About to sail Carnival for the first time - what am I in for?

[mcgore83]

Just go and enjoy!

[ChuckF]

Lunch on Carnival is better. Dinner on Celebrity is better.  But for all that time when you're not eating, Carnival is much better, IMHO. More activities, more things to do, more interaction with guests and crew. It truly is the "Fun Ship". If your ideal cruise is sitting on the deck reading a book and being left totally alone, then Celebrity may be the line for you. 

[SRQbeachgirl]

23 minutes ago, ChuckF said:

If your ideal cruise is sitting on the deck reading a book and being left totally alone, then Celebrity may be the line for you. 

 

This is exactly why we booked a Celebrity cruise (18 days!). We love Carnival, but after Hurricane Ian and dealing with chaos at work and home since, we don't need "fun," we need total relaxation. 

[boopuff]

I saw a YouTube about CCL and all the crazy videos posted that give CCL a bad name.  The YouTube “host” talked about how inexpensive CCL is (noting some short cruises can be cheap) and people of “low-moderate means)” can afford to go on a cruise.  The host then talked about social norms not always being followed by people, especially on vacation.  It was very interesting 

[steveknj]

11 hours ago, ChuckF said:

Lunch on Carnival is better. Dinner on Celebrity is better.  But for all that time when you're not eating, Carnival is much better, IMHO. More activities, more things to do, more interaction with guests and crew. It truly is the "Fun Ship". If your ideal cruise is sitting on the deck reading a book and being left totally alone, then Celebrity may be the line for you. 

 

And that's it, in a nutshell.  It has nothing to do with the "people" on the cruise.  It has everything to do with what your expectations are for the cruise.   If you want non stop entertainment, want to have plenty of available activities, then a cruise line like Carnival, maybe RCCL would be your best bet.  If you want a more laid back, formal atmosphere, then Celebrity, or Holland America, or one of the luxury lines are what you want.   And there are people of all "statuses" that want either.   Price does play a part in that, but price doesn't play into people acting like jerks.

[KKB]

16 hours ago, ChuckF said:

 But for all that time when you're not eating, Carnival is much better, IMHO. More activities, more things to do, more interaction with guests and crew. It truly is the "Fun Ship". If your ideal cruise is sitting on the deck reading a book and being left totally alone, then Celebrity may be the line for you. 

Funny, we like to be very busy on a cruise & Celebrity is our fav...

(Sailing Carnival Sunday for the 1st time so I'll let you know my impressions!)

[hard_eight]

Rich people sail on private yachts.

 

I don't have it like that. 😆

Edited January 5, 2023 by hard_eight

[plumbcrazy1210]

I did most of my cruises on Celebrity and a couple also on Carnival. While I found everything on Celebrity to be better (food ,service) I still enjoyed the Carnival cruses while my wife not so much only because she was spoiled by Celebrity.All of this was pre covid so I'm sure things have changed . You will still have a good time either way. By the way you can't beat the ruebens at the deli

[Eli_6]

On 1/4/2023 at 9:35 AM, steveknj said:

 

Not saying your wrong, though Celebrity costs more (at least on the surface) so of course the demo is different.   It's the Lexus crowd versus the Subaru crowd.   But a drunk is a drunk and there are plenty of rich obnoxious drunks, you don't have to be poor to be obnoxious.   You may not be a snob, but your statement comes off as snobbish.   Now, if you said that Celebrity cruises are a bit more elegant, a bit less gaudy, then yeah, that makes more sense to me.   Because you pay for that sort of thing.   But your examples of it being a "Walmart" cruise because of obnoxious drunks and rude behavior just don't hold water.  There's plenty of that to go around.   Now, I have experienced the passengers being different culturally from different departure ports to be a thing.   And that's just how things are.  When you leave out of NYC you sail with a lot of people from the Northeast, when you sail out of New Orleans you sail with a lot of southerners.  There are cultural differences.  Some people like that, some people don't.

I drive a Maserati and I cruise Carnival... not sure what demographic that puts me in.  

 

Most of the bad behavior I have experienced by cruisers hasn't been because of alcohol, but because they were just jerks...like cutting in front of a paraplegic and an old lady with a walker who had been waiting longer to get on an elevator.  Or making rude, snarky comments to strangers for no reason. Or throwing a fit because they were platinum and suites got to board first (that was back this summer before platinum/diamond had priority boarding).  

 

But you are right: People are jerks on all lines, at all income levels, and all over the world.

Edited January 6, 2023 by Eli_6

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

I drive a Maserati and I cruise Carnival... not sure what demographic that puts me in.  

 

That makes you "A walking contradiction, party truth and partly fiction". That's actually a line from a Kris Kristofferson song, The Pilgrim, Chapter 33.

 

Kris Kristofferson – The Pilgrim, Chapter 33 Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

[linway]

Hi,

This is our first time on Carnival.   I have a couple of questions.

are you able to take on two bottles of wine and cans of coke on board

as per other ships?

 

I have not been able to find any info on website, so thought I would come

to the best info.

cheers

Linda 

[staceyglow]

4 minutes ago, linway said:

Hi,

This is our first time on Carnival.   I have a couple of questions.

are you able to take on two bottles of wine and cans of coke on board

as per other ships?

 

I have not been able to find any info on website, so thought I would come

to the best info.

cheers

Linda 

One bottle of wine and one 12-pack of soda per person.

[KKB]

10 hours ago, staceyglow said:

One bottle of wine and one 12-pack of soda per person.

According to Carnival's website not anymore.

https://www.carnival.com/help

[Homosassa]

15 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

I drive a Maserati and I cruise Carnival... not sure what demographic that puts me in.  

 

 

I lived for many years in a very wealthy neighborhood.

 

Some of the largest houses had very expensive cars in the driveway and the inhabitants of the house wore designer clothing.

 

However, when on walking paths that ran behind the houses, one could see that the furniture in the house was the plastic web outside furniture.

 

Flash on the outside, but not able to afford the inside. 

[Theosprey247]

47 minutes ago, KKB said:

According to Carnival's website not anymore.

https://www.carnival.com/help

Actually if they are 21 they can.  Under 21 they can bring up to 12 cans (sodas, juice ,water)

Edited January 6, 2023 by Theosprey247

[staceyglow]

4 minutes ago, Theosprey247 said:

Actually if they are 21 they can. 

Thanks for posting this!  God forbid that a rumor gets started!

[Eli_6]

 

18 hours ago, ontheweb said:

That makes you "A walking contradiction, party truth and partly fiction". That's actually a line from a Kris Kristofferson song, The Pilgrim, Chapter 33.

 

Kris Kristofferson – The Pilgrim, Chapter 33 Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

And my husband drives a large dodge truck and has a John Deere tractor.

 

And I am about to have a graduate degree (as soon as I finish my dissertation) from a UK university in medieval history...but I also have a degree from the University of Texas.

 

My husband has a concealed carry and my father was a Southern Baptist minister, but we support LGBTQ rights.

 

We fit in no one's demographic...

Edited January 6, 2023 by Eli_6

[ontheweb]

48 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

 

And my husband drives a large dodge truck and has a John Deere tractor.

 

And I am about to have a graduate degree (as soon as I finish my dissertation) from a UK university in medieval history...but I also have a degree from the University of Texas.

 

My husband has a concealed carry and my father was a Southern Baptist minister, but we support LGBTQ rights.

 

We fit in no one's demographic...

When it all comes down to it, we are all unique individuals. 😊

 

For instance, Kris Kristofferson whose lyrics I quoted in relation to you, was a Captain in the Army who gave up his commission to be a janitor for Johnny Cash hoping to get a break in country music.

Edited January 6, 2023 by ontheweb
added second paragraph

[Eli_6]

27 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

When it all comes down to it, we are all unique individuals. 😊

 

For instance, Kris Kristofferson whose lyrics I quoted in relation to you, was a Captain in the Army who gave up his commission to be a janitor for Johnny Cash hoping to get a break in country music.

Totally agree.  Carnival may be an "economy" line, but it is also for people who just like to have fun, have kids, etc.  

[Eli_6]

7 hours ago, Homosassa said:

I lived for many years in a very wealthy neighborhood.

 

Some of the largest houses had very expensive cars in the driveway and the inhabitants of the house wore designer clothing.

 

However, when on walking paths that ran behind the houses, one could see that the furniture in the house was the plastic web outside furniture.

 

Flash on the outside, but not able to afford the inside. 

Well, you can't walk behind my house to see in my back windows, but if you look in the windows on the side of my house...you will see this looking back at you. And she will talk to you, too.  

[jsglow]

It's ALL good.  We decided in retirement to keep our real estate investment modest. And our newest car is 10 years old. Heck, we're cruising a good chunk of the time anyway! That stuff simply collects dirt. 🛳️

[IntrepidFromDC]

As others have said, the daily activities are FUN.  And with you going on Celebration, you get MUCH BETTER free food than on the pre-Mardi-Gras ships.

 

Make sure to select anytime dining so you can eat in Chibang instead of MDR once or twice.   

 

There are other upgraded free food places like Shaq's (lunch food is better than breakfast biscuit bricks) and Shawarma (yumm!) and really great pay-for restaurants.

 

Lots of great entertainment and the casino (most of it) is non-smoking.

 

At Blue Iguana, try the chicken tacos and over at the fixins' bar put a little of the orange habanero sauce on it as well as the fresh cilantro right next to it.  I don't recommend the fish tacos, it's all breading - worse than fish filet at McYuck's.

 

In line with Carnival's "fun" spirit, you can get true "foodie food", gourmet at Rudi's that will leave you saying OMG! without having to dress fancy.

 

Have FUN, so much to do on the Mardi Gras and Celebration!!!

 

 

[Teresa T. C.]

On 1/6/2023 at 10:36 AM, Theosprey247 said:

Actually if they are 21 they can.  Under 21 they can bring up to 12 cans (sodas, juice ,water)

Actually, that says anyone can bring a 12 pack of cans (sodas on board) and if you are over 21, then you can bring ONE bottle of 750ml wine.  I was just onboard two weeks ago where I ( 56 year old) brought 12 cans of diet Coke onboard because hubby will not drink any other soda.

[Teresa T. C.]

On 1/2/2023 at 9:52 PM, SERK said:

Maybe a New Orleans port thing.  Our last two have been out of Galveston and didn't see any drug dogs sniffing luggage or carry on.

Just cruised out of Charleston on Sunshine and no dog sniffing at all.

[Teresa T. C.]

On 1/6/2023 at 4:20 PM, Eli_6 said:

 

And my husband drives a large dodge truck and has a John Deere tractor.

 

And I am about to have a graduate degree (as soon as I finish my dissertation) from a UK university in medieval history...but I also have a degree from the University of Texas.

 

My husband has a concealed carry and my father was a Southern Baptist minister, but we support LGBTQ rights.

 

We fit in no one's demographic...

I love it!  I have my doctorate and I am a professor at a university.  I have several guns and so does hubby - (hey, we live in TN & NC where people hunt and protect themselves....).   I have been on Norwegian and a couple other fancier lines.  I have bought the suites (Haven) and I have more fun on Carnival than I have ever had on any other vacation or cruise line.  With that said, I have not tried Celebrity or Royal Caribbean but have comp offers that I am looking at so I may give them a chance...