Pros and cons of Journeys cruises

[RoperDK]

We are looking at doing some longer cruises, either B2B or Journeys.  We are Platinum and closing in on Diamond.  We've been cruising on Royal recently, but their higher prices are sending us back to Carnival.  I know that Journey cruises are top heavy and that we should expect some of our benefits to be reduced.  What are the good and bad points about going on one of these cruises? 

[MtnSeaGirl]

Wondering the same thing and following..........

[Prometheus1]

Been on 1 journeys (14 day Caribbean out of Baltimore) and another booked for Dec 24 (Hawaii) and May 2025 (Greenland).

Things I noticed. (Your experience may vary)

* fewer kiddos

*overall majority age 45+ passengers

*vibe was fun but not out of control- great crowd

 

Absolutely would do again. 

 

Edited March 26 by Prometheus1
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[Prometheus1]

Also, they had dance classes in the atrium every day, ballroom, salsa, etc.. I dont dance (think hippo in leotards me not them) but it was a joy to watch each day

Edited March 26 by Prometheus1
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[jsglow]

There are pros and cons. Biggest pros are typically more exotic ports and a more mature passenger manifest. Cons are often a much older ship (Conquest, for example) a very homogeneous pax cruise style (MDR is totally jammed at 5:30) and a lot of scooters.

 

I love getting away for 14 nights. In my personal opinion, unless rare ports are part of the cruise, a B2B is a better idea. On our recent Journey we got to Dominica and Grenada so it was worth it.

[Guest]

Imagine being on a ship that is 90% platinum and diamond cruisers. 😒

Edited March 26 by Guest

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, RoperDK said:

We are looking at doing some longer cruises, either B2B or Journeys.  We are Platinum and closing in on Diamond.  We've been cruising on Royal recently, but their higher prices are sending us back to Carnival.  I know that Journey cruises are top heavy and that we should expect some of our benefits to be reduced.  What are the good and bad points about going on one of these cruises? 

Idk if it was the weather or people didnt all get the message Panama required a passport to board the ship. Up to 1500 didnt make the cruise. Carnival did wait until a few days before final to change its mind saying we did need a passport. They should have known.

 

So dream which might hold 4600, 1300 to 1500 didnt board. No elevator lines. Food was pretty darn good at every meal. We had the new menu items. You could do mongolian wok and maybe a line of 3 people only waiting. 

 

I did turn diamond and got a letter for a free steak dinner but I didnt go..

 

19 kids onboard, very few. Lots of mobilized scooters. One of these yelled at me for boarding a elevator before her. I just planned on getting on and holding the elevator so she could board. We ran into each other the next 2 weeks and I tried to pretend I didnt see her. She did get nasty. I guess she uses her hc for attention. But other than scooters vying to get into elevators was a good cruise..

 

My alaska cruise was also called a journey cruise. We had a nightly naturalist. 

 

You could get your free laundry. It was all high levels about 1500 to 1600 so they could change priority to just diamonds imo. Instead of no one gets it.

[firefly333]

37 minutes ago, Afttastic said:

Imagine being on a ship that is 90% platinum and diamond cruisers. 😒

Ours was  more like 50%. And that's of those who actually boarded. They gave out a lot of free casino deals on our ship could also be the no shows. 

[jimbo5544]

Been on 4 Journey cruises, highly recommend them.  Som much better than a B2B I will not even do the compare.  In terms of the loyalty perks, there certainly are concessions in regards to the number of diamonds and plats, just part of the equation.  I would never not do one because of this.  

 

For us, the drawback (and it is minor) is the number of power scooters and smokers....  

 

I can point you to some of my reviews if it would help.

 

Lastly, DO IT

[jimbo5544]

6 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Ours was  more like 50%. And that's of those who actually boarded. They gave out a lot of free casino deals on our ship could also be the no shows. 

We were on one on the Breeze in 2019.  Of the 3,600 (more of less, cannot remember the specifics), all but around 350 were diamond and plats.

[Number12]

On a journeys cruise you won't waste a day of vacation with debarkation/embarkation process like you do on a B2B.

[mz-s]

Just now, Number12 said:

On a journeys cruise you won't waste a day of vacation with debarkation/embarkation process like you do on a B2B.

 

Fewer scooters to dodge during the cruise on B2Bs though.

[MtnSeaGirl]

2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Been on 4 Journey cruises, highly recommend them.  Som much better than a B2B I will not even do the compare.  In terms of the loyalty perks, there certainly are concessions in regards to the number of diamonds and plats, just part of the equation.  I would never not do one because of this.  

 

For us, the drawback (and it is minor) is the number of power scooters and smokers....  

 

I can point you to some of my reviews if it would help.

 

Lastly, DO IT

I was not the original poster, but could you please point away?  as in please direct me.  

[jimbo5544]

9 minutes ago, MtnSeaGirl said:

I was not the original poster, but could you please point away?  as in please direct me.  

I can and will when I get to a pc.  

[jimbo5544]

49 minutes ago, MtnSeaGirl said:

I was not the original poster, but could you please point away?  as in please direct me.  

S0 I lied.  I thought, and was pretty sure, that you could search all your  history, but I cannot go more than 183 pages (know that seems like a lot) of data.  that gets me back to 2022, wanted to link to a 2019 Journey cruise..... sorry.

[csm5986142]

Our Journeys cruises were my favorite (Spirit to Hawaii and then Spirit complete transit through Panama Canal).  Yes, there were more Platinum and Diamond than usual, but the Spirit never feels crowded to me. And although Carnival warned us not to expect priority embarkation and things like that, it wasn't an issue (not everyone showed up early for boarding so priority was still in effect and boarding was quick/easy).  

In both cases it was a really calm/quiet/laid back crowd.  Mostly couples (very few children).  The bars were almost desolate.  People seemed more interested in the journey/destination than partying/having fun.  It was definitely a different feel from the Caribbean cruises on Carnival (but I love those too!).

[natefish95]

I honestly don't care too much about the "Journey" name. I book based on itinerary, ship, and price. The special activities and "throwback sea day"are just kinda "meh" to me. 

 

I did a 12 day Venezia journey cruise last year to the southern Caribbean and it was great. I'm a lowly gold VIFP person and didn't feel like there was an overwhelming amount of platinums/diamonds onboard. It was very laid back and I loved getting into a routine for all the sea days. I love long cruises and would do another in a heartbeat. 

 

Pros

-unique itinerary

-less children

-you get to know staff really well

-unique activities (frog racing, knobby knees, horse racing, etc.)

 

Cons

-so many smokers

-casino was packed (this was an elite cruise too I think...the casino mostly thinned out towards the end)

-some verrrrrrrry entitled cruisers 

-lots of rude scooter riders

-I ate too damn much for too long

[ferfoodle]

When your boarding pass says "rooms won't be ready until 1:30 pm including VIFP Diamond and Platinum guests" that's a con of Journey cruises. But the pros IMO outweigh the cons. Different ports, more sea days, different menu selections, etc.

 

As someone who has to fly to all my cruises, I definitely make it worth my effort and seek the longer cruises or B2B minimum.

[Honolulu Blue]

14 hours ago, jsglow said:

I love getting away for 14 nights. In my personal opinion, unless rare ports are part of the cruise, a B2B is a better idea. 

 

I would choose a full Journeys cruise over a B2B any day of the week.  Not that a B2B is bad (I hope to get on one eventually), but they do have some cons - turnaround day(s), same ol' ports, same ol' menus, similar entertainment, more kids, and a possibly rowdier crowd.

 

I've done 7 Journeys cruises since Christine signed off on them several years ago.  I generally agree with most of the pros and cons my colleagues have listed.  

 

14 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Idk if it was the weather or people didnt all get the message Panama required a passport to board the ship. Up to 1500 didnt make the cruise. Carnival did wait until a few days before final to change its mind saying we did need a passport. They should have known.

 

So dream which might hold 4600, 1300 to 1500 didnt board. No elevator lines. Food was pretty darn good at every meal. We had the new menu items. You could do mongolian wok and maybe a line of 3 people only waiting. 

 

I did turn diamond and got a letter for a free steak dinner but I didnt go..

 

19 kids onboard, very few. Lots of mobilized scooters. One of these yelled at me for boarding a elevator before her. I just planned on getting on and holding the elevator so she could board. We ran into each other the next 2 weeks and I tried to pretend I didnt see her. She did get nasty. I guess she uses her hc for attention. But other than scooters vying to get into elevators was a good cruise..

 

My alaska cruise was also called a journey cruise. We had a nightly naturalist. 

 

You could get your free laundry. It was all high levels about 1500 to 1600 so they could change priority to just diamonds imo. Instead of no one gets it.

 

The Journeys cruise @firefly333 described above was my last Journeys cruise, one we shared (though we didn't meet onboard).  

 

My story is considerably different than her story.  I wrote about what happened to me in my live thread linked below.  Give it a look if you've got some hours to spare. 🙂

 

 

[nycruise1]

Some specific things I have only seen on Journeys cruises:

 

al Fresco dinner on the Lido for Diamond vifp members

Special one-hour long dance classes on sea days

Enrichment lectures on sea days

 

Went to the dinner and many of the classes so it was a positive

[ninjacat123]

If your Journeys cruise is 14 days or longer and you own 100 shares of Carnival stock, you get $250 OBC (at least for now).

[Oldgoat61]

We have only done 1 Journeys cruise, and loved it, and have 2 more booked.  Honestly, we only do longer cruises, 14+ days.  For us, that is the only way to go.  I find most of the Pro's and Con's on this thread to be spot on.  There is one thing I can add to the Pro's.....we were able to sample some food in the MDR that we never had before, goat, frog legs, alligator, and snails.  I don't know if the MDR still offers this, but we find out in Oct, 2025!

[ninjacat123]

I noticed a couple people listed "more smokers" as a con.  Just curious why there would be more smokers on a Journeys cruise than on any other cruise?  Are there more smoking areas on a Journeys cruise therefore more second-hand smoke?  TIA!

[mz-s]

28 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

I noticed a couple people listed "more smokers" as a con.  Just curious why there would be more smokers on a Journeys cruise than on any other cruise?  Are there more smoking areas on a Journeys cruise therefore more second-hand smoke?  TIA!

 

It's just the clientele - geriatrics and in particular geriatric gamblers tend to smoke whereas most other demographics have given up the habit over the years. Although it seems like nearly every gen z these days has a vape glued to their hand, which breaks my heart as a reformed nic addict.

Edited March 27 by mz-s

[ninjacat123]

1 minute ago, mz-s said:

 

It's just the clientele - geriatrics and in particular geriatric gamblers tend to smoke whereas most other demographics have given up the habit over the years. Although it seems like nearly every gen z these days has a vape glued to their hand, which breaks my heart as a reformed nic addict.

That makes sense! I agree, the vape thing makes people think it's a healthier alternative but it's not. I've never smoked but I understand it's a habit that is very hard to break.  Good job mz-s!!👏