Excel Class Spoiled Us - Disappointed in 8 Day Options

[dabomb6608]

Wife and I just returned from a 7 day Mardi Gras cruise and are currently discussing our next cruise. We are now at 17 Days on our VIFP Accounts. I mentioned doing an 8 day cruise to push us into Gold Tier. When looking for 8 day cruises the same week in January 2025 (Cruise starting weekend of Jan 4th) the options are honestly kind of disappointing. The only choices I am seeing are between Carnival Spirit out of Mobile or Carnival Horizon out of Miami. With her schedule that week of January works great for us. Opening it up to going just before Christmas only introduces Vista out of Cape as an option.

 

Our two previous cruises have been on Fantasy Class (Elation and Fantasy). While we did enjoy those 2 cruises, mostly in part to being with a group of friends, after experiencing MG I don't think we would be happy going back to a ship that size with just us going. Looking at Spirit, it seems like a newer version of Fantasy Class. The aspects we enjoyed onboard MG just aren't the same, with many of the dining/entertainment options missing entirely. 

 

Horizon is certainly better in a lot of regards. And I would entertain trying it...if it wasn't all the way in Miami. We would have to fly to Miami as we are from the midwest. I don't mind a 9hr drive to Mobile but a two day 17+hr drive to Miami sounds like torture to my back and sanity. So that is a significant increase in cost for the vacation. Not to mention to get a balcony again would be more per day than we paid for a balcony on MG. Similar issue with Vista. We flew to Cape for last weeks trip to avoid the 14+hr drive. 

 

In the end this is just a petty rant during my post cruise blues...we will figure something out one way or the other. She has just now even suggested maybe doing a 6-7 day in January 2025 and then Summer 2025 doing a shorter trip to the new Island. 2 Cruises and hitting gold > 1 Cruise and hitting gold in my book! 

[Earthworm Jim]

Have you looked at options to do a B2B 3/4/5 day cruises to get you the 8 days you're looking to get? That might find you some closer ports.

[maxandmolly]

I wouldn’t cruise just to get Gold status. It doesn’t really get you anything much. I would just cruise your preferred cruise.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

6 hours ago, dabomb6608 said:

as we are from the midwest. I don't mind a 9hr drive to Mobile but a two day 17+hr drive to Miami sounds like torture to my back and sanity. So that is a significant increase in cost for the vacation

check out Spirit within 90 days of the cruise and Southwest way farther out from the cruise.

 

We don't cruise for points, and we are limited to school breaks. My DH refuses to drive from Atlanta to either MIA or FLL, so we always fly.

[dabomb6608]

2 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

check out Spirit within 90 days of the cruise and Southwest way farther out from the cruise.

 

We don't cruise for points, and we are limited to school breaks. My DH refuses to drive from Atlanta to either MIA or FLL, so we always fly.

 

This is basically what we did with last weeks cruise and ended up flying to Orlando with Southwest out of St. Louis. Saved a little bit of money over gas/food/hotels driving there and back.  Think it was right at $500 for round trip. 

[dabomb6608]

45 minutes ago, Earthworm Jim said:

Have you looked at options to do a B2B 3/4/5 day cruises to get you the 8 days you're looking to get? That might find you some closer ports.

This is actually something I hadn't considered...but I've wanted to try a B2B. My only thing with doing a 3 or 4 day B2B is the risk of less than pleasant crowds. In our (limited) experience and from reading online it seems the shorter length/cheaper cruises risk that. I will look into it for comparisons sake though.

[dabomb6608]

44 minutes ago, maxandmolly said:

I wouldn’t cruise just to get Gold status. It doesn’t really get you anything much. I would just cruise your preferred cruise.

 

I think our preferred cruise is the 7 day Jubilee on the week that works best for us in January. It is a close(ish) port that we could drive to in a long day, the same itinerary we enjoyed last week, and an Excel Class with the bonus of being new. 

[jsglow]

So @dabomb6608, let me suggest that the gap between an Excel Class ship and an old Fantasy Class ship is massive. There's a lot in between and truthfully you don't have enough cruise experience just yet to really know what your own personal sweet spot is. Personally, we LOVE the Spirit Class ships for particular applications; Europe for example.  But I also enjoy a more fully featured boat when we have a lot of sea days. I likely wouldn't take Spirit on a trans-Pacific if you catch my meaning. Similarly, Jubilee would be an absolute nightmare for the ports at Dun Laoghaire (Dublin) or Santorini, Greece.

 

So try them all. Carnival has a very wide product line. And it's totally cool if your favorite turns out to be different than mine. 😎 

[TeresaJ]

If you really want to make it to gold, then I suggest the Horizon.  Great ship and itinerary! Worth the flight. Check into flights into FLL because sometimes it can be much cheaper than Miami.

[KarmaCruisers]

Having cruised on almost all classes (haven’t hit Freedom class yet)

I can EASILY say i agree with you that Excel class blows them all away, with ease.

we did a 7 day in the Celebration and only ate in the MDR twice (once was steak & lobster night of course) and never paid for food..just so many included lunch and dinner options! (As opposed to most of the other ships that only offer either buffet or MDR)

[dabomb6608]

21 minutes ago, jsglow said:

So @dabomb6608, let me suggest that the gap between an Excel Class ship and an old Fantasy Class ship is massive. There's a lot in between and truthfully you don't have enough cruise experience just yet to really know what your own personal sweet spot is. Personally, we LOVE the Spirit Class ships for particular applications; Europe for example.  But I also enjoy a more fully featured boat when we have a lot of sea days. I likely wouldn't take Spirit on a trans-Pacific if you catch my meaning. Similarly, Jubilee would be an absolute nightmare for the ports at Dun Laoghaire (Dublin) or Santorini, Greece.

 

So try them all. Carnival has a very wide product line. And it's totally cool if your favorite turns out to be different than mine. 😎 

 

I completely understand I am basing my opinion on two opposite ends of the class spectrum. Not to mention our limited experience. 

 

Some things we really enjoyed out of the Mardi Gras...

 

• The various dinner options. A couple nights looking at the MDR menu it just wasn't appealing to us. We liked that there were various free/cheap options to fall back on when that happened. Pigs & Anchor was good. Cucina Del Capitano was fantastic and free both times we went, although as I understand it should have been $16 the second night for us. The steakhouse is nice as well but is on most/all carnival ships as far as I have seen so not a contributor to this discussion. 
• It was really nice being able to hangout in the Alchemy/Fortune Teller area while listening to entertainers in an area that was very spacious and didn't feel like we were stuffed in a corner of the ship. This one I am sure others might have similar layouts, but looking at deck plans on Spirit I don't see it at a glance.
• The large Serenity Area with beds and loungers. And even the large second floor Lido area around the main pool. To us it just didn't feel like we were on a ship with 6000 people. We never had issues finding a spot. 

 

I'm not denying there might be another class we would like. We just both were very impressed with the Excel and I think it will be a tough class to match. 

[jsglow]

Here's the bottom line @dabomb6608. Those 3 Excels will be doing the same handful of itineraries on the 7 day turn almost exclusively for several years. I'm going to suggest the Vista ships to you (Vista, Horizon and Panorama). Loaded with features and some very interesting and diversified itineraries. No, they don't have a roller coaster. 😎

[Earthworm Jim]

3 hours ago, dabomb6608 said:

This is actually something I hadn't considered...but I've wanted to try a B2B. My only thing with doing a 3 or 4 day B2B is the risk of less than pleasant crowds. In our (limited) experience and from reading online it seems the shorter length/cheaper cruises risk that. I will look into it for comparisons sake though.

 

That's probably fair. And also B2B short cruises might well take you to the same nearby ports of call.

[dabomb6608]

55 minutes ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

That's probably fair. And also B2B short cruises might well take you to the same nearby ports of call.

Thats what I was noticing when I was looking this evening. Lots of Nassau and Cozumel. 

[jsglow]

We're a little bit off topic but we were able to put together a pretty nice B2B2B on Sunrise not too long after the restart. Several ports were still closed including Grand Cayman and Key West. Nevertheless, we were able to combine those 3 cruises super cheap and only repeat one port, namely Nassau, at the very beginning and then at the very end. We had a great time.

[Joebucks]

Is there really this much discussion and thought how to plan everything with 2 free cocktails being at the center of the universe? You can easily spend many multiples more than the cost of those 2 cocktails in trying to get everything to align around this. 

[dabomb6608]

13 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

Is there really this much discussion and thought how to plan everything with 2 free cocktails being at the center of the universe? You can easily spend many multiples more than the cost of those 2 cocktails in trying to get everything to align around this. 

Think you had the wrong thread tab open. 🤣

[Pyxie]

While the Spirit is definitely no Excel class, it's no Fantasy class either. It's a nice little ship and it does have some of the upgrades like the Alchemy Bar. I always suggest trying many ships and many classes so you can really see what you like and what is out there. But if you really think you won't enjoy it, I'd do the Horizon and just fly to Miami.

[Hoosierpop]

I do like some ships more than others but the ship itself is never the reason I cruise.  feel for you if it makes that much of a difference. Maybe try a higher end cruise line?

[LynnTH]

Celebration does a few 8 day cruises. We are going on one in September to the ABC Islands.  

[dabomb6608]

16 minutes ago, LynnTH said:

Celebration does a few 8 day cruises. We are going on one in September to the ABC Islands.  

The Mardi Gras does as well. Looks like they are mainly summer season cruises. If we did a 8 day, between our work schedules and her masters degree classes, it would have to be a winter cruise. 

[dabomb6608]

57 minutes ago, Hoosierpop said:

I do like some ships more than others but the ship itself is never the reason I cruise.  feel for you if it makes that much of a difference. Maybe try a higher end cruise line?

I wouldn't say the ship itself is the reason we cruise. But it is a contributing factor towards our cruise selection. Especially if I am spending 7+ days on it minus a few hours per stop. 

 

We have talked about trying Royal Caribbean. But Carnival hasn't disappointed us yet so we haven't been "pushed" to doing so just yet. 

Edited January 18 by dabomb6608

[dolphinsfan246]

Personally i wouldn’t worry about limiting your options just to achieve gold status. You’re only getting a pin and a free drink (but only after 5 PM on the final night, so they hope you forget about it) I think you would be more satisfied with your vacation if you stay on the Excel class even if it’s only 7 days. 

[dabomb6608]

We are heavily considering a 7 day trip on the Venezia out of Port Canaveral for next January. We think it will be a fun/different experience. Should fare better on the embarkation port side of things compared to the NYC port reviews I have read. We thought Port Canaveral was fantastic 2 weeks ago and look forward to visiting the area again. All new itinerary for us as well, so will be nice visiting new places.

 

Between our list of options for the week that works best for us this one is ranked #1 on my wifes list. She has a lot of Italian blood in her and is 10/10 for it. It was a tie between this and a 6 day Vista for me. Solely because of pricing honestly.  With regards to the Venezia I think my personal biggest concern is lack of traditional lido deck with lots of loungers. I could spend all day laying out in the sun and be happy as could be, my wife wants the shade after a while. With it being only the two of us we never had issues finding a pair of loungers on the Mardi Gras. We seemed to get out before the big crowds showed up, which helps. Hoping the same holds true on Venezia, even if that means heading to the aft area. Which from what I have seen is where the DJ plays so that is prefered location. Or even heading to Serenity, we frequented that as well on Mardi Gras. 

 

Won't hit gold this time but will be on the following cruise. Which we are talking about doing a 2025 mid-year(ish) 5(ish) day cruise to the new Celebration Key. 

[ishap]

 

On 1/18/2024 at 11:52 AM, dabomb6608 said:

I wouldn't say the ship itself is the reason we cruise. But it is a contributing factor towards our cruise selection. Especially if I am spending 7+ days on it minus a few hours per stop. 

 

We have talked about trying Royal Caribbean. But Carnival hasn't disappointed us yet so we haven't been "pushed" to doing so just yet. 

 

I think the ship is a big contributing factor when I choose a cruise...at least for Caribbean destinations.  You do spend a lot of time on the ship and if it doesn't offer the amenities, entertainment, and food options you want, then it won't be nearly as an enjoyable trip.  That being said, if the destinations aren't right, then it won't work out.  I avoid Nassau and Freeport every chance I can get.

 

But, as everyone here has said, there is no reason to not try some of the others. I have sailed a few of the different classes but tend to enjoy the bigger ones a little more.  Everyone finds their favorite.