In what year was your best Carnival cruise?

[happy cruzin]

Hmm...this is tough!

 

If you take ALL of the sentiment out - because most of ours have a lot of that ;) - I guess the winner is:

 

February 2013

The Breeze

8-day itinerary

St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola and Nassau

 

A wonderful "pre-cruise" visit with good friends set the tone for a fantastic vacation.

 

We really loved the décor, layout and new dining options on Breeze (so much that rebooked with the whole extended family for August 2013), we got to experience new and exciting ports we had never been to before and REALLY enjoyed the "Champagne and Lobster Lunch Cruise" in Antigua. ;) :D

Edited January 10, 2014 by happy cruzin

[nybumpkin]

Even though she's not my favorite ship, both of my best cruises were on Carnival Legend. The top cruise was the 2013 Baltic cruise. Wonderful itinerary, a full 10-piece orchestra, and John Heald as CD. But this cruise was certainly an out-of-the-ordinary cruise. Next top cruise was 2006 on Legend - NYC to San Juan, St. Thomas, and Tortola. I love Tortola and wish they'd do regular cruises there. We also had the best-ever wait staff in the dining room - they loved entertaining the kids, offered menu suggestions, and brought out extra dishes. Great entertainment - full band on the Lido deck and a jazz trio in what was then the cigar bar. Good shows, good orchestra.

 

Cruise history? We've sailed 18 Carnival cruises since 2004. We're booked for Alaska this July on Carnival Miracle, and *news flash* this week we booked Carnival Glory for a Western Caribbean cruise this August. I'll be curious to see whether the new menu is still around when we sail.;)

[ROCruiser]

Carnival Splendor, 2008, pre-inaugural cruise from Genoa to Dover. I say pre-inaugural because it was christened in Dover, the day we disembarked. We spent the three days in London as the ship went for the real inaugural 3-day sailing to Amsterdem. After the three days we boarded her again for the 12 day Baltic.

 

Being on a brand new ship was exciting enough, added with ports like Monaco, Barcelona, Lisbon, and La Harve made it a wonderful trip. On top of everything, John Heald was the cruise director.

[Kevin Hort]

1999 on the Fascination out of San Juan. First Southern Caribbean out of SJU. We sailed with my parents and had a fantastic time. Best. Trip. Ever.

[bankofdad]

Gotta be Triumph in 2005. It's the only non-Fantasy class ship we have sailed on with Carnival, so probobly not a fair comparison, but still remember how much I loved that cruise. Liked our first one on Paradise in 2003 (first experiment in 100% non-smoking ships that went by the wayside), but on our other Fastasy class cruises which were only 3 and 4 nighters, I always felt like I was eating someones leftovers but still had a great time!

Edited January 11, 2014 by bankofdad

[happy cruzin]

Gotta be Triumph in 2005. It's the only non-Fantasy class ship we have sailed on with Carnival, so probobly not a fair comparison, but still remember how much I loved that cruise. Liked our first one on Paradise as well (it was the first experiment in 100% non-smoking ships that went to the wayside). Can't wait to see how 2014 and the Breeze compares!

 

I think you will find the Breeze to be TOTALLY different - but in the best possible ways. We been cruising Carnival since 2002 and are quite impressed by the "resort" feel of the Breeze.

[hattack]

Carnival Conquest,Nov 2005, right after Hurricane Katrina....when crew and fellow guests found out we were from New Orleans, they gave us so much love

[bankofdad]

I think you will find the Breeze to be TOTALLY different - but in the best possible ways. We been cruising Carnival since 2002 and are quite impressed by the "resort" feel of the Breeze.

 

Thanks! Hoping so! The ship looks great with so many thing I love to do. Can't wait!

[blueangel74]

All of my cruises have been my favorite. My absolute favorite one was on the Elation. Elation was meh but it is the memory that makes it my favorite. It was my sister's first cruise. Made me smile to see her smile & enjoy herself.

[Topo Gigio]

Last year on the Breeze. By far my best Carnival cruise.

[MaraBerk]

:DAugust 2013 on the Splendor

Fist cruise out of NYC-beautiful skyline & ease of driving to port. DH & I enjoyed our aft wrap. We had breakfast, snacks, & many nightcaps out there. Everything was perfect, no out of control passengers, amazing MDR service, perfect weather/ports, & wonderful crew. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves-so much so that we booked Splendor 2x for 2014. I hope we didn't jinx ourselves:D:confused:

[ship'n'shorelover]

First Carnival cruise was on the Fasination in 2008 and that is my favorite Carnival ship. It has a "personality." Sailed on the Fantasy in 2010 and it was a good cruise. Sailed again on the Fantasy in 2013 and it was terrible. It's the only bad cruise I've been on. I'll still cruise on the Fantasy any time I can. That was my ninth cruise as I have cruised on RCL also.

[trvlqueen]

For me, it's a toss up between the Victory in 2011 and the Liberty in 2013. We loved the Southern run from San Juan in 2011, and met a great group of friends that we cruised with again in 2012 and 2013 - and the 2013 Liberty cruise, with that same group of friends plus a few new ones was just an outstanding time. Plus, it's a little sentimental favorite for me since it was our last trip with my mother-in-law who passed away in November - just 2 months after the trip. We all had such a blast. While I love vacationing with just my family, it really is fun to travel with good friends, too - and this group has become so close - and we all met here, on a roll call.

[Tapi]

On Carnival:

 

BEST

2008 - Liberty

Eastern Caribbean (San Juan, St. Thomas, St Maarten)

 

2nd

2010 - Dream

Western Caribbean (Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, Costa Maya)

 

3rd

2005 - Liberty

Western Caribbean (Freeport, Grand Cayman, Costa Maya)

 

WORST

2007 - Sensation

Bahamas (Nassau) :mad:

Edited January 11, 2014 by Tapi

[cjknox]

Carnival Paradise - 2006

 

First cruise, holds a special place in my heart.

[Seamaxwell]

December 1990 Holiday -Miami -Eastern Carribean

My first cruise after turning 21. I went by myself and it just happened that my birthday was in the middle of the trip. I sat at an 8 top with 7 other passengers traveling alone. They threw me maybe the best birthday party I ever had. They all bought me presents in St. Thomas and had the waiter bring me a cake. Crazy fun. I never forgot.

 

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Forums mobile app

[vwrestler171]

Dec 2012 on the Liberty. That whole week just seemed to go perfect. Met some great friends, spent a lot of time in the piano bar with a little too much to drink. People acting like Mario from the video games. It was a great trip. Breeze will have a lot to compete against.

[RWolver672]

In this order:

Freedom-2013

Destiny-1999

Conquest-2003

Victory-2001

Glory-2005

Dream-2011

 

Worst Cruise

Adventure of the Seas-2008

Edited January 11, 2014 by RWolver672

[MRVEGAS711]

Our first year! 2004. Carnival has gone hill since then. We still cruise them as a cheap vacation, but now that's exactly what it is.....a cheap vacation.

Edited January 11, 2014 by MRVEGAS711

[Tapi]

Carnival has gone hill since then.

 

Up or down? :o

[pkrchkr]

Nov 2012

Carnival Breeze US Inaugural Cruise

Butch Begovich was an incredible CD and his assistant 6-3 was great .

but 2014 Carnival Liberty with Josh and Flower was a very very close second

Edited January 11, 2014 by pkrchkr

[mum2bradley]

The Breeze in 2013. An awesome ship with an awesome itinerary.

 

We were on the Breeze this past Christmas, our best cruise so far. I am booking it for New Years this year!

[CruzCrazy]

Last year on the Breeze. By far my best Carnival cruise.

 

 

OP here. This is very interesting, especially since your signature shows you've cruised quite a bit on various ships/classes. We were just about to book the Breeze for 2014 but then caught a really good deal on the Oasis, so we are getting ready to book that next. We hope to do the Breeze at some point after that, assuming we don't fall head-over-heels in love with Oasis/Allure.

 

I see that you are doing the TA over on the Oasis and then the new Quantum back, is that right? That sounds awesome.

[BenjiRodney]

2013 since I was able to take 3 cruises on Carnival.

[happy cruzin]

2013 since I was able to take 3 cruises on Carnival.

 

2013 was the "year of the cruise" for us too! The most for us in any one year... three in total - two on the Breeze and one on NCL's Breakaway.

Ahh...lovin' the cruise life! ;) :D