Back from Carnival Magic July 9th, Never Again!

[crusinpsychRN]

First night service on every ship I've been on is slow. It's like the staff never did this before. I liked the 3 strings playing in the atrium. Serenity is huge. Saw 2 people up there. Most buffet food isn't that good.

[jakesnana]

We sailed the Magic in January with 20 other cabins (many of them Loyal to Royal people) and while no cruise is "perfect" no one reported a negative experience such as you reported.

 

The pool area is ALWAYS an issue with Carnival and a simple review of the Magic reviews would have pointed that out.

 

About the food, I am heading out on my 28th Carnival cruise next week and I agree about the buffet food - for the most part it is uninspiring BUT there are so many other options to choose from - Guys, Blue Iguana, Pizza, Deli, Cucina del Capitano (for lunch) that I NEVER run out of options for food. The same can not be said for RCCL. Your choices for lunch on port days are the buffet, Pizza or the pathetic sandwiches in the Promenade (unless you want to pay extra for Johnny Rockets). At least on NCL they have O'Sheehans (which has excellent food).

 

For the most part, most of the staff we very nice on the Magic. We did experience some who were indifferent, especially late in the evening when we were looking for Decaf tea for my husband and couldn't find it, or if all of the beverage stations were closed down.

 

We are big into trivia, were traveling with a lot of friends and family and had 4 port stops, so we definitely did not find the ship boring.

 

I'm sorry you didn't like the Magic, but as I said, with over 40 people cruising together none of us came out of it with such a negative opinion as you state. Maybe it was a bad week or maybe the vibe on Carnival is just not your thing.

[BenjiRodney]

Bye Felicia.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[calbred01]

I have cruised Royal twice, Celebrity once and Carnival seven times and I have always had a good time (I am on vacation after all!). Your complaints are valid as they are your experience and not others and is no cause for anyone to be rude! I am a very happy "hello" type of person and say "Hi" to just about every staff person I meet and usually by the second (or third) day those members smile when they see and say "hello" (unless they just run in the other direction, Lol). I agree that buffet food is not always the best (and that is on both land and sea and across the three cruise lines I have been on) But the hot food was always hot and the cold food cold! I have always found something to do and enjoy and the pools are (or can be) crowded, But I don't expect to swim laps, just get in and cool off (and I have found the smaller pool by the waterslide less crowded! Shhhh). Hope you relax and enjoy your next cruise no matter what cruise line you choose!

[Joyful Joyful]

We normally cruise on Royal but decided to try Carnival, needless to say we will NEVER go on Carnival again!

 

To start the cruise off our shuttle couldn't enter the port other then driving around in circles because there was a security beach which was said to be a Bomb threat at first and even the bomb squad came out. After we could finally get into the terminal everyone was told to wait outside then we were guided up to another area were we had to wait for a couple hours until they secured the area, after this ordeal we were then told it wasn't a bomb but a can of something that was spraying in a suit case. Better safe then sorry. Once this was over then we could go inside and get ready to board the ship. In my opinion Port Canaveral is the best port there is.

So once on board we went to our cabin and put our other bag in and headed to eat at the buffet as we waited to leave the port.

 

1st issue Staff and lack of knowing anything when asked and lack of friendliness. This ship had the worst staff I have ever encountered on a cruise. They never smiled,spoke or new anything if you asked them a question. Some were even rude. The only staff member we encountered that was very friendly was our room guy, he was awesome all the time. Spoke to us by name and had a friendly attitude.

 

2nd issue Pools, For a ship that hold 4,500 people and only have 2 swimming pools is ridiculous and what makes it worse is that only 1 pool was ever open at a time. I was only able to enjoy the pool 1 day when in a port because it was not crowded.

 

3rd Issue FOOD, the food at breakfast was the best and made to order omelettes were awesome, best meal of the day everyday. Guy's Burger Joint,Blue Iguana & BBQ place also had great food as well as the 24 hr pizza. We ate all these places several times and they were really good.We also ate at the steak house on wed night for our 20th anniv and it was very good. Now for the buffet, the food was lousy in my opinion with the exception of the desserts and the sandwich bar that had pastrami and corned beef, in fact that is what I hate most the time after trying the other food 1st. I also enjoyed the ice cream machine daily. The buffet was not opened long enough if you wanted it and then only one side would be open at times and you would have to walk a long distance just to get food if you wanted it. Terrible buffet all around except breakfast.

 

4th issue, I believe Carnival Magic has bed bugs because every night when we went to bed and got under the sheets I was always really itchy like something was crawling on me but I couldn't see anything when we looked. On the last night I actually got bit by something and ended up sleeping on top of the covers so the ship is not very clean.

We stayed on the 11th deck in a spa room and had access to the spa which was great, very relaxing and enjoyable. We stayed in 11242 and it was quite noisy at times, kids running up and down the hallway,noise from deck above etc. We were still able to sleep, just a lot of noise.Room was nothing fancy, pretty plain and basic.

 

Entertainment was just ok, nothing special. We did enjoy a few dive in movies and Dr. E was great. The comedy shows were also very funny and we enjoyed them as well. Party's on deck were also ok, I overheard several elderly folks complaining about the type and sound of the music and about it being way to loud. The entertainment staff were friendly.

 

Sadly there was a medical emergency with a passenger suffering a heart attack and dying(At least thats what we were told by several crew members) which caused the itenerary to be changed and the Honduras port being skipped and went to key west fl instead. The ship was diverted near miami to get the ill patient medical care. My prayers are with the family.

 

So we went to Key West Fl, Belize, Cozumel & Costa Maya, We had already been to Cozumel but still enjoyed it as well as the other ports. Really liked Key West and would like to go back there. The ports were the best part of the cruise, other then that the cruise was pretty boring. No adult area other then if you want to nap in a hammock or chair and use a jacuzzi, that is Magic's "adult" area.

 

And to top it all off, my hubby got sick on thursday afternoon and was up all night puking his gut out, not sure if it was from the food or what caused this. I know he wasn't sea sick so the food may of been the issue. Not sure because i was fine the entire time.

 

After being on 3 Royal ships, there is NO comparison with Carnival. I would never go on another carnival ship nor would I ever recommend one to anyone I know. You really do get what you pay for and Royal is in a class all its own. My brother is a Carnival cruiser and he bragged to me about how good they are but now I know for myself, not worth bragging about.Anyway, this is my small review, Happy cruising!

 

Wow, one experience, one ship of the whole fleet, and you'll never try it again... If you have been on very many cruises, you will know that there are those glitches that happen (like trying to make sure that your cruise is safe and secure by checking out a potential security breach...), I have never encountered a bad staff member on any cruise I have been on, Carnival, RCCL, or any other, so sorry that you did. I guess my point is, don't judge the whole cruise line based on one experience, and I am with one of the other posters here... don't bash the staff, they work harder than any of us land-based folk!! My opinion only...

[soapbxking]

Hmm. ok, first NOPE. I have been on numerous cruises!!!!! and never ever ever was the crew anything but unbelievable!!!, so I don't buy it. Second, the room guy? Sounds like OP may be a little but on the stuck up side. I could be wrong. SO you got bit by something so the entire ship is unclean? Hmmmmm. and as far as RCI being in a class all its own HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. gimme a break!! Celebrity, Silver Seas HAL etc may be but RCI at best is one wrung above due to price, but a class by itself? Not even close!~!!

But hey one persons trash is another ones treasure. Enjoy RCI!!

[soapbxking]

Sorry I confused you Jimbo, I guess my wording was not that good. WHat I meant to say was. I enjoyed the breakfast buffet and the made to order omelettes as well as the small eateries such as Guy's Burgers etc. I also said the deli and dessert bar food was good and what I ate of the buffet, the rest was lousy. Please read!

You also didn't read correct info, it says "Best Port" not "Best Part".

And to answer your question, on Royal the buffets are all open at the same time not half open part of the time! And on Royal the serenity deck has its own bar,pools,jacuzzi and an area all its own. On magic its just a couple jacuzzi's and chairs/hammocks. A joke in my opinion.

If you like Carnival, thats ok.... I don't!

 

Actually no, Magic Serenity has its own bar and eatery as well. So not sure you even went up there.

[soapbxking]

WRONG about buffets on RCI, I have cruised RCI many times, and on LOS, FOS, Allure, all have had at least one half of buffet closed at different imes, and they direct you to the side thats open. How do you expect them to change between meals, clean, restock, etc...????

We have cruised Magic 3 times, and never found anything but wonderful staff. We like Carnival and RCI, and enjoy both, and look forward to many more on each line. :D:D

 

I loved this response and am certain that it is accurate and reflects a true experience. I have never sailed RCI, but would imagine it to be a fun time. I choose Carnival because of price, but would love to try RCI<Princess, and NCL. :-)

[supertop]

We are going on our first cruise in August and it will be with Carnival. Different people have different expectations and different tastes in food. I am not at all discouraged by negative reviews. Unfortunately sometimes bad things happen but they are not the norm. I do plan to give an objective review when we get back.

[fla gang]

I've had excellent service and horrible service on Carnival. Went on the Carnival Dream out of port Canaveral and the service was terrible! I had been a die hard Carnival cruiser for years. Then started doing Royal Caribbean.Had an excellent experience on most while the Independence of the Seas was terrible. Even had a really bad cabin steward on the Disney Dream. If you go on a big ship expect them to be crowded in certain areas I still love cruising. Now that I am retired I do a lot more pricing research before booking.

[caryatid]

We normally cruise on Royal but decided to try Carnival, needless to say we will NEVER go on Carnival again!

 

To start the cruise off our shuttle couldn't enter the port other then driving around in circles because there was a security beach which was said to be a Bomb threat at first and even the bomb squad came out. After we could finally get into the terminal everyone was told to wait outside then we were guided up to another area were we had to wait for a couple hours until they secured the area, after this ordeal we were then told it wasn't a bomb but a can of something that was spraying in a suit case. Better safe then sorry. Once this was over then we could go inside and get ready to board the ship. In my opinion Port Canaveral is the best port there is.

So once on board we went to our cabin and put our other bag in and headed to eat at the buffet as we waited to leave the port.

 

1st issue Staff and lack of knowing anything when asked and lack of friendliness. This ship had the worst staff I have ever encountered on a cruise. They never smiled,spoke or new anything if you asked them a question. Some were even rude. The only staff member we encountered that was very friendly was our room guy, he was awesome all the time. Spoke to us by name and had a friendly attitude.

 

2nd issue Pools, For a ship that hold 4,500 people and only have 2 swimming pools is ridiculous and what makes it worse is that only 1 pool was ever open at a time. I was only able to enjoy the pool 1 day when in a port because it was not crowded.

 

3rd Issue FOOD, the food at breakfast was the best and made to order omelettes were awesome, best meal of the day everyday. Guy's Burger Joint,Blue Iguana & BBQ place also had great food as well as the 24 hr pizza. We ate all these places several times and they were really good.We also ate at the steak house on wed night for our 20th anniv and it was very good. Now for the buffet, the food was lousy in my opinion with the exception of the desserts and the sandwich bar that had pastrami and corned beef, in fact that is what I hate most the time after trying the other food 1st. I also enjoyed the ice cream machine daily. The buffet was not opened long enough if you wanted it and then only one side would be open at times and you would have to walk a long distance just to get food if you wanted it. Terrible buffet all around except breakfast.

 

4th issue, I believe Carnival Magic has bed bugs because every night when we went to bed and got under the sheets I was always really itchy like something was crawling on me but I couldn't see anything when we looked. On the last night I actually got bit by something and ended up sleeping on top of the covers so the ship is not very clean.

We stayed on the 11th deck in a spa room and had access to the spa which was great, very relaxing and enjoyable. We stayed in 11242 and it was quite noisy at times, kids running up and down the hallway,noise from deck above etc. We were still able to sleep, just a lot of noise.Room was nothing fancy, pretty plain and basic.

 

Entertainment was just ok, nothing special. We did enjoy a few dive in movies and Dr. E was great. The comedy shows were also very funny and we enjoyed them as well. Party's on deck were also ok, I overheard several elderly folks complaining about the type and sound of the music and about it being way to loud. The entertainment staff were friendly.

 

Sadly there was a medical emergency with a passenger suffering a heart attack and dying(At least thats what we were told by several crew members) which caused the itenerary to be changed and the Honduras port being skipped and went to key west fl instead. The ship was diverted near miami to get the ill patient medical care. My prayers are with the family.

 

So we went to Key West Fl, Belize, Cozumel & Costa Maya, We had already been to Cozumel but still enjoyed it as well as the other ports. Really liked Key West and would like to go back there. The ports were the best part of the cruise, other then that the cruise was pretty boring. No adult area other then if you want to nap in a hammock or chair and use a jacuzzi, that is Magic's "adult" area.

 

And to top it all off, my hubby got sick on thursday afternoon and was up all night puking his gut out, not sure if it was from the food or what caused this. I know he wasn't sea sick so the food may of been the issue. Not sure because i was fine the entire time.

 

After being on 3 Royal ships, there is NO comparison with Carnival. I would never go on another carnival ship nor would I ever recommend one to anyone I know. You really do get what you pay for and Royal is in a class all its own. My brother is a Carnival cruiser and he bragged to me about how good they are but now I know for myself, not worth bragging about.Anyway, this is my small review, Happy cruising!

 

I find your review really odd, because for someone who had such a terrible cruise, you sure do have a lot of positives and things you really enjoyed during your vacation.

 

The bomb threat at the cruise terminal was certainly unfortunate and I wouldn't be terribly happy about it either, but you can't lay that at the feet of Carnival, so that is a neutral.

 

You didn't like the staff with the exception of your room steward, who was great, so that is one negative/one positive

 

You also seem to have enjoyed most of the food on the cruise and only had a problem with the buffet. You mention seven different dining venues/foods that you really enjoyed and one that you didn't, so that is one negative/seven positive

 

You think there might have been bed bugs, but there was no confirmation, (why you wouldn't immediately pull back all the bedding and inspect the mattress to make sure is a mystery, bed bugs are no joke!) so that will have to be a neutral. You did seem to enjoy your spa access, but didn't like the noise around your stateroom so that is one negative/one positive

 

You enjoyed a bunch of the entertainment, including the dive in movies, the comedians, the cruise director and the deck parties. Some old people didn't like the music, but old people can be cranky so we'll have to go with a neutral on that one. You also mention liking the entertainment staff (so I guess not all of the staff was awful??!!) So 5 positives/one neutral

 

A passenger got sick and it impacted your itinerary, which is regretful, but not Carnival's fault so again, neutral

 

You like the ports but the Serenity area didn't wow you, so one positive/one negative

 

Your husband got sick, which is always a bummer on vacation, but we can't know what caused it, but being sick is the pits so I'll give you a negative here (even though I don't think we can pin this one on Carnival).

 

So total you have 5 negatives (one that can only dubiously be attributed to Carnival) and 15 positives.

 

Sounds like you actually had a great cruise!

[kctwinmommy]

Your husband got sick, which is always a bummer on vacation, but we can't know what caused it, but being sick is the pits so I'll give you a negative here (even though I don't think we can pin this one on Carnival).

 

And yet I've never been sick on a Carnival cruise and my husband and I both got sick on our RCI cruise. It sucked, yes, but nothing much we could do. I had a serious sore throat for about 3 days. One day was awful, like burning when I swallowed. But I bought some Sucrets in the shop to help it. My husband then got a little cough/runny nose, so he also bought some throat lozenges and cold meds. And they even have the sanitizer all over, with the buffet host reminding everyone to use it, which we did. But, it happens!

 

 

Now, my husband did also get sick on a Carnival one, and I attribute it to food. He had sushi at dinner in Alaska, and got sick about 5-6 hours later. But he threw up everything and was fine by the morning. That tells me it was most likely food related. It made for a crappy night and we had to be up early, but we did it and enjoyed our day.

 

 

Either way, when you get 4,000+ people together, you have no way of knowing what else they're bringing with besides their luggage! ;)

[Arzeena]

We normally cruise on Royal but decided to try Carnival, needless to say we will NEVER go on Carnival again!

 

To start the cruise off our shuttle couldn't enter the port other then driving around in circles because there was a security beach which was said to be a Bomb threat at first and even the bomb squad came out. After we could finally get into the terminal everyone was told to wait outside then we were guided up to another area were we had to wait for a couple hours until they secured the area, after this ordeal we were then told it wasn't a bomb but a can of something that was spraying in a suit case. Better safe then sorry. Once this was over then we could go inside and get ready to board the ship. In my opinion Port Canaveral is the best port there is.

So once on board we went to our cabin and put our other bag in and headed to eat at the buffet as we waited to leave the port.

 

1st issue Staff and lack of knowing anything when asked and lack of friendliness. This ship had the worst staff I have ever encountered on a cruise. They never smiled,spoke or new anything if you asked them a question. Some were even rude. The only staff member we encountered that was very friendly was our room guy, he was awesome all the time. Spoke to us by name and had a friendly attitude.

 

2nd issue Pools, For a ship that hold 4,500 people and only have 2 swimming pools is ridiculous and what makes it worse is that only 1 pool was ever open at a time. I was only able to enjoy the pool 1 day when in a port because it was not crowded.

 

3rd Issue FOOD, the food at breakfast was the best and made to order omelettes were awesome, best meal of the day everyday. Guy's Burger Joint,Blue Iguana & BBQ place also had great food as well as the 24 hr pizza. We ate all these places several times and they were really good.We also ate at the steak house on wed night for our 20th anniv and it was very good. Now for the buffet, the food was lousy in my opinion with the exception of the desserts and the sandwich bar that had pastrami and corned beef, in fact that is what I hate most the time after trying the other food 1st. I also enjoyed the ice cream machine daily. The buffet was not opened long enough if you wanted it and then only one side would be open at times and you would have to walk a long distance just to get food if you wanted it. Terrible buffet all around except breakfast.

 

4th issue, I believe Carnival Magic has bed bugs because every night when we went to bed and got under the sheets I was always really itchy like something was crawling on me but I couldn't see anything when we looked. On the last night I actually got bit by something and ended up sleeping on top of the covers so the ship is not very clean.

We stayed on the 11th deck in a spa room and had access to the spa which was great, very relaxing and enjoyable. We stayed in 11242 and it was quite noisy at times, kids running up and down the hallway,noise from deck above etc. We were still able to sleep, just a lot of noise.Room was nothing fancy, pretty plain and basic.

 

Entertainment was just ok, nothing special. We did enjoy a few dive in movies and Dr. E was great. The comedy shows were also very funny and we enjoyed them as well. Party's on deck were also ok, I overheard several elderly folks complaining about the type and sound of the music and about it being way to loud. The entertainment staff were friendly.

 

Sadly there was a medical emergency with a passenger suffering a heart attack and dying(At least thats what we were told by several crew members) which caused the itenerary to be changed and the Honduras port being skipped and went to key west fl instead. The ship was diverted near miami to get the ill patient medical care. My prayers are with the family.

 

So we went to Key West Fl, Belize, Cozumel & Costa Maya, We had already been to Cozumel but still enjoyed it as well as the other ports. Really liked Key West and would like to go back there. The ports were the best part of the cruise, other then that the cruise was pretty boring. No adult area other then if you want to nap in a hammock or chair and use a jacuzzi, that is Magic's "adult" area.

 

And to top it all off, my hubby got sick on thursday afternoon and was up all night puking his gut out, not sure if it was from the food or what caused this. I know he wasn't sea sick so the food may of been the issue. Not sure because i was fine the entire time.

 

After being on 3 Royal ships, there is NO comparison with Carnival. I would never go on another carnival ship nor would I ever recommend one to anyone I know. You really do get what you pay for and Royal is in a class all its own. My brother is a Carnival cruiser and he bragged to me about how good they are but now I know for myself, not worth bragging about.Anyway, this is my small review, Happy cruising!

 

Thanks for posting. Interesting to read different views.

 

After many Royal cruises (20 plus) we found the 2 we did on Carnival quite good. We thought the food and service was great and we would definitely go again. As for getting what you pay for, our Carnival cruises were not exactly cheap!;) LOL!

Enjoy your future cruises and hopefully you will have a better experience on Carnival some day if you go with them again.

Edited July 29, 2017 by Arzeena

[dave_k58]

Thank you elliair! Wow, the comments on my post are so rude! SO I guess because I didn't like my carnival cruise I am lying about my experience? How rude of you folks that "Love" carnival to act this way because my experience was terrible! We each have our own opinions about a cruise and your rude comments just shows the type of person(s) you are.

I said our room steward was the nicest but the other crew were not very friendly as I stated. Yes I do believe they had bed bugs in my room because I itched every night and then ended up with a bite that wasn't there before going to bed. In my opinion the food sucked with the exception of those places I did eat that was decent food.

Again, too each there own but I will stick with Royal!

 

 

sorry about your itching. Maybe a little soap and water could help

[skidawg79]

We normally cruise on Royal but decided to try Carnival, needless to say we will NEVER go on Carnival again!

 

To start the cruise off our shuttle couldn't enter the port other then driving around in circles because there was a security beach which was said to be a Bomb threat at first and even the bomb squad came out. After we could finally get into the terminal everyone was told to wait outside then we were guided up to another area were we had to wait for a couple hours until they secured the area, after this ordeal we were then told it wasn't a bomb but a can of something that was spraying in a suit case. Better safe then sorry. Once this was over then we could go inside and get ready to board the ship. In my opinion Port Canaveral is the best port there is.

So once on board we went to our cabin and put our other bag in and headed to eat at the buffet as we waited to leave the port.

 

1st issue Staff and lack of knowing anything when asked and lack of friendliness. This ship had the worst staff I have ever encountered on a cruise. They never smiled,spoke or new anything if you asked them a question. Some were even rude. The only staff member we encountered that was very friendly was our room guy, he was awesome all the time. Spoke to us by name and had a friendly attitude.

 

2nd issue Pools, For a ship that hold 4,500 people and only have 2 swimming pools is ridiculous and what makes it worse is that only 1 pool was ever open at a time. I was only able to enjoy the pool 1 day when in a port because it was not crowded.

 

3rd Issue FOOD, the food at breakfast was the best and made to order omelettes were awesome, best meal of the day everyday. Guy's Burger Joint,Blue Iguana & BBQ place also had great food as well as the 24 hr pizza. We ate all these places several times and they were really good.We also ate at the steak house on wed night for our 20th anniv and it was very good. Now for the buffet, the food was lousy in my opinion with the exception of the desserts and the sandwich bar that had pastrami and corned beef, in fact that is what I hate most the time after trying the other food 1st. I also enjoyed the ice cream machine daily. The buffet was not opened long enough if you wanted it and then only one side would be open at times and you would have to walk a long distance just to get food if you wanted it. Terrible buffet all around except breakfast.

 

4th issue, I believe Carnival Magic has bed bugs because every night when we went to bed and got under the sheets I was always really itchy like something was crawling on me but I couldn't see anything when we looked. On the last night I actually got bit by something and ended up sleeping on top of the covers so the ship is not very clean.

We stayed on the 11th deck in a spa room and had access to the spa which was great, very relaxing and enjoyable. We stayed in 11242 and it was quite noisy at times, kids running up and down the hallway,noise from deck above etc. We were still able to sleep, just a lot of noise.Room was nothing fancy, pretty plain and basic.

 

Entertainment was just ok, nothing special. We did enjoy a few dive in movies and Dr. E was great. The comedy shows were also very funny and we enjoyed them as well. Party's on deck were also ok, I overheard several elderly folks complaining about the type and sound of the music and about it being way to loud. The entertainment staff were friendly.

 

Sadly there was a medical emergency with a passenger suffering a heart attack and dying(At least thats what we were told by several crew members) which caused the itenerary to be changed and the Honduras port being skipped and went to key west fl instead. The ship was diverted near miami to get the ill patient medical care. My prayers are with the family.

 

So we went to Key West Fl, Belize, Cozumel & Costa Maya, We had already been to Cozumel but still enjoyed it as well as the other ports. Really liked Key West and would like to go back there. The ports were the best part of the cruise, other then that the cruise was pretty boring. No adult area other then if you want to nap in a hammock or chair and use a jacuzzi, that is Magic's "adult" area.

 

And to top it all off, my hubby got sick on thursday afternoon and was up all night puking his gut out, not sure if it was from the food or what caused this. I know he wasn't sea sick so the food may of been the issue. Not sure because i was fine the entire time.

 

After being on 3 Royal ships, there is NO comparison with Carnival. I would never go on another carnival ship nor would I ever recommend one to anyone I know. You really do get what you pay for and Royal is in a class all its own. My brother is a Carnival cruiser and he bragged to me about how good they are but now I know for myself, not worth bragging about.Anyway, this is my small review, Happy cruising!

 

So I'm not going to blast you, your opinions and experiences are exactly that...yours. However, the last cruise i was on, was on the Magic, and I loved it. I thought it was a beautiful ship with some of the best staff I've ever had on a cruise. I have sailed both Royal Caribbean and Carnival and i see very minimum differences. I will say entertainment on all ships are mostly "eh" lol. Sorry to hear about the medical emergency, thoughts are with that family, but glad you made the best of it and enjoyed Key west.

 

The last thing i will say, I work with people everyday and I notice that people respond to the way you interact with them. If you come up to them being rude, sometimes the response will not be what you want. If you interact with them in a respectful way, maybe you will get a better response. Not saying that you were rude and disrespectful to the workers....but yeah...im kinda implying it. Good luck on Royal Caribbean....

[Mr & Mrs Happy]

Hi CalifGirl67,

 

While I highly, highly doubt you had bed bugs. Stop defending yourself and your opinions, you are entitled to them, and can make your future cruise decisions based on them.

 

Since you like RCI, might I suggest Celebrity; many will say they tried it and it is "boring". LOL! Since you did try Carnival, perhaps try Princess, or be bold and, budget permitting, try Cunard. Do not get stuck with one cruise line, as many have. Some have ONLY cruised with Carnival, and have no basis for comparison.

 

There are more than two cruise lines in the world!

 

Best wishes on your future cruises. :)

 

I agree. I guess we'll try another cruise line after we've had a really bad experience , which we haven't yet since cruising with Carnival. We have an upcoming cruise in Oct and 2 booked for next year. The one thing I am doing is trying out different ships. My husband would definitely stop cruising if he was on a "boring" ship.

[FSHLOT]

Perfect example of the saying " if you look for negatives, you'll find them"

 

After all the cruises we been on, I cant understand how people find a way to find so many faults on a cruise. Exspecially bed bugs, really? And you didn't report it? Come on

[Pyrate13]

Not going to comment on his review as it is what it is and has no influence on my future cruise plans.

I do find it mildly amusing that we are hashing over a review that is over a year old and some are responding directly to the OP. She possibly, and quite probably, is not reading any of these since according to CC, she hasn't posted in over a year either. Oh well.

[sonicbuffalo]

Thank you elliair! Wow, the comments on my post are so rude! SO I guess because I didn't like my carnival cruise I am lying about my experience? How rude of you folks that "Love" carnival to act this way because my experience was terrible! We each have our own opinions about a cruise and your rude comments just shows the type of person(s) you are.

I said our room steward was the nicest but the other crew were not very friendly as I stated. Yes I do believe they had bed bugs in my room because I itched every night and then ended up with a bite that wasn't there before going to bed. In my opinion the food sucked with the exception of those places I did eat that was decent food.

Again, too each there own but I will stick with Royal!

 

In my opinion....when we cruised the Allure of The Seas, the itinerary sucked, the food sucked (Carnival's regular menu better by a mile), but the Allure had 100 times better shows, the staff was about even with Carnival's, and we'll probably cruise both lines again!

[nealstuber]

Agree with you completely that Carnival's For free food is better than RCCL - even after American Table.

 

Also agree that RCCL's shows blow playlist productions to bits.

 

With respect to itineraries, both lines have their biggest and newest ships hitting the same ports (different private islands with the edge on those going to Royal. Carnival does have more ships and that does afford them some flexibility with ports on the older smaller ships.

 

Totally disagree with you on the service front, we think Carnival still has a huge advantage here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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