Return from 13 year Hiatus...

[dustyspal]

I will be returning to Carnival Nov 07 after a 13 year hiatus. During this time I have taken Cruises on NCL and RCI. I thought Norwegian was way too geriatriac for my liking. However, I have fallen in love with Royal. Great Staff, very good food and activities for the "in-between" crowd (Not young, but definately not old). What do I have to look forward to? I remember lots of Loud, obnoxious drunk teens and Loud, obnoxious wannabe teens when I sailed on Facination in '94. I'm hoping that by sailing in November I can avoid alot of that. Do the activities still tend to lean toward the "younger" crowd or have they varied their activities (and I'm not talking B-I-N-G-O?) I don't want to sound like an old prude, but DH and I are both school teachers with no children of our own and would like to leave some of that behind for awhile.

[GoinCruisin]

I will be returning to Carnival Nov 07 after a 13 year hiatus. During this time I have taken Cruises on NCL and RCI. I thought Norwegian was way too geriatriac for my liking. However, I have fallen in love with Royal. Great Staff, very good food and activities for the "in-between" crowd (Not young, but definately not old). What do I have to look forward to? I remember lots of Loud, obnoxious drunk teens and Loud, obnoxious wannabe teens when I sailed on Facination in '94. I'm hoping that by sailing in November I can avoid alot of that. Do the activities still tend to lean toward the "younger" crowd or have they varied their activities (and I'm not talking B-I-N-G-O?) I don't want to sound like an old prude, but DH and I are both school teachers with no children of our own and would like to leave some of that behind for awhile.

 

What ship are you going on??????? the shorter cruises and older ships have a younger, maybe wilder crowd. So far, the Miracle has been the most subdued... In November you should be okay, unless you are cruising over the holiday... They have activities for all ages.

[cruisergrandma]

I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Carnival has matured a bit since the early days. You will find activities for all ages. I have been on 9 Carnival cruises - all 7-8 days - and never encountered drunk teens or truthfully many drunk adults. Of course, on any ship you find what you are looking for.

 

Food has improved since the early days.

 

Of course, ships are much larger. They do still use smaller ships for short cruises. Which ship will you be on? How long is your cruise?

 

You will find all ages aboard. We have traveled in April - May - June and November. We have never been over-run with kids. On one of our trips they had a cheerleading group aboard - young kids, not teens - and we barely saw them.

 

Let us know what you think in comparison to RCL. I am interested to hear since I have never been on RCL.

[LHP]

Unless your November cruise includes Thanksgiving Day, you should be fine. Be aware though that the Thanksgiving sailing is one of the busiest for children.

 

Having watched Carnival evolved over the years, I believe that Carnival now strives to be all things to all people (as much as one can)....which is why the selection of the ship and length of cruise is so important.

 

Of course you can get a group of drunk thugs on any cruise (just look at the Crown Princess tape...whoduh thunk it??) however, the Spirit class ships were specifically designed to be more subdued.

 

Yes, there is still the Hairy Chest contest. I just don't go. But there is also Afternoon Tea with a 3 string trio and white glove service.

 

My main tip would be not to spend your vacation comparing or contrasting the differences. Enjoy yourself to the fullest and then (when you get home) evaluate and see how it measured up.

 

And if Carnival is not for you, then you are blessed to still have RCCL and many other cruise lines to choose from.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!

[dustyspal]

What ship are you going on??????? the shorter cruises and older ships have a younger, maybe wilder crowd. So far, the Miracle has been the most subdued... In November you should be okay, unless you are cruising over the holiday... They have activities for all ages.

 

Sorry, I should have mentined that...

I will be on the Valor for 7-days the week after Thanksgiving. All new ports for us, except Belize, so we will be busy when docked.

[GoinCruisin]

Sorry, I should have mentined that...

I will be on the Valor for 7-days the week after Thanksgiving. All new ports for us, except Belize, so we will be busy when docked.

 

the Valor is a great ship... and it shouldn't be overrun with kids when you are going. Roatan is wonderful!!!! And if you like fish and chips, it's great (right above Rosie's)... enjoy the Valor!

[summersfunnc]

My husband and I were on the Valor the week after Thanksgiving last year and I had some of the same concerns that you had, having heard Carnival called the 'Fun ship' and rumored to be a party cruiseline. Not so in my opinion, (well it was FUN!) we did find one very obnoxious youthful teenager with an attitude and loud music who had no parental supervision but the other children on board were well behaved. Never once saw children in the adults only Hot Tub. Was delighted to see teenagers praying before meals in the dining room.

Can't tell you too much about what there was to do as when we were on ship we were generally just enjoying the water going by and recouperating from the shore excusions from the early or previous day. Shows were good.

Do hope that you have a great time. Last year was our first cruise and though I had never been interested in a cruise at all, we leave on the 14th of Oct. for our next one. Hubby is thinking of taking a part time job just so we can cruise more often.

[Bran8778]

Just returned from Destiny and I dont remember to many teens in any of the cruise activities. I was in about 4 myself.