Looking to Leave My Booked Celebrity Cruise. How’s Carnival?

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

15 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

If you're used to Celebrity and annoyed about the cost cutting please don't go on Carnival thinking you'll get a better cruise experience. You won't. They are totally different types of cruiselines. The food is no comparison. All the angst on the Celebrity board about cutbacks at the dinner buffet; Carnival's dinner buffet is even LESS, and that's true even on their newest flagship, the Celebration. 

Diamond on Carnival with 26 cruises, Elite+ on Celebrity with 23. Celebrity still is our favorite line. 

What I would suggest is try Virgin Voyages. I'm actually on the Valiant Lady as I type this. Second cruise with them and the food is in general better than Celebrity and miles ahead of Carnival. The sweets are the best of any mainstream cruiseline. Here are some photos of all the yummy sweets from the cruise I'm on right now! 

 

YUM !

 

I've looked at Virgin Voyages a couple of times. Are you in a balcony, or Rock Star... or Mega Rockstar digs? Any transferred credentials or rates for your first sailing (care of the casino)?

 

Tom

[kwokpot]

11 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

YUM !

 

I've looked at Virgin Voyages a couple of times. Are you in a balcony, or Rock Star... or Mega Rockstar digs? Any transferred credentials or rates for your first sailing (care of the casino)?

 

Tom

We're in an XL terrace. Yes it's a comped casino cruise, comped by Virgin based on his play last year on the Scarlet Lady. The cabin is ok and the best part of it is the bathroom, large with a great rainfall shower. 

The cruise has been great so far. We're only at 1/3 passenger capacity and the service has been exemplary. Employees are outgoing, attentive and friendly. 

My husband hit a couple of jackpots so he's up about 2K net. The casino host surprised us twice with a free bottle of wine at dinner the last two nights. He's appreciates the new casino benefit of free premium coffee from the coffee bar since he doesn't drink alcohol. He does wish the casino was a bit bigger with a better selection of slots - it's probably half the size of the casino on Celebrity's E-class ships and 1/5 the size of Carnival's Excel Class casinos. 

They still haven't rolled out their casino program but if you earn at least 5,000 points at the casino you'll qualify for a free balcony cruise, which is exactly what we are on now since he earned over 5,000 points on our 1st Virgin cruise. 

He still likes Carnival's casinos the best. 

Edited January 17, 2023 by kwokpot

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

40 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

We're in an XL terrace. Yes it's a comped casino cruise, comped by Virgin based on his play last year on the Scarlet Lady. The cabin is ok and the best part of it is the bathroom, large with a great rainfall shower. 

The cruise has been great so far. We're only at 1/3 passenger capacity and the service has been exemplary. Employees are outgoing, attentive and friendly. 

My husband hit a couple of jackpots so he's up about 2K net. The casino host surprised us twice with a free bottle of wine at dinner the last two nights. He's appreciates the new casino benefit of free premium coffee from the coffee bar since he doesn't drink alcohol. He does wish the casino was a bit bigger with a better selection of slots - it's probably half the size of the casino on Celebrity's E-class ships and 1/5 the size of Carnival's Excel Class casinos. 

They still haven't rolled out their casino program but if you earn at least 5,000 points at the casino you'll qualify for a free balcony cruise, which is exactly what we are on now since he earned over 5,000 points on our 1st Virgin cruise. 

He still likes Carnival's casinos the best. 

 

THANKS for the inside scoop (that does sound like a pretty small casino)!

 

1/3 capacity -- definitely enjoy that while it lasts! I think you guys were on the Reflection when we sailed in February of last year? If not, then some other ship. I don't think we ever met though. That sailing was also at about 1/3 full as I recall. It's amazing never having to wait on an elevator !!

 

Tom

[Eli_6]

OP might also consider Princess, Cunard or HAL. Those "Carnival" brands are probably more on the level of Celebrity while Carnival is more comparable to Royal Carribean or NCL.  I have really been wanting to try Cunard, but I think they only have three or four ships so haven't even found a sailing/itinerary that works for us. 

 

[gkbiiii]

4 hours ago, kwokpot said:

If you're used to Celebrity and annoyed about the cost cutting please don't go on Carnival thinking you'll get a better cruise experience. You won't. They are totally different types of cruiselines. The food is no comparison. All the angst on the Celebrity board about cutbacks at the dinner buffet; Carnival's dinner buffet is even LESS, and that's true even on their newest flagship, the Celebration. 

Diamond on Carnival with 26 cruises, Elite+ on Celebrity with 23. Celebrity still is our favorite line. 

What I would suggest is try Virgin Voyages. I'm actually on the Valiant Lady as I type this. Second cruise with them and the food is in general better than Celebrity and miles ahead of Carnival. The sweets are the best of any mainstream cruiseline. Here are some photos of all the yummy sweets from the cruise I'm on right now! 

After staying 20 days aboard Vaillant Lady (November-December 2022) and 5 nights on Scarlet (2021), *not necessary accurate picture of reality*.  It takes Virgin three weeks to resupply  & provision each ship and often there are shortages.  The best food will be the beginning of the cruise, when freshly provisioned.  The dinners & late night meals in the Galley is poor and spotty, with very cold "breakfast foods" and preheated steamed burgers, which are never fresh.  Getting reservations on either ship with 2000* guests will be horrible.  Wait times in all dining including room service, often excessive at well over an hour.  The are no machine blended drinks in the Casino bar or any other inside ship.  The list could go on forever...

[Cruzinforpeace***]

4 hours ago, kwokpot said:

If you're used to Celebrity and annoyed about the cost cutting please don't go on Carnival thinking you'll get a better cruise experience. You won't. They are totally different types of cruiselines. The food is no comparison. All the angst on the Celebrity board about cutbacks at the dinner buffet; Carnival's dinner buffet is even LESS, and that's true even on their newest flagship, the Celebration. 

Diamond on Carnival with 26 cruises, Elite+ on Celebrity with 23. Celebrity still is our favorite line. 

What I would suggest is try Virgin Voyages. I'm actually on the Valiant Lady as I type this. Second cruise with them and the food is in general better than Celebrity and miles ahead of Carnival. The sweets are the best of any mainstream cruiseline. Here are some photos of all the yummy sweets from the cruise I'm on right now! 

Would totally try it but can’t bring our 16 year old along.

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

After staying 20 days aboard Vaillant Lady (November-December 2022) and 5 nights on Scarlet (2021), *not necessary accurate picture of reality*.  It takes Virgin three weeks to resupply  & provision each ship and often there are shortages.  The best food will be the beginning of the cruise, when freshly provisioned.  The dinners & late night meals in the Galley is poor and spotty, with very cold "breakfast foods" and preheated steamed burgers, which are never fresh.  Getting reservations on either ship with 2000* guests will be horrible.  Wait times in all dining including room service, often excessive at well over an hour.  The are no machine blended drinks in the Casino bar or any other inside ship.  The list could go on forever...

As with cruises at the beginning of the restart I can imagine that Virgin ships at full capacity could be a totally different experience and not in a good way. My current cruise is at 1/3 capacity and there's no lines for anything and service is top notch. My husband and I were also discussing how there's some merit in the small venue design philosophy of Virgin ships but wonder how that would hold up when their ships are at full capacity.

I'm sorry you didn't have a great long cruise with Virgin. We still think Celebrity is our favorite cruise line.

[sprint180]

I would not switch from Celebrity to Carnival thinking it will be better.  All lines are cutting back, including Carnival.  

[kldesigns]

About 20 some cruises on Carnival.  My husband and friends really like the fun party vibe on Carnival; however the menu and quality leave much to be desired.  Can’t say i’ve truly enjoyed a really good meal on carnival , and this includes the smaller ships right up to the Vista and Horizon.

 

have cruised on Celebrity Reflection in 2018 and was a little disappointed.  However the Celebrity Edge in 2020 was great and the Celebrity Beyond in November 2022 was superb.  Great dining venues and menus to match.  Celebrity seems to now be attracting a somewhat younger crowd….more toward their 30-59s as opposed to 60&70s.

 

the Celebrity pricing is a lot more than Carnival, but in my opinion it is worth it.  I take enough clothing for a 7 day cruise and can wash some small bits of laundry in the sink.  True I miss the Carnival free bags of laundry but the celebrity quality of food, to me is worth it.

 

even after all that is said, I’ve been outnumbered and we are on the Carnival Celebration February 2023.  Hope it’s not disappointing.

[CruizinSusan70]

6 hours ago, kldesigns said:

even after all that is said, I’ve been outnumbered and we are on the Carnival Celebration February 2023.  Hope it’s not disappointing.

It all depends upon what you're going to compare the Celebration to as to whether you'll be disappointed or not.

If you compare it to the rest of the Carnival fleet, you'll be pleasantly surprised because they have raised the bar compared to the rest of the fleet.

If you compare it to the Edge Class ships there would be a closer comparison.  Celebrity would have the edge food wise across the board with the lone exception of Carnival having more free lunch time options.  Bar wise, I would give the Excel Class a slight advantage.  Carnival gets the edge with the comedy, but Celebrity gets the edge with their other shows.

 

Have sailed on the Excel Class for 33 nights and the Edge Class for 19 nights.  With 28 more on the Celebration and 18 on Beyond booked.

[kwokpot]

54 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

It all depends upon what you're going to compare the Celebration to as to whether you'll be disappointed or not.

If you compare it to the rest of the Carnival fleet, you'll be pleasantly surprised because they have raised the bar compared to the rest of the fleet.

If you compare it to the Edge Class ships there would be a closer comparison.  Celebrity would have the edge food wise across the board with the lone exception of Carnival having more free lunch time options.  Bar wise, I would give the Excel Class a slight advantage.  Carnival gets the edge with the comedy, but Celebrity gets the edge with their other shows.

 

Have sailed on the Excel Class for 33 nights and the Edge Class for 19 nights.  With 28 more on the Celebration and 18 on Beyond booked.

I would generally agree with these conclusions. E-Class cabins on Celebrity are far nicer than any cabin on any Carnival ship although the majority of Cabins on Celebrity's E-class ships are IV cabins or faux balconies. 

[gkbiiii]

Well I think the Excel Class is a good offering for Royal Caribbean & NCL guests.  While NCL's Prima looks great on the outside, it suffers from the same interior problems as NCL Epic; being poorly designed, for the large amount of passengers aboard. 

[CruizinSusan70]

4 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

Well I think the Excel Class is a good offering for Royal Caribbean & NCL guests.  While NCL's Prima looks great on the outside, it suffers from the same interior problems as NCL Epic; being poorly designed, for the large amount of passengers aboard. 

Have to disagree about your assessment of the Prima.  Is your opinion based on first hand experience or second hand?  I cruised on her for 11 nights. The amount of passengers is only 3200, which is less than the breakaway and breakaway plus class ships of NCL.

Because of all of the outside space, especially on deck 8 which goes 360°, unlike anything else in their fleet.  It thus is more of a warmer climate ship and when sailing in Northern Europe, the weather made everyone stay inside which created problems.

Have previously sailed on the Escape, Bliss and Encore and we liked the Prima the best of the four ships.

Many cruisers that are loyal to NCL did not like the Prima because it is so different from the rest of the fleet.  The same opinion is of many who are loyal to Carnival only with their opinion of the Excel Class.  They are so much larger than the rest of the fleet, going from 135 to 180 K tons, it turns off a certain percentage of loyalists that are accustomed to smaller ships.

[Joebucks]

The Celebrity forum is a massive revolt right now. People needed to sail them and spend all of this money for dining reasons. Now that the dining is not what they envisioned, they feel they are not getting the experience they wanted. If you think Carnival is this, you will be disappointed. 

 

For the rest of us, we know Carnival is a great value, a fun time, and we won't go hungry. I honestly don't need to spend $1-$2k more for marginally better food and a stuffy environment. 

[CruizinSusan70]

2 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

For the rest of us, we know Carnival is a great value, a fun time, and we won't go hungry. I honestly don't need to spend $1-$2k more for marginally better food and a stuffy environment. 

Having first hand experience on every class of ship that Carnival as well as Celebrity has sailed over the past 30 years, I can say that the food on Celebrity is not just marginally better than Carnival, but substantially better overall.  The fast grab lunch options on the two Excel Class ships is the only thing food wise where Carnival has an edge. 

 

Comparing fleet to fleet  it's not even close.  Comparing buffet to buffet at all 3 meals,  MDR to MDR and specialty to specialty the disparity is far from marginal. 

 

So Joe, do you have first hand experience on any X cruise or are you regurgitating what you have read from disgruntled cruisers over on the X boards.

[Joebucks]

5 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Having first hand experience on every class of ship that Carnival as well as Celebrity has sailed over the past 30 years, I can say that the food on Celebrity is not just marginally better than Carnival, but substantially better overall.  The fast grab lunch options on the two Excel Class ships is the only thing food wise where Carnival has an edge. 

 

Comparing fleet to fleet  it's not even close.  Comparing buffet to buffet at all 3 meals,  MDR to MDR and specialty to specialty the disparity is far from marginal. 

 

So Joe, do you have first hand experience on any X cruise or are you regurgitating what you have read from disgruntled cruisers over on the X boards.

 

Ok, maybe marginally wasn't the best choice of words. My point is while food is nice, it isn't the center of the universe. It isn't the main entertainment for me. I can have nice food when I want. Celebrity is a fine product. However, the people raging about food in this environment is excessive. There's plenty of us just shrugging our shoulders at the huge rage. 

[sparks1093]

8 hours ago, Joebucks said:

The Celebrity forum is a massive revolt right now. People needed to sail them and spend all of this money for dining reasons. Now that the dining is not what they envisioned, they feel they are not getting the experience they wanted. If you think Carnival is this, you will be disappointed. 

 

For the rest of us, we know Carnival is a great value, a fun time, and we won't go hungry. I honestly don't need to spend $1-$2k more for marginally better food and a stuffy environment. 

It might be $1k to $2k more, but if they include the drinks package, the wifi, and gratuities than for some itineraries the overall price between the two will be much closer, so if one routinely gets those items it is worth looking at (provided of course one wants to try new things, our personal goal is to sail all of the mainstream and as many of the next tier cruise lines as we can. If we can do that for about what we spend on Carnival then that's icing on the cake.).

[CruizinSusan70]

7 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

Ok, maybe marginally wasn't the best choice of words. My point is while food is nice, it isn't the center of the universe. It isn't the main entertainment for me. I can have nice food when I want. Celebrity is a fine product. However, the people raging about food in this environment is excessive. There's plenty of us just shrugging our shoulders at the huge rage. 

This is why we don't put all of our eggs in one basket.  About 50% of my cruises have been on Carnival, but have also cruised on RCI, NCL, MSC, Celebrity and Princess.  They each have their plusses and minuses and after factoring in gratuities and Cheers, it is sometimes very close cost wise when compared to the package pricing on four of the other five lines.  The lone exception is RCI who doesn't provide packages and their dynamic pricing policy with peripheral purchases drives me crazy.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

1 hour ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

... The lone exception is RCI who doesn't provide packages and their dynamic pricing policy with peripheral purchases drives me crazy.

 

Just go with Star Class and it's AI  😉

 

Tom

[firefly333]

On 1/16/2023 at 6:21 PM, Cruzinforpeace*** said:

I don’t know if any folks on the Carnival threads have seen some of the Celebrity threads but it’s a “bloodbath” over there.  Lots of cuts to service and food and increases in pricing.  We are still within our window to cancel our July cruise on the Celebrity Summit.  We’ve cruised Carnival in the past and loved it; our last cruise with them was in 2014.  Are there any recent cruisers who can report back on any major cutbacks at that moment at Carnival?  

Carnival cleans cabins once a day. No different than rcl lines moving to.

 

The free steak in Mdr I had was full o gristle.

 

I love carnival pizza but hours cut back.

 

All lines are cutting back service and making cuts to food. It's all cruiselines. Celebrity is just complaining more. 

 

Carnival raised tips and raised the price of pay restaurants. Still a good deal but prices are going up for less. No line is immune. 

 

 

[Cruzinforpeace***]

9 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

Ok, maybe marginally wasn't the best choice of words. My point is while food is nice, it isn't the center of the universe. It isn't the main entertainment for me. I can have nice food when I want. Celebrity is a fine product. However, the people raging about food in this environment is excessive. There's plenty of us just shrugging our shoulders at the huge rage. 

The rage exists because people paid more for better food and now they’re not getting it.

[CruizinSusan70]

2 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Just go with Star Class and it's AI  😉

 

Tom

Out of my league price wise Tom.  Not everyone on CC can afford the cabins you stay in or are lucky enough to have your meal cooked by Emeril. 😉

[SRQbeachgirl]

Delete

Edited January 24, 2023 by SRQbeachgirl

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

1 hour ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Out of my league price wise Tom.  Not everyone on CC can afford the cabins you stay in or are lucky enough to have your meal cooked by Emeril. 😉

 

I was kidding - even I would not shell out for Star Class... often between $25k-$60k for the week !!

 

We sailed in it once, back when it started thanks to an offer from a casino group. Jumped at the opportunity  for about $5k.

 

Tom

[gkbiiii]

On 1/22/2023 at 9:36 PM, CruizinSusan70 said:

Have to disagree about your assessment of the Prima.  Is your opinion based on first hand experience or second hand?  I cruised on her for 11 nights. The amount of passengers is only 3200, which is less than the breakaway and breakaway plus class ships of NCL.

Because of all of the outside space, especially on deck 8 which goes 360°, unlike anything else in their fleet.  It thus is more of a warmer climate ship and when sailing in Northern Europe, the weather made everyone stay inside which created problems.

Have previously sailed on the Escape, Bliss and Encore and we liked the Prima the best of the four ships.

"Many cruisers that are loyal to NCL did not like the Prima because it is so different from the rest of the fleet.  The same opinion is of many who are loyal to Carnival only with their opinion of the Excel Class."  They are so much larger than the rest of the fleet, going from 135 to 180 K tons, it turns off a certain percentage of loyalists that are accustomed to smaller ships.

Yet I have never met any Royal Caribbean loyalists, who would say the same about the Oasis Class.