Short Cruise from Florida: Carnival v Celebrity - help please!

Hi all,

I hope you can help! My boyfriend and I have been planning a trip to Florida for a while but have only just got round to looking at hotels, etc. We’d intended on spending our week in the Florida Keys and the Everglades, but we’ve discovered that hotels in the Keys are much more expensive than we’d anticipated. So, thanks to the good people of Cruise Critic (which I’ve been using to help plan our honeymoon cruise next July), we thought we’d look at short cruises out of Miami and Fort Lauderdale to try to save some money (even including tips, etc., the two cruises below work out cheaper than hotels).

We’ve got two options that fit our dates, Carnival’s 4 day Western Caribbean itinerary on board Carnival Victory which includes Key West (0730 – 1400)and Cozumel (1300 – 2200) that sails from Miami, or Celebrity’s 4 night Bahamas cruise on Celebrity Constellation which includes Nassau (0800 – 1700) and Key West (0800 – 1700), sailing from Fort Lauderdale.

The Carnival option is cheaper by about £200, but I don’t know enough about the port options or ships to really know if that £200 is a real saving (i.e. if Nassau’s a better bet than Cozumel and the Constellation is a nicer ship I’d be willing to pay the extra for the Celebrity cruise).

Can anyone give me some ideas on which is ‘best’ (subjective I know). We’re first time cruisers, we don’t really want crazy parties or to spend all day drinking. We like history and wildlife, so the snorkelling and Mayan ruins of Cozumel appeal, but equally we like the idea of the Bahamas and the longer port time at Key West on the Celebrity itinerary. Casual is good, decent beer is good, and some alternatives to sitting by the pool on the sea day that each itinerary has are also important.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

P.s. Apologies for quoting prices in pounds, hopefully you get the idea of what I'm illustrating.

I definitely think you would enjoy the call at Cozumel. A four night cruise from Ft Lauderdale should get further away than just Nassau and Key West; that Celebrity ship can just coast at idle speed most of the time.

The price difference of GBP 50/day (roughly US $80/day) is significant if you are comparing the same class and deck level of cabin. But as the Celebrity ship carries 600 fewer passengers many think that premium is worth it.

Which ship you will find more appealing while at sea is as you say subjective. Celebrity cultivates (or tries to anyway) are more sophisticated atmosphere; activities and entertainment will seem more professionally run. Carnival is happily content to confine itself to exuberant poolside activities during the day, and comedians and audience participation shows at night. The Celebrity ship does feature an indoor spa therapy pool (at no charge) and small alternative restaurants (with an upcharge) if you are looking for some relative quiet time. But with only the one final day at sea, I would pick by itinerary and go Carnival.

Cozumel is better than Nassau, but Celebrity is A LOT better than Carnival, especially on a short cruise. It's a more well behaved crowd, the service is better, and the ship is beautiful. Plus, Constellation has a craft beer menu. Short Carnival cruises are something I will never do again but I would do another short Celebrity cruise in a heartbeat.

I have never been to Cozumel so can't say anything about it but we sailed to Nassau years ago and really enjoyed it. I agree with the above posters that Celebrity beats out Carnival any day. We sailed Celebrity last year and will never sail on Carnival again.

We’ve got two options that fit our dates, Carnival’s 4 day Western Caribbean itinerary on board Carnival Victory which includes Key West (0730 – 1400)and Cozumel (1300 – 2200) that sails from Miami, or Celebrity’s 4 night Bahamas cruise on Celebrity Constellation which includes Nassau (0800 – 1700) and Key West (0800 – 1700), sailing from Fort Lauderdale.

 

The Carnival option is cheaper by about £200, but I don’t know enough about the port options or ships to really know if that £200 is a real saving (i.e. if Nassau’s a better bet than Cozumel and the Constellation is a nicer ship I’d be willing to pay the extra for the Celebrity cruise).

 

Can anyone give me some ideas on which is ‘best’ (subjective I know). We’re first time cruisers, we don’t really want crazy parties or to spend all day drinking. We like history and wildlife, so the snorkelling and Mayan ruins of Cozumel appeal, but equally we like the idea of the Bahamas and the longer port time at Key West on the Celebrity itinerary. Casual is good, decent beer is good, and some alternatives to sitting by the pool on the sea day that each itinerary has are also important.

For starters, you have picked to very different cruise lines. Carnival passengers, especially on a short cruise, are younger, active and tend to be the party hardy until early in the morning types. Celebrity's passengers tend to be older and less energetic. Celebrity's "activities" tend to be more designed to exercise the mind rather than the body, and they will roll up the decks around 10pm. That said, given that this is a short cruise, I'm sure some physical activities will be offered, since short cruises tend to attract younger passengers. Also, Celebrity offers a more upscale experience than Carnival.

You might be disappointed with the ruins on Cozumel. The best places are on the mainland, and I don't recommend going to the mainland unless it is on a ship sponsored tour (too much of a chance of missing the ship if you go on your own).

So, given what you have said, I think you would enjoy Celebrity more.

I would pick the Celebrity cruise any day over Carnival. Since it is your first cruise going to Key West and Nassau will be enjoyable. The atmosphere on Celebrity will be much better. I just got back from KW. We took a trolley tour around the city with this company: http://www.cityviewtrolleys.com/keywest/

I also will mention that I did the Mayan ruins in Cozumel and did not like it. We got eaten alive by mosquitos, it was very hot and boring but then again I'm not too much into history.

Whichever you pick have an enjoyable trip.

Cozumel is better than Nassau, but Celebrity is A LOT better than Carnival, especially on a short cruise. It's a more well behaved crowd, the service is better, and the ship is beautiful. Plus, Constellation has a craft beer menu. Short Carnival cruises are something I will never do again but I would do another short Celebrity cruise in a heartbeat.

Totally agree , Celebrity is a better line but Cozumel is a great port ( been there a dozen or so times)

Thanks for all the advice, you've certainly given me a lot to think about! Celebrity sounds a bit more 'us' - we're not in our 40s but we like a relatively quiet life!

In terms of food/drink, are both lines similar in restricting alcohol taken on board and requiring you to pay extra for soda/proper coffee? Do they let you take water/soda on board?

FYI, Celebrity is more dressy in the evening than Carnival, so if that makes a difference, you may want to consider that. And, if you are smokers, Celebrity has the most restrictive smoking policy with no indoor smoking, no smoking in cabins or on balconies and smoking allowed at a very few outdoor places.

For me ,Cozumel is a far better port than Nassau .

Celebrity would otherwise be my choice since I like their more restricted

Smoking policy.

Since both are short 4 day cruises , they will both attract active party types .

Daytime activities may give CCL an edge.

And since Celibrity is more $$.

I chose CCL on this one .

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Since I just go ashore to look around and shop, I prefer Nassau. but for me, the best entertainment in Nassau is being on deck when you come into port, when the ship rotates and backs into the slip. then staying on deck to watch other ships do the same. It's amazing. As far as passenger makeup, there is not any difference on the 4 day cruise. A couple of years ago, I did a B2B2B on Millie in Jan. The first two cruises were 5 days each, the last was four. I was told by a long time Celebrity cruiser that I would see a difference between the five and four day cruisers. He was right. Never on the five day did I see a yahoo in shorts and a wife beater shirt wandering around the venues on formal night. But I did on the four. EM