Why Canival?

[Cruising89143]

Why not Carnival? It would be sad if all the cruise lines were the same. No one line can please everyone. Different cruise lines please different people, but in the end, hopefully, we're all happy.

 

As it happens, Carnival is not for me. But loads of people love it, so they're obviously doing things right.

 

Some people like chocolate ice cream, and others prefer vanilla. It doesn't mean one is better than the other.

 

Just my opinion.:)

 

Lisa

Lisa, I think that you summed it up very nicely. You will find that most of the negative opinions of Carnival come from people who have never stepped foot aboard one of their ships.

[Terre]

I have cruised on other lines including RCI and I agree with others, the food and service are comparable. I've only had a complaint about Carnival's service once and found out that the assistant waiter was learning and that accounted for the slow service. The food is just as good as any other I've been on. The exception was Celebrity. I don't think anyone can beat its food or service.

I think all the lines do a great job of entertaining, feeding, and cleaning up after thousands of people every day -- that has to be a hard job!

I like Carnival because it is more casual (even on formal nights), there's more on-board fun; I just love Carnival's atmosphere, casualness and fun. The ports are great, food's good, service is good. What more could you want?:D

[dmarch@islc.net]

Haven't you asked this question before, a while back? (If it wasn't you, I apologize.)

 

No, I don't think so.

 

Thanks to all that corrected my spelling, it was big of you. I apologize for my dislecsyia. Still don't understand the part about blunts being illegal in the US. LOL

 

FYI: I have cruised Carnival twice. The first time was on the Triumph. It was a wonderful cruise. The second was on the Spirit, horrible cruise. Bad food and an unhappy crew. Which cruise best reflected the Carnival experience? I have no idea. I do know that I only get one a year and would like to have a good food and a happy crew. Do you think my Spirit cruise was a fluke? In the Spirit's defense, it was one of her first cruises and I think there was some sort of crew strike or something going on. Three hours in the dinning room for a bad meal.

 

For all that answered: Cause it's more fun. Hard to argue with that. I am a huge fan of cheesy pool games! LOL Much rather go on a scavenger hunt than play bridge.

 

Price: I think I paid roughly $1000pp for a 10 day Spirit cruise. My upcoming Celebrity cruise cost $1250pp for a 14 day. Seems like a wash to me.

 

I guess it's the food that most concerns me. If I'm to put on a coat and tie or worse a tux, the food better dam well be good. LOL

 

I apologize to all that seemed to take this thread as a personal attack on them.

[Knights on the Beach]

dmarch, thanks for coming back and posting. Sometimes people come here to post something negative about Carnival to see if they can "stir the pot", then they disappear from our forum. It's nice to know that you didn't have those same intentions.

[Ms Belvedere]

No, I don't think so.

Still don't understand the part about blunts being illegal in the US. LOL

 

...a joint, or marijuana cigarette. "Brunt of a joke" means the subject of the joke, or butt of a joke. ;)

 

Sorry if you were offended. :)

Ms B

[dmarch@islc.net]

...a joint, or marijuana cigarette. "Brunt of a joke" means the subject of the joke, or butt of a joke. ;)

 

Sorry if you were offended. :)

Ms B

 

No no my mistake. No offence taken. Kind of funny, I think.

[RWolver672]

"im sure someone will argue this with me, but if you take a looksie at most any of the surveys that are taken by cruise magazines or cruise message boards, im pretty sure more times than not Carnival will finish below most other cruiselines when it comes to rating service and food....."

 

What I have noticed since we started cruising is that the magazines that take these polls that show Carnival to be rated lower or not at all, never have Carnival ads in their magazines. I wonder if when they take these polls, do they even include Carnival as a choice. I also noticed that these magazines portray the average cruiser as being wealthy, wears diamonds on every finger and sits by the pool in a formal gown and tux. For those reasons, I cancel my subscription to those magazines. There are a couple of good ones out there but most of them are out of my league so to speak.

[robbyxoxo]

Rwolver...:)....youre on the right track there.....no doubt the average reader of some of those cruise magazines are wayyy more likely to be sailing Celebrity as opposed to Carnival......but didnt they used to do similar surveys here at cruise critic?....seems that i recall seeing on the homepage here different surveys done and the results.....like which ships ranked highest for food or fun or cleanliness etc....do they still those here?....or maybe im thinking of a different message board

[viennacruiser]

I have cruised on both Carvival and Celebrity...my DH and I were married on a Carnival cruise May 2001..we took my kids and his best friend and DW along and we all had a great time..

The next year DH and I went on an 11 night cruise out of Baltimore on Celebrity ...had a great time..the following summer 7 nights on Celebrity with kids and in laws had a great time..

Looking forward to a 7 night on Holland with DH in March will have a great time..and a Carnival out of NY in Aug for parents 50th anniversary with sibs, kids, DH and neices/nephews, in laws..am sure we will have fun..

Hey it is a cruise not a day at work....

Nancy

[dmarch@islc.net]

My absolute worst dinning experience was on HAL. It was like getting all dressed up and going to S&S Cafeteria. Don't they usually get high marks? Don't get me wrong, I'm not a food snob just a foodie.

 

Please keep the food stories coming. I have read on other boards that Carnival food has really improved. What do you think?

[Kuyaba]

I've chosen Carnival for my second cruise next spring. Went on the Celebrity Constellation last December. I was not at all impressed with the food. It was just okay. Except the I really loved the sushi and we'd have a sushi snack every night about 6 and then dinner at 8:30. Maybe the other Celebrity ships are better. I enjoyed the cruise but it was very laid back. Not much to do at night. The shows were just "okay" as well. Worked okay for us at the time because it was a very intense itinerary and my BF caught a cold the 2nd day, so we retired pretty early every night.

 

Sounds like Carnival will be a lot more fun and different. I've read very favorable reviews about the food. I'll miss the sushi (Victory), but I look forward to the pizza, burgers and ruben sandwiches that I've heard were great. And this was week was not the same price as RCCL (which I looked at as well), it was a few hundred dollars cheaper per person and I have to pay for my dad and daughter this time, so that was another factor in deciding on Carnival. So, we'll see how it goes.

 

Next cruise, I'd like to try Princess and maybe RCCL after that. I think it's a good idea to try different lines in order to find out which suits you best.

[cantw82cruise]

You know the way I look at it is " If it isn't broke don't fix it"... We have sailed on six different Carnival ships and had six different vacations. There are all kinds of things that contributed to the trip being a success. There have been things we didn't like about different ships mostly just small things. The people on board and the people you travel with are a huge part of this. To me the food is not that big of a deal. I can always find something I like to eat anywhere. The entertainment is a big thing for us. We like a good band that can get the whole club on the dance floor having a great time. The shows are always top notch and the comedians have all been very good. We have talked about trying a different cruise line but then we always end up going with CCL.

[kkorman]

My absolute worst dinning experience was on HAL. It was like getting all dressed up and going to S&S Cafeteria. Don't they usually get high marks? Don't get me wrong, I'm not a food snob just a foodie.

 

Please keep the food stories coming. I have read on other boards that Carnival food has really improved. What do you think?

 

 

Food is so subjective that you just can't take anyone's word on this board or any survey. My HAL experience (1 out of 27 cruises) was the most enjoyable week my tastebuds have had. IMO the best of the mass market lines. This is the opposite of the person above. You just do not know who you are talking too or what they like and therefore should take any review or preference with a grain of salt.

 

As for the surveys, be careful on who sponsors the, cruise lines are often big sponsors and advertisers for the magazines doing them. The best way to decide is to try it yourself. Once you find a line you like, you can stick with them. Bottom line though is that your experience will not be the same as mine or anyone elses on this list.