Which cruise line for Europe? Carnival or ?????

[BlerkOne]

19 minutes ago, Deathloks said:

 

We know of at least one couple making it a 52-day cruise on the Pride this year, thanks to the fact the itinerary has been set up almost perfectly (in other words, you don't get to see all the same ports over and over again this summer).  However, next year things are set up differently.  It's very sad.

 

In a different way, things will be different for a very long time. We were supposed to be on Carnival Pride to return to St Petersburg, but that will never happen again. At least we got to see it before....

[Heartgrove]

Over the years we have sailed on a number of different cruise lines. The majority have been on Holland America Lines, but last year even tried Viking Ocean which was a big disappointment. In 2019 we were on a B2B for 20 days in the Mediterranean aboard the Nieuw Statendam. That plus a week long land trip in the Dolomites allowed us to see quite a bit of the Mediterranean. Most of our port visits we prefer to just get out and explore on our own. My only suggestion is to choose an itinerary that would include some of Spain and perhaps Gibraltar.

 

For us, the remaining months of this year we have our first MSC cruise in Yacht Club (two sea days out of seven) booked specifically for the ports in Sicily and Southern Italy we will visit, and a Transatlantic on HAL to return from Europe so no return flight required. We have two Carnival cruises booked sailing from Baltimore for convenience in 2023: One to Nassau and the other to Greenland. It will be a nice change to just drive to the port like many do in Florida.

 

The remaining plans for 2023 we have two HAL cruises booked for May from Rotterdam. But are considering cancelling and going with MSC instead.  The reason being is a change of plan that DSIL will be traveling with us and to make it more affordable.

 

I am already planning 2024. Good luck on your future cruise!

[jsglow]

I kid you people not.  An hour ago we got unbelievably lucky and were able to upgrade our standard Balc to a 'bowling alley' for our upcoming European cruise for the price of a Steakhouse dinner. SO glad that posters here frightened someone away! 😁  

[BlerkOne]

23 minutes ago, jsglow said:

I kid you people not.  An hour ago we got unbelievably lucky and were able to upgrade our standard Balc to a 'bowling alley' for our upcoming European cruise for the price of a Steakhouse dinner. SO glad that posters here frightened someone away! 😁  

On our Baltic cruise to be I upgraded to one also. It was hard to let go, but St Petersburg was the reason for the cruise so let go we did.

 

One reason Carnival doesn't have a larger presence in Europe is most customers are American, and Americans are fickle. They can cancel for any reason or no reason at all.

[jsglow]

19 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

On our Baltic cruise to be I upgraded to one also. It was hard to let go, but St Petersburg was the reason for the cruise so let go we did.

 

One reason Carnival doesn't have a larger presence in Europe is most customers are American, and Americans are fickle. They can cancel for any reason or no reason at all.

Have you ever had a bowling alley @BlerkOne?  We haven't. But I put a Hold on that thing as fast as I could and my wonderful PVP followed up w/ her magic. It was literally $100 plus a couple extra tax dollars.  That's $5 pp/pd. Yep.

 

And if it doesn't have 2 loungers already there, I'm 100% confident that an Andrew Jackson currency paper thing to my world class steward will make it happen before those 1:30p heavy doors even open to the commoners.

[BlerkOne]

8 minutes ago, jsglow said:

Have you ever had a bowling alley @BlerkOne?  We haven't. But I put a Hold on that thing as fast as I could and my wonderful PVP followed up w/ her magic. It was literally $100 plus a couple extra tax dollars.  That's $5 pp/pd. Yep.

 

And if it doesn't have 2 loungers already there, I'm 100% confident that an Andrew Jackson currency paper thing to my world class steward will make it happen before those 1:30p heavy doors even open to the commoners.

Not yet. We have one on a cruise next year 

 

We love aft wraps though. Not sure the bowling alley will replace that, but the price sure is a lot better.

 

If the wraps don't have two loungers I just request one from the cabin steward with a request for an ice bucket and both appear before sailaway. No extra tip required, although I do always tip more at the end of the cruise 

[jsglow]

1 minute ago, BlerkOne said:

 

We love aft wraps though. Not sure the bowling alley will replace that, but the price sure is a lot better.

 

If the wraps don't have two loungers I just request one from the cabin steward with a request for an ice bucket and both appear before sailaway. No extra tip required, although I do always tip more at the end of the cruise 

We've never done a wrap.  Honestly, we're mostly OV types splurging for a Balc once in awhile.  Had our first Aft on a 4 night Catalina run last Spring and honestly didn't like the direct sun.  But it was great to try it.  I've had a chance to peek into those wraps.  NICE.

[BlerkOne]

18 minutes ago, jsglow said:

We've never done a wrap.  Honestly, we're mostly OV types splurging for a Balc once in awhile.  Had our first Aft on a 4 night Catalina run last Spring and honestly didn't like the direct sun.  But it was great to try it.  I've had a chance to peek into those wraps.  NICE.

We probably book more cove balconies than anything else these days, but have tried just about everything except full suites. Need to get that off the bucket list.

 

Direct sun or direct rain can be a bummer. With a wrap, at least part of it should be shady and dry.

[jsglow]

33 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

We probably book more cove balconies than anything else these days, but have tried just about everything except full suites. Need to get that off the bucket list.

 

Direct sun or direct rain can be a bummer. With a wrap, at least part of it should be shady and dry.

We've had one Cove.  Loved it. 

[ninjacat123]

4 hours ago, jsglow said:

I kid you people not.  An hour ago we got unbelievably lucky and were able to upgrade our standard Balc to a 'bowling alley' for our upcoming European cruise for the price of a Steakhouse dinner. SO glad that posters here frightened someone away! 😁  

When is your European cruise?  DH and I are booked on Pride Oct 18, 2023😃

[jsglow]

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

When is your European cruise?  DH and I are booked on Pride Oct 18, 2023😃

We're October 11th this year.  Then back aboard her for 21 days next August/September out of Dover to Iceland and then the British Isles on a B2B.

[ninjacat123]

11 minutes ago, jsglow said:

We're October 11th this year.  Then back aboard her for 21 days next August/September out of Dover to Iceland and then the British Isles on a B2B.

That is the same itinerary that we have!  Would love to hear about your excursions that you have planned.  I've never been to Greece.  So excited!!

[jsglow]

17 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

That is the same itinerary that we have!  Would love to hear about your excursions that you have planned.  I've never been to Greece.  So excited!!

We're just getting started on that ninja.

[ninjacat123]

1 minute ago, jsglow said:

We're just getting started on that ninja.

Hee hee!  And here I am researching the ports on TripAdvisor since all Carnival has right now is excursions for Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey.  My DH thinks I'm crazy too!  Is your Cruise Manager full of excursions for all ports?  

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, jsglow said:

We're October 11th this year.  Then back aboard her for 21 days next August/September out of Dover to Iceland and then the British Isles on a B2B.

You are getting on as we get off

[jsglow]

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

Hee hee!  And here I am researching the ports on TripAdvisor since all Carnival has right now is excursions for Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey.  My DH thinks I'm crazy too!  Is your Cruise Manager full of excursions for all ports?  

Been a little slow.  But fairly soon they sail to Rome so we're betting that ramps for the first several laps of that itinerary soon.  DW doing that research.

[Velvetwater]

Honestly Carnival is good in Europe. Even if they have disagreement shuttles the savings on your booking Jul that anyway.

 

It's all about the ports anyway and that part of the cruise is pretty much the same for all. 

 

Carnival delivered for us on everything else too. The differences between lines are minimal really when it comes down to it. 

[DONIC]

Took RCCL Brillance B2b in May.  Wonderful Italy Greece and Croatia ports.  We are Platinum with Carnival but if I’m spending money to see across the pond I want ports more than ship amenities 

[luc122]

We are doing the same b2b as you next year.  

 

we looked at ncl and princess for med cruises and decided on Carnival for ( I think) the same reason as you -

we're getting 19 days for 1/2 the price or less than the other 2 lines for less days. It is a big savings that like you said, can be used for excursions. That's our plan anyway. 

 

Honestly, as long as my cabin is clean and there's food and drinks and some entertainment on the ship, I'm good. Oh and a casino. 

Of course if the ship was falling apart, id be unhappy, but I'm gonna stay positive and say that whatever the really big issues the Pride might have today will be remedied in dry dock and it'll be fine by sept 23. 
 

(we have only sailed carnival and NCL)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2022 by luc122

[cruisequeen4ever]

The cruise ship does not matter half as much as it does in other regions. I say stick with what you have because your itinerary looks great and covers the main ports! Typically, carnival will save you some money, and you can use that money to do awesome shore excursions.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We are Diamond on Carnival, Diamond onNCL and have 6 each on RCL and Princess.    Of those Carnival is my least favorite, but I know if we cruise them selectively their are not terribly different than the others.  We have done a British Isles and. Mediterranean on Carnival and they were delightful.  But those were 10 days or so and that takes care of most party animals.  I wouldn’t hesitate to cruise Europe with them IF the price was right.   Our preferred line is NCL because of the perks with our status.

 

our neighbors are on a B2B on Celebrity with most of your ports plus Istanbul and Ephesus.   If you do some research you can hit all of these on several cruise lines.  Make yourself a spreadsheet with the ports, check them off, compare prices and perks.   Planning, for me at least, is half the fun of cruising, so go for it.  Don’t get tied down by preconceived notions about various lines, do the research and enjoy the ride!

[luv2trvlnow]

2 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

We are Diamond on Carnival, Diamond onNCL and have 6 each on RCL and Princess.    Of those Carnival is my least favorite, but I know if we cruise them selectively their are not terribly different than the others.  We have done a British Isles and. Mediterranean on Carnival and they were delightful.  But those were 10 days or so and that takes care of most party animals.  I wouldn’t hesitate to cruise Europe with them IF the price was right.   Our preferred line is NCL because of the perks with our status.

 

our neighbors are on a B2B on Celebrity with most of your ports plus Istanbul and Ephesus.   If you do some research you can hit all of these on several cruise lines.  Make yourself a spreadsheet with the ports, check them off, compare prices and perks.   Planning, for me at least, is half the fun of cruising, so go for it.  Don’t get tied down by preconceived notions about various lines, do the research and enjoy the ride!

I did look at Celebrity for the B2B.  We do get to go to Ephesus on the Pride, but not Istanbul.  But I don't think being in Istanbul for the afternoon one day  and the morning the next is all that great.  It would cost us just over $10,000 for a deluxe inside cabin for those 2 cruises.  We are paying $4658 for the 2 cruises on the Pride for a balcony.  That is a savings of over $5300.  It just seems to good to pass up the Pride for that price difference. 

 

Celebrity was the first one I looked at.  I know price isn't the only factor, but this price difference pulls a lot of weight. We enjoyed our cruise on the Celebrity Summit out of San Juan.  The price was about the same as Carnival out of San Juan.  Some things I liked better on Celebrity and some things I liked better on Carnival.  I found many similarities.  I know many will say that is not true, but for us it was.  I would give Celebrity the edge, but not enought to pay more than double.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

On 8/1/2022 at 9:21 AM, BlerkOne said:

In a different way, things will be different for a very long time. We were supposed to be on Carnival Pride to return to St Petersburg, but that will never happen again. At least we got to see it before....

I believe NCL has St Petersburg on their itinerary in2024.  It surprised me to see it, but it was there when I looked a few weeks ago.  We’ve been twice and it was a most memorable port.  So glad we saw it then because I don’t believe I would go there again.

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

I believe NCL has St Petersburg on their itinerary in2024.  It surprised me to see it, but it was there when I looked a few weeks ago.  We’ve been twice and it was a most memorable port.  So glad we saw it then because I don’t believe I would go there again.

Well, 2024 is a long way off, that said, unless something dynamic changes in the interim, there is no way in Hades a cruise line will visit any Russian port.

[LMaxwell]

Does Carnival have enrichment lectures/speakers/tour guides on their Euro cruises?