When you're not cruising Carnival, who do you cruise and why?

[B4RK3R]

Hi all,

 

To start, we have been very happy with Carnival in the past, and will continue to cruise with them. With that being said, we are looking to do a 10+ day cruise in the first half of 2018, and are curious about other cruise lines. We are wanting maybe a little more refinement, and a great overall experience. As the title suggests, when you guys/gals are not having fun on Carnival, who do you choose to cruise, and why?

[riclop]

MSC because they have the most elegant ships and the best entertainment and better food then Carnival and the price is much lower.

[B4RK3R]

Thanks both of you! Keep em coming!

[easyboy]

We are on Princess being familiar with its ships and itineraries. But will also sail on RCL in May on the Brilliance.

[Essiesmom]

Princess, HAL, MSC, Celebrity. Whoever has the best price at a time we can go. Itinerary not necessarily important. EM

[Hendricks Clan]

NCL. Love the freestyle aspect of NCL and the new ships are fantastic in terms of entertainment and dinning options.

[Rosefloater]

We cruise on Princes because they go to some Mexican Riviera ports that Carnival rarely goes to.

[Micahs Grandad]

Princess as more and more we want to see the world.

 

Also Carnivals entertainment has certainly gone downhill.

[nhsails]

Are we talking Caribbean or in general because some lines do better in certain areas than others?

[jerseyjjs]

Great deals come by on other lines that make it hard to resist. Last Sept., I booked a corner balcony on NCL Escape for $1,029 as a solo that also included the alcohol and internet packages. I still come back to Carnival, but variety is essential to me.

[sid_9169]

NCL, due to their Studio (solo) cabins, and included Ultimate Beverage Package. Also, no elegant night or dress codes to deal with...

[Out of Iowa]

if it's not a Carnival cruise then it's a land-based vacation for us, either domestic or Europe.

[JacqueOCS]

NCL for us! Love the freestyle dining. Hubby is retired military, so we've played dress up enough and enjoy just relaxing & not having to dress a certain way for dining.

[beloum]

We like Celebrity. Food and service much better than Carnival and they have some very attractive longer itineraries. Price is comparable to Carnival especially once you factor in the free drink packages/OBC that they frequently offer as specials.

[broadwaybaby123]

I love Royal Caribbean! I just love the types of activities onboard. Another excellent cruise line is Celebrity, who is owned by the same company. Celebrity has much better food, so I guess it depends on what you value more.

[shof515]

since i'm stuck of only cruising out of Manhattan, i go back and forth between carnival and Norwegian.

[PrettyHazardous]

We like NCL as well. Their customer service is great. Such a fun atmosphere loved the white party and how they give you cool towels when coming back onboard from ports. However their food is no where near as good as CCL imo.

 

 

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[Alabaster Cruiser]

Enjoy both Princess and Celebrity. Enjoyed Blue Man Group on Norwegion. Celebrity had Silent Disco which turned out to be more fun than we have had in a long time. We still cruise a lot of Carnival because of the casinos but generally go with the best deal. Have not tried MSC yet and it has been a long time since we sailed Holland. We have never been on a bad cruise....they have all stayed afloat!

 

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[SadieN]

Mom doesn't like to fly. So we cruise out of Southern CA. Choices are Carnival and Princess. Princess does itins that Carnival doesn't.

[srlafleur]

Since we choose our cruises for the itinerary over anything else (price excluded), we cruise on any line/ship that will take us where we want to go for a price we're willing to pay.

So, in addition to Carnival, we've sailed Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Celebrity, Princess and Holland America. We've enjoyed them all.

[cruzeluver]

We like Royal and Celebrity.

 

Royal is (in our experience) very similar to Carnival in terms of food quality and service, but Royal's newer ships are far more impressive than anything Carnival has in terms of features, "wow" factor and more understated decor.

 

Celebrity is more of a step up. Food and service are far more polished than on Royal or Carnival. Lots of little things that indicate you are on a more premium line from orchids and real cloth towels in the public bathrooms, water and punch provided when returning to the ship in port, a complimentary glass of bubbly or orange juice upon embarkation and only one (hallelujah!) PA announcement per day, and only to provide weather and distance traveled updates.

[ksmcdonald]

We just started cruising NCL and love the drink package being included and the specialty dining package being included. We are booked in a couple weeks on the Breakaway and our cruise fare (not included port tax and fees) was $799 for a balcony! I know people say by including the drink package NCL charges more for the cruise. $799 is not more than a 7 day Carnival cruise, that is for sure. Carnival is missing the boat by charging people up to $350-$400 for drink package on top of their cruise. Carnival also doesn't offer specialty dining packages. We also love free style cruising and not having to pack any dress clothes. With the airlines charging for anything over 50 lbs, that makes packing so much easier! I do have the Vista booked for June, but now wishing I had booked another NCL cruise.

[skywalkr2]

I would LOVE to try another line, but until I get Platinum... CCL has me stuck.

[maryred]

since i'm stuck of only cruising out of Manhattan, i go back and forth between carnival and Norwegian.

Why stuck to only Manhattan and to only Carnival & NCL?

Can't you also access Brooklyn and/or Bayonne by mass transit or car service?

Brooklyn has Cunard's Queen Mary 2, Princess's Regal Princess and Crown Princess.

Bayonne has Royal's Anthem of the Seas, and Celebrity's Summit.

Additionally Manhattan will also have sporadic sailings by HAL's Maasdam & Zuiderdam, Oceania's MS Insignia, Princess's Sea Princess, Viking Ocean's Viking Sky, Regent's Seven Seas Navigator, Disney's Magic, SilverSea's Silver Whisper & Silver Whisper, Crystal Symphony, AIDAdiva and AIDAluna

[cynt]

I cruise RCCL when Im not on Carnival. I absolutely love the Oasis and Quantum class ships. Entertainment, entertainment, entertainment! From the Cats and Mamma Mia productions, Puzzle Break room, go carts, Flow rider, Zip line, ice skating to a day on the Boardwalk, Ifly, Two70 Experience and High diving Aqua theatre shows. There's nothing like it! Hands down best entertainment on sea.

 

 

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