Carnival first time cruiser impressions

[zentraveler]

There was a recent post from someone who loves Carnival and finds it so suitable for her that she was genuinely curious why anyone would spend/waste their money on "fancier" cruises. I can't find that thread (which last I saw had close to 200 responses) so FWIW, posting impressions from this 5 day Miracle cruise SF - Ensenada. [And for context I have been on ~6-7 cruises on Princess, HAL, Windstar and Seabourn.]

 

Embarkation was fabulous (posted on this earlier).  The Miracle staff is hardworking, polite, efficient I can't say enough about them and their contribution to this cruise. My suite was lovely (VERY happy I took the offer to buy the UG); well laid out, peaceful decor and a wonderful space to retreat and in which to spend time. Large balcony with nice chairs, very nice bed with plenty of reading lights, lots of storage and quiet (deck 6 mid-ship).

 

The ship itself was gaudy everywhere and felt almost entirely to me like a casino without the slot machines (except the actual casino section) and was incredibly LOUD. Embarkation day was deafening and after that most of the common spaces had very loud music. It felt very much like a "booze/party cruise" which is what they seem to be known for. It was a party crowd with several groups of girls celebrating birthdays, bachelorette parties (did not see similar guy groups), families etc. Most every place outside my cabin was noisy, crowded and unattractive.  Upselling and getting us to buy is everywhere. Completely different from a Princess cruise a month ago.

 

The food is varied - lots of choices - and fine, but most of the dining room meals are pre-plated and if you want any variation at all you are out of luck. Quality to me like a decent chain restaurant; Olive Garden, Outback Steak House, Chipotele etc. 

 

I think it is really wonderful for every cruiser to find what suites them and this is one is clearly making a lot of cruisers happy and has a lot of loyal fans and I can recommend it (really) for anyone who likes Vegas or this kind of vacationing. Carnival does this well. I thought it was worth a try since Carnival sails out of San Francisco 5 miles from home but this will be the first, last and only one for me. 

 

 

[BeachDiva101]

Carnival is definitely not for everyone. I'm glad you at least tried it and now you know it is not for you. Happy sailing on future cruises.

[ledges1]

A fair review.

[deliver42]

Wow! Someone actually did  review of a ship that she didn't particularly care for without I hated everything about the cruise. The ship was awful, the food worse. I'll never sail with Carnival again. Thank you for a level headed review, and enjoy your next cruise with whoever you choose to sail with.

[darinb1345]

Thanks for the review. We sail Carnival for the first time in a few weeks. We’re pretty easy-going and decided to give it a shot. We’ve sailed Princess and NCL before. Although I’m looking forward to trying Panorama out, some folks takes make me nervous! Haha. 
 

I’m sure we’ll be fine (DH considers Olive Garden fancy) and enjoy it. Not big parties but don’t mind those that do. 
 

thanks for what appears to be a fair review!

[JT1962]

Thanks for the review. I have been on over 20 cruises and multiple cruise lines, Including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Princess, MSC, etc. and find that they all have some pluses and minuses. The age & size of the ship, the time of year, length of the cruise and sometimes even the departure port can have more to do with your experience than the specific Cruise Line. 

 

I agree with your comment about the food. Food is very subjective and I’ve never found anything inedible on any cruise line. Banquet or chain restaurant quality is about the best you can expect in the main dining rooms / buffet when they are serving thousands of people three meals a day or more.
 

 

Edited September 2, 2022 by JT1962

[zentraveler]

17 minutes ago, darinb1345 said:

Thanks for the review. We sail Carnival for the first time in a few weeks. We’re pretty easy-going and decided to give it a shot. We’ve sailed Princess and NCL before. Although I’m looking forward to trying Panorama out, some folks takes make me nervous! Haha. 
 

I’m sure we’ll be fine (DH considers Olive Garden fancy) and enjoy it. Not big parties but don’t mind those that do. 
 

thanks for what appears to be a fair review!

I hope you like yours, and perhaps I would have liked a different ship more. I overheard someone at the Guest Services telling a woman (at 7 am today) that she might like the decor better on a different ship, so I may not be the only one for whom the Vegas atmosphere was so jarring (really dislike Vegas - what a surprise 😉).

[ObstructedView2]

42 minutes ago, zentraveler said:

 

5 day Miracle cruise

 

this will be the first, last and only one for me. 

 

 

What a (shame & a loss) that your 1st Carnival cruise was a short sailing. 3 to 6 day voyages compared to 7 to 8 day voyages on Carnival are like night & day. 

 

 

✌

Edited September 2, 2022 by ObstructedView2

[zentraveler]

Just now, ObstructedView2 said:

 

What a (shame & a loss) that you're 1st Carnival cruise was a short sailing. A 3 to 5 day voyage compared to a 7 to 8 day voyage on Carnival is like night & day. 

 

 

✌

Hard to imagine what a cruise twice as long on this one would be like. I may have jumped overboard by then 🤣.

[csm5986142]

Thanks for posting - I love to hear other perspectives.  In addition to Carnival we have done NCL and HAL, and although I like them all fine, Carnival's amazing deals keep pulling me back (I can take 2 Carnival cruises for the same price as 1 on the other lines).  To be fair, if I were to play in the casinos on the other lines, their deals/offers might be more similar.

I was on this same itenerary about 8 weeks ago, and I agree, it's a young party crowd. I also agree about the décor on Miracle, as much as I love the size/space/layout, she is one gaudy ship.   

[luv2trvlnow]

4 minutes ago, zentraveler said:

Hard to imagine what a cruise twice as long on this one would be like. I may have jumped overboard by then 🤣.

Maybe. Maybe not.  You really can't compare a short cruise to a longer cruise.  The short ones do have bachlerette/bachelor parties.  A few years ago I read about a 5 day cruise out of Miami.  Things got a bit wild.  And this was on Celebrity.  It can happen on any cruise line on a short cruise.  

 

Now the decor can't be changed no matter the length of the cruise.  And I can see that the older Carnival ships are very Vegas-like.  I mean if you have been on the Miracle you definitely won't forget the Grapes in the dining room.  The newer ships have a more subdued decor. 

 

I have a B2B in Europe on a Carnival ship next year.  And from what I see on the forums I checked, there seems to be a lot of Patinum and Diamond cruizers who are on the older side.  Several say they are celebrating their 50th anniversary.  I am imagining this cruise to be different from my Caribbean cruises.

[pc_load_letter]

55 minutes ago, zentraveler said:

bachelorette parties

 

Sign me up!

[zentraveler]

5 minutes ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

Sign me up!

Go for it! This might be just your cruise.

[csm5986142]

10 minutes ago, zentraveler said:

Hard to imagine what a cruise twice as long on this one would be like. I may have jumped overboard by then

 

I have found it's a very different crowd, and not such a party atmosphere.  As you said, this itenerary attracts people who are celebrating and want to have fun (bachelorette parties/graduation parties/birthdays).  And Carnival knows this, thus the party atmosphere.

When we have done 8 - 16 day itineraries (and even the 7-day) it's a more low-key feel, with people who want to relax and enjoy a vacation.  It's typically a destination they want to experience, not just jump on ship with a bunch of friends to party all weekend (not that I'm saying there is anything wrong with that).  😄  We have found the Hawaii and Alaska itineraries to be a much different experience.  

But I also agree with you in that each cruiser will find a fit with the various cruise lines (...and it might change over the course of their lifetime).  But if others want to give Carnival a try, I would not recommend the shorter Ensenada itenerary, as I don't think it's a true representation of the line overall.

[zentraveler]

7 minutes ago, luv2trvlnow said:

Maybe. Maybe not.  You really can't compare a short cruise to a longer cruise.  The short ones do have bachlerette/bachelor parties.  A few years ago I read about a 5 day cruise out of Miami.  Things got a bit wild.  And this was on Celebrity.  It can happen on any cruise line on a short cruise.  

 

Now the decor can't be changed no matter the length of the cruise.  And I can see that the older Carnival ships are very Vegas-like.  I mean if you have been on the Miracle you definitely won't forget the Grapes in the dining room.  The newer ships have a more subdued decor. 

 

I have a B2B in Europe on a Carnival ship next year.  And from what I see on the forums I checked, there seems to be a lot of Patinum and Diamond cruizers who are on the older side.  Several say they are celebrating their 50th anniversary.  I am imagining this cruise to be different from my Caribbean cruises.

Fair enough. We will be on Windstar Legend in October in Greece and Turkey for 8 days but it also costs considerably more than this one +3 days . I wasn't expecting Windstar quality and this may not be the best representation of Carnival. 

[habitatnal]

If you want to try Carnival again I would try a 7 night vista class ship in the Havana area or an excel class suite.  Both have a hot tub/pool/lounge chair area that are only for the guests staying in that area.   Also,  those ships have modern decor.  Carnival is moving away from the tacky decor.  I refused to sail Carnival until they came out with the vista class ships.  I hate the old tacky decor.  I have enjoyed both of my Carnival cruises.

[Drew B 58]

I’ve only sailed two lines - Carnival and Celebrity.  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of my cruises for what they were, but I had no expectations they would be the same.  And that goes between various cruises on each of these lines as well as across the lines.  
 

Probably the biggest disappointment I had was on a Celebrity cruise.  A propulsion issue caused a changed itinerary/missed ports.  While that was disappointing, it wouldn’t have ruined my experience.  What DID threaten to ruin it were the mobs of angry passengers holding demonstrations (for lack of a better word) for days on end around the ship demanding better compensation.  People complain about the class level of Carnival passengers but I’ve never witnessed behavior as classless as I saw on this Celebrity cruise from passengers on Carnival!

 

All that being said, I don’t consider that experience on Celebrity as representative of the brand or the product and have happily sailed with them since.

[zentraveler]

37 minutes ago, habitatnal said:

If you want to try Carnival again I would try a 7 night vista class ship in the Havana area or an excel class suite.  Both have a hot tub/pool/lounge chair area that are only for the guests staying in that area.   Also,  those ships have modern decor.  Carnival is moving away from the tacky decor.  I refused to sail Carnival until they came out with the vista class ships.  I hate the old tacky decor.  I have enjoyed both of my Carnival cruises.

Thanks and worth considering. I am aware (every time I go to their website or open the app) that they are the FUN cruise line (completely fine with me I knew that going into this) so am assuming that “brand” is what they are cultivating throughout the line. I would not expect them to have an app with confetti and not want that crowd. But am glad to hear about the nicer decor ships. I really wanted to love the Miracle. I live 20 minutes away from SF Pier 27 and was aboard and had finished my lunch 2 hours after I left home.  

[john91498]

At least you gave Carnival a shot. Our family is the complete opposite as we sailed Celebrity, NCL, and Princess. My kids hated those lines as the average age is around 50 million years old as my daughter puts it.

Carnival is what we mostly sail as the kids programs and waterparks is what keeps my kids entertained. The other line they like is Royal, but most of their ships are on the east coast.

[notplatinum]

Carnival definitely caters to a different. Crowd.  The Panorama was beautiful to sail on, but it was 50% full. Service was first class but my favorite is still royal. Princess comes in second.  I feel Royal has classier ships

[Guest BasicSailor]

26 minutes ago, notplatinum said:

Carnival definitely caters to a different. Crowd.  The Panorama was beautiful to sail on, but it was 50% full. Service was first class but my favorite is still royal. Princess comes in second.  I feel Royal has classier ships

There's more to the story 🤓

[ldubs]

4 hours ago, ObstructedView2 said:

 

What a (shame & a loss) that your 1st Carnival cruise was a short sailing. 3 to 6 day voyages compared to 7 to 8 day voyages on Carnival are like night & day. 

✌

 

Good point.  I think short cruises on mass market lines are not much different when it comes to the party atmosphere.  

[momof3cruisers]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Very balanced review IMO. My first Carnival cruise was a 3 day out of Long Beach. Talk about a party ship! Next was a five day out of Port Canaveral. That improved my opinion considerably! I like all the lines I have sailed on though the lack of activities on all 3 Princess cruises I have been on makes them my least favorite. 

[Honolulu Blue]

@zentraveler:  Thank you for your review.  The decoration of Carnival's older ships isn't for everyone, as the fact that the newer ships are more sedate shows.  I've sailed on Carnival over a dozen times, but none less than six days.  I haven't seen what you saw to the same degree.  I mostly see people having fun but not getting out of hand.  

 

Good luck with whomever you decide to sail with in the future.

[kdr69]

18 hours ago, zentraveler said:

but most of the dining room meals are pre-plated and if you want any variation at all you are out of luck.

On EVERY cruise line meals are pre-plated even on a luxury ship with only 100 passengers meals are not prepared to order (maybe on a 50 person yacht sailing or the Windstar Cruise you mentioned). They are all mass cooked and prepared ahead of meal times loaded onto large carts and steamed to heat up when required.  This is the way with all commercial dining kitchens.  Not sure what you mean by variation other than wanting something thats not on the menu but i find that they will try to accomodate your request if you ask but if its mixing and matching selections they will just bring you both selections out and you can eat what you want off each plate on your own. Good that you at least tried the brand and didnt just take others words for yourself.   Thank you for sharing your insights.