Will I be disappointed with Carnival?

Hi All,

We have been on 11 cruises. 8 with Princess and 3 with Royal. This year we are looking for a cheaper vacation and was looking at Carnival. We just like to people watch and drink beer and eat good food, I am fine if we have to get that in the specialty restaurants. The price seems right. Is it really that much of a "downgrade"???

thanks for your input.

Matt

The rumors of it being a slum, drunk ship are not true. We did our first carnival after 6 rccl, 2 Disney and a Holland.

We've now done 3 Carnival mostly because we found better values and wanted to try something new. Still love rccl and our next cruise is with them.

It's a fun cruise line but I'm done with them as well as my friends. Service ok, food ok, targets families on budgets and it has lost its appeal as we mow trVel without children. Depends what you are looking for.

We have done 7 carnival cruise and have loved all of them. We have always enjoyed the food in the MDR and always get the beverage package. I think you will have a good time and if the price is right I say go for it

I've often wondered about differences between the cruise lines as far as price, accommodations, service, food, etc. I've only done RCL so I have nothing to compare it to. We did Alaska last year and enjoyed it immensely, so we booked the Allure to the western Caribbean this year, but I still wonder if it was the best deal...

The biggest difference for me was the ships themselves. RCI builds WOW and Carnival is still trying to catch up to RCI and NCL.

I won't comment on food or entertainment as it has been a while for Carnival. I will say this. Once I stepped away from Carnival I never went back. Found too many other choices that were better. I won't say that they're bad as they have their fans but they fall to the bottom of my list.

I think it totally depends on the ship. Just like any cruise line Carnival does better with its newer ships. We did a cruise on the Carnival Breeze last April with a group of high school seniors and a couple moms. We are loyal Royal cruisers, but we had a blast and were very happy with the service and food on the Breeze. The boys led a dance party on the deck the last sea day, and us moms had fun watching and filming it. I hate to say it, but Royal has a hard time being as playful as Carnival is during the day. But night activities are ruled by Royal with their variety and much better shows. I would definitely not do a carnival cruise on the smaller or older ships.

We have found more similarities between CCL and RCI than differences.

Both have been good for us and each do some things better than the other. Cannot comment on Princess except that will most likely be our next one to plan.

We have only been on 2 cruises but they were both on Carnival. We had no complaints with them, the food in the Mdr was very good (warm chocolate melting cake is amazing) and the shows weren't bad. We had a great time. We are trying Royal this year and hoping we have as good of a time with them.

I have sailed with many different cruise companies from Carnival to SeaDream, and I will just say that you will most definitely feel and see the difference. I have had fun on every cruise I've sailed, but to differing degrees. Then again, I am pretty accepting of a whole lot, and just enjoy what life throws my way- love every opportunity to travel! That being said, I would not choose to travel with Carnival again unless it was with a great bunch of friends (same reason we went the first time), and I would jump at the chance to go back on SeaDream in a heartbeat. With my family, we tend to book with RCI- they have been steadfast and consistent over the years, and we have met some amazing people that have made our trips spectacular.

Just re-read what I just wrote, and realized that everything is what you make of it! Bottom Line: RCI personnel try as hard as anybody to make your trip the best they can, the passengers on it are fun, adventurous, and looking to make lifetime friends as well. Carnival pax seemed more "in the moment" people to me, which was not my style.

To kmorg1234s last comment about passengers. While I think there are a lot of unreasonable passengers on every ship who complain about this and that and "worst service ever" etc, I have to agree while the Carnival Breeze staff did an awesome job there were a LOT more unreasonable passengers who for whatever reason felt so entitled and complaining and complaining and complaining about stupid stuff and expecting totally unreasonable things from the staff.

For us we had a great time and for the most part those crazy passengers didn't bother us, but we did notice them

I have sailed Carnival , Royal , NCL & celebrity many times .Carnival has large rooms , decent food , a dedicated comedy club & a fun vibe .They do have some crazy & wild people who make people watching on Carnival a great sport .

Hi All,

 

We have been on 11 cruises. 8 with Princess and 3 with Royal. This year we are looking for a cheaper vacation and was looking at Carnival. We just like to people watch and drink beer and eat good food, I am fine if we have to get that in the specialty restaurants. The price seems right. Is it really that much of a "downgrade"???

 

thanks for your input.

 

Matt

Like so many things in life, it depends.

Carnival can be a really nice experience on the right ship and longer itineraries. Or it can be "interesting" during the weekend party cruises on the older ships (which I also love BTW :D).

I love their Spirit Class ships, very similar to Royal's Radiance Class. Their new Breeze is also supposed to be great, although I've not yet been on here.

If you're looking for an experience that is as close to RCI or PCL, go with a week or longer sailing. I believe they still put a Spirit Class ship in Tampa for part of the year.

We've been on Carnival as well as a couple luxury ships, as well as everything in between. Never had a bad cruise, on Carnival, or otherwise.

There are pros and cons to all of them. The only thing we avoid are short cruises and trips over spring break-on any line.

It DEFINITELY is going to depend what ship you are on.

I think Carnival did a number of things better than RCI. Food quality was better, IMO. They had a "tea time" and a seaday brunch that Royal doesn't offer. They had late night food on the lido buffet, and you can get burgers and made to order pizzas at night.

The standard cabins are large. We had a regular oceanview deck 2 cabin on Carnival Victory and it was 220 square feet. It was HUGE.

There were areas that RCI clearly excelled, ship design, ship presentation/cleanliness, pool deck area and buffet on RCI better laid out.

But if you want to kick back, people watch (and there WILL be some people to watch on Carnival...), eat good food, and have good overall value, no problem at all with Carnival. I would avoid smaller/older ships though.

Not saying Carnival is "worse" per se, just set your expectations properly and you will have a good time, and probably find there are some areas Carnival exceeds Royal, and vice versa.

I mean I'm not gonna become a Carnival cheerleader any time soon, but if any of my friends or family asked if they should go I'd kind of size them up and suggest accordingly.

It DEFINITELY is going to depend what ship you are on.

 

I think Carnival did a number of things better than RCI. Food quality was better, IMO. They had a "tea time" and a seaday brunch that Royal doesn't offer. They had late night food on the lido buffet, and you can get burgers and made to order pizzas at night.

 

The standard cabins are large. We had a regular oceanview deck 2 cabin on Carnival Victory and it was 220 square feet. It was HUGE.

 

There were areas that RCI clearly excelled, ship design, ship presentation/cleanliness, pool deck area and buffet on RCI better laid out.

 

But if you want to kick back, people watch (and there WILL be some people to watch on Carnival...), eat good food, and have good overall value, no problem at all with Carnival. I would avoid smaller/older ships though.

 

Not saying Carnival is "worse" per se, just set your expectations properly and you will have a good time, and probably find there are some areas Carnival exceeds Royal, and vice versa.

 

I mean I'm not gonna become a Carnival cheerleader any time soon, but if any of my friends or family asked if they should go I'd kind of size them up and suggest accordingly.

RIGHT ON THE MONEY! I could not have explained the differences better... There are areas where each excel and where each fall short.... I would add that the camp carnival program is hands down better... They have the Seuss at Sea with all those activities PLUS water slides... Spray parks are "boring" but the kids go CRAZY for twister slides... but for teens, RCI has more sports and adventure (flow rider sports pools, rock wall) so the edge for teens goes to RCI..

I think Carnival MDR food much better and Lido deck food better on CCL (Mongolian Wok and Guy's Burgers), I wish I could mix the layout of the Windjammer with the CCL food... But RCI ships are sure designed to impress... Wow!

Again, much depends on the ship, time of year and cruise itinerary... But both have their pluses and minuses...

Double post

Carnival lacks in the entertainment in my opinion but never had a bad cruise on Carnival. My favorite ships are Liberty and Breeze.

Things I like about Carnival are, self serve laundry and irons so you can pack less, every stateroom gets a robe, comfy beds & decent food.

Liberty has Alchemey Bar and this is in my opinion the best cruise ship bar ever.

We really liked the MDR food on Carnival, their staterooms are on the larger side and they are a great value. No complaints at all and if you like to "drink beer and people watch" you can't do better than Carnival. I wouldn't hesitate to take another Carnival cruise.

Hi All,

 

We have been on 11 cruises. 8 with Princess and 3 with Royal. This year we are looking for a cheaper vacation and was looking at Carnival. We just like to people watch and drink beer and eat good food, I am fine if we have to get that in the specialty restaurants. The price seems right. Is it really that much of a "downgrade"???

 

thanks for your input.

 

As everyone else has said, it depends on a lot of things, but if you're looking to people-watch, have some drinks and eat good food, you should not be disappointed.

A few comparisons:

-- Royal's ships are more "wow," whereas Carnival's might be more fun. The overall clientele may be younger on average, too. (It ain't Holland America, :) )

-- Carnival's WiFi is likely to be a lot faster and cheaper, judging from my recent research.

-- If you've never been "behind the scenes" on a cruise ship, you might be interested in Carnival's "Behind the Fun" tour. It's a great look at what keeps a mobile floating city running smoothly and how much effort goes into it. I've done it several times and have always learned something new. I'm sure RCCL offers similar tours, but I think it's loyalty-dependent.

-- Depending on the ship, Carnival may have more -- or better -- "included" dining options. Ships with the FunShip 2.0 upgrades, generally their Conquest class and their newer ships, will have some great free dining spots, including Guy's Burger Joint and Blue Iguana Cantina. On some ships you'll also get one of my favorites, the Mongolian Wok (made-to-order stir-fry). Also, I was more impressed with the Lido buffet on Carnival than on my last RCCL cruise, and I thought Carnival's 24-hour pizza was better, but YMMV.

Some Carnival ships, like Victory, have vew few dining options, so this is definitely ship-dependent.

-- I've had superb service on both cruise lines and indifferent service on both, too.

If you're going from, say, Allure or Oasis to one of Carnival's MUCH-smaller Fantasy-class ships then yeah, you're likely to notice that huge difference in size and fewer amenities, but if you're going mid-size to mid-size, I think the similarities might be more striking than the differences.

Have fun!

My wife and I have been on 3 Carnival and 3 RCI cruises and we enjoy both. I would have no issue doing either. We are not very picky and believe that a day on a cruise ship is better than one back at home. I feel people expections sometime are unreasonable especially when you are on ship. If you do not like something try soemthing else, if you don't like the food order something else or go elsewhere to eat. Most stateroom staff are very good and will meet all your request, nor that I ask alot. If you go on a Carnival cruise make sure they have a Guy Burger Jiont and a Blue Iguana the food is very good there. Enjoy your trip.

You might also consider NCL. We've cruised that line, CCL and of course RCI. We've always returned to Royal though. :)

If you compare cruise lines point by point, ever all, my answer would be yes, you would be disappointed (compared to Royal.) However, there are certain points that I did enjoy better on Carnival (although not many.)

I haven't been on any of their newer ships; they certainly look nice but the line just isn't for me. I enjoyed their food tremendously. I found it to be better than Royal's, however maybe I was tired and bored of it. I also enjoyed the nightly comedy (not sure if they still do that.) The biggest differences for me were the ship and entertainment. I found them both very lacking.

Certainly the value for Carnival is great and if you find a great deal, go for it and don't try to compare or nitpick the entire time. Just go and have fun!

It DEFINITELY is going to depend what ship you are on.

 

I think Carnival did a number of things better than RCI. Food quality was better, IMO. They had a "tea time" and a seaday brunch that Royal doesn't offer. They had late night food on the lido buffet, and you can get burgers and made to order pizzas at night.

 

The standard cabins are large. We had a regular oceanview deck 2 cabin on Carnival Victory and it was 220 square feet. It was HUGE.

 

There were areas that RCI clearly excelled, ship design, ship presentation/cleanliness, pool deck area and buffet on RCI better laid out.

 

But if you want to kick back, people watch (and there WILL be some people to watch on Carnival...), eat good food, and have good overall value, no problem at all with Carnival. I would avoid smaller/older ships though.

 

Not saying Carnival is "worse" per se, just set your expectations properly and you will have a good time, and probably find there are some areas Carnival exceeds Royal, and vice versa.

 

I mean I'm not gonna become a Carnival cheerleader any time soon, but if any of my friends or family asked if they should go I'd kind of size them up and suggest accordingly.

Pretty good advice OP.

Was I disappointed? Yes. In 2010, I went on the Carnival Victory after 4 Royal Cruises. Ship was disappointing, as were the fellow passengers. We felt service was below Royal's standards.

Here's an interesting point though...

Friends of ours went on a 5 Night Carnival Victory sailing last October 2014. They liked the cruise, but hated the ship (buffet, pool, cleanliness, etc) and said the clientele was bad (not a bash against CCL cruisers!). On the other hand, we have other friends that just so happened to go on the same exact cruise this past November. They had a great time, and didn't really complain about anything. So there you go, YMMV.