Will I like Carnival if I love Celebrity and Princess?

[BluesCruise]

I have not cruised on Carnival since 1987. I wasn't overly impressed with them at the time, because I compared them to the old school cruises I traveled on as a child in the early 70's. While I realize nothing will be like the Home Lines and Greek Lines of old, Celebrity and Princess left me more than satisfied with the experience.

 

The reasons I am considering Carnival now are 1) Lower Prices, especially for a solo cruiser and 2) Numerous departures from Baltimore, 20 minutes from my home. I can travel while most kids are in school, so I can avoid them for the most part. I don't care too much about the lack of formality, as that won't make or break my cruise. My biggest concerns are food, service, and low-key activities (I like trivia, boardgames, etc.). Although Carnival doesn't have many longer itineraries, I can do 2 b2b Carnival cruises for the same price as 1 on Celebrity or Princess.

 

So, for those who have cruised on both in recent years...will I like Carnival?

[tampacruiser]

We did a Carnival this past November (Liberty) First time on Carnival after 2 Royal Carib and 2 Holland America. I will sum it up this way. You get what you pay for. I had a balcony room for 4, 7 days for only 1900.00 Great value for the money. Cruise was ok, food was ok, everything was just ok, however 7 days away from work, sitting on the balcony, watching the waves was great. A vacation is what you make it. We know going in this was not going to be high end and by going in with lower expectations we actually had a great time.

[TNhome]

I have to agree with the above poster. A cruise is what you make of it. We cruised with Carnival and although I don't feel the quality was there compared to Celebrity, it doesn't mean I would never cruise with them again. I wouldn't expect as much pampering and personal service, and I wouldn't expect the the quaility of food to be as good. However I feel it is sufficient for an enjoyable time. It all depends on you and your attitude! Just go with flow and enjoy it!!!:)

[YOW]

You might like Carnival. Only way to know is to give it a try. It was nearly 15 years between my Carnival sailings, with Celebrity Princess etc in between, and I will say we were pleasantly surprised on the Valor last summer. The food on Carnival was good -- not up to the highest levels that X puts out, but overall quite consistent. Service at both dining room and cabin was friendly and aiming to please. With the proximity to your home and the prices offered, it's worth a look.

[bardstowntraveller]

I have not cruised on Carnival since 1987. I wasn't overly impressed with them at the time, because I compared them to the old school cruises I traveled on as a child in the early 70's. While I realize nothing will be like the Home Lines and Greek Lines of old, Celebrity and Princess left me more than satisfied with the experience.

 

The reasons I am considering Carnival now are 1) Lower Prices, especially for a solo cruiser and 2) Numerous departures from Baltimore, 20 minutes from my home. I can travel while most kids are in school, so I can avoid them for the most part. I don't care too much about the lack of formality, as that won't make or break my cruise. My biggest concerns are food, service, and low-key activities (I like trivia, boardgames, etc.). Although Carnival doesn't have many longer itineraries, I can do 2 b2b Carnival cruises for the same price as 1 on Celebrity or Princess.

 

So, for those who have cruised on both in recent years...will I like Carnival?

This question is like asking will I like hamburger if I like steak. The answer is likely yes if the expectation is less. They are all good but there is a definite difference in quality and class

[T0M Cruzer]

You know, we are almost diamond plus members on Royal and have cruised a number of times on Celebrity. We have 2 Celebrity cruises coming up, a 16 day and a 9 day. We've cruised on other lines, but hadn't cruised on Carnival because of the reviews of it.

 

RCL took away our favorite Royal weekend get-away out of Los Angeles (a two hour drive from us), so we decided to try Carnival.

 

Where we saw the biggest difference was in the way staffing interfaced with guests. They were a lot more "laid back". Friendly, but not offering to do things for you. If you asked for something, they hopped to it.

 

For us, it was nice. It was less formal, less "sales pitch" and it was a great cruise. We've been back three times and now own stock in CCL as well as RCL. We would consider a week long cruise with Carnival in a heartbeat.

[ISABELLA]

It depends on how high your expectations are and what do you like to do.

Everything that X and Princess is , Carnival is NOT.

[BluesCruise]

Everything that X and Princess is , Carnival is NOT.

 

Wow. That's pretty generalized. Could you be more specific?

[2sunny]

I have not cruised on Carnival since 1987. I wasn't overly impressed with them at the time, because I compared them to the old school cruises I traveled on as a child in the early 70's. While I realize nothing will be like the Home Lines and Greek Lines of old, Celebrity and Princess left me more than satisfied with the experience.

 

The reasons I am considering Carnival now are 1) Lower Prices, especially for a solo cruiser and 2) Numerous departures from Baltimore, 20 minutes from my home. I can travel while most kids are in school, so I can avoid them for the most part. I don't care too much about the lack of formality, as that won't make or break my cruise. My biggest concerns are food, service, and low-key activities (I like trivia, boardgames, etc.). Although Carnival doesn't have many longer itineraries, I can do 2 B2B Carnival cruises for the same price as 1 on Celebrity or Princess.

 

So, for those who have cruised on both in recent years...will I like

Carnival?

 

You 'may' enjoy Carnival as long as you understand it is a "different product" from Celebrity. We found the food mediocre, at best, but of course, edible. The Carnival ship we were on did not have a specialty restaurant, if the Pride does we would certainly try eating there, often. We found the service, other than the dining room waiter, to be terrible! Our room attendant was truly horrible, BUT that must have been usual, they could not all be that bad. We really liked the ship, the most of the public spaces, etc. We too live near the Baltimore Port (Eastern Shore) and are interested in trying the Pride. You just have to go knowing it is NOT Celebrity. I think as long as you go on Carnival knowing your fellow passengers are NOT Celebrity pax, and food and service are NOT the same. The cruise will be what you make it. I say go with knowledge and have a great time.

[jackdiamond]

You will return to Celebrity or Princess, or both of the aforesaid.

[Mysticks1]

I have been on 2 Carnival Cruises(Fantasy & Conquest) and enjoyed both of them. I have also sailed on RCI (Mariner of the Seas). IMHO the food was better on Carnival (both ships) than it was on the RCI cruise. I really enjoyed the pizza as a snack and the deli on the Conquest.

I had really good stewards on all three so I would consider that a tie. There are more announcements on Carnival (for bingo, poolside games, etc.) and I don't really enjoy listening to that but that is the only really negative thing that I remember. The shows were good on Carnival as well.

As long as you aren't expecting Carnival to give you a Celebrity Cruise experience then you should have a really good time.

[Mysteryreader]

You 'may' enjoy Carnival as long as you understand it is a "different product" from Celebrity. We found the food mediocre, at best, but of course, edible. The Carnival ship we were on did not have a specialty restaurant, if the Pride does we would certainly try eating there, often. We found the service, other than the dining room waiter, to be terrible! Our room attendant was truly horrible, BUT that must have been usual, they could not all be that bad. We really liked the ship, the most of the public spaces, etc. We too live near the Baltimore Port (Eastern Shore) and are interested in trying the Pride. You just have to go knowing it is NOT Celebrity. I think as long as you go on Carnival knowing your fellow passengers are NOT Celebrity pax, and food and service are NOT the same. The cruise will be what you make it. I say go with knowledge and have a great time.

 

We have sailed on X several times, Carnival just once. That should be a clue. Dh has come close to absolutely refusing to take a Carnival cruise again. Our cabin attendant was very good, by and large a friendly staff. Our waitress was overworked to the max--she literally RAN around flinging plates on tables. The food was barely acceptable. The veg of the cruise was broccoli; no matter what the menu said, you got broccoli. Now I like broccoli a lot, but I was beginning to develop an aversion by the end of the cruise. "Field greens" turned out to be iceberg lettuce. Etc etc. I went looking for a quiet spot with comfortable chairs to read; the library was the one place I found, but the temp was so cold I left after a few mins. (Sometimes you just can't win.) One plus: the fitness rm was nearly deserted the whole cruise. I spent hrs there and only saw six others ever using the equipment. The staff said sometimes that happens.

 

We too are interested in the Baltimore cruises--I just read that X's Mercury is supposed to be sailing out of there Nov 2009-Jan 2010. If that fits your schedule, you might want to check it out. But if your expectations aren't high and any cruise is better than none (and I can understand that <g>), you might try Carnival. Report back b/c others on this board might be interested.

 

M/R

[Denny01]

When we plan a cruise, we look to Celebrity as our starting point and go with another line if there is a specific reason.

 

That said, cruised on the older Carnival Fascination for a 5-day Thanksgiving cruise out of Jacksonville last year. Grown daughters couldn't take a lot of time off and I paid for all, so we gave her a shot.

 

Enjoyed it. Good food, good service. OK SR (no Balcony but only 5days), and loved being at sea on a cruise. For me, the big difference was the common areas - Fascination is mainly set up off main corredors with lounges and so on off it, and open. Makes it very noisy and lots of traffic. You know there are a lot of people with you. Kids were great because they had great kid programs.

 

We relaxed with family and enjoyed.

 

Youngest daughter (both are Celebrity snobs!) started to make comparisons while on cruise - I pointed out to her that she was on a 'free' cruise, and she got the hint.

 

As most have said, attitude is the key. We enjoyed it and would return if there is a major reason. Took one on the same ship 2yrs ago over New Years with a group of 50+ 'Pirates'. It was best we were on Carnival and not a Celebirty ship!!

 

Denny

[Oakman]

A cruise is truly what you make it. As you can tell from my signature, we have cruised a variety of cruise products. I choose my cruise line and ship based on itinerary. For Med and exotic itineraries I usually chose Princess or Celebrity. For Caribbean, it's RCCL or Carnival (more likely Carnival since the product is generally more fun and energetic.) I never base the cruise or ship based on food, since it is normally "good" banquet food at best. In fact, one of our best overall cruises, but worst for food quality was on Celebrity, who is supposed to be Superior in food quality. We look at price, itinerary, and time of year,then make our choice. We are Platinum on Carnival, Elite on Celebrity, Diamond on RCCL etc., so it is obvious that variety keeps your vacations exciting!!!

[sunlovermtl]

I have not cruised on Carnival since 1987. I wasn't overly impressed with them at the time, because I compared them to the old school cruises I traveled on as a child in the early 70's. While I realize nothing will be like the Home Lines and Greek Lines of old, Celebrity and Princess left me more than satisfied with the experience.

 

The reasons I am considering Carnival now are 1) Lower Prices, especially for a solo cruiser and 2) Numerous departures from Baltimore, 20 minutes from my home. I can travel while most kids are in school, so I can avoid them for the most part. I don't care too much about the lack of formality, as that won't make or break my cruise. My biggest concerns are food, service, and low-key activities (I like trivia, boardgames, etc.). Although Carnival doesn't have many longer itineraries, I can do 2 b2b Carnival cruises for the same price as 1 on Celebrity or Princess.

 

So, for those who have cruised on both in recent years...will I like Carnival?

 

Well we have sailed Celebrity 4 times, Holland America 3 times, Princess once and Carnival 5 times. We loved them all for different reasons. For a group Carnival is great. For refinement and quiet Holland is great and for refinement great food and a variety for everyone Princess and Celebrity is great. Our experience on Carnival was awesome. We had both inside and balcony rooms and the stewards were top notch. Especially the towel animals. Some think they are cheesy but they work hard to do them. The food was very good but the service is not as refined as Celebrity or Holland. However like another posted expressed, laidback is the norm and it is good in the Caribbean. However Canada/New England, Alaska or Europe I would defintely prefer Holland America or Celebrity.

[krninco]

I have not cruised on Carnival since 1987. I wasn't overly impressed with them at the time, because I compared them to the old school cruises I traveled on as a child in the early 70's. While I realize nothing will be like the Home Lines and Greek Lines of old, Celebrity and Princess left me more than satisfied with the experience.

 

The reasons I am considering Carnival now are 1) Lower Prices, especially for a solo cruiser and 2) Numerous departures from Baltimore, 20 minutes from my home. I can travel while most kids are in school, so I can avoid them for the most part. I don't care too much about the lack of formality, as that won't make or break my cruise. My biggest concerns are food, service, and low-key activities (I like trivia, boardgames, etc.). Although Carnival doesn't have many longer itineraries, I can do 2 b2b Carnival cruises for the same price as 1 on Celebrity or Princess.

 

So, for those who have cruised on both in recent years...will I like Carnival?

 

 

I just did my first Carnival cruise earlier this month after having done Celebrity last time. Definitely a big step down in service, but it was far from godawful.

 

We had a suite, which was just as nice as our Celebrity cabin. However, we rarely if ever saw the steward. The food was fine, but nothing to write home about. Definitely a rowdier crowd, but we escaped most of the craziness by hanging out at the pool that wasn't by the stage or our balcony. And no cold towels awaiting us when we got back to the tender area.

 

I agree with another poster here -- you get what you pay for. Everything was OK, but far from great.

[helen haywood]

It really depends on your own definition of what makes a great cruise. But I've cruised on CCL, HAL, RCI (including X) and my favorite? That would be Celebrity. My favorite for the price? That would be Carnival. Their stewards have always been fantastic (and I've logged about 7 cruises with them.) I find their formal dining room menu to be very comprehensive...and my waiters/servers were always attentive...no one was slinging food at us (I only mention this because a previous poster mentioned it.) I have always had a wonderful cruise with Carnival. I LOVE Chocolate Melting Cake (if you haven't been on CCL yet you won't appreciate this...)

[BluesCruise]

We too are interested in the Baltimore cruises--I just read that X's Mercury is supposed to be sailing out of there Nov 2009-Jan 2010. If that fits your schedule, you might want to check it out.

 

I just got off the Mercury to Alaska, and I would love to cruise on her out of Baltimore, but the price for a solo is just so expensive. It will be 3 times the cost of a similar itinerary on Carnival Pride.

 

I'm actually thinking about doing a trial run on Carnival Pride this fall, to see if I enjoy it, before I consider booking a longer cruise (b2b) next year for my 50th birthday. I wouldn't want to spend 12-14 days kicking myself for being too thrifty. I'm pretty good at managing my expectations and enjoying myself even in challenging circumstances, but you never know.

[mom2tcdx2]

Hi, I have never sailed on Celebrity but I had been looking recently at their cruises out of Baltimore too as it is close to home. I have only sailed Carnival and Princess so far, but have no objections to any cruise line. In looking at Celebrity the cruise they have in Baltimore isn't much more than I am paying for Carnival Pride. However I wondered if I would feel Celebrity is too snobbish??? I work hard for my money and want to be sure I enjoy my vacations. My favorite land vacation is Disney World. I am 38 and my boyfriend is 51.

 

I don't drink a lot, I like a good margarita and that is pretty much it. I don't dance nor am I a party person. I wear jeans daily but have no problems with formal nights as I do love to occasionally get dressed up. I am a pretty picky eater so I find food comments to be extremely subjective. I enjoyed equally the food on Princess as much as I did the food on Carnival. Each however had things I didn't like. However just because I didn't like it doesn't make the food bad. To me bad food would need to be rotten, undercooked or burnt. Otherwise I just may not like the taste.

[Bridge Maven]

Based on our experience, these are the main differences between Celebrity and Carnival.

 

Carnival has larger cabins but but does not have anything comparable to Celebrity's largest suites.

 

The quality of the food in the main dining room is very comparable but Celebrity's cuisine is more "gourmet".

 

Carnival has a more energetic feel to it and a lot more options for activities during the day, while Celebrity is more laid back.

 

Carnival's spirt class is very comparable to Celebrity's M class but its other ships have more passengers per space and feel crowded.

 

Celebrity has much older passengers, while Carnival has more families with children. For this reason, Carnival also attracts family reunion groups with multiple generations cruising together.

 

Carnival's room stewards only clean your cabin at certain times of the day, even though they will always come if you have a special request, while Celebrity's stewards usually come to your cabin whenever you leave it.

 

Carnival has better entertainment.

 

We enjoy both cruise lines and the deciding factor for us is the ship ship itself and itinerary. I wouldn't take a cruise on Carnival's older ships, but I won't take another cruise on Celebrity's Mercury either.

[Cruising Carol]

Sailed on Carnival Elation and Carnival Pride. Both were 7 day group cruises. I have sailed many times on Celebrity, HAL, and RCCL. The differences were more garish decorations on Carnival and the singing and dancing waiters. I liked the food and the table service was fine (except for the delay caused by the singing). Our outside room on Elation was very basic (I had a stool for a night stand). The balcony room on Pride was nicely furnished and large. I thought the entertainment was fun and they were generous with cocktails at the past passenger party. I would certainly not reject Carnival if the itinerary and price were right.

[BluesCruise]

The quality of the food in the main dining room is very comparable but Celebrity's cuisine is more "gourmet".

 

Carnival has a more energetic feel to it and a lot more options for activities during the day, while Celebrity is more laid back.

 

Carnival has better entertainment.

 

This post makes me hopeful!

[woodofpine]

The major cruise lines have all become more similar than dissimilar.

 

Carnival is probably the one (and only?) large cruise line whose 'product' in terms of food, service, and ships is deemed by pax and professionals alike to be significantly improved over the past decade. (Passenger loyalists of most lines - when they are not bashing other lines - bash their own as 'less than' the supposed 'good old days'. Not Carnival.)

 

The ups about Carnival and C. Pride (out of Baltimore) IMHO would be,

- improved main dining room food now on par or even better than other big lines;

- the best beds/bedding in the industry;

- fascinating ship achitecture and outlandish decor;

- Fun not stoggy entertainment.

 

The downs of Carnival,

- the whole style is revved up Vegas... friendly service, but not pushing elegant formality;

- the decor can be garish and cause eye strain;

- buffet food is a notch less than Princess or X;

- entertainment includes a lot of announcements, its noisier than the quieter trivia etc. you may prefer - again Viva Las Vegas!

 

So - if the price is right - GO! Enjoy, keep your expectations low (pleasant surprises are better than let downs), keep your attitudes flexible, and you ought to have a great time. Think hospitality Vegas style.

 

P.S. I've cruise X, Princess, HAL, Carnival and a couple 'oddball' oldies...

[harryfat1]

I have not cruised on Carnival since 1987. I wasn't overly impressed with them at the time, because I compared them to the old school cruises I traveled on as a child in the early 70's. While I realize nothing will be like the Home Lines and Greek Lines of old, Celebrity and Princess left me more than satisfied with the experience.

 

The reasons I am considering Carnival now are 1) Lower Prices, especially for a solo cruiser and 2) Numerous departures from Baltimore, 20 minutes from my home. I can travel while most kids are in school, so I can avoid them for the most part. I don't care too much about the lack of formality, as that won't make or break my cruise. My biggest concerns are food, service, and low-key activities (I like trivia, boardgames, etc.). Although Carnival doesn't have many longer itineraries, I can do 2 b2b Carnival cruises for the same price as 1 on Celebrity or Princess.

 

So, for those who have cruised on both in recent years...will I like Carnival?

 

I will add my 1.5 cents to this topic (drop in value from 2 cents due to bad stock market).

 

Like other posts have mentioned, it’s a question of managing expectation. From my signature below, you can see I have been on various cruise lines and I haven’t had a bad cruise yet. I have done Carnival as well as Princess and HAL and Celebrity, they all provide different cruise ship experience.

 

Even from your title, seems to me you have already ratchet down one notch on the expectation chart by saying “love Princess/Celebrity” to “like Carnival”. Not “love” Carnival.

 

I will try to tackle your top 3 topics of concern:

 

1 - Food. Highly subjective topic. Yes, the quality of the food is lower on Carnival at the buffet; especially during breakfast (no strawberry waffles). Things improve during lunch at the buffet and the dinner at the main dining room is good. But if you are a “foodie”, yes, you will be disappointed.

 

My next Celebrity cruise won’t be until August, so I don’t have current Celebrity food quality for comparison. But in looking at page 16-17 of the Celebrity 2009 Alaska brochure, I notice that they have a picture of the chocolate warming cake. Something we had on couple nights on Carnival as they were on the “always available” dessert menu. The Carnival version is vanilla ice cream on top of the hot chocolate cake topped with sauce. Celebrity picture has pistachio ice cream and with extra chocolate slices and garnish with it. Maybe the cake/ice cream is of higher quality on Celebrity, that’s up to the foodies in the crowd to determine. But if you have less discriminating taste, they are both cake with ice cream. All depends on your perspective and expectation.

 

2 – Service. Not Carnival strong suit. In my review from my December Carnival Spirit cruise, the title of my review is “DIY of Cruises”. Don’t get me wrong, the workers are nice and polite and will help you if you ask. But the way Carnival sets up their system, the assistance isn’t as readily available. For example, on first day of the Carnival cruise, I snagged a layout map of the ship from the purser’s desk so I can find my way around the ship. For next 24 hours, numerous people came up to me and asked where they can find the same map as it wasn’t clear to them where they can get them since Carnival didn’t put them in the cabins like HAL does to help the passengers under the ship layout.

 

3 – Activities – On the Carnival Spirit, they have the activities (trivia and arts/craft sessions) you mentioned in your post, so there should be no issues there.

 

At the end of the day, you can get all the opinions you want from everyone, but only you will be the final judge on whether you “like” or “love” a cruise. Even if you read the various cruise reviews on Celebrity, not everyone gave Celebrity 5 stars.

 

As you have said, it’s a value proposition. If I was making a decision for my cruise and the price is close, I would select Celebrity as a no brainer. But if it’s as you said, it costs twice as much to do Celebrity, I would opt for Carnival. At the end of the day, I would rather spend twice as much time waking up smelling the sea air than be at work. As the saying goes, the worst day of vacation is still better than the best day at work…

[BluesCruise]

As the saying goes, the worst day of vacation is still better than the best day at work…

 

Indeed!

 

Thanks for your 1.5 cents.