About to sail Carnival for the first time - what am I in for?

[spleenstomper]

I have seen wal mart type behavior on some of my Carnival cruises. 
 

Right now, I’m on Glory and I’m kinda worried because the man in the cabin next door (age 55+)  is barking at the river from his balcony, sounds like he is rearranging furniture against the wall and is having an entire loud conversation with a lot of F bombs (hey, I love a well placed F bomb but not at his decibel level). I can’t figure out if he is already drunk (3 hours after shoving off) or if he overcompensating for a hearing issue. (I have a doctor friend who does this). 
 

We exchanged pleasantries on the balcony and he seems nice enough. I’m trying to assess the situation and I’m trying not to borrow trouble. He is also a door slammer. 
 

Anyway, Carnival is loud. We went two years without a cruise and then I went on HAL to Alaska, and that was such a pleasant quiet my kind of crowd experience, but you lose a lot of activity and dining options. 
 

Many carnival cruises smell of weed (I don’t mind it but plenty of people do) but I think they are starting to crack down on that. On embarkation, we had to all put our bags down so the dog could sniff. I doubt that was for explosives and I don’t remember a dog sniffing carry ons on previous cruises but maybe they did and I don’t remember. 
 

I just has the best Cuban sandwich I ever had at the deli. Carnival has better than average food. It’s definitely a party atmosphere, which makes things fun. 
 

[SERK]

1 hour ago, spleenstomper said:

I have seen wal mart type behavior on some of my Carnival cruises. 
 

Right now, I’m on Glory and I’m kinda worried because the man in the cabin next door (age 55+)  is barking at the river from his balcony, sounds like he is rearranging furniture against the wall and is having an entire loud conversation with a lot of F bombs (hey, I love a well placed F bomb but not at his decibel level). I can’t figure out if he is already drunk (3 hours after shoving off) or if he overcompensating for a hearing issue. (I have a doctor friend who does this). 
 

We exchanged pleasantries on the balcony and he seems nice enough. I’m trying to assess the situation and I’m trying not to borrow trouble. He is also a door slammer. 
 

Anyway, Carnival is loud. We went two years without a cruise and then I went on HAL to Alaska, and that was such a pleasant quiet my kind of crowd experience, but you lose a lot of activity and dining options. 
 

Many carnival cruises smell of weed (I don’t mind it but plenty of people do) but I think they are starting to crack down on that. On embarkation, we had to all put our bags down so the dog could sniff. I doubt that was for explosives and I don’t remember a dog sniffing carry ons on previous cruises but maybe they did and I don’t remember. 
 

I just has the best Cuban sandwich I ever had at the deli. Carnival has better than average food. It’s definitely a party atmosphere, which makes things fun. 
 

Maybe a New Orleans port thing.  Our last two have been out of Galveston and didn't see any drug dogs sniffing luggage or carry on.

[spleenstomper]

6 minutes ago, SERK said:

Maybe a New Orleans port thing.  Our last two have been out of Galveston and didn't see any drug dogs sniffing luggage or carry on.

I’m pretty sure it’s new also, and I also noticed there was new literature and specifically a marijuana paragraph about how they recognize it’s legal in numerous states but it’s still federally illegal and they have to go by federal laws. 
 

Well, “nightmare of the seas” just got off the elevator and I could HEAR him (I knew it was him)and  he did pretend hacking the whole way down the hall. They slammed the door to their cabin and his wife just told him to F off. I’m pretty sure they are fighting so I’m going to send security to do a welfare check. I wish I could upload a video so you all can hear this. 

[spleenstomper]

To update, before I had a chance to call, it suddenly got completely quiet next door. Either they passed out or they are dead. 🙊

[RCmommy]

2 minutes ago, spleenstomper said:

To update, before I had a chance to call, it suddenly got completely quiet next door. Either they passed out or they are dead. 🙊

Not on a cruise but in a hotel one NYE a few years back, we had a couple across the hall from us.  They had propped their door open, intentionally or not I don’t know.  All night, and I mean alllll night they were arguing.  You could hear everything! She was begging him to sleep with her and accusing him of sleeping with just about every woman under the sun.  “Why won’t you?” “Don’t you love me?” to “you’re a low life loser and I wouldn’t touch you!” her next breath.  He was so toasted he was barely coherent but when he did argue back it was at the top of his lungs.  
 

Staff were called numerous times by different guests but it never stopped.  At least we got to go home the next day.  If I was stuck in a cabin next door on a ship for a week and I would surely go bananas.

[spleenstomper]

@RCmommy wow! That’s sad. Update: They aren’t dead! He started hacking real bad and she was like oh Sheet. Lol. Now they are sleeping again. At least they are early to bed; I can probably deal with their noise during the day.

[Pellaz]

5 hours ago, spleenstomper said:

Many carnival cruises smell of weed (I don’t mind it but plenty of people do) but I think they are starting to crack down on that. On embarkation, we had to all put our bags down so the dog could sniff. I doubt that was for explosives and I don’t remember a dog sniffing carry ons on previous cruises but maybe they did and I don’t remember. 

That was my exact experience back in October in Miami.   Place bags on the ground for the nice (and well-trained) doggie to sniff it.  

I still smelled some weed onboard, but it didn't ruin my experience in any way.   

 

5 hours ago, spleenstomper said:

I just has the best Cuban sandwich I ever had at the deli. Carnival has better than average food. It’s definitely a party atmosphere, which makes things fun. 

The Deli is the unsung hero pretty often when it comes to Carnival.  Open 11-11 except on Excel-class, and (despite some reported cutbacks) I've never had a bad sammich or hot dog there.  

 

[gkbiiii]

9 hours ago, SERK said:

I believe Lee Mason will be your cruise director on Celebration.  We had him on our pre covid journey cruise and he was a lot of fun.  In general, CCL cruise directors are more energetic and humorous.  As far as the type of people on the ship depends on location and length of cruise.  Celebration on a 7 day cruise should have a lot of good people on board.  4-5 day cruise out of New Orleans for example, expect to see more rowdy drunks.  They don't call it a booze cruise for nothing. 

Though the Lady Cruise Director on Celebrity Apex over Christmas, was the best in 30 cruises!

[asalligo]

Wow, your only experience is Celebrity and did you like cruising Celebrity? Embrace the fun because frankly that is all Carnival does better than Celebrity. No way to sugar coat it, everything else is going to be a lesser experience, but hay it should have been much cheaper. 

 

 

[Guest]

Lots of kids.Gang like people.Crowds.Service and food cafeteria like .Many smokers and overweight people.

[Steve_MI]

30 minutes ago, asalligo said:

Wow, your only experience is Celebrity and did you like cruising Celebrity? Embrace the fun because frankly that is all Carnival does better than Celebrity. No way to sugar coat it, everything else is going to be a lesser experience, but hay it should have been much cheaper. 

 

 

We absolutely love Celebrity: the food is amazing; the ships are immaculate; the drinks are included; and it’s a polite, respectful crowd. We’ve never seen any drama on a Celebrity cruise - no belligerent drunks, no fights, no crass/obnoxious behavior. 
 

We are only doing this CCL cruise because we’re going with some good friends. Oddly enough, it’ll be our most expensive cruise we’ve ever taken since we booked a suite (and a near top-of-the-line one at that) so that we’d have ample room to escape if the crowd was just too much for us. We’ve never even booked a suite on Celebrity! 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Steve_MI

[BoozinCroozin]

A lot of fun. We had a blast on Carnival for our first cruise. When on NCL, it was just ok at best. Most things were closed on NCL, shows canceled, ports missed and delayed. A group of about 3 or 4 obnoxious ladies ruined the dueling piano place for everyone and pretty much the few venues that had anything going on. Casino was so rigged it was barren the whole cruise. 90% of the tables empty, the ones that had people only had 1 or 2 people. Slots hardly had anyone at them. 

 

It was just about as boring as you could get other than the cocktails and O'Sheehan's

[May1cruiser]

OP, will you please share your feedback after the cruise?  It is easy to find fault when you are looking for it. We choose to look for wins and enjoy our time together. 

[tcmagnum]

14 hours ago, spleenstomper said:

Right now, I’m on Glory...
I just has the best Cuban sandwich I ever had at the deli. 

We are on the Glory in April (first week - Lord help me, but it's a cruise)...

Could you tell me where the deli is so I know where to go searching?

I'm always on the lookout for a good Cuban sandwich.

Thanks!!

 

Hope the rest of your cruise is quiet....

[ontheweb]

16 hours ago, spleenstomper said:

I have seen wal mart type behavior on some of my Carnival cruises. 
 

Right now, I’m on Glory and I’m kinda worried because the man in the cabin next door (age 55+)  is barking at the river from his balcony, sounds like he is rearranging furniture against the wall and is having an entire loud conversation with a lot of F bombs (hey, I love a well placed F bomb but not at his decibel level). I can’t figure out if he is already drunk (3 hours after shoving off) or if he overcompensating for a hearing issue. (I have a doctor friend who does this). 
 

We exchanged pleasantries on the balcony and he seems nice enough. I’m trying to assess the situation and I’m trying not to borrow trouble. He is also a door slammer. 
 

Anyway, Carnival is loud. We went two years without a cruise and then I went on HAL to Alaska, and that was such a pleasant quiet my kind of crowd experience, but you lose a lot of activity and dining options. 
 

Many carnival cruises smell of weed (I don’t mind it but plenty of people do) but I think they are starting to crack down on that. On embarkation, we had to all put our bags down so the dog could sniff. I doubt that was for explosives and I don’t remember a dog sniffing carry ons on previous cruises but maybe they did and I don’t remember. 
 

I just has the best Cuban sandwich I ever had at the deli. Carnival has better than average food. It’s definitely a party atmosphere, which makes things fun. 
 

Could you give a description of what you mean by Walmart type behavior?

[steveknj]

3 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

A lot of fun. We had a blast on Carnival for our first cruise. When on NCL, it was just ok at best. Most things were closed on NCL, shows canceled, ports missed and delayed. A group of about 3 or 4 obnoxious ladies ruined the dueling piano place for everyone and pretty much the few venues that had anything going on. Casino was so rigged it was barren the whole cruise. 90% of the tables empty, the ones that had people only had 1 or 2 people. Slots hardly had anyone at them. 

 

It was just about as boring as you could get other than the cocktails and O'Sheehan's

 

The majority of our cruises have been on NCL, but have done 2 on Carnival and 2 on Royal as well.   Post Covid we did two NCL cruises and I have to say, there were times, especially on Sea Days that I was so bored I wound up watching TV in our cabin.   Never had that on any previous cruise.   I think NCL is trying to become more upscale these days.  They offer "free" booze and stuff on just about every cruise now, and I think that's the vibe they are going for now.  That said, it could be just post Covid adjustments.  There were fewer daily activities. We love playing trivia and there were fewer trivia games, especially on the second cruise we took at the end of the summer.   Could be lack of staff too.   We are revisiting Carnival this summer (new Italian Style cruise out of NYC, our home port), and we are looking for a bit more fun.  One thing I noticed is that are a lot more free food options than on NCL, and that appeals to me, especially for lunch, where on NCL it was either the buffet (and we don't generally like buffets, due to crowds) or sitting in the MDR.  So places like Guys and the new Mexi-Italian place for lunch appeals to us.   The shows at night on NCL are top notch and are abridged broadway shows (Six, Million Dollar Quartet were the last two we saw) while it looks like Carnival has the more classic review type shows.  That's fine.   We just want a little more fun this time around.  Never sailed Celebrity though as the destinations and price seemed a bit high for us.  

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, May1cruiser said:

OP, will you please share your feedback after the cruise?  It is easy to find fault when you are looking for it. We choose to look for wins and enjoy our time together. 

Unfortunately, it seems the OP seems to still be going with the attitude that this will not be a good experience. And since nothing is perfect, he will be sure to find enough faults to make it a self fulfilling prophecy.

[happy cruzer]

Having sailed both lines...

 

Paying for the suite to escape the crowding may be a good idea.

 

However that's pretty much all you get by paying that extra amount.

 

To get better evening dining and the drink package which seem important to the OP is a different expense.

 

Personally, if I wanted to get close to Celebrity, I would do specialty dining and pay for my favorite beverages i.e. Cruise the Vineyards package.  If you like cocktails and are going to moan about the drinks buy the package. A balcony cabin is nice to have a quiet area and the savings can go toward other the other things you enjoy.  The suite doesn't do much about dining or drinks.

 

But mainly, I tend to embrace the differences.  Enjoy the included casual food options, enjoy the lively crowd, enjoy the casual atmosphere,  then if you want more formal experience do it on another trip or one night of the cruise.

 

But absolutely would not expect the cruises to be the same.  And paying for a suite on most lines only get you a bigger cabin.

 

Set your expectations, avoid comparing, and enjoy!

 

 

[KKB]

22 hours ago, RockinRobin said:

We've sailed Celebrity and keep coming back to Carnival for price and fun.  We loved Celebrity, but found that the staff was a bit standoffish as if they were told not to interact with the passengers much.  I love speaking with the crew and where they are from.  It adds something special to cruising for me.  

Interesting, we have NEVER felt that way on Celebrity.

Last summer on the Edge we made friends with a young gal on the entertainment staff--we are still in contact today.

On the Equinox in Nov we had the most special MDR experience ever--spectacular maitre de (so outgoing, even on port),  a fantastic waiter (more subdued but once he discovered my love of 80s alternative music we had a connection & he opened up!), a sassy asst waiter & cocktail server. There have been others, but those come 1st to mind.

[KKB]

4 hours ago, Steve_MI said:

We absolutely love Celebrity: the food is amazing; the ships are immaculate; the drinks are included; and it’s a polite, respectful crowd. We’ve never seen any drama on a Celebrity cruise - no belligerent drunks, no fights, no crass/obnoxious behavior. 
 

We are only doing this CCL cruise because we’re going with some good friends. Oddly enough, it’ll be our most expensive cruise we’ve ever taken since we booked a suite (and a near top-of-the-line one at that) so that we’d have ample room to escape if the crowd was just too much for us. We’ve never even booked a suite on Celebrity! 

I agree with you on Celebrity EXCEPT a 5 day Spring Break cruise on the Constellation in 2015.

2/3 of the passengers were FSU students (I am not exaggerating).

QUITE a few drunk by muster drill (that when they jammed us into the theatre & such.

The only "issue" we encountered was our young neighbors having a loud party the last night. DH walked over & visited with them & they immediately toned things down.

NOW I heard MANY stories of debaucle along the week...both from not so happy non-spring breakers to the spring breakers themselves. 

 

We are doing our 1st CCL cruise Sunday. Cruise Match offer (some ad on FB). Just got an upgrade call to a balcony  today. So between upgrade, drink package, tips & wifi, I'd say we still paid half what we would on Celebrity in a similar cabin on an older ship. NOW--I'm NOT saying that would be so if we had paid full price. (interior was comped). It would maybe be $500 cheaper than Celebrity.

Throw Princess in the ring & prices are nearly identical (again, this is adding in tips/wifi/drink package on all)

 

There is a perception that Carnival is cheaper. 

Sometimes it is, but certainly not always, ESPECIALLY if you factor tips, wifi & drink packages in.

[ButterflyGirly]

On 1/2/2023 at 10:08 AM, firefly333 said:

Perks matter less on carnival. Laundry is a big perk for carnival or priority boarding, so others will board and debark before you. Other than that no biggie.

 

Less is included but the pay restaurants are less expensive. Drinks you either need to buy the pkg or pay for each drink. No option for them to be included unlike celebrity. 

 

More fast food during lunch and it's good and free. I eat guys burgers but not the ones on rcl. Stir fry is free for lunch on carnival though the line is slow as each one is cooked by itself. 

I loved the stir fry on Magic this past November, I got it for lunch twice!

[ButterflyGirly]

I have sailed on Carnival many times and have experienced "no belligerent drunks, no fights, no crass/obnoxious behavior".  Just go and enjoy yourself, it what you make it.

[BlerkOne]

6 hours ago, Steve_MI said:

We absolutely love Celebrity: the food is amazing; the ships are immaculate; the drinks are included; and it’s a polite, respectful crowd. We’ve never seen any drama on a Celebrity cruise - no belligerent drunks, no fights, no crass/obnoxious behavior. 
 

We are only doing this CCL cruise because we’re going with some good friends. Oddly enough, it’ll be our most expensive cruise we’ve ever taken since we booked a suite (and a near top-of-the-line one at that) so that we’d have ample room to escape if the crowd was just too much for us. We’ve never even booked a suite on Celebrity! 

Attitude is everything. If you think you are going to have a bad time, you probably will.

 

Celebration is an amazing ship. We spent 14 days on it and still didn't do everything. Go with an open mind.

[EngIceDave]

17 hours ago, spleenstomper said:

To update, before I had a chance to call, it suddenly got completely quiet next door. Either they passed out or they are dead. 🙊

and where is your live report??

 

HMMM???

[EngIceDave]

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Could you give a description of what you mean by Walmart type behavior?

I can give you mine.

 

Low brow, unsophisticated folks who are unaware of their surroundings and/or do not care, and who then speak loudly over three other tables. Inconsiderate and rude folks who think they are God's gift to Carnival and you, cutting in lines with bullying behaviors. Folks who get drunk and are bad drinkers, causing fights or annoying others, 3am Walmart bonus points if they're doing it by 10 am.