Is RC turning into Carnival????

[Shipyard Cruiser]

Get ready to get flamed by the Carnival folks!!!! They really do not like having the truth thrown in their face.

 

Hopefully RCCL is not turning into Carnival....or I guess I will find another cruise line. Going on SOS in May...we will see what happens then.

 

So how many Carnival cruises have you been on?

[weebo]

I just returned from 6 night Jewel of the Seas March 4-9. We were naive and thought Spring break was only late March/early April. Even though we went at spring break time, we only had a small amount of college age kids and they were well behaved anytime I saw them. Most were friendly and not drunk during the day.

 

Only thing that was inconvienent was that there were a huge crowd of 20 somethings in the disco and made it hard for us "original Disco queens" to boogie! We just did it anyway... :)

[cruisingjon]

:rolleyes: Nonsense. I've sailed the two lines almost equally over the years and noticed very little difference when it comes to the shorter cruises. In fact the absolute worst partiers we've ever had on a ship were on Sovereign in March 2001. Four young women were actually put off the ship that time around. Generalities are ridiculous.

 

I strongly disagree..however, you are entitled to your opinion...no matter how wrong it is!!!

[cruisingjon]

Ya mean puke?..lol..that is gross and something I wouldn't want to swim with either!!

 

 

 

Well here I am...a Carnival fan for you to "throw this in my face" as you say. I have never seen anything as this thread mentions on a Carnival cruise! You make it like EVERY Carnival cruise is like this and I am here to say that is not true. There was never anyone out of control, throwing up in public places, drunken stupidity, or anything close to any of that when we were on board. So in my opinion if RCI turns into Carnival, great, then I will sail RCL again!!!

 

Funny, I was just on a Carnival Cruise in February and saw every single thing you mentioned above that you did not, mostly within the first 6 hours!!!!

 

Stick to Carnival if that is what you like....NOT FOR ME....!!!

[Cruising89143]

Funny, I was just on a Carnival Cruise in February and saw every single thing you mentioned above that you did not, mostly within the first 6 hours!!!!

 

Stick to Carnival if that is what you like....NOT FOR ME....!!!

 

 

Jon, this is from someone that has cruised with Carnival 16 times and now 8 with RCI. I have cruised everything from 3 night cruises to eight night cruises on Carnival. You go on any short cruise of which is what you took on the Fantasy and you will see a much more active group of partiers. I have seen wild and crazy cruises on the short cruises and also very sedate ones. Just depends on the crowd for that week. The longer the cruise, the more sedate and that includes Carnival. Take a seven night cruise and you will see a huge difference across the board in not just the other guests but the overall atomosphere of the ship.

 

Also it is not fair to judge any cruise line by one cruise on one of their oldest ships doing the shorter cruises. Just being honest here. I am no means a Carnival cheerleader or supporter but they do get a bad rap from days gone by. Yes they are the Fun Ships but that doesn't mean a group of drunks frat guys on every cruise. What the OP saw here on RCI has happened in the past and will happen again. When you cruise cheap, you get all kinds.

[Host Kewlguy]

Jon, this is from someone that has cruised with Carnival 16 times and now 8 with RCI. I have cruised everything from 3 night cruises to eight night cruises on Carnival. You go on any short cruise of which is what you took on the Fantasy and you will see a much more active group of partiers. I have seen wild and crazy cruises on the short cruises and also very sedate ones. Just depends on the crowd for that week. The longer the cruise, the more sedate and that includes Carnival. Take a seven night cruise and you will see a huge difference across the board in not just the other guests but the overall atomosphere of the ship.

 

Also it is not fair to judge any cruise line by one cruise on one of their oldest ships doing the shorter cruises. Just being honest here. I am no means a Carnival cheerleader or supporter but they do get a bad rap from days gone by. Yes they are the Fun Ships but that doesn't mean a group of drunks frat guys on every cruise. What the OP saw here on RCI has happened in the past and will happen again. When you cruise cheap, you get all kinds.

 

The worst behavior we experienced on any cruise was a 4 day sailing on Enchantment of the Seas back in July 2005. After that cruise we vowed never to sail in the summer again.

[MrsCorL]

Those short cruises are called "booze cruises" for a reason.

not just short cruises.....my husband, family and i just got off the granduer yesterday....all week these kids were carrying on.....actually i believe they watered down the drinks....any other year, i feel my drinks...this past week i didn't..i think the bartenders must have watered down the booze....these kids basically took over the ship.....they were all over the 2 pools, at every bar....one night hubby and i were in the viking crown lounge all by ourselves when out of nowhere, kids invaded....nice and quiet till they showed up.....i know that we won't be taking any cruises this time of year again....other than the kids, it was a nice cruise!

[crusinmama06]

As stated before, when you cruise during SPRING BREAK on an inexpensive short cruise, you GET SPRING BREAK. :rolleyes:

 

I've been on a short cruise on Carnival and have never experience what you had.

 

The cruiselines are more alike than they are different. Do your homework before you book a cruise and you can avoid any surprises.

[veryhotred]

Funny, I was just on a Carnival Cruise in February and saw every single thing you mentioned above that you did not, mostly within the first 6 hours!!!!

 

Stick to Carnival if that is what you like....NOT FOR ME....!!!

 

Well the last Carnival cruise I went on was last March and I didn't see any of this and I was out all day and night at the clubs!!

 

I cannot get over how some people on RC boards talk such smack about Carnival being so terrible...I understand if you had a bad experience but things like drunks and disorderly people can happen on ANY cruise line, not just Carnival. I am here saying I never saw that and was on a March cruise the last time on Carnival, be that on a short 3 day too aka a "booze cruise" as so many call them. I will take my first RC cruise in May and cannot wait to compare the too!! :p

[Mikew0805]

Get ready to get flamed by the Carnival folks!!!! They really do not like having the truth thrown in their face.

 

Hopefully RCCL is not turning into Carnival....or I guess I will find another cruise line. Going on SOS in May...we will see what happens then.

 

No flaming here, and this is hardly the truth. :rolleyes: However, Carnival and RCI are a lot more alike, than they are different. They are both mass market, neither would be considered an upscale line!

 

 

OP, sorry there was a rowdy bunch on your cruise, but as others have said, the short cruises tend to draw them in, especially around spring break! I luckily have never experienced this on any of my cruises. ( of which 6 are Carnival )

 

 

-Mike

[kruzerci]

:rolleyes: Nonsense. I've sailed the two lines almost equally over the years and noticed very little difference when it comes to the shorter cruises. In fact the absolute worst partiers we've ever had on a ship were on Sovereign in March 2001. Four young women were actually put off the ship that time around. Generalities are ridiculous.

 

That is certainly not true from my experience with short cruises. We had totally different experiences on Royal Caribbean and Carnival short cruises. The Sovereign was routy compared to other Royal Caribbean ships that we have been on, but when I was on Imagination, I truly felt like I was on a 24 hour party boat. I was really ready to disembark in Miami by the last day of the cruise. I like some partying, but it was just uncontrolled. I'm not saying all Carnival cruises are like this, but mine was.

 

No flaming here, and this is hardly the truth. :rolleyes: However, Carnival and RCI are a lot more alike, than they are different. They are both mass market, neither would be considered an upscale line!

 

-Mike

 

You always post this and it is so untrue. I can find so many differences between Royal Caribbean and Carnival. There is absolutely no denying that Royal Caribbean is classier than Carnival, just look at their ships. On my cruise, Carnival's food was truly embarassing, but I have heard that this has changed since 2003. I'm really not trying to bash Carnival, I plan on giving them one more try, but there just are undeniable differences between the two lines.

[pcur]

HA! I was reading this thread out loud to DH just now, and would say, "Oh, look honey, running through the hallways and knocking elderly people over. What would YOU do?"......."trip the little monsters".....:D And, so forth.

 

DH is the guy, when he's out to lunch with his friends at the pizza place, who is assigned to "kid duty". He has a very mean way of staring and intimidating just about anybody.

 

However, 800 would have outnumbered him. I would spend a lot of time on Deck 5 outside on that kind of cruise.

 

And, the eating on the floor in the 'Jammer? We would have BOTH "accidentally" kicked plates, glasses, and fingers. With many apologies, etc., but they'd get it again the next time, too.

 

Ignoring this behavior implies it's OK to do it.

 

One guy posted a long time ago about how he would walk up to these kids and tell them he knew their cabin numbers and was going to report them to their parents. That works with the younger, not drunk ones.

[mutual]

My wife and I just got off a 7 day cruise on Vision of the Seas. There was a mixed crowd - some retired, some middle aged, some young adults and some children. We had a very enjoyable time. A lot of people were drinking, but I didn't see anyone drunk to the point where they were making it unpleasant for others.

 

If I ever saw some of the things mentioned here, I would make every effort to communicate to the captain and request that he correct the situation.

[popcorngal]

I find it very interesting that the majority of Carnival bashers here have never done more than a short cruise on one of Carnival's older ships. You people just don't have a clue and really should know more what you're talking about before you run off at the mouth...:rolleyes:

[camperhawk]

HA! I was reading this thread out loud to DH just now, and would say, "Oh, look honey, running through the hallways and knocking elderly people over. What would YOU do?"......."trip the little monsters".....:D And, so forth.

 

DH is the guy, when he's out to lunch with his friends at the pizza place, who is assigned to "kid duty". He has a very mean way of staring and intimidating just about anybody.

 

However, 800 would have outnumbered him. I would spend a lot of time on Deck 5 outside on that kind of cruise.

 

And, the eating on the floor in the 'Jammer? We would have BOTH "accidentally" kicked plates, glasses, and fingers. With many apologies, etc., but they'd get it again the next time, too.

 

Ignoring this behavior implies it's OK to do it.

 

One guy posted a long time ago about how he would walk up to these kids and tell them he knew their cabin numbers and was going to report them to their parents. That works with the younger, not drunk ones.

 

I thought only I had that look! My 21 yr old son still knows it! And yes ignoring does imply a lot!

[brigittetom]

I find it very interesting that the majority of Carnival bashers here have never done more than a short cruise on one of Carnival's older ships. You people just don't have a clue and really should know more what you're talking about before you run off at the mouth...:rolleyes:

 

We've actually never taken a Carnival cruise, but you have to realize Carnival worked hard for that image years ago and is working hard now to lose it. Images stick. I've never bashed Carnival but have heard too many stories to want to cruise with them. That's just a personal choice.

 

Spring Break is a whole other issue. That will happen on any line. We always do our homework except last year it got away from us. We booked the Radiance for 7 days but since we always cruise at least 10 days we booked a 5 day on the Zenith right behind the Radiance. Again, since we always book a 10 day cruise Spring Break has never been an issue and we just didn't think. Large mistake. We knew we were in trouble when we noticed the bar staff setting up extra beer stations in the pool area.

 

I agree with all who feel that the staff should enforce the rules. Our Breakers were not nearly as bad as on the OP's cruise but the language got old, no one else could use casual dining because the Breakers took it over each and every night in wet bathingsuits while climbing over banquets instead of just walking around. On disembarkation I talked to one of the staff who said it was a nightmare for them and the service staff because Breakers also abuse cabin service.

 

When we got home I called Celebrity's Captains Club to ask why the rules weren't enforced. I was told that the Spring Breakers had as much right to be on the ship as we did and when I mentioned that it was really hard on the staff for Celebrity to book over 500 Breakers, she said that the staff gets paid to wait on them and they were used to it. WooHoo. Can you just imagine the huge tips these Breakers left.

 

Cruiselines put the rule into effect that there has to be at least one 21 yo in the cabin. A young couple 20 years old are not allowed to cruise on their honeymoon but hundreds of Spring Breakers work out cabin arrangements where there will be one 21 yo in each cabin. Personally I'd rather have the honeymoon couple on my cruise. Where is the logic in this. There have been a few comments about the parents on the cruise not caring what their kids are doing. Spring Breakers don't cruise with parents. I agree that kids in collage deserve their break but not at the expence of the rest of the paying passengers. Can't they just spread out and celebrate seperately like the rest of the world :D

[fridaythe13th]

I was on the same cruise as the OP. This was our first short cruise on an older ship during spring break so we didn't know what to expect. When I booked I didn't even realize it was spring break but when I found out we decided to go with the flow. I didn't know about the kids being kicked off in Nassau or about the other happenings. We stayed on deck 9 and had no problems but talked to another couple who were on deck 3 and were surrounded by partying. We are in our 50's and other than the kids making me feel REAL old I have to say I enjoyed watching them have fun. I never saw anyone totally plastered. I was once that age and it brought back memories. We did however, feel the service was just okay and the food was subpar (compared to previous cruises). The room steward was just okay, he did his job but wasn't the real friendly type. The waiter was just okay but his assistant was great. The entertainment we did go to was very good. I did not like the CD at all, not the entertaining type. He tried..... Would I book another cruise during spring break? Probably not but I wouldn't say it was the worse cruise I have taken either.

[aqhacruiser]

We were on the Brilliance OTS last year on a 11 Night Panama Canal with an interior cabin starting at $1399 pp and Balconies as high as $2200 pp and we had the same trouble.

 

Children running...I mean running.. down/up the stairs, through the hall ways, knowcking over paintings, older people, and stateroom attendent cleaning carts.

 

We would get into the elevator after several teenerages walked out...we would stop at floors 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, and 4..just wrong behavior.

 

We would go to the Windjammer where kids would be eating on the floor vs at a table...so when you walked by, you had to watch out for fingers, drinks, and plates.

 

As mentioned, the security guards where overwhelmed.

 

Look at this and maybe this will explain some things.

Scroll towards the bottom after you open this link...and find a title that uses some particular language.

 

http://video.google.com/videosearch?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&q=Royal+Caribbean&sa=N&tab=nv

 

I think RCCL tries their best, but are sometimes overwhelmed by rude and crazy kids, teens, and college students.

 

I don't know...I hope my cruise in to the MX Riviera will not be this way in 3 weeks!!

 

My question is where are the PARENTS?! What responsible parents let their kids behave this way? RCCL shouldn't be overwhelmed by brats and neither should Carnival. This is the problem, a crew member does say something, the kids talk back and then go tell Mommy and Daddy who are NOT watching their own kids and next thing you know the crew member is getting screamed at by the suddenly concerned parent for telling little Billy or Suzy they couldn't do something. It's the parents that are responsible not the cruiseline. If something does happen to a child they blame the cruiseline right away but no one wants to say that they were in a bar all night while their kids got into trouble. The crew is not responsible for the kids onboard, they are not babysitters and neither are the other passengers. If they think other passengers and the crew is going to watch over their kids, they are wrong. All parents should go over to ************ and read the reports of what can happen to kids running lose on a ship without their parents supervision. The ships are floating cities with complete strangers from all over the world, why would anyone let their kids run around a ship without their supervison? Most times you do not know the kids your kids are hanging out with and many times they are with kids much older. I never got the concept of a FAMILY cruise where the kids are running around all day and late into the night by themselves and the parents are in the solarium and bars and lounges day and night. Shouldn't the FAMILY spend time together? That's the point isn't it? The cruiselines should throw off the parents with thier kids who cannot control their children's behavior at the first port. It's in the contract, enforce it and they do throw them off. They just need passengers to complain and it gives them the reason to disembark them. The RCCL Nov. 2006 repo cruise was a disgrace.

[Ohunion Cruzers]

How many of you would like to see RCCL start enforcing ALL their rules?

 

I'll start. ME ! ! ! !

[KateO]

My question is where are the PARENTS?! What responsible parents let their kids behave this way? RCCL shouldn't be overwhelmed by brats and neither should Carnival. This is the problem, a crew member does say something, the kids talk back and then go tell Mommy and Daddy who are NOT watching their own kids and next thing you know the crew member is getting screamed at by the suddenly concerned parent for telling little Billy or Suzy they couldn't do something. It's the parents that are responsible not the cruiseline. If something does happen to a child they blame the cruiseline right away but no one wants to say that they were in a bar all night while their kids got into trouble. The crew is not responsible for the kids onboard, they are not babysitters and neither are the other passengers. If they think other passengers and the crew is going to watch over their kids, they are wrong. All parents should go over to ************ and read the reports of what can happen to kids running lose on a ship without their parents supervision. The ships are floating cities with complete strangers from all over the world, why would anyone let their kids run around a ship without their supervison? Most times you do not know the kids your kids are hanging out with and many times they are with kids much older. I never got the concept of a FAMILY cruise where the kids are running around all day and late into the night by themselves and the parents are in the solarium and bars and lounges day and night. Shouldn't the FAMILY spend time together? That's the point isn't it? The cruiselines should throw off the parents with thier kids who cannot control their children's behavior at the first port. It's in the contract, enforce it and they do throw them off. They just need passengers to complain and it gives them the reason to disembark them. The RCCL Nov. 2006 repo cruise was a disgrace.

 

These are college age kids not 5th graders. They did not go on spring break with their mommy and daddy.

[mommabean]

I've been on 3 three night weekend Majesty of the Seas cruises and have never seen anything but good behavior from guests and crew alike. It doesn't need to be Spring Break for young people to go on a cruise from 5pm Friday - 7am Monday as is the schedule of the Majesty of the Seas.

 

My first cruise was a 7 nighter in the heart of Spring Break - still no issues were noticed.

 

My only Carnival cruise was during Christmas Break and the guests were just as well behaved as on every Royal Caribbean cruise I've been on.

 

Maybe my day/cruise will come. So far, so good.

[rwillis9]

I just saw that crap video on Youtube. What a piece of work. All of the security officers need a huge can of mace and a taser. That would be a video worth watching.

 

My question is that if they KNOW that this is going to happen, aka Spring Break and tons on college kids on board, then do they bump up the security staff? Even if they did not have crew quarters left, how hard is it to take a few bottom deck inside cabins and put some extra guards in.

[teajak]

I've been on 3 three night weekend Majesty of the Seas cruises and have never seen anything but good behavior from guests and crew alike. It doesn't need to be Spring Break for young people to go on a cruise from 5pm Friday - 7am Monday as is the schedule of the Majesty of the Seas.

 

My first cruise was a 7 nighter in the heart of Spring Break - still no issues were noticed.

 

My only Carnival cruise was during Christmas Break and the guests were just as well behaved as on every Royal Caribbean cruise I've been on.

 

Maybe my day/cruise will come. So far, so good.

We didn't learn our lesson on a 4 day spring break cruise on Carnival so we went on a 7 day on Carnival Spirit leaving on Dec.18. Lets just say it was the cruise from Hell. The worst were the young and pre-teens with no parental supervision. I can safely say we did learn this time, no more Carnival for us.

[vickiw0318]

My question is that if they KNOW that this is going to happen, aka Spring Break and tons on college kids on board, then do they bump up the security staff? Even if they did not have crew quarters left, how hard is it to take a few bottom deck inside cabins and put some extra guards in.

 

Sounds like a good plan to me! I can see how the normal staff would be overwhelmed by that many partying students.

 

I have cruised Spring Break on the Majesty and blessedly did not have the OP's problem. Sounds like there is an element of luck involved.

 

Oh well, we are doing Spring Break next week in Breckenridge. I looked at the link for the Spring Break calendar and I am so glad it's not this week.

[jetskier]

Funny, I was just on a Carnival Cruise in February and saw every single thing you mentioned above that you did not, mostly within the first 6 hours!!!!

 

Stick to Carnival if that is what you like....NOT FOR ME....!!!

 

Jon,

I have sailed on the Fantasy 3 times in 5 months, 2 five day cruises and 1 four day. I personally did not see anyone misbehaving, grossly drunk, kids/teenagers running around causing trouble.

 

What I have learned via these boards is that on any cruiseline you can have this problem. In your case, it sounded like you picked the week with the problems.

 

Dave