Why do you sail Carnival and I don't think it's for the vifp benefits

[First and Ten]

I think it really depends on what kind of entertainment you prefer.

 

I rarely do the main shows so having a Broadway show on my cruise doesn't make the entertainment better for me. I like the variety of evening entertainment available on Carnival since I'm not going to the main theatre - on most of the other lines I've sailed on (Royal, Celebrity and Disney) if you're not going to the main show, there's not a whole lot going on in the rest of the ship - they funnel their guests into 1 or 2 main events. I like that there's 4-5 things to choose from each night on Carnival. Plus, I like the daytime activities/entertainment on Carnival more than most other lines - it's pretty constant and varied.

 

Excellent points!!!! Carnival has a lot of different entertainment going on while other lines its all geared up for just the "main shows". During the day on the Epic, bingo was the hi-lite :rolleyes:....On Carnival they always have entertainment going on by the pool and I find the CD's really trying to get the passengers involved. Not so much on the other lines I have been on

[EGM112]

April of 2019 has not opened up yet for bookings. The latest at this point is 3/23-3/30. For a balcony stateroom, brochure rates pp are 1069 for Bella, 1179 for Fantastica, 1619 for Aurea. All need 142 added for port charges. You get 50 in OBC and wifi and mealtime drinks as included promos with a balcony cabin. Another option is the YachtClub, where you can get an inside for 1669, with 150 in OBC, so it's basically the same as an Aurea balcony. If you imbibe, the YC also gets you drinks all over the ship as well as their own dedicated restaurant. It's similar to the Haven on NCL, but on a budget. Check their website as well as you tube for videos. Here is a link to the online brochures for MSC.

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Brochures/Our-Brochures.aspx

You tube review.

Our apwrap balacony on freedom is cheeper than the prices you quoted and we can drive to the port. We dont drink that much or go to spa would rather have balcony any day then inside. We have always enjoyed our carnival cruises.

[Warm Breezes]

I think it really depends on what kind of entertainment you prefer.

 

I rarely do the main shows so having a Broadway show on my cruise doesn't make the entertainment better for me. I like the variety of evening entertainment available on Carnival since I'm not going to the main theatre - on most of the other lines I've sailed on (Royal, Celebrity and Disney) if you're not going to the main show, there's not a whole lot going on in the rest of the ship - they funnel their guests into 1 or 2 main events. I like that there's 4-5 things to choose from each night on Carnival. Plus, I like the daytime activities/entertainment on Carnival more than most other lines - it's pretty constant and varied.

 

Excellent points!!!! Carnival has a lot of different entertainment going on while other lines its all geared up for just the "main shows". During the day on the Epic, bingo was the hi-lite :rolleyes:....On Carnival they always have entertainment going on by the pool and I find the CD's really trying to get the passengers involved. Not so much on the other lines I have been on

 

I haven't sailed Royal or Celebrity and Disney was 13 years ago so I can't comment on todays entertainment. 13 and 16 years ago the Disney shows were some of the best I had seen on any of our cruises. I have sailed NCL and Princess more recently. NCL Epic has more than just its main show going for it. It had the Big Top, Headliners, and Howl at the Moon (which I loved), White Hot Party, to name a few. NCL Jewel and Ruby Princess I found to be similar to Carnival entertainment only the shows were a higher quality IMHO. To each his own. Like I said before, I love sailing on Carnival. My reasons for loving it are not due to the entertainment though. It's good, just not the best I've seen compared to other lines.

[ryano]

I think it really depends on what kind of entertainment you prefer.

 

I rarely do the main shows so having a Broadway show on my cruise doesn't make the entertainment better for me. I like the variety of evening entertainment available on Carnival since I'm not going to the main theatre - on most of the other lines I've sailed on (Royal, Celebrity and Disney) if you're not going to the main show, there's not a whole lot going on in the rest of the ship - they funnel their guests into 1 or 2 main events. I like that there's 4-5 things to choose from each night on Carnival. Plus, I like the daytime activities/entertainment on Carnival more than most other lines - it's pretty constant and varied.

 

Amen! I ditched "main show" attendance about the same time I ditched the renting of a tux. Both were fun when I was a noob, not so much now though. There are a couple shows on Royal ships I would have liked to have seen but its no big deal that I missed them. My entertainment on Carnival Magic was either watching the Alterr Band or the guitar player in the RFP. I play guitar so I like live music as my entertainment.

[NOSaints1]

I think the reason why I mostly sail Carnival is because we have a good time, service is great and my dw has a good time, we're currently booked on the Dream for April 15,2018 in a spa balcony which she picked out for its amenities.

 

 

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[SNJCruisers]

Our apwrap balacony on freedom is cheeper than the prices you quoted and we can drive to the port. We dont drink that much or go to spa would rather have balcony any day then inside. We have always enjoyed our carnival cruises.

My post regarding prices in March of 2019 on the MSC Seaside was for the OP, who is from Canada and wanted information about it for April of 2019. Since you like to sail out of Galveston and you're limited to the few cruises that go out of there, why are you comparing a 12 year old ship (in 2019) that you have a reservation on out of Texas to a 1 year old one that sails out of Miami? You need to compare apples to apples. Compare the prices on the Seaside with those on the Horizon in 2019, you may change your myopic view regarding Carnival.

[SNJCruisers]

We can agree to disagree SNJ....My last NCL cruise was on the Epic about 2 years ago....The evening shows, comedy, piano bar (basically all entertainment) on Carnival was head and shoulders above anything on the Epic. Combine that with the fact that I could just walk into the Carnival venue when I wanted, sit down and enjoy the show as opposed to having to make a reservation and waiting 2-3 days. The Epic had the one of the best buffets on any cruise I have been on. That was the only thing the Epic did better than any Carnival ship I have been on

Have not sailed on the Epic, but my experience on their newest build, the Escape blows away the majority of comparisons versus Carnival. Carnival is better at lunchtime food options like Guys, Blue Iguana, Mongolian Wok, etc as well as the Alchemy Bar. Everything else is better on the Escape, from Howl at the Moon versus Carnival piano bar, making reservations for comedy shows instead of waiting in line, pseudo Broadway shows like the Brat Pack versus Playlist and having a drinks package included instead of having to pay for Cheers.

I can't comment on the Epic versus carnival, just like you can't comment on the Escape versus Carnival. But I can say that 16 of my first 20 cruises were on Carnival, while only 2 of my soon to be last 10 have been. I have taken the blinders off and enjoyed my experience on the Escape so much my September sailing will be my third consecutive sailing on her, which I have never done before on any ship, including the Carnival fleet.

[FLSteve11]

I do also love Priority embarkation, debarkation, and having my cabin ready when I get onboard. All those things cost Carnival zero dollars. Laundry I really don't care about. Maybe an internet plan discount would be nice. There are plenty of things they can/could do for an extremely minimal cost to them.

 

It's not just what it costs them to give it to you, it's the profit loss from you not purchasing it for using if you would otherwise. (For those who wouldn't then that is just the expense portion). It adds up, especially if you're trying to beat others on price.

[ray98]

Cruise vacations are expensive. If you make your decisions on cruising based on a free cup or some free drink on the last evening your priorities are in the wrong place. You should be looking for the best return on your largest investment, the value of the cruise itself compared to the fare you paid.

[FLSteve11]

I don't know if that is the complete story. Though Carnival is a more affordable line, they are much better leveraged than Royal Caribbean. Carnival's debt vs. EBITA is in the 30s while NCL and RCL are in the 50s. (http://marketrealist.com/2015/01/comparing-royal-caribbeans-leverage-versus-competitors/ )The reason for this lower debt is that Carnival has been alot more conservative with their new build investments - Those 150,000+ ton ships are capital intensive. I feel the significantly lower debt Carnival carries would make them more flexible to investment and would give them significantly lower overall costs to operate.

 

I feel Carnival's corporate culture is the reason their program is more laid back then the competition. It seems as though the goal of Carnival is to provide an equitable experience for all guests. Not have their system fall in to the trap of having the carrot being given to high tier customers become a stick for the lower. An example of how this process has played out with RCL would be the show seating for high tier guests in the theater. Even worse I have heard about high tier elevator privledges on Quantum, where guests are kicked out of elevators so the elite can use the elevator. Having been in the travel industry before I have worked in businesses where there was a much greater disparity between tiers, and I have been on the other side of the desk where I have had to be told I am not important enough to get what I needed. Even worse I have seen some highest tier benefits that are so unreasonable that they create a system wide drain on service to all other levels.

 

Reading an awesome Skift Article published yesterday (https://skift.com/2017/06/27/the-business-of-loyalty-carnival-cruise-line-wants-to-win-over-customers-earlier/), Carnival does say they are looking into their loyalty program. This confirms my thinking, as they do say they are not looking for people just needing high tier perks -" the cruise line wants to cultivate passengers who are enthusiastic about the brand, not just driven by the promise of perks." . They want to help foster a better attitude about the brand. They also want to allow for more perks early in the program.

 

Those figures are for Carnival and Royal Corp, not the brands. They contain all the other brands that are included in the corporate umbrella (Princess, HAL, Cunard, Costa, Seabourne, etc on their end , Celebrity, Azamara, etc on Royals side), so it's mainly useless for comparing the individual method of comparing just the Carnival and Royal Caribbean brand out of it. Particularly as Royals is by far the biggest part of their corp structure while the Carnival brand is a more relatively minor part after all the other brands come in.

 

And yes, a lot of that is because, until very recently, most of Carnival CORP has not been building many ships at all. Princess and HAL went on fairly long breaks in building ships for a bit, and even outside that, the lines in general build lower cost ships compared to what Royal generally builds (both in size and features). We'll see if that actually holds once some of their lines start building out more ships with newer designs.

 

As for the brands, the Carnival brand generally goes for low-cost pricing. Some of that is because their ships are cheaper to build, but some is also in that they are trying to pull in the low price (and new) cruiser into their line without using larger, more feature rich (and expensive) ships that need (and also command and get) a higher price to fill them. Now if you add in more and pricier perks, you need to up the price to compensate for that and keep their profit. This then makes the price more comparable to their competitors, and makes it harder to draw in the same people who might look at other lines at that point. Royal goes more for the "Look at all the snazzy stuff we give", which includes their loyalty perks, and goes for a slightly different type of customer then, who will pay extra to get those things. Those people are less likely to go the other way, as the Carnival ships just don't have the same features (though the newer ships are getting closer, but are also getting pricier as well. Look at Horizon pricing for example)

[RS77471]

Interest thread...I have been reading. We just came off a cruise last week on a different line....while on it we booked the Vista....fro 16 family members! We went to the next cruise desk fully intending to book one on that line for our family for 2019. The just did not seem interested...lol Sent a text to our Carnival rep...he booked us entirely over text! (It was actually quite a bit more than the other line) We have a combined 150 cruises between us on multiple lines.. We picked Carnival for the next one because they have something for every family member!! The great customer service and upbeat attitude of the staff members just makes you smile!!! Yes there are more elegant lines....and each has its purpose...but for a large group with all ages ...Carnival!!!

[GalCruzer]

Whats wrong with those souvenir glasses, the tarvis ones are nice.

 

I've picked up so many of these at thrift stores...

[trirae]

I've enjoyed reading through this thread. Our reasons are much the same as others. Price matters. Each time I've booked a cruise, I've looked extensively at options, and so far, the Carnival option was at least $800 cheaper for comparable cabins for our family of four. When my husband and I talked about it, while we know there are better entertainment options on other lines, we like our evenings in the comedy club or watching dive in well enough that it hasn't been worth that much of a jump in price.

 

What's been really interesting is talking to my kids who love Carnival, obviously not knowing any difference. My youngest very specifically likes going on the same line because we know what to expect and what we like. I always say it took us several Disney trips to get it all right. Now, each one is awesome. It took us until our third cruise before we really honed in on a rhythm that worked for the whole family. After our second, I didn't think we'd ever cruise again, but we took the risk and loved it. Since our family is not particularly great at going with the flow, I think we all have some fears that the unexpected would make the cruise less fun and at an added cost, why bother if we know we like what we're getting?

 

I don't care at all about the loyalty benefits. It's not something I've ever paid attention to.

[txskier]

We have 24 cruises over 5 lines. We really don't have a favorite line, we have enjoyed them all. we sail back on Carnival after 4 years since the last Carnival cruise. We know it will feel "home" once we step on-board.

[CeleBrat]

Going out on a limb here...but we actually do sail for the benefits, primarily the priority boarding and the laundry. Prior to becoming Platinum, we continued to sail Carnival because they offered the best price, the greatest variety of ships and ports, and the most fun amenities for the kids (besides Disney).

 

So yes, now we do sail for the VIFP benefits!

 

CeleBrat

[h_blond2]

I stay with Carnival because of the price and the fact that I have 3 ports within driving distance. Carnival has always treated me well.

[Jenn1974]

Because I always enjoy myself. I know what to expect, I know how things work and the service I receive on the ship is top notch. If it's not broke don't fix it.

[lcpagejr]

Because I always enjoy myself. I know what to expect, I know how things work and the service I receive on the ship is top notch. If it's not broke don't fix it.

 

I couldn't have said it any better!!

[dmdiver]

I have found the Carnival staff to be friendlier than the Princess staff. Royal Caribbean staff is pretty friendly. My Carnival cruises have all been less expensive than my Royal Caribbean ones. Princess was way higher for our traveling companions and the balcony didn't even have a sofa. We won the cruise, so it didn't matter to us. Carnival has more ships in Galveston than Royal, so that's a plus. I do appreciate finally getting to the point where I get priority boarding and free laundry on Carnival, but that's not the reason I sail Carnival. I am willing to try other lines, but my husband is hesitant. I want to try MSC Seaside and NCL (not sure which ship I prefer).

[salvagegirl]

Because for us its what works. Mostly price , having 4 ports that we can drive to , never have had a bad cruise. We like the smaller ships and have always gotten great deals to allow us to cruise more than once a year. Last halloween fantasy from mobile was a prime example , 5 days for 800 for both of us for everything and we had a blast.

[chefchick]

We've had a great time and booked on the dream but I'm just wondering if I'm missing something by not trying others

 

 

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And you will never know if you don’t try the others, but if you are happy where you are is that really a problem?

[BNBR]

"Price, price, price, price...." Reading post after post and it seems all about low prices. Carnival is, without a doubt, the Wal-Mart of the seas. Not that there is anything wrong with that. They should embrace it, put a smiley face on their funnel.

[jerrya72]

My first Carnival cruise was for the price and since we had a great time we just keep going back. I would like to try another line though.

[RS77471]

Our Vista for next year is actually more than our Liberty of the Seas was this year...lol ... and we had a bigger cabin on Liberty!! Still hoping some kind of sale will happen to lower the price. For the type of cabin we got they will not let us apply our casino rate as of yet!

[Jerseygirl1416]

"Price, price, price, price...." Reading post after post and it seems all about low prices. Carnival is, without a doubt, the Wal-Mart of the seas. Not that there is anything wrong with that. They should embrace it, put a smiley face on their funnel.

 

You know I’ve always heard that saying but never felt it until I sailed NCL Breakaway. That IMHO is the Wal-Mart of the seas.