Considering Repo/Transatlantic Cruise - Never Carnival Cruiser here, change my mind!?

[wurm914]

Hello All, I'm not new to cruising but have never done Carnival - always thought of Carnival as more of a party boat and that's just not my vibe. I'm mid 60s with approximately 30 cruises, some of them long ones.   I'm trying to figure out a way to get to and from Europe in 2025 and not fly.  I see a Carnival Mardi Gras repo for September 2025 - but I have concerns.  Is the atmosphere different on a repo/transatlantic for Carnival?  What's the demographic for this type of cruise?  Any information you can offer to help me decide?

 

Thanks!

 

deb 🙂

[csm5986142]

I think that would be such a great cruise - I love Mardi Gras!

I understand your concerns - I have been on some of the shorter booze cruises out of LA on Carnival, and it can be a very young/loud party crowd, but the longer itineraries are totally different.  In September we did a 16 day repositioning cruise on Carnival.  It was an older crowd than usual (I would guess the average age was 65 - 70).  There was a total of only 11 kids on board (very unusual on a Carnival ship in my experience). It was a very relaxed, quiet atmosphere.  It was one of our best cruises.  For comparison purposes, we've been on about 35 cruises, primarily Carnival, but also HAL and NCL.

[notscb]

Every cruise on every line is what you make of it. While Carnival advertises the "fun" vibes onboard, I've had some of my most relaxing cruises onboard Carnival ships. Not to mention that most mainstream U.S. cruise lines (Carnival, RCL, Norwegian) offer essentially the same experience with different branding and carpet colors.

 

A transatlantic experience will likely be similar across lines as well- by day 3 everyone is just kind of relaxing anyway.

 

The Mardi Gras itself is Carnival's newest product on offer and will give you a good sense of what Carnival is hoping to offer going into the future. If it's your first time on Carnival, it's a great choice of ship.

[Essiesmom]

There were several Live from threads earlier this summer and fall that were transAtlantics.  Look for one by @Saint Greg, @IntrepidFromDC, and @jam19872016who the an odyssey…over on Freedom, two weeks on Cunard, and back on Freedom.  After awhile I get confused with all the long threads…. EM

[firefly333]

12 hours ago, wurm914 said:

Hello All, I'm not new to cruising but have never done Carnival - always thought of Carnival as more of a party boat and that's just not my vibe. I'm mid 60s with approximately 30 cruises, some of them long ones.   I'm trying to figure out a way to get to and from Europe in 2025 and not fly.  I see a Carnival Mardi Gras repo for September 2025 - but I have concerns.  Is the atmosphere different on a repo/transatlantic for Carnival?  What's the demographic for this type of cruise?  Any information you can offer to help me decide?

 

Thanks!

 

deb 🙂

I'm doing a rcl may 2025 ta, pc to rome. I'd take just about any cruiseline home if the dates worked rather than fly home

 

I looked at your repo date and for me the price is high. I'm in a balcony for 13 days the other way on royal for $1k. I noticed none coming back fall of 2025 to PC. I'd be interested. I sure wish carnival would offer a solo discount like the olden days they had 1As. 

 

I'm on carnival dream jan 13 for 2 weeks. Hopefully all goes well. I would say the make up of your repo will be similar. A older, and higher loyalty group. Journey cruises dont have priority on and off. 

[wurm914]

32 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I'm doing a rcl may 2025 ta, pc to rome. I'd take just about any cruiseline home if the dates worked rather than fly home

 

I looked at your repo date and for me the price is high.

 

I agree with you about the price - and since the ship turns around 30 days later and heads back to PC I'm thinking it could be going in for refurbishing.  I may wait a while to see if the price comes down and the other cruise lines put out their Fall 2025 offerings.   Thanks for your input and I hope your spring 2025 repo is fabulous!

 

deb 🙂

[MadManOfBethesda]

18 hours ago, wurm914 said:

Hello All, I'm not new to cruising but have never done Carnival - always thought of Carnival as more of a party boat and that's just not my vibe. I'm mid 60s with approximately 30 cruises, some of them long ones.   I'm trying to figure out a way to get to and from Europe in 2025 and not fly.  I see a Carnival Mardi Gras repo for September 2025 - but I have concerns.  Is the atmosphere different on a repo/transatlantic for Carnival?  What's the demographic for this type of cruise?  Any information you can offer to help me decide?

 

Thanks!

 

deb 🙂

I'm in my mid-60s and have been cruising on Carnival and various other lines for 40+ years. I took a Carnival transatlantic cruise from Tampa to Barcelona this past April, took a Celebrity transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale last month, and have another Carnival transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to Port Canaveral booked for next April. I've also taken transatlantic cruises to/from Europe on other lines as well. They're all basically the same with similar clientele. Passenger ages skew older than a typical 7-day or shorter cruise, and there usually are few children on board. There is no similarity between a Carnival Caribbean "party ship" 3,4,or 7-day cruise with a Carnival 14+ day transatlantic or repositioning cruise.

[Essiesmom]

It looks like Mardi Gras is going to Cadiz for the spa treatment.  EM

[papajoe]

We were planning on going over and back on the Mardi Gras in 2025.  Then I found out that the Valor is doing the round trip from New Orleans in April with a month between legs.

We live in the New Orleans area.  An Uber ride to the port beats the daylights out of a hard day's drive to Port Canaveral plus hotel.  Yes, we'll miss out on the Mardi Gras experience, but maybe that will be an excuse to do another one.

 

We did the Freedom TA earlier this year.  Older crowd, few kids and no drunks to deal with.  There were also some enrichment type events.  Lectures and such that I really enjoyed.  Lots of relaxing sea days.

 

We can't wait to do it again.

[wurm914]

15 hours ago, papajoe said:

Then I found out that the Valor is doing the round trip from New Orleans in April with a month between legs.

 

We did the Freedom TA earlier this year.  Older crowd, few kids and no drunks to deal with.  There were also some enrichment type events.  Lectures and such that I really enjoyed.  Lots of relaxing sea days.

 

We can't wait to do it again.

Thanks for pointing out the Valor - you're right, that could be a fantastic trip!

 

deb 🙂

 

[Mike45LC]

I cruised on Carnival in 1997 and 2001, and said "never again."  We mostly cruise Princess and Celebrity. 

 

My wife wanted to take our niece on a cruise and she (schoolteacher) could only do August.  Long story short, we ended up on a Carnival cruise.  

 

I was pleased.  In the late 1990s, Carnival was a Spring break experience, full of 20-something guys getting wasted and vomiting in the corners.  Although my August 2023 Carnival had a lot of young adults, it was not gross and they were not rowdy!  Food was decent and the "Dine My Way" (or whatever they call it) worked very well -- we would tell the application that we were ready to dine, and we got a table notification within ten minutes.  

 

Embarkation in Los Angeles was horrible, but the cruise itself was fine.  Cabin, food, entertainment, etc., all were good.  Not Celebrity level, but a good cruise nonetheless.

 

Based on this experience, I have booked us on three Carnival cruises for 2024.

 

[wurm914]

14 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

 In the late 1990s, Carnival was a Spring break experience, full of 20-something guys getting wasted and vomiting in the corners. 

 

We had the same experience on a spring break cruise with RCCL.  We found out after we boarded and realized we were definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time.  RCCL had been selling the cruise with a cheap booze package on the college campuses in FL.  We ended up staying in our room most of the cruise - it was safer for our shoes.   We had an aft balcony/junior suite - someone threw a bar glass off the back of the ship that broke one of our balcony panels - it was a whole day repair.  

 

deb 🙂

[Peace2U]

Longer cruises tend to be attract older clientele, so it should be okay.

[jimbo5544]

3 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

I cruised on Carnival in 1997 and 2001, and said "never again."  We mostly cruise Princess and Celebrity. 

 

My wife wanted to take our niece on a cruise and she (schoolteacher) could only do August.  Long story short, we ended up on a Carnival cruise.  

 

I was pleased.  In the late 1990s, Carnival was a Spring break experience, full of 20-something guys getting wasted and vomiting in the corners.  Although my August 2023 Carnival had a lot of young adults, it was not gross and they were not rowdy!  Food was decent and the "Dine My Way" (or whatever they call it) worked very well -- we would tell the application that we were ready to dine, and we got a table notification within ten minutes.  

 

Embarkation in Los Angeles was horrible, but the cruise itself was fine.  Cabin, food, entertainment, etc., all were good.  Not Celebrity level, but a good cruise nonetheless.

 

Based on this experience, I have booked us on three Carnival cruises for 2024.

 

Good for you, enjoy your cruises. 

[luv2kroooz]

We've done four TA's. One on CCL where it was quite relaxing and enjoyable. Different atmosphere...less families, more seasoned travelers. Opportunities to chat with crew to learn about their culture. It was a wonderful time.

[livetocruise2005]

We just did the transatlantic on the Carnival Freedom from Port Canaveral to Barcelona and we loved it.  We are in our late 50's and we were around the median age on the ship.  The longer cruises have a much more laid back atmosphere.  Just this week we booked the Mardi Gras transatlantic in 2025 both to Barcelona, and the return back after dry dock.  In between, the following day we arive in Barcelona, we hop on the Norwegian Breakaway for a 11 day Mediteranean Cruise ending in Venice.  We will then spend around 5 days in Venice, then fly back to Barcelona to get on the Mardi Gras for the return trip home.  We love these two way transatlantics that allow us to go to Europe and back without an international flight.  The Freedom trip this year was a two way trip, we came back to the states on Regal Princess.  This coming spring, we go over to Barcelona on Celebrity, and return a few weeks later on Carnival Glory after it's dry dock.

[KKB]

On 12/20/2023 at 6:51 PM, wurm914 said:

Hello All, I'm not new to cruising but have never done Carnival - always thought of Carnival as more of a party boat and that's just not my vibe. I'm mid 60s with approximately 30 cruises, some of them long ones.   I'm trying to figure out a way to get to and from Europe in 2025 and not fly.  I see a Carnival Mardi Gras repo for September 2025 - but I have concerns.  Is the atmosphere different on a repo/transatlantic for Carnival?  What's the demographic for this type of cruise?  Any information you can offer to help me decide?

 

Thanks!

 

deb 🙂

We did our 1st Carnival cruise Jan. this year--14 day Hawaii (RT LA), after 30 cruises in 20 years on most other lines.

We LOVED it. 

Our bartenders said the key to Carnival is long cruises.

Give it a try!

[cruisinqt]

I’ve been cruising for over 20 years and have been on a number of cruise lines, some higher end and other more basic. Carnival has changed a lot over the years and isn’t really a party boat like it used to be, unless you go on a 2-3 day cruise but those really short cruises have a party atmosphere no matter which cruise line you go on. And the newer Excel class ships (yes the Mardi Gras is one of them) are quite elegant and look more like a Royal Caribbean cruise ship than a Carnival cruise ship. Emeril Lagasse has taken over the food and revamped the MDR menu so it’s quite good. With Rudi Sodamin opening a seafood restaurant on board, Guy Fieri opening both burger & bbq places along with a microbrewery, and Cucina Del Capitano winning awards for their Italian cuisine, Carnival has drastically improved their food options. I actually preferred the food on the Carnival Celebration over the food on the Quantam of the Seas. But Royals food quality changes are a whole other story. 
 

The spa is quite nice (it uses Elemis products) and offers thermal suites with saunas, hot tubs, steam rooms, and heated marble loungers. And the Serenity adults only area (21+) is pretty nice too. I still prefer Royals adults only Solarium to Carnivals Serenity deck but the Serenity is still a very good option. So there are lots of quiet relaxing areas to choose from. 
 

Are Carnivals repo/transatlantic sailings different? Yes, very much so. The median age is much older, the activities are more geared towards older folks, and there aren’t as many kids. On our Barcelona transatlantic repo cruise there were daily lectures, q&a sessions with various crew members (the engineers were fascinating), ballroom dance classes, and various craft activities. We especially liked the throwback days where everyone (including the staff) dresses up for a specific time period. Even the ship is decorated for that time period. The 80’s throwback day was a blast, we had 80’s dance classes, 80’s food, and 80’s activities. Our adult daughters (24 & 26), who decided to come along with us complained about the “old people music” in the clubs because it was all stuff from the 70’s, 80’s, & 90’s but we loved it. I think you’d like a Carnival transatlantic cruise if you tried one. We’ve already booked the Mardi Gras for a transatlantic repo cruise from Barcelona to Port Canaveral in 2025 because we loved the one we just did on the Carnival Freedom a couple months ago. 

[Vagabond Knight]

I have not been on the Mardi Gras yet (going in a few weeks), but did transatlantics in both directions (Port Canaveral - Barcelona) a couple of months ago on the Freedom.  The ship was old,  tacky, depressing, and the food was terrible.  We would never sail  that ship again. 

 

However,  what we also  learned was that we probably don't ever want to take a cruise on ANY ship that's going into or coming out of dry dock/refurbishment.  They had contractors onboard working on the ship on the way over AND on the way back.  Some passengers were treated to drilling and hammering near their cabins through the night.   We had to walk over cables and extention cords in the hallways.  There were guys in the hallway with masks on pulling down ceiling tiles.   None of the washers and dryers were working for days on the way back because they hadn't finished installed the new panels. There were plumbing issues and flooding in some cabins and hallways.   Some of the hallways outside cabins on at least three of the floors had a strong smell similar to animal urine on the way back... don't know if it was from a solvent used in the refurb,  or due to something being opened up that hadn't been opened in years,  or a glue of some kind,  or what.  There was paint overspray on balconies that hadn't been cleaned up yet and plastic hanging off the edges of newly installed windows. 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Vagabond Knight

[cruisinqt]

I was on that same cruise on the Freedom from Barcelona to Port Canaveral and had a completely different experience. Yes the ship was old with tacky decor, (it’s one of Carnivals oldest ships & is 15 years old) but the crew kept it exceptionally clean. 
 

The food was very good in the MDR and there was a bbq place up the stairs above the lido not many people knew about that had pretty good food. And that’s saying a lot because I’m from Texas and we take our bbq seriously. And if you didn’t mind paying a little extra for your food the Seafood Shack had excellent fish and chips for $8. But if a person were just to eat at the lido buffet or the sandwich or pizza place they would probably have a very poor opinion of the food like this cruiser did.  
 

We never heard hammering and drilling at night. Maybe it was because of our cabin location but I was told by staff that they only do it in the daylight hours when guests are awake so as not to disturb them. But yes a post refurbishment cruise will have work going on but it wasn’t that big of a deal to us. There was a smell in some hallways from the glue used on the new carpeting but it definitely wasn’t a urine smell and it was only a slight odor that disappeared once you were out of the hallway. When they were shampooing carpets or repairing something we just stepped around them and went on our way. Someone flooded their bathroom on deck 8 and it made a mess all over that deck so a lot of cruisers staying in that area were understandably unhappy. I think that added to the overall frustration some were experiencing.
 

All I know is the Facebook group for that cruise got pretty heated. There were a handful of complainers that belly ached about every little thing and exaggerated some situations. It seemed like they were just looking for things to fuss about. It got so bad that a number of people left the group because of the bellyaching.
 

I would say 90% of us had a wonderful cruise and would do it again. On several occasions I got my laundry back the same day I turned it in. Most of the staff remembered me and greeted me by name. And the cruise director was super entertaining. I enjoyed the cruise so much that we booked the exact same cruise for 2025 (a repositioning transatlantic sailing from Barcelona to Port Canaveral) but it’s on a newer ship, Mardi Gras.

[Gumbo4Life]

We did the TA this year on the Carnival Freedom and came back on the Pride, spent 24 days touring Spain, France, Germany, Austria and Italy. Had a great time on Carnival and would do it again in a heartbeat. The crowd was older than a typical short cruise, many on gambling trips. Check out the “live” thread by @jam19872016 as has been previously mentioned, he did a great job describing the experience. You will have a blast btw!  

[Surfnsnowboard3]

On 12/21/2023 at 11:06 AM, MadManOfBethesda said:

I'm in my mid-60s and have been cruising on Carnival and various other lines for 40+ years. I took a Carnival transatlantic cruise from Tampa to Barcelona this past April, took a Celebrity transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale last month, and have another Carnival transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to Port Canaveral booked for next April. I've also taken transatlantic cruises to/from Europe on other lines as well. They're all basically the same with similar clientele. Passenger ages skew older than a typical 7-day or shorter cruise, and there usually are few children on board. There is no similarity between a Carnival Caribbean "party ship" 3,4,or 7-day cruise with a Carnival 14+ day transatlantic or repositioning cruise.

Hi there, are you still booked for the April Transalatic on Carnival Glory? My wife and I just booked this cruise.

[csm5986142]

On 12/20/2023 at 4:51 PM, wurm914 said:

I see a Carnival Mardi Gras repo for September 2025

 

Thanks to OP for posting about this cruise!  After reading about it here we (actually several family members) booked it, and are really looking forward it.  We have been on all the Excel class ships and just love them.  In our experience 7 days is not enough time to do everything we want onboard, so this is going to be great.

[JimmyTheSaint]

I've done three Carnival Transatlantic cruises and it's far from a three day booze cruise to the Bahamas. As others have said it's an older crowd, far fewer kids than you'd normally get on a Carnival cruise. It's much more relaxed but it's still a Fun ship.

 

Following our experiences on the Freedom Transatlantic I would be very reluctant to book any cruise following a drydock. Our experience onboard was similar to the one mentioned above by Vagabond Knight. I've pasted a link to the review I wrote after the cruise.

 

 https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=708817

 

We've sailed on Mardi Gras and loved it. Dining and entertainment are on a different level from anything we've experienced on any previous Carnival cruise.

[Fredette]

On 12/21/2023 at 11:51 AM, wurm914 said:

Hello All, I'm not new to cruising but have never done Carnival - always thought of Carnival as more of a party boat and that's just not my vibe. I'm mid 60s with approximately 30 cruises, some of them long ones.   I'm trying to figure out a way to get to and from Europe in 2025 and not fly.  I see a Carnival Mardi Gras repo for September 2025 - but I have concerns.  Is the atmosphere different on a repo/transatlantic for Carnival?  What's the demographic for this type of cruise?  Any information you can offer to help me decide?

 

Thanks!

 

deb 🙂

This is just my take - but we had an unhappy experience with a Brisbane-Seattle cruise last year.  The ship was stacked with people who got the cheapie/free casino offer, so that really skewed the demographic.  Carnival cheaped out on entertainment because they knew a fair percentage of the passengers would spend their time in the casinos anyway, so if you weren't a gambler, it was quite a boring cruise.  (Have you seen Groundhog Day?  The cruise was like that, every day was the same as the day before).  Add to that lots of sea days, plus a lot of covid on the ship (no effort to check coughing guests before boarding) and it was not a fun cruise at all.  Our dinner companions had already booked the same cruise for this year, and after a couple of days they went to guest services to cancel, being so disappointed with the cruise they didn't want to repeat it.  We had done transpacific crossings before with other cruise lines, so knew that there were lots of sea days between ports, but the other cruises had a very different vibe to them and were far more enjoyable (and they actually had entertainment for the passengers!).  Because of this, we are now only at the "dipping our toe in the water" stage with Carnival now (it has taken us nearly twelve months to decide to cruise again with them) - we have booked a very short cruise to see if they have lifted their game from this unpleasant experience.  Fingers crossed they have. 

 

To answer your question - I don't know if Carnival will give you info such as how many "giveaway cruises" they have promised for your sailing - if there's a lot, don't go.  You want to be on a ship filled with people who want the holiday, not just people who are going because they got a free cruise and they will only venture out of the casino to eat, then go back in again.

Edited February 22 by Fredette