends on the ship of course but on Carnival there always seems to be something going on. Do you like trivia? They hold contest's several times each day, and the winner gets a coveted "Ship on a Stick" trophy.

 

On some other boards they may put their noses up in the air when talking about Carnival; the hairy chest contest seems to put some people off, but you can always go somewhere else if that isn't your cup of tea. Yes, you may find people drinking to excess, but no more than what I witnessed on Princess.

 

Dinner time several times during the cruise the waiters may do a little song and dance number, and don't forget the towel animals. Of no importance to me I admit I was delighted one morning on my most recent Carnival cruise when I went up early to the Lido decks to the sight of a towel animal bonanza.

 

To wrap up I think on Carnival you can put your hair down, slip on the flip-flops, be a little silly and no one will think less of you.

[Giantfan13]

Might really depend on your age group also. Princess tends to be more of an adult cruise experience while Carnival is a whole lot more families. If you like quiet spaces, Carnival has their Serenity areas where only adults can sit and relax, or you can head to the Lido and watch movies, swim or just be part of the fun. There is always something going on there.

 

We are seniors, and like some quiet time during cruising, but we also like to have some fun when we wish. It suits everyone.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[crusinpsychRN]

This:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BECwNurBbEQ

[CruisingObsessed]

Thanks for the input! It sounds like fun! We love Princess and will probably still sail them too now and then, too, for relaxation and exotics--but this sounds like just the antithesis we need ;) We're looking for more laughter, excitement and activity! Despite being elite on Princess we are still in our 40's and sometimes the entertainment and atmosphere on Princess is a bit old for us.

 

Food isn't important to us and honestly, Princess's new trend towards putting curry, truffle oil and/or red hot peppers on everything is really turning me off anyway. It was hard to find things to eat on our last cruise, as odd as that sounds.

 

Can't wait to try to win a ship on a stick :D

[LSGDRG]

I sail on both Princess & Carnival. I really like the choice of itineraries on Princess. One thing I prefer on Carnival is the Steakhouse.

[CruisingObsessed]

I've noticed even the boards are more active here...can't wait to check out the pool side craziness, that looks like fun!

 

There are more exotics on Princess; I don't think Carnival goes to Europe, Asia or South America. But then Princess for them, Carnival for the Caribbean!

[karinad]

We sailed mostly Princess and are Platinum members. I love the benefits with Princess and their ships are beautiful, food is pretty good, along with the entertainment. The past couple years we haven't been able to find a cruise that we could afford or itinerary we wanted to go. We even have an OBC/deposit that Princess holds and will cancel Oct.2014.

 

We were apprehensive to try Carnival again, our last cruise with them being in 1989. We booked the Bahamas 8 night out of NY Sept. 2012 and loved it! The food was great, good entertainment and always something to do. I think we even like the food on Carnival better then Princess. We loved that you didn't have to dress formal, if you didn't want to, so packing was lighter. There were all "classes" of people and ages on the cruise. We were anxious to go again!

 

This past Sept. we sailed a 12 day from England. The price was unbeatable and the places we visited we great! I wish the ships would be back in Europe again!

 

One thing to keep in mind, if you want quiet, don't go on a 3, 4, or even 5 day cruise. Also, beware of Spring break and Summer! Both our cruises were in Sept., after school was back in session.

 

Good luck and happy cruising!:)

[PROCRUISE]

We sailed mostly Princess and are Platinum members. I love the benefits with Princess and their ships are beautiful, food is pretty good, along with the entertainment. The past couple years we haven't been able to find a cruise that we could afford or itinerary we wanted to go. We even have an OBC/deposit that Princess holds and will cancel Oct.2014.

 

We were apprehensive to try Carnival again, our last cruise with them being in 1989. We booked the Bahamas 8 night out of NY Sept. 2012 and loved it! The food was great, good entertainment and always something to do. I think we even like the food on Carnival better then Princess. We loved that you didn't have to dress formal, if you didn't want to, so packing was lighter. There were all "classes" of people and ages on the cruise. We were anxious to go again!

 

This past Sept. we sailed a 12 day from England. The price was unbeatable and the places we visited we great! I wish the ships would be back in Europe again!

 

One thing to keep in mind, if you want quiet, don't go on a 3, 4, or even 5 day cruise. Also, beware of Spring break and Summer! Both our cruises were in Sept., after school was back in session.

 

Good luck and happy cruising!:)

 

This is all really good information. Enjoy your cruise on CCL. :)

[Nick55]

We have done a few princess cruises, as a comparison from our experience:

 

Princess does a better job on ship tours, chefs table (more sophisticated and different menus based on each ship), more current movies on the "Movies under the Stars", wider choice of destinations. More formal atmosphere, especially on formal nights (which can be sometimes fun as a change from the casual lives many of us have).

 

Carnival has unbeatable pricing. In many cases 1/2 the price of princess. The casual nature is sometimes fun. In revisiting carnival after a 23 year absence we were pleasantly surprised at the fun we had. Found ourselves staying up later, enjoying activities that we began missing on celebrity, holland america and princess because they tended to be a little less busy at night. The serenity deck is a great deal for adults wanting the time away from the young ones!

 

We like both, have upcoming trips on both, but as long as the cruises on carnival don't have drastic reductions in quality vs what we saw the last time on the Valor., we will probably lean more to carnival for average cruises due to their pricing.

[OCruisers]

We have done a few princess cruises, as a comparison from our experience:

 

 

Carnival has unbeatable pricing. In many cases 1/2 the price of princess. The casual nature is sometimes fun. In revisiting carnival after a 23 year absence we were pleasantly surprised at the fun we had. Found ourselves staying up later, enjoying activities that we began missing on celebrity, holland america and princess because they tended to be a little less busy at night. The serenity deck is a great deal for adults wanting the time away from the young ones!

 

We like both, have upcoming trips on both, but as long as the cruises on carnival don't have drastic reductions in quality vs what we saw the last time on the Valor., we will probably lean more to carnival for average cruises due to their pricing.

 

Pricing for some is better than others cruising on Carnival. :eek:

 

In our case the convenient Carnival cruise out of Charleston (only 2 hours away) is Carnival Fantasy which has NO regular balcony cabins. To get one with a balcony, we have to book a suite. To get a suite we want in a location we want, it is a Grand Suite ... rather expensive but very convenient. :rolleyes:

 

Just saying the pricing is not always a factor.

 

LuLu

~~~

[JimAOk1945]

We cruise mainly for the itineraries and have sailed on Carnival and Princess. We enjoyed both cruise lines for all the reasons mentioned here.

 

I noticed the fun factor seems to depend on the length of the cruise as well as the time of year.

 

Happy cruising!

[Almost Packed]

I think "fun" depends on your personal interpretation of fun. I personally do not enjoy the piano bar, but people RAVE about it.

 

Some people love Karaoke nights. Some people love the deck party, the chocolate buffet. Some people love being childlike sliding down the slides. Some people like the casino. Some people like Bingo. Some like drinking as much as they can possibly consume. Some like participating in trivia games, bean bag toss etc.

 

So, what do YOU consider fun?

 

Oftentimes for me & dh, just getting some alone time together in the cabin is fun :D :eek: