How does Carnival compare

[bedrick]

Hi, I’ve never cruised Carnival before but am tempted by current prices.  Can anyone tell me how the entertainment and food compare to Princess or P & O?

Thanks

[korky1]

Have sailed on Carnival many many times.  We have cruised a lot (about 50 cruises) on P&O, Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Carnival.  Loved every cruise we have ever been on.  We are sailing on Carnival Splendour on 10th November.  Only been on it once before as before 2019 we had Carnival Spirit sailing out of Sydney.  Carnival have very good live music going on around the ship every night, which we love.  Also the food is good.    Go on each and every cruise with an open mind and a positive attitude and you will have a ball.  All the above mentioned cruise lines have one thing in common - they really try to give you the best possible experience whilst onboard so i am happy to sail on any of them.

[Russell21]

In small ways the three have small differences, but if you are happy with P&O and Princess you will be happy with Carnival, we are happy with the three of them.

[icat2000]

Better than PO. Slightly lower than Princess. Thought Carnvial has great comedy shows and Princess is a lot older crowd. My partner and I enjoyed both Carnvial and Princess.

I'm not a huge fan of PO. 

[Hogbay]

On 10/24/2022 at 8:27 AM, bedrick said:

Hi, I’ve never cruised Carnival before but am tempted by current prices.  Can anyone tell me how the entertainment and food compare to Princess or P & O?

Thanks

At those prices book , book , book , on hold now booking lomanosa . Currently on Splendor b2b had frogs legs MDR last night and breakfast eggs /omelettes cooked in front of you not from a warmer .Guys burgers ..... DORA has the best entertainment cast and the $12 pizza are fantastic . Coral was 1k more and disappointing , the free pizza and pre cooked food can go to the fish . was on her for 3 cruises . Princess from o/s is totally different . Swap to Encounter for the Melbourne Cup . There is CC folk think Coral is all that plus more they can have her and she is a ghost  ship after 10:16 pm .

[cheznandy]

We really enjoyed our Carnival cruises, particularly the Splendour.

As said above, great entertainment and comedy, best choice of food.

 

Although we have tried most cruise lines and mainly Princess for the last few years, none of their ships here interest us at the moment and their prices are way too high for us.

 

I would book Carnival ATM for price and quality, room and balcony sizes and variation.

Most itineraries are similar ATM through all cruise lines, coastal and some Pacific Islands that are allowing ships and NZ.

 

[sayaguru]

On 10/25/2022 at 10:19 AM, icat2000 said:

Better than PO. Slightly lower than Princess. Thought Carnvial has great comedy shows and Princess is a lot older crowd. My partner and I enjoyed both Carnvial and Princess.

I'm not a huge fan of PO. 

I agree with this. I think Carnival are great for the pricepoint. I've done a few Carnival but not in Australia. Food and service is good. I won't go P&O either. 

[Aus Traveller]

12 hours ago, sayaguru said:

I agree with this. I think Carnival are great for the pricepoint. I've done a few Carnival but not in Australia. Food and service is good. I won't go P&O either. 

We cruise on P&O although I prefer Princess. Since cruising re-started, we feel that P&O has moved a bit up-market. It could surprise you (pleasantly I mean). 😁

[arxcards]

We will cruise them all, and have a couple of short ones on Splendor next year.

 

In a word for me, busy. Busy decor, busy list of activities, busy in most places around the ship. Not that 4he food is better or worse than P&O, just different menus, plus the option of no extra charge on burgers & pizza etc.

 

We still prefer Princess, but more than happy with most things about Carnival. Those prices will just be in play for this season on Luminosa, so no better time to try for yourself.

[mr walker]

When we first started cruising in 2011, I read something that I have found true in our experience - "mainstream cruiselines are more similar to one another than different".

We have cruised mostly on RC, but have done 2 Carnival & 1 Princess cruise & enjoyed them all & we would have no hesitation in going on any of these again.

If the timing/itinerary/price works for you, go for it & board with an open mind!

[bedrick]

Thanks for the informative input everyone. I have been convinced to give Carnival a try particularly as we loved Princess overseas but were disappointed in our last two Princess cruises from Australia, both were ghost ships in the evenings.  Now I have to try to find reasonable airfares, at the moment the lowest is between $500-$600 each return from Tasmania to Sydney or Brisbane plus hotel.

[sayaguru]

On 10/27/2022 at 8:12 AM, Aus Traveller said:

We cruise on P&O although I prefer Princess. Since cruising re-started, we feel that P&O has moved a bit up-market. It could surprise you (pleasantly I mean). 😁

Yes. I heard that. The time restrictions annoy me. apparently they've extended lunch to 2.30. 

I just got off Carnival Splendor. 

The food was OK. Nothing startling. I like that you have many options included (pizza, Hot rolls and sandwiches, Indian, hamburgers, as well as the buffet and restaurant.

The layout is a bit add hoc, with the restaurant in the middle of deck 3, thereby cutting it in half. 

I had an oceanview on deck 1 and was pleasantly surprised by the size. 2 of the comedians were hilarious. The last 2 were OK. There were a few bogans though that think it's about them. 

I enjoyed the cruise. 

Back to Princess this week. 

[AussieGypsie]

1 hour ago, sayaguru said:

Yes. I heard that. The time restrictions annoy me. apparently they've extended lunch to 2.30. 

I just got off Carnival Splendor. 

The food was OK. Nothing startling. I like that you have many options included (pizza, Hot rolls and sandwiches, Indian, hamburgers, as well as the buffet and restaurant.

The layout is a bit add hoc, with the restaurant in the middle of deck 3, thereby cutting it in half. 

I had an oceanview on deck 1 and was pleasantly surprised by the size. 2 of the comedians were hilarious. The last 2 were OK. There were a few bogans though that think it's about them. 

I enjoyed the cruise. 

Back to Princess this week. 

Also just got off the Carnival Splendor and the ship's decor was a bit busy. The layout of the ship reminded us of the Ruby Princess as it was a bit odd and didn't like, what felt like, little compartments.

We had an interior room on deck 2. Room was a good size but wouldn't recommend being on such a low deck. 

Food was OK and found it odd that the buffet didn't cater for those who liked a small sweet snack with their morning or afternoon coffee unless you wanted to pay.

We're not big drinkers of alcohol and found the drinks very expensive. I think I spent more on this 6 day cruise than I would on a 14 day cruise.

The entertainment was hit and miss. Difficult to see a show as the first few nights there was only one show at 9pm. Our dinner seating was 7:45pm but the service was slow even when only 2 of us showed up and we never managed to get meals and be out before 9:15pm. The last few nights they changed their program and two shows were being preformed.

There were a violin trio performing on level 3 that drew a large crowd. Excellent. Then a duo performing near the casino who were also good.

All in all, our preference is Princess but we got such a good deal with Carnival that those little things that were missing for not quite right didn't matter. It had a good time and if another opportunity came up to cruise with Carnival I'm sure we would consider and book if the price and destination was right for us.

[LuckiePuris]

On 10/24/2022 at 9:27 AM, bedrick said:

Hi, I’ve never cruised Carnival before but am tempted by current prices.  Can anyone tell me how the entertainment and food compare to Princess or P & O?

Thanks

Food on Carnival is better than current P&O offerings, but I don't believe as good as Princess. Sits somewhere more in middle.

I haven't cruised for some time but this is based on what I've seen/read online.

Still pretty good food, better than the basic P&O MDR fare, but maybe in some cases not as refined as the Princess MDR fare.

Specialty restaurant is also much higher priced than Princess specialty restaurants.

[sayaguru]

19 hours ago, LuckiePuris said:

Food on Carnival is better than current P&O offerings, but I don't believe as good as Princess. Sits somewhere more in middle.

I haven't cruised for some time but this is based on what I've seen/read online.

Still pretty good food, better than the basic P&O MDR fare, but maybe in some cases not as refined as the Princess MDR fare.

Specialty restaurant is also much higher priced than Princess specialty restaurants.

Yes. I agree. I equate P&O food to pub food at best. Carnival better but definitely not fine dining. I've never been tempted to photograph a meal on P&O or Carnival. 

[MMDown Under]

9 minutes ago, sayaguru said:

Yes. I agree. I equate P&O food to pub food at best. Carnival better but definitely not fine dining. I've never been tempted to photograph a meal on P&O or Carnival. 

I've never been tempted to photograph a meal period. 

I don't expect fine dining, but I do expect edible food.  Street food in SEAsia is absolutely delicious, at low cost.  Do they have fresh fruit, if you don't enjoy the food?

[sayaguru]

25 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I've never been tempted to photograph a meal period. 

I don't expect fine dining, but I do expect edible food.  Street food in SEAsia is absolutely delicious, at low cost.  Do they have fresh fruit, if you don't enjoy the food?

I don't go to fancy restaurants off ship. I love eating local when I travel. All ships have fresh fruit. You'll find food you like. There was nothing wrong with the Carnival food. There is a good choice so never had trouble choosing. There were always a few options that I liked. One time I had 3 entrees and no main as they sounded great.  I thought the buffet for breakfast had a great selection. I only have fruit and yoghurt for breakfast but did have eggs benedict one morning. The Indian on Carnival was good. You can get it at the buffet and they have a vegetarian Indian meal on the menu in the dining room. 

[MMDown Under]

21 minutes ago, sayaguru said:

I don't go to fancy restaurants off ship. I love eating local when I travel. All ships have fresh fruit. You'll find food you like. There was nothing wrong with the Carnival food. There is a good choice so never had trouble choosing. There were always a few options that I liked. One time I had 3 entrees and no main as they sounded great.  I thought the buffet for breakfast had a great selection. I only have fruit and yoghurt for breakfast but did have eggs benedict one morning. The Indian on Carnival was good. You can get it at the buffet and they have a vegetarian Indian meal on the menu in the dining room. 

Thank you very much.  I was wondering what the food would be like.  I'm happy with basic food but am a good cook.  I enjoy Indian food.  I just went to the Festival of Lights in Parramatta and ate Indian all weekend.  

I'm from the Northern end of the Gold Coast.  Where do you live on GC?

[sayaguru]

On 11/7/2022 at 11:21 AM, MMDown Under said:

Thank you very much.  I was wondering what the food would be like.  I'm happy with basic food but am a good cook.  I enjoy Indian food.  I just went to the Festival of Lights in Parramatta and ate Indian all weekend.  

I'm from the Northern end of the Gold Coast.  Where do you live on GC?

Yeah I have a thermomix so make lots of stuff I used to order at restaurants.

Burleigh Waters Moved here beginning of Covid. Nice place to spend a pandemic. HAHA! 

better than in the suburbs of Sydney, which is where we moved from. 

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, sayaguru said:

Yeah I have a thermomix so make lots of stuff I used to order at restaurants.

Burleigh Waters Moved here beginning of Covid. Nice place to spend a pandemic. HAHA! 

better than in the suburbs of Sydney, which is where we moved from. 

Good move.  Much nicer place to spend the pandemic,  Lots of people moved to the Sunshine and Gold Coasts from southern states.