Not quite a first time cruiser but need advice.

[AnnieCt7]

We haven’t cruise in a long time so we feel like first time cruisers. We loved Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.  Didn’t care for NCL and steered away from Carnival.  We now live in Florida within a half hour from JAX Port and a couple of hours from Port Canaveral. Of course sailing out of Jax would be a breeze but I’m not sure of what expectations we should have regarding Carnival compared to our past cruises. Any input is appreciated.  

[ColeThornton]

15 minutes ago, AnnieCt7 said:

We haven’t cruise in a long time so we feel like first time cruisers. We loved Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.  Didn’t care for NCL and steered away from Carnival.  We now live in Florida within a half hour from JAX Port and a couple of hours from Port Canaveral. Of course sailing out of Jax would be a breeze but I’m not sure of what expectations we should have regarding Carnival compared to our past cruises. Any input is appreciated.  

 

 

Recommend you ask/research over on the Carnival forum.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/133-carnival-cruise-lines/

[AnnieCt7]

12 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

Recommend you ask/research over on the Carnival forum.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/133-carnival-cruise-lines/

I’m not sure that answers my question of comparing cruise line experiences. 

[ColeThornton]

1 minute ago, AnnieCt7 said:

I’m not sure that answers my question of comparing cruise line experiences. 

 

 

If you read about cruisers experiences/reviews on the Carnival forum you'll easily be able to compare those to the other lines you have been on. 

[bonsai3s]

2 hours ago, AnnieCt7 said:

We haven’t cruise in a long time so we feel like first time cruisers. We loved Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.  Didn’t care for NCL and steered away from Carnival.  We now live in Florida within a half hour from JAX Port and a couple of hours from Port Canaveral. Of course sailing out of Jax would be a breeze but I’m not sure of what expectations we should have regarding Carnival compared to our past cruises. Any input is appreciated.  

Celebrity...yes.

Royal Caribbean...yes.

Carnival...one and done.

 

 

[janetz]

As above, Carnival, one and done

We are in Daytona and we have driven down to Miami and our next out of FLL

I know with Port Canaveral you do have Royal Caribbean

We are partial to Celebrity and Princess

FLL and Miami are just a straight shot on 95 

Having the option to drive to ports is pretty cool 😊

[Aquahound]

3 hours ago, AnnieCt7 said:

We haven’t cruise in a long time so we feel like first time cruisers. We loved Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.  Didn’t care for NCL and steered away from Carnival.  We now live in Florida within a half hour from JAX Port and a couple of hours from Port Canaveral. Of course sailing out of Jax would be a breeze but I’m not sure of what expectations we should have regarding Carnival compared to our past cruises. Any input is appreciated.  

 

Like the others, one and done for me on Carnival.  That said, I think it would depend on what ships are sailing out of JAX. If it's those hideous looking old Fantasy Class ships, I'd make the drive to PC.

[Essiesmom]

Well, I am one and many for Carnival.  21 so far.  My last two cruises were on Carnival.  I enjoy Carnival, just wish JAX had a Spirit class ship, as I am a bit weary of Fantasy class.  But the draw is being able to drive two hours to the port.  My advice for. Carnival is to take the longest cruise available, out of JAX that would be 5 days, and preferably the Monday to Friday itinerary.  Next, I would do the seven day out of Port Canaveral, rather than 3 days.  I have not sailed Mardi Gras because I don’t care for the huge ships, nor the prices demanded by the newest ships.    Which is a paradox, because my next two cruises are on an MSC ship from Port Canaveral, both short B2B.  But it is quite difficult now for a solo cruiser to book a cruise on short notice.  Best I could do is August.  EM

[crystalspin]

3 hours ago, AnnieCt7 said:

...We loved Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.  Didn’t care for NCL and steered away from Carnival. ...Any input is appreciated.  

HAL fangirl here, but enjoyed RCI, just haven't been back. Since pandemic, we have restricted cruises to that we can drive to (TWO DAYS driving to San Diego!). One and done on NCL. 

 

Have a booking (two cabins) on Carnival as they were only ones sailing R/T to Alaska from drivable LAX. People in other cabin have new health problems and -- having read Carnival's board on here for several months! -- I have decided better to lose our deposit than find another cruise with CCL! So much for posting to their board! 

[fawnie]

another vote for Carnival "one and done"  Horrid experience, have done Disney and Princess and enjoyed both

[mom says]

Not a Carnival fan either. And your list of choices from Jax are the Elation 5 day Bahamas cruise or.... yeah that's it.

 

PC is now one of the busiest cruise ports. It hosts Disney (its not just for kids  or families), RCI, NCL, and now MSC, as well as Carnival. Your destinations include (besides Bahamas) eastern and western Caribbean, and transatlantic (repositioning). Haven't tried MSC yet; but I'd like to see what their suite experience is like. RCI is usually a good product . Personally, I'd make the drive to PC just for the choices available.

Edited May 7, 2023 by mom says

[SPacificbound]

Royal Caribbean... Yes

Celebrity... Yes

Cunard... Yes

NCL... Never

Carnival... Never

[broadwaybaby123]

I've had uneven experiences with Carnival:

 

Holiday- first ever Carnival ship for me when I was around 8 years old, and I hated it.  It was like a floating Las Vegas and all they did with the kids basically was treat us to Ice Cream Parties.  I love my ice cream just as much as the next person, but not necessarily all day for a whole week.

 

Triumph- Years later, decided to try this ship and Carnival seemed to be improving in terms of Customer Service.  We loved it.

 

Pride- Years later, we decided to try the Pride and couldn't have a worse experience on this ship if we tried.  Dark hallways, trash everywhere, unmarked ramps we kept tripping over, unprofessional staff (we had someone with arthritis in both needs being told to stand for an event when every seat was taken and then told that Carnival, a PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANY had no number to reach anyone to complain to), and needing to wait a week for a replacement light bulb...we were not happy campers!  

 

I'm hopeful when we try the Venezia next year that our experience will be different.

[Napagirl]

I have only done one Carnival cruise and that was Feb 2020. For me it was one and done but I think it depends on what you like/don't like. The reasons it didn't work for me:

They did a lot of teaching dance steps at their parties. Even their big 80s dance party on the deck was dividing up the guys and gals and teaching us dance moves - step, kick, snap. We hung out for about an hour - surely this would stop at some point? We finally gave up and left. I'm not talking line dancing, it was a very slow process of "let's show the gals how to do this next step..." "Now let's try it...ok let's go to the guys now..." 

 

The food was fair, but as someone who eats plant-based it was slim pickings. I'm usually able to find something just about anywhere I go. It was as if I had stymied them completely. lol There just wasn't much of anything that wasn't meat or dairy based. I mean, I survived lol but it wasn't pleasant. And even my travel mates (no dietary restrictions) weren't super impressed with their meals.

 

Every single night in the MDR, right about when they placed your entree in front of you, it was time for extremely loud music and everyone must get up and dance. Now, I like to party and I love to dance. But this goofy display was not fun and our food sat getting cold. All conversation at the table was interrupted and I felt that was irritating.

 

I found myself a bit bored in general. There wasn't nearly as much to do as on other cruise lines unless you just wanted to do the water slides and sit by the pool all day. 

 

And it was lacking in live music which is one of my favorite parts of cruising. The "crooner" was in a strange kind of basic room with doors that opened like a grocery store. I'm not going to hate on any of the performers but it just wasn't the caliber and availability that I have found on Princess, RC and Norwegian.

 

By contrast, my travel mates were on a cruise for the first time and they LOVED it (other than the food haha)! It suited them just fine. To each their own! 🙂

[Napagirl]

On 5/22/2023 at 8:00 AM, broadwaybaby123 said:

unprofessional staff (we had someone with arthritis in both needs being told to stand for an event when every seat was taken and then told that Carnival, a PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANY had no number to reach anyone to complain to), and needing to wait a week for a replacement light bulb...we were not happy campers!  

I was really surprised that the staff seemed to be lacking training. Our room steward was inappropriate with one of my travel mates! And out at the pool, one of the staff started talking about a gay couple to ME saying things like, "I don't like people like that. They should stay home." OMG I actually had a conversation with him about not judging others, discrimination and certainly to not talk about it to the guests!  I didn't name him in my survey that Carnival sent but I did tell about all the issues we had on the cruise. I never heard a single thing back from them. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

@Napagirl, try Celebrity.

[Napagirl]

11 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

@Napagirl, try Celebrity.

I hope to do that sometime! Right now we're so enamored with leaving from San Francisco since it's close to where we live. No flights! I did the Carnival cruise because it was a celebration for a loved one and I didn't choose the cruise line or the departure port.

Edited May 24, 2023 by Napagirl

[navybankerteacher]

On 5/7/2023 at 9:43 PM, SPacificbound said:

Royal Caribbean... Yes

Celebrity... Yes  

Cunard... Yes

NCL... Never

Carnival... Never

Agree with the "Never"s -- would add HAL and Princess at Celebrity's level, put Cunard at top of this list, and Royal Caribbean at bottom.   Finally would suggest placing Azamera an Oceania a notch higher than those listed.

[SPacificbound]

9 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Agree with the "Never"s -- would add HAL and Princess at Celebrity's level, put Cunard at top of this list, and Royal Caribbean at bottom.   Finally would suggest placing Azamera an Oceania a notch higher than those listed.

Sorry, I should have put them in "level" order.

[navybankerteacher]

On 5/24/2023 at 7:00 PM, Napagirl said:

… Right now we're so enamored with leaving from San Francisco since it's close to where we live. No flights! …

Yes - sailing from a port about an hour from home is ideal.  Sadly, the overwhelming number of sailings from New York are on the undesirable mega-ships of NCL, MSC and Royal Caribbean.

[LuckyStar]

On 5/7/2023 at 9:37 AM, AnnieCt7 said:

We haven’t cruise in a long time so we feel like first time cruisers. We loved Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.  Didn’t care for NCL and steered away from Carnival.  We now live in Florida within a half hour from JAX Port and a couple of hours from Port Canaveral. Of course sailing out of Jax would be a breeze but I’m not sure of what expectations we should have regarding Carnival compared to our past cruises. Any input is appreciated.  

I personally love Carnival.  It can be a lot rowdier than some other cruise lines.  I think that since they have put the Havana area on some ships, it makes for quieter Carnival cruising.  It's definitely worth the extra $$ for me.  I've become spoiled and have a hard time cruising Carnival without it.  But Carnival also has more planned activities than some other cruise lines.  Trivia, games, etc.  You can literally plan every hour of your day.  But you also don't have to.

[LuckyStar]

On 5/7/2023 at 1:07 PM, Essiesmom said:

Well, I am one and many for Carnival.  21 so far.  My last two cruises were on Carnival.  I enjoy Carnival, just wish JAX had a Spirit class ship, as I am a bit weary of Fantasy class.  But the draw is being able to drive two hours to the port.  My advice for. Carnival is to take the longest cruise available, out of JAX that would be 5 days, and preferably the Monday to Friday itinerary.  Next, I would do the seven day out of Port Canaveral, rather than 3 days.  I have not sailed Mardi Gras because I don’t care for the huge ships, nor the prices demanded by the newest ships.    Which is a paradox, because my next two cruises are on an MSC ship from Port Canaveral, both short B2B.  But it is quite difficult now for a solo cruiser to book a cruise on short notice.  Best I could do is August.  EM

I love Carnival too.  The longer the cruise, the less rowdy the crowd. 

[LuckyStar]

On 5/24/2023 at 5:12 AM, Ferry_Watcher said:

@Napagirl, try Celebrity.

As a Carnival fan, I've cruised Holland and you might like that as well.  I'm cruising Celebrity in June, so I'll report back. 

[9tee2Sea]

On 5/23/2023 at 1:59 PM, Napagirl said:

I have only done one Carnival cruise and that was Feb 2020. For me it was one and done but I think it depends on what you like/don't like. The reasons it didn't work for me:

They did a lot of teaching dance steps at their parties. Even their big 80s dance party on the deck was dividing up the guys and gals and teaching us dance moves - step, kick, snap. We hung out for about an hour - surely this would stop at some point? We finally gave up and left. I'm not talking line dancing, it was a very slow process of "let's show the gals how to do this next step..." "Now let's try it...ok let's go to the guys now..." 

 

The food was fair, but as someone who eats plant-based it was slim pickings. I'm usually able to find something just about anywhere I go. It was as if I had stymied them completely. lol There just wasn't much of anything that wasn't meat or dairy based. I mean, I survived lol but it wasn't pleasant. And even my travel mates (no dietary restrictions) weren't super impressed with their meals.

 

Every single night in the MDR, right about when they placed your entree in front of you, it was time for extremely loud music and everyone must get up and dance. Now, I like to party and I love to dance. But this goofy display was not fun and our food sat getting cold. All conversation at the table was interrupted and I felt that was irritating.

 

I found myself a bit bored in general. There wasn't nearly as much to do as on other cruise lines unless you just wanted to do the water slides and sit by the pool all day. 

 

And it was lacking in live music which is one of my favorite parts of cruising. The "crooner" was in a strange kind of basic room with doors that opened like a grocery store. I'm not going to hate on any of the performers but it just wasn't the caliber and availability that I have found on Princess, RC and Norwegian.

 

By contrast, my travel mates were on a cruise for the first time and they LOVED it (other than the food haha)! It suited them just fine. To each their own! 🙂

i forgot about the dancing service staff in the MDR.  Other than that, it's an ok ( not great, just good enough) cruise line. I do enjoy the Happy Hours on Carnival.  Pitcher of drinks for $10.00.  

[Napagirl]

6 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

i forgot about the dancing service staff in the MDR.  Other than that, it's an ok ( not great, just good enough) cruise line. I do enjoy the Happy Hours on Carnival.  Pitcher of drinks for $10.00.  

Yes, and they were pretty pushy with US dancing too. hahaha! By the end of the cruise I was over it - just sat there until the music ended and we could talk again. 

I don't remember a pitcher being only ten bucks...maybe that is only on some ships? Regardless, compared to where I live, all cruises have "cheap" drinks. lol