11 cruises with Royal & Princess - will i be disapointed with carnival?

[big bro]

Hi All,

 

We have been on 11 cruises. 8 with Princess and 3 with Royal. This year we are looking for a cheaper vacation and was looking at Carnival. We just like to people watch and drink beer and eat good food, I am fine if we have to get that in the specialty restaurants. The price seems right. Is it really that much of a "downgrade"???

 

thanks for your input.

 

Matt

[Vertigo1960]

Matt: I have booked with NCL, Princess, Carnival, RCCL, and now Celebrity.

 

I cruised Carnival in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Two 4-Day cruises and a 7-Day cruise. I enjoyed everyone of them. I chose Carnival for these trips as I traveled stag----and they had a reputation for matching demographics----and they did a great job. The other reason was the port schedule for diving. It just worked out. One thing I did avoid: Spring Breaks. Hence, the passengers were a wild range: if you wanted to act crazy (within reason) or stay to yourself...I had a great time.

 

I've enjoyed every ship I've been on. Doing my first "suite" cruise on Celebrity soon. However, with that said, I don't intend to be in the room that much.

 

You will have your own good time on Carnival.

 

Bon voyage....J

[DanJ]

I had been on HAL and Princess before we did Carnival. It was fine. I guess expectations can play a part and whether you happen to be a person who would look for a reason to not like something or say "Princess wouldn't do that" or similar. Really, they are more alike than they are different to me. I personally prefer the larger Carnival ships.

[cruisinqt]

We have cruised both Princess and Royal Caribbean. Carnival is a lot like Royal Caribbean. The crowd is a bit younger and funner. The food is very good. The standard cabins are bigger too. You will like it. Don't listen to the people that put Carnival down. Most of them are cruise snobs that prefer a specific line and have never even been on Carnival. Just like some car owners out there. 😊

[klfrodo]

Will you be disappointed?

Only if you allow it

 

I've been on 11 Carnival and 2 Royal

While different, they are many more similarities.

I started off disappointed with my Royal experience but had to have a heart to heart talk with myself.

 

Now have an 11 day scheduled on another Royal ship.

Not my first choice but the itenerary over rules cruise line company.

I'm going to have a great time.

Edited January 12, 2016 by klfrodo

[dolittle]

You are looking at it all wrong ,judge things on there own terms (good and bad) . Don't go one line thinking ''oh well Royal does it this way'' take what they have and enjoy it ,be open to a new line and you will get more out of it .

[SPacificbound]

Since you are asking this question on a message board made up of total strangers, are you already thinking you will be disappointed?

 

If not, go find your roll call and try communicating with those who will be on the cruise with you.

 

Have a great time! :)

[SadieN]

We sail primarily West Coast out of Los Angeles/Long Beach. Many on Carnival and 6 on Princess. Itins have ranged from 2-15 days.

The shorter cruises on Carnival are usually more vibrant, though we did have one Princess cruise that put NOLA's French Quarter to shame. The longer cruises are equally mellow.

Carnival attracts a greater cross section of pax.

 

Our perfect cruise line would have Carnival's MDR, deli and pizza and Princess' buffet and nightly BBQ. Entertainment is almost equal. Prefer Carnival's piano bar and like Princess' entertainment in the Plaza.

Each Carnival ship has a different decor, the older ships are very Vegas. Princess' seem to be all the same.

Carnival's cabins are generally larger but there are no real perks for a suite.

Both loyalty programs have pluses and minuses.

[montana200024]

I love Carnival..been on a few RCL..but i like them both for different reasons..

 

you say you want to people watch., well there are lots of people and very friendly i might add

you said you wanted to eat..there are lots of places to do that and the food is good.

you said you wanted to drink beer, well there is lots of that too..

 

A VACATION IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT...RELAX , ENJOY, AND STAY POSITIVE...you will have a wonderful holiday

[iahawkize]

First Carnival has many ships with many miles on them and newer and refurbished ships that have what they call their "O2" upgrades such as The Blue Iguana Tequilla Bar, the Red Frog Rum Bar, Guys Burger Joint, Alchemy Bar, Punchliners Comedy Club, and the new Vista (coming to the USA in late 2016) is in a class all her own. Read the reviews both good and bad and remember your cruise is what you make it. Join a Roll Call and meet new friends before the cruise and get together with them onboard for a meet & greet.

[Karysa]

Hi All,

 

We have been on 11 cruises. 8 with Princess and 3 with Royal. This year we are looking for a cheaper vacation and was looking at Carnival. We just like to people watch and drink beer and eat good food, I am fine if we have to get that in the specialty restaurants. The price seems right. Is it really that much of a "downgrade"???

 

thanks for your input.

 

Matt

 

For what you are asking for in your original post I do not think that you will be disappointed. Carnival will most definitely give you that and more. Enjoy your cruise.:)

[cruzeluver]

Carnival's fleet of ships runs the gamut of older, tired, tacky-looking and lacking in amenities to new, modern and beautifully appointed, and everything in between. which ship are you considering?

[Roz]

I've sailed Carnival, HAL, and Princess - loved them all. I just like to cruise. Go and enjoy yourself.

 

Roz

[big bro]

We are considering Conquest out of Fort Lauderdale.

[Karysa]

I was just reading a RC vs Carnival thread and thought of you OP. The responses are quite different to the ones you got. It would be worth a read for you I think. It was titled "Thoughts on RC vs Carnival."

Edited January 17, 2016 by Karysa

[Canadian Cruiser98]

I suppose it depends on your expectations going into it. If you are expecting it to be as good as Royal, yes I would say you will be disappointed.

 

We did a Carnival cruise after having done several on Royal and one with Norwegian, and were extremely underwhelmed.

- Pools were ridiculously overcrowded, and there wasn't a chance in hell at swimming on sea days.

- The aft smelt like sewage constantly, something which prevented us from eating out there.

- We did find the demographic on Carnival ships to be different than Royal, contrary to what someone else in this thread posted. It was more party animals, as evidenced by the first thing I heard walking out onto our balcony: the person on the balcony next to us shouting out "WOOOOO! I'M HAMMERED!" to their buddy on a lower deck.

- The service overall was underwhelming compared to Royal, and I found the MDR food to be a little too salty.

- The buffet was alright, but still like the Windjammer better.

+ On the plus side, I will say that the rooms on the ship we went on (Carnival Breeze) were superior to RCCL rooms. Bigger and fresher overall, although that may have to do with it being a newer ship.

+ Guy Fieri's burgers and Blue Iguana Cantina were excellent too, some of the best casual food I've had on a ship.

[SuiteTraveler]

The first Carnival ship we were on was the Carnival Splendor in a spa balcony. It was a nice cruise and we really liked the thermal suite. I found the ship's decor hilarious: Black polka dots on pink wallpaper in the atrium, giant "pearls" that looked like fried eggs on the ceiling of the MDR, giant Fu Dogs in the thermal suite. The Splendor felt like being in a Mardi Gras parade. The MDR is fun as the waiters do dance most nights. Fast forward to last summer and we went on the Carnival Magic over 4th of July which was good. The Magic features the new Carnival decor - it is more of a modern Caribbean decor and has a water park topside. It has a great thermal suite as well. I won a free cruise in the Magic casino and so we went on the Carnival Breeze in October which was also good with the new decor this time in a balcony cabin. I won another cruise, but my husband won the poker tournament, so he got a seat at the upcoming championship on the Carnival Dream.

 

We've been on HAL, Princess, Celebrity, NCL, RCCL and even Uniworld. So, here's what I think of Carnival:

Nowadays, the MDR food is just Average, not as good as it was in Splendor's maiden year. But the waiters still dance and carry on and that makes it fun. The appetizers and soups seemed to be more successful than the entrees in the MDR. I am not a fan of desserts, so I didn't really have any of these.

 

We like the steakhouse and if you go the first night, you get a big discount on any bottle of wine you order or you get free cheap wine (did not like it, so we ordered.) We also went to the Chef's Table on Magic and Breeze - you have to make a reservation through the steak house.

 

The Chef's Table is the same menu on all ships, but the food is awesome using molecular gastronomy techniques and you get a tour of the galley as the dinner was actually held in the galley and wine is included. I recommend it - it is worth the money.

 

The steakhouse has enough on the menu to eat there every night of the cruise if you want but you will need reservations.

 

Both Magic and Breeze also had an Italian restaurant, which was so-so IMO - but I should mention I'm very spoiled as far as Italian food goes as my mother studied Italian cooking in Naples, so my expectations are vastly different than those of most Americans. The Italian restaurant serves complimentary wine - pinot grigio or Chianti - different cheap stuff from the cheap stuff in the steakhouse on the first night, but what I would call cheap jug wine in Italy.

 

The Breeze also had a sushi restaurant that my husband didn't want to try - we eat sushi a lot at home and on ships, sushi has been consistently disappointing on all lines - don't know why as sushi always starts with flash frozen sashimi - so why can't cruise lines make better sushi and sashimi preparations?

 

I actually liked the buffet on Carnival, specifically the deli station - I would often get the turkey wrap. I tried their pizza. This is a little strange - they give you half a pizza automatically. The crust is good and it is freshly made but I found the toppings to be mediocre. In Naples pizza is all about having the highest quality ingredients on that pizza and you don't eat half a pizza, you share it with others - so again, my expectations are very different from most Americans. I'm not a fan of the over-sauced, covered in cheese stuff that we have in the US from most pizza places. I also liked the salad bar. That I even ate anything from the buffet is a high compliment to Carnival, because mostly I will not eat at a buffet at all.

 

Breakfast in the MDR was always excellent. I typically have Eggs Benedict - and fruit and it was uniformly good and cooked correctly.

 

On both Magic and Breeze, the casino hosts comped me nice bottles of wine in the MDR. They sent chocolate covered strawberries, cookies and even comped the dinner in the Italian restaurant and, both offered me free cruises, which I really appreciated. On Breeze, my husband won the poker tournament, so we booked for the grand finale poker tournament on the Dream this spring. I hated to pass up on the free cruise I was offered on the Breeze, but we only have so much vacation time.

 

Entertainment: we liked the piano bar best. There were lots of comedians onboard both Magic and Breeze, but we never got to any of the shows. My husband went to one production show in the main theater and said it was like a high school production - the typical old fashioned cruise kids in a production show. On the Breeze they had a Spanish violin trio who played modern rock music in the Atrium. IMO, they should have been the headliners - they were AWESOME! Anytime they were playing, we would go ahead of time to get a seat and by the crowd that gathered to watch them, there is no question in my mind but that they could do a full length concert to a full house in the main theater on Carnival.

 

The rest of the entertainment was stuff like Karaoke, line dancing, and movies by the pool. For us, we like to relax on a cruise. We, too, enjoy people watching. They also have quite a few pay per view movies you can access on your cabin TV.

 

In terms of the cabin, the balcony cabins are larger than on Princess and more similar to RCCL's newer ships. The bathrooms still have the shower curtain, but are nice enough. The balcony is average size unless you get an extended balcony at the back of the ship. But we tend to avoid the back due to motion and choose middle to forward cabins.

 

I would say that if you go on Breeze or Magic, the main difference is going to be the top deck with the water slides and stuff like that and then the type of entertainment is very different than Princess or RCCL. Yes, there will be some drunk people like on any other cruise. Yes, there will be kids, like on any other cruise. Yes, there will be nice people, like on any other cruise. We were very happy sleeping in and hanging out in the spa on sea days and there is also an adults only area on deck - but we avoid the sun so didn't use it.

 

Our cabin steward was good on both Breeze and Magic. I don't really have any complaints about service at all. Casinos were good with the casino hosts on Breeze being more active in seeking out players who were making lots of points on the slots, but both sets of casino hosts took note of my play and acted on it, even though I never actually met the casino hosts on Magic.

 

My husband was happy with the specialty coffee bar on both ships. There is also a place where you can get a preview taste of food from various places on the ship each evening. I never actually made it there, but it's a good idea.

 

We really enjoyed Mahogany Bay - we got a private air conditioned cabana - they are spectacular and 100% worth the money. Overall, we enjoyed these cruises and felt they were good value for the money.

 

My main advice to you would be to book one of Carnival's newest ships if you decide to try this:

Magic

Breeze

Vista