Just returned from 8 day Carnival Cruise,

[caribill]

[quote name='DebJ14']And that missing center stair case is a big deal. My son and wife who are in their late 30's sailed the Regal for their 15th anniversary last Nov. They upgraded to a midship MA. They loved the ship except for the lack of center stairs/[COLOR=Red]elevators[/COLOR]. They won't sail on either ship because of that. It was a long walk forward or aft to get either up or down and they found it a monumental waste of their precious vacation time.[/quote]

There are midship elevators, six of them.

Not sure why they did not use these.

Only if they wanted to avoid elevators and take stairs would they have needed to take that long walk.

[sabookkeeper]

[quote name='chsalas']I doubt it, I don't think I will consider that again. Next time we do something like this, I'll make the arrangements on Princess.






YES, after about noon, the patry crowd took over the pool decks and the main areas. It was rowdy from noon till the dinner hour and then the party moved to the interior areas. Loud, and the kids running around all night. Not my cup of tea.[/QUOTE]
Thanks. This is definitely not what we want on a cruise.

[Griller]

[quote name='dmwnc1959']Aren't there sugar-free varieties of ice cream and desserts that diabetics can have? I'm sure the ships have them.

:confused:[/QUOTE]

Speaking as a diabetic I can tell you there is so much to a healthy diabetic diet than sugar free desserts. Its a common misconception.
Some foods are best avoided totally, others must be consumed only occasionally and in moderation.
On Princess I would never ever drink the socalled orangejuice which is so full of sugar and has little real orangejuice in it.
And the product labelled maple syrup is a fake product as well, so many products they source in the US are full of high fructose corn syrup - its cheaper than sucrose - and way worse for diabetics and in fact everyone else as well.
There is plenty of decent healthy food available on Princess if you are careful what you select.

[Iamcruzin]

I was considering booking a Carnival cruise out of N.Y. to the Bahamas. I'm at the point where I would rather have more time on the ship and not have to fly to port. Princess doesn't seem to be an option for us anymore since the new ships don't have ocean view rooms and the itineraries are same old same old. With the money that I would save in airfare I can afford to book a balcony on Carnival. Carnival was the line that got me hooked on cruising so maybe it's time to give them another try.

[Sue Do-Over]

Long time Carnival pax...

I have learned that the LONGER the cruise the FEWER...
1) Tattoos
2) Drunks by the pool
3) Children running wild
4) Overloaded plates at the buffet. Seriously, you can go back!
5) Too much pax in too little clothing
6) Abandonded glasses and ice cream dishes in the hallways

It's always noisy by the central pool, and there are times when we're part of the dance party... but hour after hour of blasting music is tiring.

Either fewer children go on long cruises, or their parents make better use of the free childcare.

[satxdiver]

Thanks to the OP for the positive report. So many just want to bash other lines with Carnival seeming to be in first place for bashing.

We sailed on Carnival back during the last decade and absolutely hated it for many reasons. When they sent us one of their emails (I usually discarded them) I happened to look at it. It was an enticement to sail on the Magic which at that time was their newest ship and within 4 hour driving to the port. We decided to take them up on the offer in December 2012. It turned out to not be so bad and many of the things we hated were gone. We have since returned but still much prefer Princess. Sailing on the Carnival ships out of Galveston is something like sailing with the WalMart crowd so I am told. I have made it a point to not go into a WalMart however.

We were on the Magic the first week of December 2012. We anticipated not having many kids aboard. The CD one night announced that there were over 250 rugrats on the ship! So much for our idea that they would be in school. We recently went on the Magic the first week of May. Since school is finishing up we assumed that would limit the number of kids. Wrong again! There were over 600 rugrats aboard the cruise. Don't these kids ever go to school?

We enjoy the comedy theater on Magic particularly the adult comedy. This last cruise was really great in that area however it is not for the easily offended. The layout of the buffet is really superior to most of the Princess ships except the Royal/Regal which seems to have copied the Carnival. The 24 hour pizzeria was really good and could be very busy about the time the music venues closed. Carnival does not seem to have a curfew for the younger set because late night at the pizzeria on the Lido deck was the in place for the late teens and sometimes younger. Magic does not have the "2.0 update" so only the grill was available for hamburgers which were not very good. I got one out of curiosity and threw it away after one bite.

[PrincessLuver]

[quote name='SadieN']Platinum on both Princess and Carnival. Mainly sail on the West Coast out of Los Angeles.
We do not sail in the summer and usually avoid other high seasons.

The longer Carnival and Princess cruises are practically the same in terms of passengers.

Both lines have huge pluses and minuses. Prefer Princess's buffet set up and Carnival's MDR food. Also prefer the way Carnival handles ATD. Princess has better selection on its buffet.

Never had dusty shelves, lumpy comforter or a need for mattress topper on Carnival.

Princess's ships are decorated prettier than Carnival's. All of Carnival's ships have center staircases.

The tearoff from the FunTimes is much easier to carry around than the Patters. Also Carnival has extra Fun Times available at many of its bars and Guest Services.

Overall Carnival's cabins are larger. Princess has much better suite perks. Carnival's are non-existent.

ETA---On the Four day west coast cruise Carnival uses three of the old Catalina Ferries. They accommodate scooters and wheelchairs.[/QUOTE]

I agree with everything you have said...we sail Princess but have sailed Carnival too....I like the fact that Carnival has really nice adult retreat areas and does not charge for them like Princess does for the Sanctuary.....also I think Carnival workout facilities are much nicer and they open up much earlier then Princess' gyms.....I think Carnival gets a bad rap on this board just because it is Carnival.....I find Carnival cabin attendants to be much more efficient because they all work with an assistant and the ones on Princess ships do not.....much of what is said negative about Carnival is not true from our experience....:cool:

[mek]

[quote name='Working 2 Cruise']I'd rather just not see Princess "carnivalized." Let's just have each line's strengths and not try to emulate another. If anyone prefers Carnival, by all means, stay with Carnival... There are many choices out there...

I'm also willing to bet that most Princess passengers don't want or need a Guy Fieri hamburger. If you want one, it's simple, sail with Carnival.

[/QUOTE]

Well, I love Princess, but their burgers are crappy. :( Edited June 12, 2015 by mek

[Working 2 Cruise]

[quote name='mek']Well, I love Princess, but their burgers are crappy. :([/QUOTE]

Well, I wouldn't know, I never had one!

The 2 things I really liked about Carnival are the aft balcony, and I can't remember what the second one!!! Oh, yes, the tiramisu martini was fantastic!

On my second and last cruise with Carnival, food was terrible, undercooked chicken that was almost raw..., the steward was lazy and did as little as possible, no smiles, ever... Embarkation day lunch was awful, no place to sit...

We received a free cruise offer last year but my husband forbid me to take it! That's how much he hated our Splendor cruise...

[satxdiver]

[quote name='mek']Well, I love Princess, but their burgers are crappy. :([/QUOTE]

Oh how true! However they are better than I found on the Carnival Magic grill last month. I think it comes down to crappy and crappier. :rolleyes:

[shredie]

[quote name='satxdiver']Oh how true! However they are better than I found on the Carnival Magic grill last month. I think it comes down to crappy and crappier. :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]


LOL. So true. They precook one side and then chill them before recooking. The vegeburger is worse.

[caribill]

[quote name='mek']Well, I love Princess, but their burgers are crappy. :([/quote]

Compared to the burgers in RCI's buffet, the Princess ones are gourmet.

[mek]

[quote name='caribill']Compared to the burgers in RCI's buffet, the Princess ones are gourmet.[/QUOTE]

Fortunately, there are many other things to eat! Love the International Cafe and Vines sushi for lunch.

[Colo Cruiser]

Love the Trident Grill. :)

[lindy sails]

I cruised Carnival several years ago and have not gone back since cruising on Princess. Recently I've priced some Carnival cruises and found they were more expensive than Princess.

[xanax]

Still amazed at the Carnival bashing. I've noticed no difference in pax. The partying is waaaaaay over dramatized. I've never witnessed any more or less inebriation on their line. Really, I've found very little "People" differences on the ships I've sailed. :)