Carnival Cruiser wanting Mediterranean

[blondietink]

Our 30th wedding anniversary is coming up in September and we are wanting to celebrate with a cruise. At first we were looking at the Valor out of San Juan, but want something really special for our 30th Anniversary. So, what better excuse for a Mediterranean cruise? Unfortunately Carnival pulled out of Europe for this year. Is there any chance they will go back in 2015?

 

If not, then what cruise line would best suit us, since we have only done Carnival to date? We do not want Costa as we have heard the stories about the endless announcements in many languages. We speak English and only English. We looked at Disney Cruise Line and they are way out of our price range for Europe. Both DS's have disabilities and have food issues so don't really want to experience European "cuisine" that they can't eat. We are very willing to travel off-season such as April/May or September/October.

 

So, who would be best for us? Royal, Norwegian, HAL or somebody else? Any and all suggestions welcome!

[doubledub]

We too are planning a Mediterranean cruise for fall 2015 and have booked the NCL Epic.

[wantocruisemore]

We went on a Royal Carib. Mediterranean a couple years ago. LOVED it!!!!!!

 

RCCL reminded me a lot of carnival! just a few subtle changes that did not amount to anything in the long run.

[indiaksue]

We also want a Med. cruise with Carnival. We took our first one on the Sunshine and are ready to go back. Yes it is expensive but Carnival is our best chance because the price for the cruise is cheaper than any other line and that helps offset the price of plane tickets. Please Carnival go back to Europe!

[ronandannette]

We also want a Med. cruise with Carnival. We took our first one on the Sunshine and are ready to go back. Yes it is expensive but Carnival is our best chance because the price for the cruise is cheaper than any other line and that helps offset the price of plane tickets. Please Carnival go back to Europe!

 

Carnival is a marketing VERY HARD to the American economy-minded cruiser right now and focusing on drive-to ports as part of that strategy. It makes no sense for them to deploy to Europe when only a tiny fraction of that customer base is willing or able to fly overseas. As for the locals there are already a couple of budget-friendly cruise lines in the Med (P&O and Pullmantuer come to mind).

Edited March 20, 2014 by ronandannette

[Mysticks1]

We sailed on Celebrity Solstice for our Med cruise and it was wonderful. We booked over a year out and the pricing for them at that time was very comparable to all the others. You should take a look at Celebrity. The food and service was the best we have had on any ship so far out of the 4 lines we have sailed on.

[Br00klyn102]

I second the above poster.

 

I did the Mediterranean on the Celebrity Solstice and it was an incredible cruise. I only booked a couple months out and thought that the pricing was fair. Food and service was impeccable.

[Velvetwater]

We were going to book NCL before we went a bit mental and booked PC on the Legend.Theres also Princess who do Med trips. I know some people have said PandO but their price program is poor and

our friends sail with them each year and say they are very british cruises...so depends what you would like.

 

I dont see how announcements in different languages and games and such are that big of a deal. I would sail with Costa in a heart beat if it wasnt for their ludicrous tip thing. Its very possible I will book MSC soon too. If you want to go to the Med when you get off the ship there will be lots of different languages and foods that you will encounter anyway.A lot of good Med food is fresh with little additives and hidden ingredients.I have got by fine in Italy and other countries nearby by researching food beforehand and asking friendly waiters using learnt words for the foods I couldnt eat at the time.

 

Learning some food words in Italian/Spanish/Greek etc will help you and your boys a lot....much better than trying to get by repeating English.

Edited March 20, 2014 by Velvetwater

[travelfourever]

We just off the Freedom last week and the future cruise guy said Carnival won't be doing any European cruises until 2016. I assume that will be the release of the Vista.

 

 

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[Essiesmom]

I have done the Med with both Celebrity and HAL. I would recommend either. EM

[Captain Carnival]

Congrats of your 30th, my Wife and I celebrated ours last May in the Mediterranean aboard the Carnival Legend (see review attached below).

 

As others have already observed Carnival does not currently have any sailings scheduled in the Mediterranean until the Carnival Vista launches in 2016. I suspect that if any sailings were going to occur in 2015 those plans would have already been announced but anything's possible; plans for a renovated Carnival "Sunrise" have never surfaced.

 

We plan on returning to the Mediterranean when the Carnival Vista is launched in 2-years but until then all we can do is keeping watching for any announcements - Congrats again!

Edited March 21, 2014 by Captain Carnival

[CatlinSTJ]

We have looked into several other lines for the same reason. Carnival had great itineraries around Europe and while no one else offers exactly the same, there are good deals out there. Most likely we will do NCL or RCCL if Carnival does not return in the 2016 season, which is when we'll be able to go anyway.

 

While I completely understand their corporate financial reasoning, they failed to consider the effect on their loyal customers. We will be cruising Europe even if it's not on Carnival. We love cruising, but we are very much into the destination as well, so if Carnival doesn't go where we want to go, we'll sail a different line and we're much more likely to consider that line or others in the future.

 

 

Next cruise: Carnival Breeze June 2014

[hightownCO]

Have done one med cruise on Princess in 2009 and it was great. Be ready for a very active and tiring trip however. You're running from dawn to dusk on port days with touring. Nighttime on ship, you'll probably be too pooped to do to much.

 

I think you'd be fine on NCL, RCCL or Princess. All have the ++ or -- but they are certainly a familar product for a Carnival cruiser.

 

I've done lots of pricing and planning other trips that didn't materialize. My take on pricing...

 

Princess will start out very high when their schedule opens for booking. You might see price drops 6 months out, 120 days, 90, 60days if the cruise isn't booking well. Otherwise you may not see any drop till after final payment. There are lots of Princess loyalists and they have cut back on the number of ships.

 

RCCL usually has their best price when the schedule opens. That's what I've see as the best time to book early. Then you'll see the price keep inching up until final pay, then may see it drop.

 

NCL. I think their pricing model is more like RCCL. Cheaper early and then price inches up.

 

Have a great trip and have fun planning!

[Lady_E]

First off, there's nothing wrong with learning a new language and frankly, announcements in another tongue might help you. Secondly, I'm not sure what you think European cuisine is. Frog legs and snails? That's just French, and probably wouldn't be offered except as an appetizer which you are free to refuse. Since its a Med cruise, I'm guessing you'll get some excellent Italian dishes, some coastal French stuff (think fish done in an amazing vinegar butter sauce with crusty bread and delicious ham and a good runny cheese) and maybe a chance to try some amazing Spanish food. Part of going on a European cruise is to get out of the familiar and try new things. You sound resistant to that.

[bassmaster150]

We have done two Med cruises on Carnival (Sunshine and maiden voyage on Breeze) and were bummed when they pulled out of Europe for this season and next. So we decided to try some different lines. We are doing a Baltic cruise on the Royal Princess this year and a Greek Isles cruise on NCL next year. This does give us an opportunity to sample other lines....even though we are Platinum on Carnival, we did have our first Princess experience this past January and were quite pleased with the product. If this is your first time to the Med, then I would suggest a Grand Mediterranean voyage that sails out of Venice to Barcelona. You will hit all of the important stops like Venice (most amazing sail away EVER), Dubrovnik, Athens, Sicily, Rome, Florence/Pisa, maybe Naples, Monaco (for Monte Carlo, Nice, and Cannes), and finally Barcelona. It will make you want to go back over and over again.

[RD64]

I agree with a previous poster - Carnival is not marketing to the type of passenger that is willing to pay $1000 or more for a flight to Europe in the summer season. Based on my recent Carnival cruise - they attract the drive-in market. From Canada to Florida, a lot of people are willing to spend up to 24 hours to drive to Miami. Airfares being what they are these days, it makes sense for people to drive.

 

A retired gentleman at my table just got off the Conquest, is taking another cruise in two weeks, and then another cruise two weeks from now - local Florida resident.

 

Another individual was on his fourth since January - drive-in from South Carolina.

 

A couple from Boca - just hop on ships whenever the rates are appealing (itinerary unimportant). For them it is cheaper than staying at home.

 

Carnival has let its fares fall so low, that people now expect to pay rock bottom rates for its cruises. These low fares are not profitable for a ship in Europe - so until the Vista is finished in 2016, I would not expect any European cruises. Also, there is some exceptional tonnage in Europe this year and next (especially from Royal Caribbean). Carnival ships would be hard pressed to compete successfully with them.

[blondietink]

Thank you for your suggestions. Right now we are leaning towawrds RCL because of their free promotion for 3rd and 4th passengers which would allow us to be able to afford a larger cabin. 4 adults in one cabin can get tight which is why we like Carnival's cabins as they are so large compared to some other lines. We all have to be in one cabin.

 

As for others' suggestions about the food. Please keep in mind that both DH and I are willing/able to try new foods. However, both DS's again are developmentally disabled along with physical diabilities and there are many food/textures they simply cannot eat (high fat, high acid, spicy) unless one of us wants to stay in the cabin with them all day while they are sick. Same goes for the English ... if DS's continually hear languages they cannot understand, they can become afraid and/or mimic the language being spoken without understanding it and become totally inappropriate. Some of you might ask why we would take them on vacation with us considering the difficulties involved. Well, we want them to experience as much of the world as possible and frankly, we don't have anybody to leave them with for a vacation on our own.

 

Now, if only we could find reasonable airfare ...........:(

[ronandannette]

We have looked into several other lines for the same reason. Carnival had great itineraries around Europe and while no one else offers exactly the same, there are good deals out there. Most likely we will do NCL or RCCL if Carnival does not return in the 2016 season, which is when we'll be able to go anyway.

 

While I completely understand their corporate financial reasoning, they failed to consider the effect on their loyal customers. We will be cruising Europe even if it's not on Carnival. We love cruising, but we are very much into the destination as well, so if Carnival doesn't go where we want to go, we'll sail a different line and we're much more likely to consider that line or others in the future.

 

 

Next cruise: Carnival Breeze June 2014

 

I'm quite sure they didn't fail to consider anything that was deemed important to profit. Carnival's model is unapologetically focussed on attracting first-time, budget-conscious passengers whom, ironically, generate higher on-board revenues than repeat passengers.