Want to try something new

[Martini Mom]

We've been loyal to Carnival for many years, but my husband is less than thrilled with the food and service over the last few years. We are looking at Norwegian Star cruise lines for our next trip for a change and for the extras thrown in. Not sure how we'll feel cheating on Carnival? Thoughts?

[bury me at sea]

I understand brand loyalty to a point.  If I have tried several brands and settled on one that consistently meets my expectations I am fairly likely to stick with it.

 

If it doesn't continue to please, or if someone else offers something that sounds as if it might be more pleasing, I am willing to try it.

 

Assuming you already know you love cruising, why not try other lines?

[Nic6318]

Hi

 

??? "cheating on Carnival" ???....do you have a contract with them, you aren't married to them. Unlike bury me at sea, I don't buy the brand loyalty thing. If I see something different that I would like to try, I try it. How else would you be able to have different experiences? You might find you like something else, or you might not, but you have to try. 

 

If you don't like the trip, you go on the NCL threads and tell everybody there how much better Carnival does things, and you tell them how you can't imagine why they waste their time and money sailing with them. 😀  If you enjoy yourself, then you have a different perspective, and you have learnt something new. Either way, you have had a cruise and that is usually good enough for me. 

 

hope this helps

[Markmom18]

Go for another cruise line, or more!  No harm. We are Diamond with RCCL, just were on the Oasis in August. Yeah, we get the perks. But now that we no longer drink alcohol, it seemed like the majority of those perks were alcohol relatated. 

 

 Honestly,  we just really love a Carnival Cruise!  The timing of events, the staff, the trivia etc. Yeah, our son works for them. But, we started a decade before he was hired.   

 

Nothing bad about comparing. If you go on land vacations , I bet you don't go to the same destination every year.

Have fun exploring,

🤗🤗 Bobbi

[Moviela]

Actually Carnival and NCL were founded by the same guy. How different could they be? 

 

If you want to move upscale, Seabourn, Cunard, or Holland America Line might catch your eye, and all are Carnival brands. 

[tallnthensome]

I would never stick with any one cruise line. Last year it was Carnival Vista for us, MSC this past April, NCL next March, and booked on Celebrity for 2020. Done Royal, Holland, and Princess as well. You're missing out on the joys of cruising which is variety and new experiences. We sail Carnival again next August to Cuba but I will tell you that Carnival is the LAST cruise line that I would stay loyal to. Don't be scared, try something else...... It's like eating at the same restaurant every week because the food is decent so let's never go anywhere else .... Makes no sense. Why would you feel guilty if the product Carnival is providing to you isn't satisfactory? I'd say "bye" just like that .....

Edited November 15, 2018 by tallnthensome

[NCTribeFan]

After about 30 Carnival cruises (and 1 RCI & 3 HAL), I did the transatlantic on Star last spring.  Really liked the ship and everything about it.  Plus, the ship was going straight into dry dock, so I thought she'd be run down and in need of major work, but, honestly, I just didn't see that.

 

Enjoyed it so much that we all bought Next Cruise certificates while onboard.  Thought about booking her again for next spring but we decided on Jade NY-Rome instead.

 

Love the ship size (I'm a huge fan of Carnival's Spirit class).  Food, even in the MDR, was much better than I was expecting (I'd read that the MDR was not good and to only eat at the specialty restaurants).  And, I'll tell you, that drinks package was great.

 

To take a 14-night sailing on a new-to-me line was a bit of a concern (what if I hated it?!?!?), but it was a really good cruise.

 

We stayed in Barcelona for 3 nights and then took Horizon back to NY.  I'd done the Vista inaugural, so pretty much knew what to expect on Horizon.  Honestly, I preferred the Star sailing.

 

Of course, there are things I love about Carnival (just booked the Radiance TA for June 2020), but honestly?  I'm just pretty bored.  Doesn't matter if you're on the newest, biggest ship or the oldest, smallest ship.  Pretty much the same things to do.  Yeah, the bigger ships have more venues, but the activities are the same old trivia, shows, jokes, menus.

 

I need 5 more nights on Carnival to reach Diamond.  Not sure I'll even get there before the Radiance sailing.  There are just so many other options out there.  I want to sail HAL again.  Beautiful ships, good food, good service, good entertainment and NO, not everyone on HAL is over 80 years old!

 

And, since I'm usually solo these days, other lines don't always charge the double solo supplement, which makes them affordable.  Seriously, if I can sail an 11-night on HAL for less than a Carnival Journeys sailing, why go on Carnival?

[Chervil]

Over the years I have sailed RCCL, DIsney, Princess and Carnival. (although it has been about 20 yrs since the RCCL and Disney cruises).

We have found things we liked about all the lines and things we weren't too keen on.

To me it is like being loyal to a specific hotel chain.

I'll usually look first to see if my favorite brand is available, but if not I'm open to trying something new.
That's how we found Home2 Suites when we usually stay at Holiday Inn Express!

 

Look for itinerary first (decide WHERE you want to go) and then see which cruise line gives you the best bang for your buck on that route!

And spend LOTS of time reviewing the ships online, watching videos of them and of course browsing the boards here at CC!

 

Main reason we are sailing Carnival for the 3rd time in a row?
Finally convinced our youngest daughter to join us on a cruise!
She isn't too keen on the idea of being "trapped" on a ship with "nothing" to do and having a time limit set on how long she can stay in each place.
We chose an itinerary we have sailed before, to ports we are sure she will love in order to give her the best possible chance of enjoying herself. Plus this ship has all the amenities the last ship we sailed on had (taking the Vista, sailed on the Breeze) so we know there are things she will like!
We think she will love it once she tries it and even if she decides cruising is not for her, at least she got to have the experience!

If she wasn't coming, we would have been booking a cruise to Alaska or possibly Europe!
However since we know these ports of call, we felt this was the safer bet!

[Melissalcsw]

Do what feels right for you and your family, it's your dollar.

 

For us, Carnival still meets our needs. Who knows what the future holds.

I would definitely like to try a Princess and maybe Celebrity, but for now I like Carnival's product.

 

Just enjoy cruising.

[sanmarcosman]

It's a cruise line, not a spouse.

[Joebucks]

There is no need to feel like you have to stick to one, unless the loyalty benefits make or break it for you. For some, if it isn't broken, don't fix it. For some, the variety keeps cruising very fresh. I know I've certainly beaten a few enjoyable vacations to death.

 

Although, I do question the part about "extras being thrown in". If it would be the same price, and you get more stuff, then yea, that's a great value. If you end up paying $1000 more, no extras were thrown in. You paid for more stuff.

[The4Cruisers]

I can never find comparable cruises for the same value from the ports we generally sail from.  I have no interest in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale.  

So, as long as CCL continues to provide us with the best value at their price point, then CCL we sail. 

 

Good luck and enjoy your new adventure, Martini Mom!   Let us know how it goes.   

 

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, sanmarcosman said:

It's a cruise line, not a spouse.

Best post of the day...

[Martini Mom]

Sorry for the confusion guys. The "cheating" comment was meant tongue in cheek ;). I know Carnival inside and out, so it's very different to feel like a newbie cruiser again, but I guess that's fun too. We booked our 2 rooms on the Star, so fingers crossed. 🙂 Hoping for good service, decent food, and good comedy.

[pe4all]

After many cruises in a row on Carnival we tried NCL as we were getting "bored" with the entertainment, food, etc. on Carnival.  I thought I would hate freestyle cruising, but we loved it!  We threw in a RCCL cruise - didn't like it too much. (food-wise)  We now go back and forth between Carnival to NCL - using Carnival for "local" (Caribbean) cruises, and NCL for more "distant" cruises. (Med, Baltics, Hawaii)  We are not adverse to trying different lines.  I would definitely try something new if you find an itinerary and price you like.

[LuckyStar]

On 11/14/2018 at 7:21 PM, Martini Mom said:

We've been loyal to Carnival for many years, but my husband is less than thrilled with the food and service over the last few years. We are looking at Norwegian Star cruise lines for our next trip for a change and for the extras thrown in. Not sure how we'll feel cheating on Carnival? Thoughts?

 

I've been on three different lines and they have all been good.  Loved NCL for our Alaska cruise.  Frankly, they all are pretty much the same.  I just don't like that that my status points are now spread over three different lines. 

[sparks1093]

We are also loyal to our wallets. I've read so many threads saying that all of the mainstream lines are more similar than they are different and that squares with our experience so far. We decide where we want to go and then find which cruise line going there charges the least and sometimes even charging the least may not be strictly what we go by (so if a new cruise line were only a couple hundred more we'd be more inclined to give them a try). 

[Anyislandwilldo]

We've been with Carnival right from the start.  We've reached platinum level and enjoy the perks.

[RWolver672]

We tried RCL once because we wanted to go to Aruba and at that time, Carnival didn't.  After that, we went right back to Carnival.  We found that we like it much better than RCL and feel no need to try another line because we are happy with Carnival.  

[hockeyguru32]

I've tried NCL and MSC and always compared those lines with Carnival, and yes I felt like I was cheating on my first love and now I know what the other 2 lines are like and I am very comfortable sailing with Carnival because I like what they offer me. 

[evandbob]

I'm Diamond on Carnival and have the Conquest booked for a February casino fare.  I also have a 10 day NCL Jade and 15 day Epic (TA) as well as a 10 day Celebrity booked.

 

I sailed Carnival almost 30 times exclusively before I branched out, and I didn't know what I was missing until I tried other lines.  MSC offers a loyalty status match if one is concerned with perks, as well as brand new ships, low rates and all you can drink fares.

 

After cruising on new ship builds, inc. Carnival's own Vista and Horizon, , I realized how hideous many of Carnival's older ships decor is....yucky Farcus.

 

JMO, YMMV.

[Micahs Grandad]

We started going back and forth between RCCL and Carnival and settled on Carnival and became Diamond a few years ago.

 

Got tired of same old and tried Princess to see the world and find it a much better overall experience.

 

No reason to be tied down to one cruise lines, as you get older your tastes and wants will change so why not try new things