Advice on taking the Carnival Splendor in Jan. 2013

[BudinFla]

My wife and I have cruised well over 30 times, but have never cruised on Carnival. We are both retired. We cruise mainly on Princess and HAL. Carnival has a 15 day RT cruise from Los Angeles to Hawaii in Jan 0f 2013. We would like to do Hawaii from the west coast and have been looking at Princess and HAL. They both have 14 day RT cruises that visit one less port than Carnival and cost more. I would like advice sailing to Hawaii in January and what you all think of Carnival. I know they will not be quite as subdued in their decoration, but have heard that the rooms are nice size and the food is fine. Any suggestion would be appreciated. Oh, the cost on Carnival is about 400 per person less if you do the early booking deal.

[deejae]

We just booked this cruise. I have never been to Hawaii, so this is the best of both worlds. We have only cruised Disney and Carnival (7 or 8 days only), so I can't compare personally, but I can tell you we love Carnival. The ships decor can sometimes be a little loud, but the crew, food and entertainment are great. My son & daughter in law have cruised both Carnival & RCCL and think Carnival is the better value. There isn't that much difference between the 2 to warrant the price difference (IMHO).

 

Janet

[fourcruisin]

I agree with Deejae. (I'm her sister) We have never had a bad experience on Carnival. For the value, I don't think you can beat them. The thought of flying to Hawaii from the East Coast was a real issue for me so a flight to CA and then a 15 cruise is perfect!

 

To me, it just does not make sense to pay more for a cruise on another line that offers one less port.

[CruiserBruce]

If you want to get info on the nature of Carnival, food, entertainment, cabins, etc, the best place is the Carnival board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=215

[ShawninFL]

From my experiences, there can be big differences between Carvinal and Princess. I've never been on HAL, but have also been on RCCL and Celebrity. I believe Carnival is what it is. My biggest issue with Carnival is the food. From my experiences, the food on my 5 Carnival cruises has rated at the bottom as compared to my 14 RCCL, 2 Princess, and 2 Celebrity cruises. I found the taste to be mediocre to poor along with a serious lack of variety on the buffets from day to day. However, we all know everyone's taste is different. I myself would pay more to go on Princess, RCCL, or Celebrity over Carnival. Would I pay $400.00 per person more....not quite sure-especially if the Carnival cruise went to an additional port that I wanted to see. I know I would definitely spend $200.00 pp more, but above that I would probably hold out to see if the price came down on the cruises line that I preferred over Carnival.

[fourcruisin]

From my experiences, there can be big differences between Carvinal and Princess. I've never been on HAL, but have also been on RCCL and Celebrity. I believe Carnival is what it is. My biggest issue with Carnival is the food. From my experiences, the food on my 5 Carnival cruises has rated at the bottom as compared to my 14 RCCL, 2 Princess, and 2 Celebrity cruises. I found the taste to be mediocre to poor along with a serious lack of variety on the buffets from day to day. However, we all know everyone's taste is different. I myself would pay more to go on Princess, RCCL, or Celebrity over Carnival. Would I pay $400.00 per person more....not quite sure-especially if the Carnival cruise went to an additional port that I wanted to see. I know I would definitely spend $200.00 pp more, but above that I would probably hold out to see if the price came down on the cruises line that I preferred over Carnival.

 

Thanks for your insight. Since I only have been on Disney and CCL, I cannot compare the other lines. Food isn't a big thing for me. I am very, very meat and potatoes person and can usually find something that satisfies me on the ship. We live just outside of Boston where there are so many fantastic restaurants that nothing can compare to the food we have here.

 

I cruise more for the overall experience such as ports, sea days, service etc. It's good to hear other folks comparisons that have been on other lines to see how Carnival compares.

I'm trying to get to platinum level on Carnival but I may have to try Princess at some point. :-)

[sassyredhat]

HAL is our line of choice. We have sailed to Hawaii twice with them, but are booked Sapphire Princess for 2012.

I have also sailed Splendor. BIG ship and alot of passengers. I think if we sail with her again, we would pick a mid-ship cabin.

Overall~~big, comfortable cabins with nice beds. Good service for all crew--stateroon, dining, etc.

Food very good, with decent service, especially since the DR's are large.

Asthetically~~~I actually like the decor and think the pink eggs in the dining room are pretty. Beautiful black granite staircase from photo shop and stores. However, the twinkle lights on the ceiling made it tricky for me with my bifocals.

The pool area was a zoo. I couldn't get up to the adult area because I couldn't climb all the stairs, and there was no elevator.

The layout can be tricky as some decks don't go all the way through, and I didn't like having to pass the smoky casino each time I wanted to go forward.

That layout also caused some bottle necks during formal picture night.

Embarkation can also be a zoo if you are not Platinum or do not have a suite etc. You have to wait outside----not much cover--and the only seating are concrete blocks---if you can score one.

Will I sail this ship again ?? Maybe. I will try to book a mini suite, midship, and learn to deal with a huge number of passengers on a big ship.

Hope this helps your decision. It really is just MO. :)

Pat

 

PS: We are 63 and 65 yrs old.

[KruisinKrazy]

I've cruised with 10 Carnival, 1 RCCL & 1 Princess. My opinions..

 

RCCL- After 9 Carnival cruises under my belt, I cruised with RCCL and absolutely loved it..decor was less loud than Carnival, food was slightly better & service was definately better..oh and it seemed a tad cleaner.

 

Princess- After about 7 or 8 Carnival cruises under my belt, I absolutely hated Princess. Although it was my favorite destination cruise (Mediterranean), the ship was sooo boring. Luckily there was a group of about 20 of us..and we closed the clubs down every night at about oh 9 pm..Definately not the "party ship" like Carnival. The staff in the bars/clubs loved us because we added some money to their pockets for a change, they told us (not in those words).

 

Carnival- Still my favorite. Even though I do like RCCL a little better, the value with Carnival vs. The differences, Carnival is much more worth it. As someone else mentioned, if you can look past the loud decor..Staff is still friendly, food is still good, the ship is still clean enough (and that's a pet peeve of mine).

 

I think it all depends on who you are and what you are looking for. We like to relax and do nothing at all sometimes. Sometimes, we want to party all night. We can do that on Carnival. ALSO, I think it's what you make of it. Don't set your expectations so high and when all of your expectations are met, you're pleasantly suprised!

[cccole]

I have not cruised to or in Hawaii but have cruised on the Splendor. We were in a corner aft cabin when it left the ship yard in Italy in 2008. Previously we had cruised Celebrity, Disney, Carnival, RCCL, and HAL. We loved the Splendor. As someone else has said, you can do as much or as little as you want. I would think that a January, 15 day cruise would have a different demographic than a 3-day booze cruise. I do not consider Carnival a booze cruise line but others often think of it that way.

 

You may want to look at the roll call for this cruise and possibly post your question there.

 

From what you have said, I would choose the cruise with more ports and use the saved money for excursions and onboard pampering. If you can snag one of the corner aft cabins I strongly recommend them.

 

Cherie

[Darlipoo]

I have sailded on RC (5X)and Carnival (6X). I LOVED the Splendor. She had the best Lido buffet set-up. Am going to Hawaii on HAL in Feb. and hear it is a good cruise line. But you will love the Splendor.

[bigtoeswim'n]

My wife and I have cruised well over 30 times, but have never cruised on Carnival. We are both retired. We cruise mainly on Princess and HAL. Carnival has a 15 day RT cruise from Los Angeles to Hawaii in Jan 0f 2013. We would like to do Hawaii from the west coast and have been looking at Princess and HAL. They both have 14 day RT cruises that visit one less port than Carnival and cost more. I would like advice sailing to Hawaii in January and what you all think of Carnival. I know they will not be quite as subdued in their decoration, but have heard that the rooms are nice size and the food is fine. Any suggestion would be appreciated. Oh, the cost on Carnival is about 400 per person less if you do the early booking deal.

 

 

Just love questions like this. So open-ended and nonspecific to the reader but generates a good discussion and good read. I have also just managed to change my signature picture and want to see if I did it right. LOL

 

Here's my two cents. My precious and adventurous DH and I travel in the winter months due to his work schedule. Because of that, we prefer the ship design of RCCL and that marvelous windowed in area to block the wind. I can't remember what it is called. We usually end up sitting there with a brew/nuts and watch the chilly sea go by. We sailed Alaska that way. We both are RCCL cheerleaders as we find just about everything a notch better from food, thermostat in room, no-smoking-in-cabin policy, crew, on-board activities and are willing to pay extra for that.

 

That said, though, up until this month, we had CCL departing from our home city, so we used that for 4-day weekend get aways. CCL pulled out of Mobile, so that is the end of that!! =(

 

As this economy contracts, there is much to be said for CCL's price. Our last two CCL Elation sailings were wonderful. We eat a low-fat, high-fiber diet usually, so we find the food on CCL to be acceptable, especially since we don't have to prepare it and clean up.

 

If you have breathing problems, you might want to find out the smoking policy of the ship you are on. On our last Elation sailing, it was much, much less smoky on-board than the year before, and we didn't have an inconsiderate 'smoker' next door. Our cabin attendant seemed to be glowing and was sooooo ultra nice. Be sure to pack a light-weight sweater/socks for the room, if you don't have a thermostat in there. It can get quite chilly.

 

That is a lot of sea days, which ain't a bad thing if you like sea days. You won't have much time to see Hawaii. I would love a sailing with that many sea days.

 

We are sailing NCL to Hawaii this Dec on the Pride of America for the itinerary. I've learned sooo much from this board. Well, g/g work to cruise.

 

Sooo

[bigtoeswim'n]

Pooper. I did change the CP signature profile but somehow it doesn't work. Wonders wassup. I love/hate computers. Had entered a hulu dancing girl. My CP says she is my 'current picture.' Oh well. small matter.