Which Carnival ship(s) would you never sail again?

[soremekun]

Which ships turned you off so much that you'll never sail them again?  I'd like to know why as well.

[JKrise]

Hands down...Never again on Horizon.

[BTromboneFrack]

We've been on a number of them, but they all seem more similar than different.   Probably the worst one was the Festivale, by today's standards, but we had a great time on it back in '87.   That's the ship that got us started.  

 

[JKrise]

Regarding my opinion of the Horizon......

 

We unfortunately took a B2B cruise on the Horizon. Look, we are not demanding passengers, but if we could have gotten off the ship on after the first leg and gotten out money for the second leg returned we would have left the ship...and we are at the Platinum Loyalty Level With Carnival. This experience was THAT BAD.

The salad bar at the buffet was the worst. Minimal selections, and pre-made salads that were drowned in mayo or oil. Never seen anything like that on any other ship...seriously..it was a joke.

The Sky-Cycle was down (AGAIN) for the entire second leg.

Witnessed a crew member scolding passengers at the sky-cycle on the first leg. The passenger wasn't doing anything wrong other than asking questions in a polite manner. But this one female crew member just got testy/nasty and childlike with her responses.

(This provides a glimpse into Crew member selection standards and behavior expectations.)

We watched an officer scold another employee in front of other passengers at the elevators for nothing more than missing to mop a small section of the floor. I am talking a real dressing down that was embarrassing for the crew member and other passengers.

(This provides a glimpse into ships officer corp selection, standards, training and leadership ability).

The food in the main dining room that was brought to the table was wrong and/or incomplete at least three times (maybe four). (This provides a glimpse into the ships operation management ability).

The spa staff was a joke. They could care less if a sale/appointment was made. No greetings of the day when passing through. The staff was actually more engaged in their phones, doing their own nails or makeup, or sitting reading a book. (This provides a glimpse into accountability, training and holding to standards of quality).

Next comes the gym. In the evening from 4:30-8:00PM, seems like the entire crew descends on the passenger gym to use the equipment leaving very little for paying passengers to use. There is a small hard-floored area on the port side of the gym with a mirror in front of it. DW and I watch one lady who we discovered was a part-time zumba instructor practicing her routines in the evening. Enter a group of female crew members/dancers and give the lady the stare-down/group of mean girl treatment.

(This provides a glimpse into accountability, training, standards of behaviors expected by crew members, ships lack of leadership by officer corp).

What the heck!!!

The crew has their own gym on board and rehearsal times. A paying passenger should not have to deal with stare down/group intimidation by crew members.

Guys Pig and Anchor is a joke. The worst food at lunch. Famous biscuits were another more that lightly buttered hot dog buns. (Again, providing a glimpse into maintaining standards of quality).

On the second leg we finally realized that Carnival had made a huge ship...pack more state rooms in it and **DID NOT** add any more commom area passenger flow space. The result is the common floors on the 4th and 5th decks are always overly crowded.

[beachbum53]

The Vista. I didn't like the way the theater is designed. We had Anytime Dining, which is held in the Horizon Restaurant, in the Aft of the ship on Deck 3. Because the entrance to the MDR is on Deck 3, right off of the elevator lobby, there is very little room for people to line up to wait to be seated. Instead, you have to go to a little kiosk on Deck 5  and get a ticket with your check in time to be seated, then make your way down two decks to the MDR when it's time to go eat dinner. A major design flaw in my opinion. Also not real fond of the Atrium design. These, along with a few other minor things that I didn't like, are the reasons we won't be cruising again on the Vista. And, since the sister ship the Horizon  is built the same way, we won't be cruising on it either.

[shof515]

17 minutes ago, beachbum53 said:

 Instead, you have to go to a little kiosk on Deck 5  and get a ticket with your check in time to be seated, then make your way down two decks to the MDR when it's time to go eat dinner. A major design flaw in my opinion.

 

this should be fixed via the Hub app, you can use the Hub app to make a dinner reservation instead of visiting the kiosk

 

For me it is a toss up between the Sunshine and the Sunrise. I hated the buffet layout on the Sunshine and the lack of pools since they removed a pool to add that Havana bar area and for the Sunrise due to lack of public space and how the current layout is unable to accommodate all of the people onboard the ship. Lots of cramped and crowded spaces due to a insufficient design like the current photo gallery layout. it is impossible finding your picture due to the small space, a space that can not handle crowds

Edited September 5 by shof515

[pirate4me2]

Even though I have sailed her 4 times now, with 1 more cruise booked in the next few weeks...it would be the Sunshine. She’s my least favorite I think due to the lack of pools/hot tubs. I still enjoy my cruises aboard her, but after having sailed so many other ships my eyes were really opened to her flaws last week. 

[jbethel11]

I will never cruise on the Valor again, nothing to do for some age groups.

[christyran1228]

Vista wasn't my favorite for reasons mentioned above, but I wouldn't not sail on it again if it meant I was going on a cruise.

[Stick93]

Worst ship hands down - the Sunrise. On my recent cruise they stuffed 3900+ people on it. They removed common area and added more people. People everywhere and worst were the droves of rude, nasty and low class travelers. 

 

Worst ship! 

[VentureMan_2000]

One that was taken out of service or never sailed again.

[ronbe65]

7 hours ago, soremekun said:

Which ships turned you off so much that you'll never sail them again?  I'd like to know why as well.

I know the ships before I sail on them. Sometimes just one cruise is enough - not because the ship is too bad. Just no more interest.

As to Carnival ships, if you are a first timer, limit your choice to the Splendor, the Conquest class, and the Spirit class ships, and make sure the itinerary is great (must be 7 days or longer).

Happy cruising!

Edited September 5 by ronbe65

[Stick93]

1 hour ago, ronbe65 said:

I know the ships before I sail on them. Sometimes just one cruise is enough - not because the ship is too bad. Just no more interest.

As to Carnival ships, if you are a first timer, limit your choice to the Splendor, the Conquest class, and the Spirit class ships, and make sure the itinerary is great (must be 7 days or longer).

Happy cruising!

Good advice 

Edited September 5 by Stick93

[jcearth]

I have sailed on: Breeze, Magic (in 2 weeks), Dream, Conquest, Sunshine, Legend, Triumph (now Sunrise), Fascination, Sensation, and Holiday.  The only one that I would never do again was the Holiday - that ship was a dump.  Now, we did sail it 2 months before it was being removed from service, so that may have had something to do with the quality aboard the ship.  

[Buckimion]

Triumph, and by extension, Sunrise. Simply hated that ship even though a fair number of deficiencies were due to my own poor prep. 

 

(Posted from the airport where we await a flight to New Orleans to sail on Valor come Monday.)

 

[jimbo5544]

A thread on Carnival love.....

[Out of Iowa]

The Fantasy.  Too small.  Never again!  Our very first cruise.  I knew there had to be a reason people returned to cruising again and again so we gave it another chance on a larger Carnival ship...and we keep cruising.

[Jamman54]

Given the right price and itinerary we would sail on any of the ships again. Of course this is from someone who sailed on the Fantasy when she was brand new. 😀

[bingomamma19]

11 hours ago, soremekun said:

Which ships turned you off so much that you'll never sail them again?  I'd like to know why as well.

The Horizon (or any of that class)

 

Did not like the Smaller theater, lack of grand atrium, lack of enough public space, new elevator system, smaller casino even though is a bigger ship etc.

 

Will not go above the Breeze (dream class?) again....love the Breeze!!

[Stick93]

12 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

A thread on Carnival love.....

I loved carnival but not some of the stuff that they are putting out and it’s hurting their brand.  

[Saint Greg]

Out of the ships I’ve sailed on I would say Elation because Of no Alchemy bar. I won’t sail on fantasy because of what they did to the comedy club. Add sunshine class to that list as well for the same reason.

[Mutumbojimbo]

Our least favorite Carnival ship was the Triumph. I would have been hesitant to book it again even before it was remade with more passengers and less public space. It was too crowded then, I can't imagine it now.

[TNcruising02]

I will not sail on the Vista again. The theater design is the worst I have seen on any of the ships I have sailed, including Carnival, Disney, Norwegian, and Royal.  I don't know what the heck they were thinking when they designed it.  I read bad reviews about the theater before I sailed on the Vista, but thought maybe it wouldn't be that bad.  It was.  Between that and the massively long lines for everything, I realized that I will stick with Carnival's smaller ships and that bigger isn't always better.  The design and décor were very muted and boring, but I could have overlooked that.  The theater, no way to overlook it.

Mat Mitchum was the CD, which made it one of the most enjoyable cruises.  Not enough to sail on the Vista again.

[h_blond2]

12 hours ago, soremekun said:

Which ships turned you off so much that you'll never sail them again?  I'd like to know why as well.

I try not say never, but I really didn't like the Triumph and would only sail on it again if it was the only ship left in the fleet. The layout was choppy and it always felt extremely;y crowded. 

Edited September 5 by h_blond2

[Warm Breezes]

I guess the only Carnival ship I can definitely say I will not sail again is the Carnival Destiny since she is now Carnival Sunshine (which I have also sailed).