Your Favorite Carnival Ship?

[Ilovesailaway]

What is your favorite Carnival ship and why?

Please don't pick one because of where it cruises from or where it goes. I am more interested in what's your favorite because of layout, amenities, passenger space, style, size.... or other qualities unique to your choice.

[SNJCruisers]

It will be the Mardi Gras because it's such a game changer for Carnival.  Have sailed on Carnival 20 times and only sailed on a few ships in the fleet more than once.   I am so confident about the Excel Class that I have 4 bookings on the Mardi Gras and another on the Celebration.

[Indytraveler83]

My favorite ship layout was the Carnival Miracle. Public spaces are very large compared to passenger capacity, the Alchemy bar is huge and the Serenity Deck is the aft pool deck. Same layout in the Pride, Spirit and Legend. If I remember right, these ships weren't originally designed for Carnival, and reflect a less crowded vibe than the typical ship. 

 

That said, my Cloud 9 Spa balcony on the Carnival Dream was likely my best experience overall. If you can afford the upgrade, the Cloud 9 Spa rooms on the Dream class (and I'm guessing Vista class) offer a really cool spa area that really gives you a different, calmer vibe. Spent most of the cruise in there!

[jsglow]

I like several for different reasons and I'll do this by class:

 

Best bigger, modern: Magic.  I think the Dream Class is significantly better than the Vista Class. I can't distinguish between Breeze/Magic having only been on the latter.  Horizon was great this week with 2150 onboard.  At 4000 max you won't find me on her with the limited size public spaces.

 

Best elbow room: Miracle (and soon to be Pride).  So glad we're doing two weeks on her.  Best pax/space ratio in the fleet.  Sure we'll miss some specialty restaurants.  But the nice big Red Frog will be our 'inside' hangin' place.

 

Sunshine Class: They made a few mistakes on Sunshine herself but the Serenity is spectacular.  We think the world of Sunrise and am looking forward to Radiance and the Costa sister ship.

 

[nlktx49]

Right now my favorite is Vista - I like the layout, the cleanliness throughout the ship, the way everything seems new even though the ship was launched in 2015, the efficiency and friendliness of the crew, the amenities, just the overall vibe of the ship.  I started cruising in 2008 and then the Triumph was my favorite. Although it was smaller, kind of worn, it just seemed like a cozy, friendly ship. My heart was broken when they moved it out of Galveston!

[firefly333]

Magic. I love their spa and open promenade. They did towel animals one morning on the pool deck probably swaying me too. John heald was onboard, so I have good memories.

 

It was better than dream i thought. Later this month is breeze so i may have a new favorite, but so far its magic. Big theater, just the spaces were done right vs newer vista I dont like. 

[evandbob]

Mardi Gras!  Sailed on it Sept 4 - 11.  Bright, modern, lots of new food venues like Emerils and Shaq's chicken as well as older standby's like the Steakhouse and BBQ.

 

Enclosed casino area so smoke doesn't pollute adjoining areas.  Roller coaster was short but exhilerating.  Huge ship that sailed smooth.  LNG propulsion instead of diesel.

 

This ship is a radical departure from previous Carnival designs.  If I was blindfolded and dropped off near atrium or shopping areas I would have guessed I was on a Celebrity or MSC ship!

[rozlowe]

Splendor

[Oletruckdude]

The Fantasy. We did 4 cruises on her. We loved the smaller ship. Felt more personalized. Never long lines at buffet or shows.  We've been on Dream and Magic. They have their good points too, but they lose that intimate personalized feel.

It was sad to see the Fantasy scrapped. We'll always have fond memories of her.

FYI, we've done 13 cruises, 11 on carnival with our next CCL cruise in 2 weeks.

[toby #1]

Miracle, I guess it is because it was my first cruise and it was brand new and  was out of Jacksonville Fl. which is  about 35 minutes from my home.  Also loved the layout.  Not crazy about the smaller or bigger ships.  Hate the Vista class, to big and don't like the layout.

 

[vamartha]

I am still going to choose Dream class. Dream, Magic or Breeze.  I never felt really crowded, I like the layouts of the ships, they still have glass elevators and a decent size theater.  But keep in mind, I don't sail in the summer when school is out or on holidays or spring break. We tend to sail in the late fall so the capacity is more two to a cabin as opposed to three or four to a cabin.

 

I have sailed the Holiday, 2/3 of the Spirit Class, the Triumph, the Sunshine, all of the Dream Class and the Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras was indeed the nicest ship and full of innovation but I don't think I would enjoy it at full capacity at all. I do have two more cruises scheduled on her but I'd be just as happy on any of the Dream Class ships.

[IntrepidFromDC]

So far, Pride.  Once I cruise on Mardi Gras, it'll be Mardi Gras I'm sure.

[SNJCruisers]

5 hours ago, toby #1 said:

 Hate the Vista class, to big and don't like the layout.

 

If you hate a 130 K ton ship, then what is your opinion about the Mardi Gras and Celebration?  It's OK, I know already. 

[Hunter69]

Legend..

Spirit Class Ships, best layout & Best Space to Passenger ratio..

Legend cause it's the Ugly duckling of the Spirit class..

[pogoism9]

11 hours ago, Hunter69 said:

Legend cause it's the Ugly duckling of the Spirit class..

 

Not anymore, she's the only one with the new paint job 😁

[jsglow]

14 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

If you hate a 130 K ton ship, then what is your opinion about the Mardi Gras and Celebration?  It's OK, I know already. 

Well, if the Mardi Gras class has an even lower public space to pax ratio it'll be another step in the wrong direction. Alas, that's where the was mass market cruising is surely going. 

 

I do like all the added venues and features of the Vista class but even last week at a 2150 passenger count some (such as the piano bar) quickly filled up.  Venues are great if you can actually take advantage.

 

Looking forward to our next cruise on Pride.

Edited October 4, 2021 by jsglow

[pogoism9]

1 minute ago, jsglow said:

Well, if the Mardi Gras class has an even lower public space to pax ratio it'll be another step in the wrong direction. Alas, that's where the was mass market cruising is surely going.

 

I was actually talking about this with one of my friends last week. What happens to the Spirit class in 5-10 years? Do they design a new build to replace them? You aren't fitting an Excel (or even a Conquest) out of Baltimore harbor, so you have to have something, or, do they pull a Sunshine/Sunrise/Radiance and just gut the inside and redesign?

[jsglow]

1 minute ago, pogoism9 said:

 

I was actually talking about this with one of my friends last week. What happens to the Spirit class in 5-10 years? Do they design a new build to replace them? You aren't fitting an Excel (or even a Conquest) out of Baltimore harbor, so you have to have something, or, do they pull a Sunshine/Sunrise/Radiance and just gut the inside and redesign?

You raise a great point.  I do suspect they 'Moonbeam" them someday. (My name for the refurb of that class.)

[DCDragonfly]

39 minutes ago, jsglow said:

You raise a great point.  I do suspect they 'Moonbeam" them someday. (My name for the refurb of that class.)

As long as they don't do like Celebrity and leave Baltimore forever.....

[pogoism9]

42 minutes ago, jsglow said:

You raise a great point.  I do suspect they 'Moonbeam" them someday. (My name for the refurb of that class.)

 

It makes sense, Spirit ships are generally well loved for various reasons

[jsglow]

I just researched that Costa has two more identical sisters.  I could envision them being brought to the flagship line as part of any 'Moonbeaming' retrofit down the road.  Eventually the 4 remaining Fantasy Class boats will go away and a fleet of 6 upgraded Spirits along with what will be 4 Sunshine class ships will make a very nice backbone for the secondary ports and various Journey applications.  I do think a couple Fantasy ships hang on as long as possible for Mobile/Jax.

 

Another thing I find interesting is how two Conquest boats (Freedom and Glory) still get fairly prime slots while the others have clearly moved down the pecking order.

[sgttami]

My current favorite is Pride because of the size and friendly crew.  I've also met some great people and it seems there are definitely a lot of repeat cruisers on the ship.  I've been on 7X and have seen some of the same people on all the cruises.  As a solo cruiser it's nice that when I go, I'm sure to see a familiar face on board.

 

I also love the 4K cabins and the great casino staff.  David's Steakhouse is another plus.  My first Carnival cruise was Splendor and I was on 5X and Sunshine 3X and Pride is my favorite.

 

I like small and familiar.  No desire to sail the big ships on Carnival.  I saw enough of that on other lines and didn't like it.

[Badfinger]

I  have only been on the Magic, Breeze and Triumph.  

 

My favorite is the Breeze.  Love the Cloud 9 Spa with the T-Pool.  Won't sail without it.  Just like the colors and feel of the Breeze vs the Magic, even though they are pretty much identical layout.  

[JoeMo]

My favorite is and has always been Mardi Gras. I fell in love on that little bitty, chopped up steamer. My wife was also on that cruise. That was 35 years ago.

[pogoism9]

2 hours ago, jsglow said:

Another thing I find interesting is how two Conquest boats (Freedom and Glory) still get fairly prime slots while the others have clearly moved down the pecking order.

 

If it weren't for bridges, I suspect we would see a Conquest in Baltimore, and maybe even Tampa. I never realized just how much smaller the funnel is on the Spirit ships than the other classes.