Just off Conquest...might be time to go to Royal

[Doggielover68]

Sounds like it may have just been a bad week. It seems that summer cruises are pretty busy and and have a different vibe than when kids are in school. We were on a back to back cruise on Conquest in 2016. The first week it was like a party cruise...the second week it was a geriatric cruise lol. You never know what you're going to end up with and you need to roll with the punches. There are lousy people both on land and at sea.

 

 

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[BundlesofFun]

Sounds like it may have just been a bad week. It seems that summer cruises are pretty busy and and have a different vibe than when kids are in school. We were on a back to back cruise on Conquest in 2016. The first week it was like a party cruise...the second week it was a geriatric cruise lol. You never know what you're going to end up with and you need to roll with the punches. There are lousy people both on land and at sea.

 

 

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I can speak on this. I got on the Conquest the day the OP got off. I only ever smelled smoke in the casino area. I was neutral on TJ, he wasn't all that exciting but he made an effort to engage on our sailing. There were mostly blue cards but I didn't see any obnoxious behavior. I loved having the S&S cards in the mailbox because it cut down on the time you used to spend standing in line before boarding. The crew members I encountered this time around were MUCH more friendly and welcoming than the ones I met on the Conquest last year.

 

A couple of days later and a totally different experience.

[AmBear]

You can find the exact problems on Royal depending on which ship you pick. They also put your cards in the mailbox on certain ships and I’ve found the passengers very similar on Royal, NCL and Carnival. The differences IMO are found within the ships themselves not the mainstream cruise companies. Pick a new ship on any of the lines with a longer itinerary and you’ll get a better vibe. And just a warning if you don’t like the smell of smoke and smoking all over the place stay off of NCL Breakaway.

We sailed a B2B on the Vista, a newer ship, and the first week it was mostly older folks, lots of walkers and wheelchairs, the second week started summer school break, and it was mostly kids and their younger parents! So our reaction is, it comes down also to WHEN you cruise!

Every line in the summer is packed with kids, and though many parents are great, there are still a lot of poor parents who allow their kids to run wild, and that's gotta stress out the crew!

We've sailed on RCL, NCL, and MSC, and Carnival in the summer, and its the same on all of them, kids are out of school, parents decide cruising is a great deal cause of kids sail free, or reduced pricing!

Our choice is no cruising in the summer! Leave that time to younger parents with children!

[Webecruzen]

The biggest problem with Carnival is they refuse to enforce their rules. My family just did a three day on Royal and it was a refreshing change. They enforce rules from not being allowed in the Lido restaurant in a bathing suit without a cover up, reserved chairs without folks being back to them in a timely manner, no shirt no service at indoor bars, use of obscene language not being tolerated at bars. I have to say I was shocked to see the staff politely enforce the rules where Carnival Staff tend to always look the other way. Royal guests complied with polite requests to change behavior or to get proper cover up or shirts. My family is all Diamond on Carnival but are ready to try other lines and itineraries. I have enjoyed all my cruises and make the most of the time I have with my loved ones that go with me.

[AmBear]

The biggest problem with Carnival is they refuse to enforce their rules. My family just did a three day on Royal and it was a refreshing change. They enforce rules from not being allowed in the Lido restaurant in a bathing suit without a cover up, reserved chairs without folks being back to them in a timely manner, no shirt no service at indoor bars, use of obscene language not being tolerated at bars. I have to say I was shocked to see the staff politely enforce the rules where Carnival Staff tend to always look the other way. Royal guests complied with polite requests to change behavior or to get proper cover up or shirts. My family is all Diamond on Carnival but are ready to try other lines and itineraries. I have enjoyed all my cruises and make the most of the time I have with my loved ones that go with me.

Not our experience on RCL, and we're Diamond in the RCL Crown and Anchor, and Plat. on Carnival, they're all the same!

[Giantfan13]

The biggest problem with Carnival is they refuse to enforce their rules. My family just did a three day on Royal and it was a refreshing change. They enforce rules from not being allowed in the Lido restaurant in a bathing suit without a cover up, reserved chairs without folks being back to them in a timely manner, no shirt no service at indoor bars, use of obscene language not being tolerated at bars. I have to say I was shocked to see the staff politely enforce the rules where Carnival Staff tend to always look the other way. Royal guests complied with polite requests to change behavior or to get proper cover up or shirts. My family is all Diamond on Carnival but are ready to try other lines and itineraries. I have enjoyed all my cruises and make the most of the time I have with my loved ones that go with me.

 

I was just going to post almost the same thing, but you said it very well. We have sailed with several lines, along with a few years stint with Carnival. Our biggest problem was their crew and staff basically ignoring any 'violations' of the rules. Years ago, when they had late buffets, we saw teens throwing plates off the top deck, into the ocean, We called security and no one ever showed up. If Carnival doesn't care, why would we. But it did bother us, maybe because we are older and see things a bit differently.

Our last 4 cruises have been on RCCL and we find their security and crew more adept at enforcing the ships rules. Plus we see security wandering around the decks, never saw that on Carnival.

The other thing that bothered us about Carnival was the continual pushing of drinks. Maybe for those that do drink, it's fine, but we don't and I just do not like being asked 7 times sitting in the theater, in any lounge, out on deck. RCCL doesn't do that and we appreciate that a lot.

 

Cheers

Len

[Mikew0805]

The biggest problem with Carnival is they refuse to enforce their rules. My family just did a three day on Royal and it was a refreshing change. They enforce rules from not being allowed in the Lido restaurant in a bathing suit without a cover up, reserved chairs without folks being back to them in a timely manner, no shirt no service at indoor bars, use of obscene language not being tolerated at bars. I have to say I was shocked to see the staff politely enforce the rules where Carnival Staff tend to always look the other way. Royal guests complied with polite requests to change behavior or to get proper cover up or shirts. My family is all Diamond on Carnival but are ready to try other lines and itineraries. I have enjoyed all my cruises and make the most of the time I have with my loved ones that go with me.

 

This is a joke right? First... Royal rarely enforces anything that you have mentioned or much of anything else for that matter.. People in the Windjammer without cover ups, chair hogs are in full effect, and I am not aware of a rule at the pool bar that states you mush have a shirt on, but if there is.. well they do not enforce that either.

[scpirate]

I will say without hesitation that Carnival has the biggest low-lives of any of the major lines. Will it deter me from sailing Carnival? No. I agree with Jersey Girl. Pick the newer ships with longer itineraries. It weeds out a lot of the undesirables. Simply try another line .......... If your kids a young take them on the NCL Escape or the brand new MSC Seaside which is phenomenal for kids. I've done both of the above and they great for kids. MSC Seaside has the best waterpark and kids pool at sea in my opinion. The crowd is the complete opposite of Carnival and kids sail free under 12. Can't beat that!

I sailed msc seaside in April I thought all the passengers and some of the crew were ill mannered butts.problem is having 5000 passengers on board.most foreigners the rest were carnivals finest I believe.i can scratch msc off my list not the experience "I" was looking for.we are doing Cuba on carnival but next one is princess.

[sgttami]

Low life people on every line...don't really like that term....they're just "different"

 

Carnival, RCL, NCL, Celebrity., MSC.(the lines I've sailed)

 

Doesn't matter to me...

 

I'm happy to cruise!

[louanne93]

Low life people on every line...don't really like that term....they're just "different"

 

Carnival, RCL, NCL, Celebrity., MSC.(the lines I've sailed)

 

Doesn't matter to me...

 

I'm happy to cruise!

 

This ^ is me!! All the way! We have also been on Carnival, Royal, and Princess. We always end up meeting tons of people on Carnival!

[Havingfun2010]

So this cruise we took the kids for their first ever, it was a Christmas present for them and they were very excited. Hubby and I were on this ship almost two years ago to the day and things have changed!

 

Dry dock did it some good, carpeted areas looked fresh, serenity, new look for the fun shops, new pixels gallery, and a couple new food options. One thing we noticed on this cruise was the stench of smoke wafted through the entire ship from the casino. It was really bad in some places, including the Lido on a couple of occasions. Also, people were smoking both regular smokes and e-cigs/vaping in places not allowed with crew walking right by these people and not saying a word. Also, zero enforcement of the chair savers on the Lido.

 

Good news on RCCL is that the design of the ships make the casino an isolated place, and not in the middle of the main promenade. On the one ship that has an open casino, smoking is banned. Also, I have found that smokers are told to put it out, not only by staff, but by others around them immediately on RCCL.

 

The crowd this cruise was also very rude, LOTS of blue cards, which I know this means they may new to carnival not necessarily cruising, but with some of these folks it was very evident they had zero cruise etiquette. Very few golds and I didn’t see any diamond or platinums.

 

That's been going on for years, in my opinion. One of the many reasons, why I won't go back.

 

Service was also pretty slow in lots of areas, especially red frog and blue iguana. Also, we had FTTF and when we tendered in HMC we were not given priority tender service as promised by the FTTF package.

 

 

FTTF is a way to get money, and offer free services in return. It's never a good investment, but Carnival, "creates" chokepoints on their ships, and than sells a premium service. It's called an artificial marketing scam, create a need, than sell a product to fix the issue.

 

And the cruise director, TJ, was terrible, last time we sailed her Big Sexy, aka Josh Waitzman, was our CD and he was fabulous but family life has him working on shore now. TJ seemed very immature at times and extremely disinterested in his job, only doing the bare minimum and not interactive at all.

 

The new scanning of the sail and sign cards vs the ding was different but overall seemed quicker. Also, sail and sign cards were left in our stateroom mailbox to be picked up instead of given at the terminal seems like a terrible idea especially when you can’t get to your rooms until later if you’re not FTTF, diamond, or platinum. Lots of non-priority people were on the ship fairly early and unable to get to their sail and sign cards or were fighting their way through the halls to get to them.

 

RCCL will do this also, but the difference is communications. Most people know, they can still get drinks without the card, but so many people "fear" that someone will steal the card, even though they have security measures in place for theft. I don't see this happening on the ships I have sailed, but I don't sail Carnival. Carnival "creates" many problems.

 

 

Hubby and I may try Royal Caribbean for our next cruise. While we had fun the crowd and lack of interest from the staff on board has us wanting to try elsewhere.

 

There are many better cruise lines to pick from. I encourage you to try others. I have never looked back.

[Havingfun2010]

The biggest problem with Carnival is they refuse to enforce their rules. My family just did a three day on Royal and it was a refreshing change. They enforce rules from not being allowed in the Lido restaurant in a bathing suit without a cover up, reserved chairs without folks being back to them in a timely manner, no shirt no service at indoor bars, use of obscene language not being tolerated at bars. I have to say I was shocked to see the staff politely enforce the rules where Carnival Staff tend to always look the other way. Royal guests complied with polite requests to change behavior or to get proper cover up or shirts. My family is all Diamond on Carnival but are ready to try other lines and itineraries. I have enjoyed all my cruises and make the most of the time I have with my loved ones that go with me.

 

I have also witnessed people turned away on formal night for inappropriate clothes for the occasion. Although many people will tell you that you did not see this, I 100% agree that RCCL will enforce rules and behaviours.

[evandbob]

Or it might be time for the OP to try the Dream or Vista class ships - Conquest class is getting a bit old now. variety is fun! I just completed my 37th Carnival cruise, and have 3 more booked for this year: MSC Seaside in October, Carnival Magic in November and a long Panama sailing in December of the NCL Jade.

 

All cruise lines have there pluses and minuses, and even the same itinerary on the same ship in different months can be dissimilar. Best to note the negatives and move on to the positives. Like the OP said, just because they said they didn't like some things, those things didn't "ruin" their cruise!

[declansdad]

There are many better cruise lines to pick from. I encourage you to try others. I have never looked back.

 

 

Really? I never would have guessed.

[Bob NC]

I will say without hesitation that Carnival has the biggest low-lives of any of the major lines.

 

 

Please hesitate before posting.

[kat2009]

Low life people on every line...don't really like that term....they're just "different"

 

Carnival, RCL, NCL, Celebrity., MSC.(the lines I've sailed)

 

Doesn't matter to me...

 

I'm happy to cruise!

 

Maybe we could just say they leave their manners at home.

[Rudyard]

To the OP on S&S cards in your mail box, you can buy drinks with your boarding pass. No reason for anyone to be fighting their way down the halls. We thought boarding the Conquest in April was super fast and easy.

This information was not made available. I didn't know this until just now. With the FTTF the room was ready and things were good there but we definitely did not have the FTTF experience that we did last time.

Did no one think to simply ask a bartender or waiter "How do I pay for drinks without my S&S card"? Same for when people realized they weren't getting cards at check in. They could have asked then. I can't see so many people waiting to be spoon fed that type of information that the hallways turn into a cattle call of desperate people looking for their S&S cards.

[DeesEscape]

lol. you say that often here. I think it says more about you than the other guests.

 

Thank you. The gall and nerve.

[evandbob]

Please hesitate before posting.

 

 

Yep, leave out the word "rude". Just note that Carnival has the "biggest" cruisers!

[RWolver672]

We have eleven cruises under our belts. Ten with Carnival and one with Royal. The only time we encountered rude passengers was on the Royal cruise. It's quite possible that the reason behind it was that it was out of San Juan. Many passengers were from different countries where their etiquette is different than ours.

[Havingfun2010]

We have eleven cruises under our belts. Ten with Carnival and one with Royal. The only time we encountered rude passengers was on the Royal cruise. It's quite possible that the reason behind it was that it was out of San Juan. Many passengers were from different countries where their etiquette is different than ours.

 

When posting, you should post somewhat realistic post. First, you said you sailed 10 times on Carnival and never encountered a rude person. Reading between the lines this means, that you either did not encounter a "ruder" person than yourself, or you just want to cheerlead Carnival. All cruise lines have rude people because all cruises are micro cities.

 

Secondly, San Juan is not a different country, and the majority of people on a cruise from San Juan are still from the USA including the territories. What you didn't like was the fact that Spanish was the main language, and so the interpretation is that they are rude because you did not understand what was going on. Common mistake, but that is caused by the education system.

 

It is common to consider other people "rude" when they are just "different".

[2wheelin]

When posting, you should post somewhat realistic post. First, you said you sailed 10 times on Carnival and never encountered a rude person. Reading between the lines this means, that you either did not encounter a "ruder" person than yourself, or you just want to cheerlead Carnival. All cruise lines have rude people because all cruises are micro cities.

 

Secondly, San Juan is not a different country, and the majority of people on a cruise from San Juan are still from the USA including the territories. What you didn't like was the fact that Spanish was the main language, and so the interpretation is that they are rude because you did not understand what was going on. Common mistake, but that is caused by the education system.

 

It is common to consider other people "rude" when they are just "different".

Wow! What an absolutely rude and presumptuous response. Stop “reading between the lines” if you can’t read.

[Florings]

It definitely depends on the time and general population of your cruise. We absolutely loved the Conquest, my 2nd favorite (Magic is my first).

 

But I did not like my Splendor experience at all. Beautiful ship and a great corner cabin. But there were several very large groups meeting for the week on the ship and believe me, they took over the space when they ate at Lido or went into Comedy Club or Showroom. And it just was a totally different vibe than usual.

 

Still, it was the one and only time I didn't completely enjoy a cruise.