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Why Carnival?


mkcurran
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Carnival is good value for money

as long as you don't need waiters in white gloves and real-silver cutlery.

 

It gets us Out There on the same old Ocean

even if these shots were taken from a Princess cruise ship.

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9 minutes ago, mkcurran said:

Say someone was looking at two similar cruises, why should they pick the Carnival cruise?

What makes Carnival great?

 

Because their kids camp starts at 2yo where most other lines start at 3yo. And we have a 2yo. :classic_biggrin:

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I have only been on Carnival.  It suits me.  As someone who can easily be driven crazy by others, carnival is good for those who aren't high maintenance.  If you expect 5 star cruise, then carnival isn't for you.  If you are easy going, then the price and Carnival is right for you.  

Edited by thunderingherd11
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We pick the cruise that is the least expensive which is usually Carnival (but not always, since we're off on a Royal cruise in 4 days, which has nothing really to do with this thread but I so like typing that sentence). But price aside we enjoy the product that Carnival provides.

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4 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

We pick the cruise that is the least expensive which is usually Carnival (but not always, since we're off on a Royal cruise in 4 days, which has nothing really to do with this thread but I so like typing that sentence). But price aside we enjoy the product that Carnival provides.

I'd be interested in hearing your opinion after your cruise. Have a good time!

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We enjoy Carnival because of the laid back atmosphere and the variety of people on the ships.  We have cruised Disney,, Carnival, and Bahama Paradise and enjoyed them all, but Carnival offers the most variety at the best price.   I am sure we would enjoy other cruise lines, but, for us, THE OCEAN IS THE SAME.   We have never had a bad Carnival cruise, so we figure we won't fix it if it ain't broke. 

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We have cruised on both RCL and Carnival, and we like both equally. However, more often than not, on a 7 day cruise, Carnival will have four ports of call whereas RCL will only have three.  And,  with few exceptions, Carnival's prices are lower than RCL (as well as many other cruise lines).  Also, we like the fun, friendly atmosphere on Carnival. Those are just a few of the reasons we continue to choose Carnival. 

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Price and stops. I’ve sailed carnival, RCCL, celebrity and currently have cruises scheduled with NCL, carnival and celebrity. If price were the same, I’d chose celebrity (the food!), carnival and very lastly, RCCL. 

 

I do agree tho-it’s the same ocean! 

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There's many reasons. What prevails for me is a fun time at an affordable price. 

 

From what you read online, you'd think Carnival passengers are the scum of the earth. When in reality, I found that to be so far from the truth. It is a majority of normal people (with of course a few bad apples, as always). Most of the people I have encountered are just there to have a good time and aren't bothering anyone. Not the pretentious crowd that is so concerned about everything that doesn't matter. That fun atmosphere is VERY important.

 

The price, the choices, the amenities, it's just hard to not like it. There really isn't anything I'm missing. Sure it's not flawless. I understand 5-star dining exists elsewhere, but that is not important to me. It is a nice treat every so often, but I'm not obsessed over it. I actually very much look forward to Guy's and Blue Iguana more than anything. I rarely have enough chances to enjoy them. I enjoy the MDR food. I enjoy the comedy shows. I enjoy the arcade. I enjoy watching sports in the public areas. I enjoy the dive-in movies. I enjoy many other things.

 

I very much want to book some Royal cruises. However, their allure is the larger boats (no pun intended). It doesn't seem like a vacation on a smaller Royal boat can compare to a smaller Carnival boat. Their larger boats are often a little more money, but not by that much. The problem with those, to me, is the limited itineraries. I'm not one of those to complain about Cozumel and Nassau, I have fun there. I just don't want to go to those islands every time. Next time, we want to go to the ABC islands. Oasis class doesn't go there. The Horizon does. Easy choice for us.

Edited by Joebucks
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For me I have more Carnival options close to me than anything else. That's how I got started. Now I'm kind of hooked on the alchemy, comedy and unlimited wifi plans. I was looking at..... I think it was NCL recently and they had the per minute wifi plan. I'm never going back to that. I wouldn't have gone back to Carnival if they didn't go to an unlimited plan.

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I've sailed on Disney, RCL, NCL, and Carnival.  We mostly sail on Carnival because of the value and the frequent comedy shows.  Many times, the comedians have multiple different shows.  We enjoy relaxing and laughing.  It's also a plus to us that they have self service laundry so that I can pack light and wash a load of clothes mid cruise.  We like the energetic vibe of the crew.  In my opinion, no other line provides as many different comedy shows as Carnival.  Some people may not care, but my husband and I enjoy them.

We also enjoy Guy's burgers and the Mexican food offered near the pool.  It's a tasty and quick lunch.

Edited by TNcruising02
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Out of our 18 cruises 10 have been Carnival and the next 2 we have booked on Carnival.  We are not loyal to Carnival.  we pick the ship that best fits our wants for that particular vacation at the price we are willing to pay.  Carnival has won out the most often because they will meet our wants at the best value price.  A couple pluses in their favor besides price when we are doing our research is they are DH's favorite cruise line due to his familiarity with the product,  MDR food, anytime dining, and the relaxed dress code.  Having said that NCL is my favorite cruise line, I think mostly due to the entertainment and night life.  Out of our 18 cruises we have sailed them 5 times and have 2 FCC to use in the next 4 years.  Price is usually not the factor for choosing NCL (although it was once when the decision came down between EPIC and Oasis of Seas for the same itinerary, time period, and room type EPIC was $1000 cheaper.)  We usually choose NCL for freesyle dining, relaxed dress code, entertainment and night life, and the promo packages (drinks and dining).  

 

My advice is not to get caught up on the cruise line, but to research the ships first and find the one offering what you want at the price you are willing to pay for it.  While Carnival and NCL are our favorites, I wouldn't rule out any line if the ship we are looking at meets our needs and wants.

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21 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

There's many reasons. What prevails for me is a fun time at an affordable price. 

 

From what you read online, you'd think Carnival passengers are the scum of the earth. When in reality, I found that to be so far from the truth. It is a majority of normal people (with of course a few bad apples, as always). Most of the people I have encountered are just there to have a good time and aren't bothering anyone. Not the pretentious crowd that is so concerned about everything that doesn't matter. That fun atmosphere is VERY important.

 

The price, the choices, the amenities, it's just hard to not like it. There really isn't anything I'm missing. Sure it's not flawless. I understand 5-star dining exists elsewhere, but that is not important to me. It is a nice treat every so often, but I'm not obsessed over it. I actually very much look forward to Guy's and Blue Iguana more than anything. I rarely have enough chances to enjoy them. I enjoy the MDR food. I enjoy the comedy shows. I enjoy the arcade. I enjoy watching sports in the public areas. I enjoy the dive-in movies. I enjoy many other things.

 

I very much want to book some Royal cruises. However, their allure is the larger boats (no pun intended). It doesn't seem like a vacation on a smaller Royal boat can compare to a smaller Carnival boat. Their larger boats are often a little more money, but not by that much. The problem with those, to me, is the limited itineraries. I'm not one of those to complain about Cozumel and Nassau, I have fun there. I just don't want to go to those islands every time. Next time, we want to go to the ABC islands. Oasis class doesn't go there. The Horizon does. Easy choice for us.

 

 

I agree, no matter what you read on these forums, most major lines at 95% similar and 5% different. And I agree with you on RCL also, we may book one in the next year but it would be for one of the ultra-mega ships. Love to nab one for a longer TA journey, or something. We'll keep an eye out!

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17 minutes ago, Theosprey247 said:

A quality product for an affordable price. Also multiple embarkation ports make them very convenient. We have been on multiple lines and keep coming back to Carnival. 

 

That's kind of how I see it.  Often our vacation options pop up fairly late.  It's nice to know that I can explore 4-5 reasonable airports and pick out a fun 7-8 day cruise at a fair price.  We've never not had a good to great time.

 

Do we cruise others? Sure.  Are some of those equal or better experiences? Sure.  Are they typically more money?  Almost always.

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11 minutes ago, Warm Breezes said:

Out of our 18 cruises 10 have been Carnival and the next 2 we have booked on Carnival.  We are not loyal to Carnival.  we pick the ship that best fits our wants for that particular vacation at the price we are willing to pay.  Carnival has won out the most often because they will meet our wants at the best value price.  A couple pluses in their favor besides price when we are doing our research is they are DH's favorite cruise line due to his familiarity with the product,  MDR food, anytime dining, and the relaxed dress code.  Having said that NCL is my favorite cruise line, I think mostly due to the entertainment and night life.  Out of our 18 cruises we have sailed them 5 times and have 2 FCC to use in the next 4 years.  Price is usually not the factor for choosing NCL (although it was once when the decision came down between EPIC and Oasis of Seas for the same itinerary, time period, and room type EPIC was $1000 cheaper.)  We usually choose NCL for freesyle dining, relaxed dress code, entertainment and night life, and the promo packages (drinks and dining).  

 

My advice is not to get caught up on the cruise line, but to research the ships first and find the one offering what you want at the price you are willing to pay for it.  While Carnival and NCL are our favorites, I wouldn't rule out any line if the ship we are looking at meets our needs and wants.

 

We've been on 5NCLs. Big fans, specifically out of NYC. And the open bar is nice. But kids camp doesnt start til 3yo so we are a couple years out before we sail them again!

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46 minutes ago, elcuchio24 said:

 

We've been on 5NCLs. Big fans, specifically out of NYC. And the open bar is nice. But kids camp doesnt start til 3yo so we are a couple years out before we sail them again!

My kids are now 22 and 24.  DD is just waiting for us to cruise with her on NCL again so she can do the open bar with us.  We started cruising when our kids were 4 and 7 and I can count on one hand the number of times they went to the kids clubs.  They just didn't like it, which turned out to be just fine.  Cruising became one of our favorite family vacations even without the kids club.  We had a lot of fun just spending that time doing things together with our kids.  Enjoy your time with yours, it gets much harder to get them together for a family vacation when they move out and have lives of their own.  I can't wait till our Magic Cruise next month when I get mine back together again😀.

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2 hours ago, mkcurran said:

Say someone was looking at two similar cruises, why should they pick the Carnival cruise?

What makes Carnival great?

I cruise by price and itinerary.  I have cruised Carnival of late because I love the Cloud 9 Spa.  

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Our first cruise was Carnival - was nervous if I'd get seasick, so we wanted something semi-short, cost effective and left "nearby" (Charleston).   (Didn't get seasick - felt like 18 potential years of cruising wasted).  Anyway, we had a good time on Carnival, so the next ones were also on there.  Different ships, different experiences, but still fun.  

We did one on RCI because our girl scout troop leader didn't want to go on Carnival because of their reputation as a bunch of party frat kids, and her experiences had been on RCL.  Had a good time there too.

RCI seemed a bit more restrained.   Perhaps a little classier, or perhaps it was just the color scheme that seemed duller and more upclass.  I don't know.   I've been to the Carnival Adult Quest game, and the RCI equivalent.  Night and day - the RCI one was so much "less".  

Overall, you're on a cruise, it's all good, but Carnival seems to be more cost effective for us, the wife likes it better because they're a little more down to earth, and as far as loyalty points go, we have more there - not enough to really matter, but easier to keep going with one than to keep switching around.  Not rich enough to bump them all up to "I own the ship" status.

 

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