Please tell me about Carnival

[donnar]

HI--- I have traveled many times with NCL and would like to try another cruise line. We have picked Carnival. We love the inteniary for Aug 2009. it will be going to places we have not been. We are a married couple in our forties and we bring along our teenage sons who will be 20 & 18.

 

Since we only know about NCL can anyone tell be about Carnival. For example:

We are used to freestyle dining--what does Carnival have?

Do you have to get dressed up for dinner? (with tux and stuff)

 

Just general stuff i need to know about.

 

Thanks for your help:cool:

[big_duck]

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/FAQs/FAQLanding.aspx

[mag]

Carnival is very like NCL, except that you do have set times for dining. I do like freestyle as in NCL, but my DH and I also feel that with set times to eat that you get to know your servers and they get to know you and that makes for a much more enjoyable and fun dining experience. Have found that some of our NCL dining servers were only so so and impersonal.

 

Dress on Carnival can be just as casual as NCL, dress up if you want or not.

 

I think the biggest difference is the nightlife and entertainment. Carnival is just more fun...shows and piano bars and bands are excellent. But if you are not into that you just go to bed early and not do it.

 

We are in our late 40's and BTW my usual plan is to try to take a quick nap in the late afternoon just before dinner and drink a cappuccino after dinner so I can stay up to see the show, have fun in the piano bar, or lose $ in the casino!

 

We mostly look at itinerary and price...not cruiseline. Carnival usually wins and we have not had a bad experience yet. Every cruise is so different and so much fun!

[ThePatientOne]

Being that you have sailed NCL you are not a rookie at cruising..

Carnival is a fun line to cruise with.. They are not all "stuck up" about things.. As others have said, the dinner seating is assigned however should you not want to do that there is always the Lido deck..

Formal nights are just that formal wear. well not exactly.. Carnival has relaxed their standards for "formal" nights.. Check out their web site in the FAQ section for more info..

Pick a non school break time for your cruise and you won't have to worry about a ton of rug rats running around.. (And no I have nothing against kids..) Just being flip...

Come on over to CCL, I think you will like it..

Any day at sea is better than your best day at work...:D

[LHP]

A couple of Carnival ships are experimental with any time dining.

 

The Legend offers regular set dining times in one level of the dining room and has any time dining on the upper level.

 

Once you select one or the other for the cruise, though, you can not change it.

 

I believe the Liberty will be experimenting with it as well.

 

So depending on which ship you book, there is a small chance that anytime dining will be an option.

 

I have never sailed NCL, but I would imagine from all that I have read that you will have a very similar experience.

 

As far as dressing up, "depending on the length of the cruise" and the "port it leaves from"...you will see a mixture of attire for formal night.

 

Casual night is pretty basic. Formal Night...anything except jeans or shorts will pass.

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

[donnar]

When do you pick your dinnertime?? When you get on the boat or when you make reservations? What kind of food is at the Lido deck?

 

On NCL they allowed my 18 year old son to drink (we signed a waiver). Does Carnival have the same thing or is it strictly 21 and over?

[Terry305]

Being that you have sailed NCL you are not a rookie at cruising..

Carnival is a fun line to cruise with.. They are not all "stuck up" about things.. As others have said, the dinner seating is assigned however should you not want to do that there is always the Lido deck..

Formal nights are just that formal wear. well not exactly.. Carnival has relaxed their standards for "formal" nights.. Check out their web site in the FAQ section for more info..

Pick a non school break time for your cruise and you won't have to worry about a ton of rug rats running around.. (And no I have nothing against kids..) Just being flip...

Come on over to CCL, I think you will like it..

Any day at sea is better than your best day at work...:D

 

Rugrast???? lol lol lol

Carnival is really nice, We have travel NCL, carnival and Royal Caribbean , we are not experts but enjoy cruising, We really like Carnival, your kids will like it.

[miami]

Carnival is testing a form of open dining on some ships. Started with the Legend in June and I thought I read somewhere that they are trying it on another ship, just can't remember which one.

 

Personally I prefer NCL to CCL. Although I found the food on both to be very good. I like the freestyle dining much better than having to be herded into the dining room at a certain time. Yes, if you get there before the doors open, you have to wait with a bunch of other people who also got there too early. I didn't eat on the lido deck but I understand that only certain areas are open during dinner.

[Ken076]

Donar

 

checkout http://www.seauonboard.com

 

ken

[DG2004]

Carnival is a great value

 

 

thats how I look at it at least

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

My first cruise was with NCLA in Hawaii - buffet food was better than Carnival buffet. NCLA service was not good at all. People were in the elevators heading for the pool in their jammies to get towels cuz they hadn't even seen their room stewards. Friends of ours balcony & suites couldn't get service from their stewards.

 

Carnival stewards were always there. They always knew when we left and by the time we got back (sometimes within 30 minutes) our room was already cleaned/turned down etc. They were awesome.

 

I didn't eat in the freestyle dining room on NCLA and always ate at the buffet because the food was always good and I could get a burger anytime the buffet was open. Carnival I ate in the dining room 4 out of the 7 nights and the food in the dining room was delicious every time. Never a complaint. Their buffet left much to be desired though. Their burger grill closed around 5 or 6 too so I couldn't just grab a burger if nothing else was appealing at 7 or 8pm. That was disappointing.

 

Entertainment & activities was pretty much the same on both. I booked Carnival again for my 3rd cruise.

[NSWP]

I have only travelled Carnival once, that was on Carnival Spirit, back in 2005, 'Fire & Ice Cruise'..21 days..Hawaii - Vancouver - Inside Passage of Alsaka - Vancouver. I thought the ship was good, the crew very good, the food and entertainment was better then some Princess ships I have been on. I read a lot reports from cruise snobs, rubbishing Carnival, but I have nothing but praise for the line, based on my trip on Carnival Spirit.

 

Down here in Australia we don't get the Carnival Ships visiting, so we have to travel a long way to get on one, but I would certainly try Carnival again. Only bug I have got with Carnival is as an Aussie having to prepay gratuities which are non negotiable, even if the service is poor, which it probably would not be. Anyway I have queried that on another thread, so will say no more.

[minncruisers]

When do you pick your dinnertime?? When you get on the boat or when you make reservations? What kind of food is at the Lido deck?

 

On NCL they allowed my 18 year old son to drink (we signed a waiver). Does Carnival have the same thing or is it strictly 21 and over?

You pick your dinnertime when you make your reservations. There's early (also known as main) seating and late seating. We would always go down to the dining room earlier in the day to see what was on the menu for that night to see if we wanted to just skip the dining room and go eat at the buffet. I was always able to find something to eat on the menu, it was more for my kids' picky appetites. Carnival dining room food is always excellent to me, especially the desserts.

 

The food at the buffet does tend to taste the same after the first 2 days. Though they change the selections daily. There's usually a food theme for the day at the buffet based on different countries. For instance, one day might be Asian themed, the next day Caribbean themed, the next American and so on. There is a sandwich bar where the cook will make you a grilled sandwich and the 24 hour pizza is good and always popular. The buffet always has something for someone.

 

I don't know much about the drinking waiver but I believe they must be at least 21 to drink, no matter what. Maybe someone else can give you more of a definitive answer to that.

 

The main reasons we love Carnival is the price, the food and the numerous activities that they offer. We've toyed with trying other cruise lines but we're comfortable with Carnival and they offer great service, so why go anywhere else?

[janetz]

When do you pick your dinnertime?? When you get on the boat or when you make reservations? What kind of food is at the Lido deck?

 

On NCL they allowed my 18 year old son to drink (we signed a waiver). Does Carnival have the same thing or is it strictly 21 and over?

 

 

As it should be, 21 and over. :rolleyes:

[Papasaurus]

From:

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/FAQs/Age_Restrictions_on_Board.aspx

 

 

Are there any age restrictions on board?

Drinking alcoholic beverages:

Guest must be 21 years of age or older to be served alcohol on board. Proper I.D. with birth date is required.

Casino:

Guest must be 18 years of age or older to play the tables and the slot machines.

Guests under 18 years of age are not permitted in the casino.

[Ken076]

donnar -

 

Carnival still has traditional Dining (altho experimenting with Freestyle dining in one of two dining rooms on bard some ships) and encourages dressing up a bit, particularly on formal nite. the ships are middle-aged but IMHO very well maintained and clean and I believe their Inside and Oceanview staterooms are larger (185 saq ft) than most. The mid-sized ships have two formal Dining rooms and a Lido deck buffet with 24 Hour Pizza, Calzones and Caesar salad; the menus are pretty extensive and the food good. Most people seem to feel the wait staff and the room stewards are exceptional. Carnival adds $10 per day per person to your shipboard account for tips - you can vary this if you want. Carnival has a good number of convenient ports, including 5 spread around Florida. There's usually a good mix of older couples, middle-aged couples and younger couples with kids; avoid the kids by sailing during School! Most of the ships have or are getting waterslides in one of the pools, and adult only sundecks. Prices are reasonable and Carnival has a pretty generous Past Guest program and a quite generous Military rate. Carnival's cruise planners seem genuinely interested in helping to get the best cruise deal possibleand are generally pretty good about returning phone calls and e-mails. The on-line booking is quite good for checking prices and for booking yourself. ken

[arpie05]

I think you will enjoy Carnival. Not sure what ship you will be on but we liked the fact with Carnival with the set dining - you have the same server. they know you the minute you walk in and seem happy to see you. On NCL you would get that after about 5 days if you ate in the same dining room and happened to get the same server a couple of times. You don't have the specialty restaurants on Carnival which I'm glad about - I felt nickle and dimed to death because there was a charge to eat at all the specialty restaurants. yes, it's nice to have the option and the burger/fish chips place was fun but it was so small that it was so hard to get a seat in there at lunch. the $10 a day gratuity I think is cruise line standard - I'm looking forward to going back to carnival. I enjoyed the NCL and it was nice going to the dining room whenever we wanted but I would rather have a server concerned with me at a set time than stand in line (happened every night on NCL) trying to get into the dining room for freestyle.

[KenMo]

When you book your cruise (if it's not a ship with open dining) you will be asked what time you prefer to dine. Remember.....this is only a request. You will find out you dining time when you board (it will be on your S&S). If it's not to your liking, see the MD for a change although not all requests can be honored.

[dj127]

I have only been on NCL once - Pride of Hawaii. Never again. Room was great, no complaints there. Dininng room left much to be desired, and service was non existent. It was so bad they gave us credit toward a future cruise. I did not use the credit as I will never go on NCL - my opinion. Past cruises have included Princess/Carnival. I was pleasantly surprised with Carnival and will be leaving in about 2 weeks on Carnival for their european route. It all comes down to ones preference and I have found pros/cons with all 3 cruise lines. When booking a cruise my 1st priority is the itinerary and the the price.

 

Whatever you pick - enjoy and every vacation is what you make of it.

 

DJ127

[UpYonder]

I too am a past NCL cruiser. I just booked my first Carnival cruise to Mexico next April. I will be taking my 15yr and her friend. This might sound like a silly question, but where do I find out what dinner time slot I picked with I booked?

[sa_girl]

We sailed NCL Pearl last December and then a week later sailed Carnival Victory. We much preferred the Pearl. Really enjoyed the 11 different restaurants on board. We also enjoyed the people on NCL more than those we experienced on the Victory, we had some very badly mannered adults on the Victory and some very unruly children but this may have been a one off with the children as there were many complaints about the children on this sailing. As for the adults well I don't know but this cruise ended up being a very cheap cruise as they price kept dropping and dropping dont know if this makes any difference!

 

Unfortunately for us I think we sailed the wrong Carnival ship, I really missed the adults only pool on the Pearl and the very modern lounges etc. I also found the quality of food on the Pearl better than on the Victory.

 

However you cannot judge a cruiseline by just one ship so this year we are thinking about sailing on the Carnival Legend. It will not be when the children are on holiday and they do have an adults only pool. One of the main reasons also for the Legend is the itinerary.

[ikelmay]

We have no particular allegiance to one line - we are taking NCL this fall for the first time and are looking forward to it enormously. We have cruised Carnival three times on the Spirit class, and find the negativity towards Carnival on other boards completely mystifying. I think apart from the Freestyle versus traditional dining, there are more similarities than differences between the mass market lines.

 

I really enjoy Carnival's traditional dining - the food is very good. Their premium dining (cover charge) is awesome.

[cuyahoga11]

We sailed NCL Pearl last December and then a week later sailed Carnival Victory. We much preferred the Pearl. Really enjoyed the 11 different restaurants on board. We also enjoyed the people on NCL more than those we experienced on the Victory, we had some very badly mannered adults on the Victory and some very unruly children but this may have been a one off with the children as there were many complaints about the children on this sailing. As for the adults well I don't know but this cruise ended up being a very cheap cruise as they price kept dropping and dropping dont know if this makes any difference!

 

Unfortunately for us I think we sailed the wrong Carnival ship, I really missed the adults only pool on the Pearl and the very modern lounges etc. I also found the quality of food on the Pearl better than on the Victory.

 

However you cannot judge a cruiseline by just one ship so this year we are thinking about sailing on the Carnival Legend. It will not be when the children are on holiday and they do have an adults only pool. One of the main reasons also for the Legend is the itinerary.

 

You will not be sorry you tried the Legend. She is my favorite class of ship. They Victory has also been my least favorite.