What Makes Carinval Special To You???

[DanJ]

None of them are any more special to me than the others. They are all fun, even HAL which was our first. Have our 11th coming up, on 4 different lines and will gladly try any of them again, as well as others that I haven't been on. Our first Princess we chose because the Grand Princess was the new flashy thing. We did the Oasis of the Seas because it was one of the biggest at the time (preferred its itinerary to its sister ship that week). None of our Carnival cruises have been because the idea of the ship has wowed us, they have all been itinerary or price based. 10 day Panama Canal for about 70 bucks a day person as an example. That old Tropicale certainly didn't draw me in a year after the Grand Princess, but the itinerary and price did. Our upcoming cruise on Carnival will be our 5th with them, first in almost 12 years. Relatively last minute choice to go on a cruise and this was what was available that week (didn't really want to do a Caribbean in the summer again). If I had planned earlier, probably would have been an Alaska cruise on Princess. But this one is on an interesting ship (Venezia, so I'm interested to see the Costa roots of it), to a new destination (Bermuda) out a new departure port for us (NYC).  Homeports and prices are usually the draw for us to Carnival, which I'm sure is true of a lot of people.

 

[jlawrence01]

I have taken eight cruises on seven different lines.  My next five cruises are on four different lines.  I have found that the loyalty programs benefits are very minimal when you factor in the cost savings that you get by looking for good deals on cruises.

 

I did my first Carnival cruise on the Carnival Splendor before it relocated to Singapore and Australia.  Even though it lacked some of the highly advertised restaurants on board, we were very pleasantly surprised by the food and the high level of service on the ship.  Other than the frat boy entertainment, we had a great time.

 

While we do most of our cruising on HAL, Celebrity and Princess, Carnival has been s a lot more enjoyable that our experiences on RCCL and NCL.

[Gari]

The staff and crew. Love the  fact they really seem to care about their customers and are extremely friendly and helpful. Took my first cruise in 2001 and many of them solo had. I have to say I've met lots of wonderful passengers as well 

 

 

[Prometheus1]

1st Carnival cruise was my second cruise. While friends and family I cruise with are like "nope not going on Carnival again" I keep coming back because 1) the crew is so friendly, 2) thus far cruising and more importantly Carnival has been great value (I know that is changing), 3) I love being on the ship, any ship (some more than others), 4) I love Carnival's Bars-they are just fun (especially alchemy (purple sunset) and pig and anchor (Love that smoky watermelon margarita!) On the older ships once I board, do muster, I can't wait to go sit in the atrium bar and look up at the Farcus decor in all of its  cheesy splendor. (The more I cruise the more I appreciate it! though I was not fond of it when I first started cruising)

5) Usually nice big casinos with decent perks

 

Old ships, new ships, small ships, big ships- they  all have their own personality and quirks, Carnival just has that "FUN" ship vibe!

Went on my first solo in June and I felt comfortable because Carnival is home!

 

Yes sometimes I like a change  but I will keep coming back to Carnival

Edited August 19 by Prometheus1
addendum

[UGACamper]

My DH and I went through some tough life events in a very short time period (marriage, moving, death of loved ones, young adult children moving out - all in about 6 months) and found ourselves very depressed and lost, not knowing what the next step would be. An elderly woman at church told us that now it's time learn how to focus on each other and TRAVEL! So we booked a cruise. July 2017 on the Sensation.  We had no idea what to expect from cruising. Neither of us had barely been out of the southeast, much less anywhere that needed a passport.  Once we debarked from that first 4 day cruise, we called Carnival on the way home to book our second one. And here we are, 7 years later.  The only port I have repeated is Cozumel and I have been on a different ship every cruise. I still like what Carnival is selling, so when they run out of ports and ships, I might look elsewhere.  

[Drazil65]

Although we got hooked on cruising on our first cruise for our honeymoon almost 24 years ago on a RCCL (we still cruise RCCL once a while), CCL is our go to cruise line for sure.  We absolutely still get excited when we first see the ship on cruise morning.  DS was a toddler 20 years ago when we took him on Carnival for his first cruise and its been our family escape ever since.  Off the grid and quality vacation time for us and we are fortunate enough to go at least a couple times a year.  Easy enough for us to drive to many east coast ports so it just makes sense and its something we all love to do.  We put the onus on us to make our experience as close to our expectations as possible while keeping flexibly in mind for those things out of our control.  After all the years of cruising we have fined tuned that experience and our expectations.  

 

We just dropped DS for his senior year of college this past weekend.  We know it will be a little harder for him to come along starting next year once he is in law school and moves on to the next phase of his life.  The next couple cruises we have on the books will be extra special for our family and CCL will definitely be a part of that.   

 

 

Edited August 19 by Drazil65

[Illbcruzn4life]

if I see a good deal then I come back. Price and itinerary is the bottom line in that order.

[Cushing985]

We're both very informal so I like the atmosphere onboard Carnival ships.  That, plus the average costs of the cruises, keep us coming back.

[geckoaz]

My wife and I have been on over 20 carnival cruises. It is who you cruise with that makes the cruise. We have been on rcl utopia and a couple of ncl ships. We had great times too. But the bottom line is cruising with friends and family. With carnival we can do both. I don't need to drink to have fun. But when do I fall asleep. 

 

[Pellaz]

Things that make Carnival special for me:  

 

1.  The crew.  They seem happier overall than the crews on my other cruises (all on Royal), and have said they feel more a part of a "family" on Carnival.  During one BtF Tour, the Dance Captain told us he had been a performer on a different line, one of the Big Three, and he much preferred the crew atmosphere on Carnival.  Sure, it's subjective, but that's how it seems to me.  

Service-wise, I've always had great stateroom stewards on Carnival (with just one minor exception).  Meanwhile I've had lackluster service on Royal, with my luggage randomly deposited down the corridor, and most recently no sign of our steward until Day 3...something almost unthinkable on Carnival in my experience.  

2.  The Fun.  At my age I don't need a rock-climbing wall or a zipline on my ships, but I DO enjoy a good water-slide.  I just find Carnival's ships to be more "fun."  Less "wow," perhaps, but more fun.  

3.  The food.  More specifically, the free/included dining options especially for lunch.  I was startled at how relatively few options there were on Royal's Freedom-class ships than, say, a Conquest-class, and those Royal ships are much bigger than Conquest-class.  And the Vista and Excel classes have even more.

[nancy1031]

My 1st cruise was on the Carnival Festivale- my best friend and I had an absolute blast!!!!We loved the friendliness of the crew- the whole Carnival thing and we keep coming back- will be going on # 15 in 54 days (can you tell I'm excited!!!) - have been on NCL , Princess & Royal- they don't have the fun that Carnival does, am close to 70 yrs old and I still get excited when I see my ship when I'm headed to it! If you gave me 15 minutes to be ready for my cruise today, I could do it right now!!! 

[Sailor75]

First cruise line, otherwise nothing.