Why Carnival?

[Jamesatgsu]

Just now, firefly333 said:

Only dream class allows 5 to a ov cabin. I'm not aware of any other carnival cabins that allow you to book 5. 

 

Agree rcl will allow you to squeeze a baby or toddler into a quad,  just search for 4 and call. Carnival doesnt allow this at all. Advantage rcl once again?

We've done multiple carnival cruises with 5, never on a dream class. It has been Fantasy, Sensation, Victory, and next year on the Horizon. Was going to be the Sunshine, but it got canceled earlier this year. Every time it's been an interior room, but will be family harbor interior on Horizon. I've yet to see a ship in the fleet that doesn't offer 5 in a room, though on newer ships it is usually expensive. On older ships it just costs us taxes and gratuity. 

[tallnthensome]

Last week's Panorama cruise was only my third ever on Carnival. I have no PVP, no loyalty to carnival at all,  and don't gamble so no casino offer so the $200 Panorama cruise is still a mystery to us. 

[grumpyjr88]

25 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Maybe it was a casino offer? It includes free drinks in casino. I've used a pvp in the past and still linked to her. 2nd leg of breeze I booked direct. ES and its come down some, was over $800 for my b2b breeze but was able to get some obc on 2nd leg. Still close to that, and vista is even higher for 7 days. 

 

I'll probably plan on some gambling see if that helps. But I have cheaper rates from rcl .. fact. I never once ever in over 15 years got a discounted rate from carnival and more than a few bad issues. I feel like carnival doesnt want folks like me and rcl does. I plan on being at 340 loyalty pts on rcl by dec 2022 so I can get half off 2nd fare for solo cruising. Carnival offers me nothing like that. 

 

Folks say carnival offers me fun. I'm capable of making my own fun and enjoying myself, dont need a crew member to do it for me. I'm off on vista Saturday.. oct breeze .. then rcl. See if carnival reaches out with a better offer. Right now I am not paying extra for someone making my cruise fun. 

 

Many here saying how cheap carnival is also say they got casino or vipf offers. 

Not that you need validation, but yeah, I'd be frustrated as well if i never got any offers. 😞

[csm5986142]

We are in Washington State, so unless we want to go to Alaska again, we are flying regardless of which port we choose, so port location is not really a factor for us.

We have also tried Holland America and NCL, and we didn't find a huge difference among them.  Between platinum benefits, and casino offers, carnival has won our loyalty, but if we find an itinerary we love on another line, we will try it.

I have heard people complain that there is not much to do on the Carnival ships, but I think it depends on what you like.  At this point in my life, vacations are about resting, relaxing, having no schedule, and eating/sleeping when I want to.  Carnival just has a fun relaxed atmosphere.

[Calnev1]

22 hours ago, Colorado Beach Bum said:

The newer RCL and NCL ships definitely were a step up on Carnival but when it came to food we always liked Carnival the best especially deck food for things like guy’s burgers, cantina, pizza, deli.  

This.  We have cruised many times with RCL, NCL, and Carnival, and in general the food on Carnival has been better.  YMMV.

[Calnev1]

13 hours ago, rlindholm said:

 MSC... The ship was beautiful but the customer service and food were not good. 

How true.  One MSC cruise for us and we were done with them.   Customer service nonexistant  as they treat you like the cargo line they are.  Food really hit or miss.

[kdr69]

23 hours ago, jet228 said:

Carnival never seems to win when it comes to straight up value

First of all i would need to know what your parameters are for straight up value?  I can do 2 Carnival cruises for 1 RCI cruise price wise which to me indicates good value.  For all the "free" stuff built into their pricing i guess you could say RCI or NCL has "straight up value" too but you are paying for all that free stuff and alot of it i wouldnt use.  

[Linda the Book Lover]

15 hours ago, rlindholm said:

I have sailed with carnival, RCL and MSC.  We mostly sail with carnival and the reason is probably back in the day, when we took our first cruise in our early 20's and didn't have much money it was cheapest and it was so much fun.  So I guess that has stuck with us.  I didn't notice a huge difference with RCL.  MSC... The ship was beautiful but the customer service and food were not good.  We finally found one lady who was friendly and she told us her schedule so we just went wherever she was working and tipped the heck out of her.  We had drink vouchers but she wouldn't take our vouchers and kept the snacks coming.  She said tipping wasn't common on MSC cruises and that a lot of the cruisers were rude so that may be part of the customer service problem.  I think it goes both ways.  Happy cruisers make make happy staff.  Happy staff make happy better tipping cruisers and the cycle continues.  

 

I went down a rabbit hole but I doubt I will ever cruise with MSC again.  Once we are no longer bringing teenagers along I think we will try out other lines as well and once we have grandkids I'm sure we'll go broke on a Disney cruise or two.  But I also think Carnival will always be our favorite.  

I agree with you on the family factor. The husband and I tried different cruise lines without children which in my opinion makes a difference as we only do adult things. We loved MSC but then again we went with friends w/o children and grandchildren for a strictly adult cruise. We sail in the YC which also makes a difference as you never have to go anywhere as it is a self-contained bubble, though we did go out and about. Everyone from employes to fellow travelers were nice. It was a different atmosphere as they are a privately owned European shipping company, so the employees were more low-key. When sailing with my granddaughter we stick with Carnival and NCL as she likes these ships and the kids club if she goes is great.

[snowballs mom]

27 minutes ago, Linda the Book Lover said:

I agree with you on the family factor. The husband and I tried different cruise lines without children which in my opinion makes a difference as we only do adult things. We loved MSC but then again we went with friends w/o children and grandchildren for a strictly adult cruise. We sail in the YC which also makes a difference as you never have to go anywhere as it is a self-contained bubble, though we did go out and about. Everyone from employes to fellow travelers were nice. It was a different atmosphere as they are a privately owned European shipping company, so the employees were more low-key. When sailing with my granddaughter we stick with Carnival and NCL as she likes these ships and the kids club if she goes is great.

I do think that the Carnival kids clubs are the best - my daughter loved them when she was young. I liked that they separated the younger from the older teens. 

[Linda the Book Lover]

4 minutes ago, snowballs mom said:

I do think that the Carnival kids clubs are the best - my daughter loved them when she was young. I liked that they separated the younger from the older teens. 

My daughter and I love the age separation as well.

[jet228]

7 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I was just thinking this morning about why so many write carnival is cheaper when it's not what I see all the time, half and half. And carnival deals, I'm wondering if they dont want you to reprice what you have and try to find people not booked. Normally rcl is cheaper to book the day itineraries are released. ..though not always by a lot. I booked allure the day it came out for Galveston and so far the price never has been that low again. And I wanted special cabins. Added a allure, moved it from feb 2023 actually and prices were up. I dont see the same anticipation on carnival tracking what day itineraries will be released. Prices on carnival arent that special when released, but do drop lower later on. I think maybe the game of pricing is different is why people who mainly follow carnival say it's cheaper. Seems a mystery to me and trying to understand why people believe it, disney is the same btw, cheapest the day pricing comes out. I could have booked alaska for under 1k the day it was released last year for 2022 in a solo cabin, but fees are over 350. 600ish for cruisefare is a deal for alaska and pricing was only that low the day it came out. 

 

Seems like on carnival I see a lot of pricing drops right after final payment. Just a different pricing game. Works for me as I prefer to book last minute. I will have 197 loyalty pts with carnival, so a decent amount. I'm paying less for b2b breeze 10 days than for 7 day vista booked a year in advance. Carnival often has last minute better deals. 

Yeah I'll definitely sail Carnival again but I'd compare it for cruise style and age demo with NCL. I find prices comparable between the two but then NCL adds free at sea for an extra hundred or so bucks and you get free drinks,  wifi,  and excursion credits. I might just not be getting these great deals on my vip page that others are. 

[Jasonsterling]

On 9/6/2021 at 8:31 AM, grumpyjr88 said:

It was $45...i got the offer and instabooked. Lol

Sorry you got screwed- lol- the person in question posted a screenshot of the deal and it was $35.00 Ha ha- been seeing prices all over the map actually and who knows maybe her's was four day and your's five. 

[Colorado Beach Bum]

On 9/6/2021 at 9:36 AM, firefly333 said:

I'll probably plan on some gambling see if that helps.

You should try spending a little in the casino.  With all the cruises you take I don’t think it would take much to start getting some offers.  And hey, you might win a little. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

On 9/5/2021 at 1:09 PM, AtSeaWithChris said:

To me it’s about the fun. Carnival reminds me of going to summer camp and the people aren’t as pretentious. You’ll see people from all different walks of life. We can afford to go on other cruise lines but at the end of the day Carnival resonates in my blood. 

 

what cruise line were you sailing on that had these pretentious people?

[SNJCruisers]

On 9/6/2021 at 8:37 AM, Jasonsterling said:

Ha ha- no kidding someone was posting like a 35.00 VIFP deal they got for a four day on the Breeze for September/October. Really? Meanwhile same prices as always on my page. Carnival needs to drop the lottery system and what they offer one VIFP person they offer them all.

Just like all of those who bragged about getting the RU 1-2-3 codes for the discounted Cheers.  Just because I have paid for Cheers on my 4 Carnival cruises I have sailed since it came out does not mean I am not worthy of the same discount.   If I wasn't so psyched about the Excel Class ships, I would have put Carnival in my rear view mirror.

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

 

what cruise line were you sailing on that had these pretentious people?

If I had to make a guess.....RCI. The Diamond Plus members complain on their boards all of the time, I can only imagine what it's like in their lounge on board. 😄

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

If I had to make a guess.....RCI. The Diamond Plus members complain on their boards all of the time, I can only imagine what it's like in their lounge on board. 😄

The happy hour lounge is no more. Now they are adding a pinnacle lounge though not a happy hour, just a lounge lol. Diamond, diamond plus and pinnacle is 4 5 or 6 vouchers anywhere anytime. If you are in the diamond lounge during happy hour still have to use hour vouchers.

 

As far as talking about drinking, my roll call nothing better than discussing cheers and what they will have to drink. 

 

I was hoping for lower capacity but they moved some glory folks over to my sailing this Saturday last minute. I've heard 60 to 76%, but hope they are wrong. 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

On 9/5/2021 at 11:46 AM, jet228 said:

Hey cruisers! Just for a little background, I've cruised twice with each of Carnival, Royal Caribbean (after next weekend), and NCL. My cruises on Carnival were 7 and 4 years ago. 

 

I'm constantly dreaming and test booking cruises from a bunch of different lines,  and weighing the pluses and minuses of all. 

 

Carnival never seems to win when it comes to straight up value,  and I'm wondering from the die hard Carnival fans: why do you book Carnival? Is it itinerary,  ship amenities,  or something else?

 

I'll likely go on a Carnival cruise again soon as I want to see how the product has changed in the past 4 years so just curious for input from fans.

 

Thanks!

Most of the time, Price. However, We are currently booked on 5 cruises for 2021 not all Carnival and one Carnival for 2022. At some point in 2022 we will give MSC a shot. They have excellent prices and perks.

[grumpyjr88]

On 9/7/2021 at 8:33 PM, Jasonsterling said:

Sorry you got screwed- lol- the person in question posted a screenshot of the deal and it was $35.00 Ha ha- been seeing prices all over the map actually and who knows maybe her's was four day and your's five. 

How did i get screwed? 😳

[codeyell0]

For me it was what was included and what was not.
Carnival has tons of free food options and decent pay options.
Guys burgers vs Johnny rockets? we have Johnny's locally I would not pay $9pp to eat here (on a ship). its like steak n shake to me.  Guys is free and awesome well from what i can see.   RCL seemed to have lots of things to do but so many were extra. 
If I'm going to pay extra can we start at a lower price point?
RCL had some nice rooms but we don't have tons of money and my money went much further with carnival especially with my kids

[Jasonsterling]

4 hours ago, grumpyjr88 said:

How did i get screwed? 😳

Ha ha- I was just joking cause your offer was ten dollars more than the one posted on FB so you had to pay more so they screwed you over- lol, I wasn't being serious. Obviously your offer was very good. I meant it in a light hearted "I'm jealous" way. 

[grumpyjr88]

1 hour ago, Jasonsterling said:

Ha ha- I was just joking cause your offer was ten dollars more than the one posted on FB so you had to pay more so they screwed you over- lol, I wasn't being serious. Obviously your offer was very good. I meant it in a light hearted "I'm jealous" way. 

Now that you say that, i do remember getting the $35 as well but there weren't any sailings available out of Galveston for the dates we wanted so went with the higher price. 😁

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

5 hours ago, codeyell0 said:

For me it was what was included and what was not.
Carnival has tons of free food options and decent pay options.
Guys burgers vs Johnny rockets? we have Johnny's locally I would not pay $9pp to eat here (on a ship). its like steak n shake to me.  Guys is free and awesome well from what i can see.   RCL seemed to have lots of things to do but so many were extra. 
If I'm going to pay extra can we start at a lower price point?
RCL had some nice rooms but we don't have tons of money and my money went much further with carnival especially with my kids

Agree. As for Johnny Rockets. I have not tried it because of the price. However it is all you can eat while you are in the place. If it is like Steak n' Shake. That would really be not worth it. Now, I have not tried the milk shake. But a crew member told me he goes there every day to get one. He said they are great. As for Guy's they were a lot juicer and tastier when they started. Now they squash them so thin and leave them on too long. Guess they want well done. That they are. If they are not busy I have  them put one on for me. Thicker and done just right. never a problem with one then.

[Saint Greg]

On 9/6/2021 at 3:13 PM, jet228 said:

Yeah I'll definitely sail Carnival again but I'd compare it for cruise style and age demo with NCL. I find prices comparable between the two but then NCL adds free at sea for an extra hundred or so bucks and you get free drinks,  wifi,  and excursion credits. I might just not be getting these great deals on my vip page that others are. 

 

Anytime I look at that it just isn't the case. I just looked for the cheapest 7 day I could find out of New Orleans in December for both CCL and NCL. For CCL it's a total of $509. For NCL it's 1.460. And that doesn't include free anything. But the times when Carnival is at their regular prices and NCL is offering the free drink package, once they add in all the hidden fees that come with the "free" package it always comes to the same or more than a Carnival cruise with Cheers.

[matymil]

I honestly think carnival totally wins when it comes to value. I priced out NCL from NYC for a cruise at the end of the year. Even with all their "free" promos it doesnt even come close to Carnivals price. Even when you factor in the flight and hotel Carnival is still hundreds cheaper. I also love their crew. I feel like they constantly go above and beyond.