Why a bad reputation?

[mfs2k]

I posted this on another thread, but I think it is more applicable here.

 

Im a firm believer in the power of EXPECTATION. This is an important factor in whether someone has a good or bad experience.

 

I do NOT go on Carnival for the food nor do I expect a gourmet dining experience.

 

I go on Carnival because it can be relaxing and fun. I dont worry about what other people wear as long as they are respectful. For formal nights I bring a sport jacket and tie, button down shirt, nice pants and dress shoes. If I felt like wearing a tuxedo, I would. I dont begrudge others for what they choose to wear, although it does annoy me when I see people dressed as slobs on formal night. I think that's disrespectful to those that want to dress up... But Carnival isnt as uptight as other cruise lines on formal night... That's why I like Carnival.

 

I go out to restaurants that cost more for dinner than I do for one night on the cruise. For about $100 to $125 a day for all meals, entertainment, and lodging, it would take a pretty horrible experience for me to generally complain.

 

Its all about EXPECTATION. If you expect a 5 star dining and travel experience, you will be dissapointed.

 

If you go on Carnival, as I do, with an expectation for fun, ok food, decent service, a chance to get away to a few special destinations, a chance to relax on a lounge chair and catch up on reading, multiple locations for a few drinks, a lot of people watching, some decent entertainment, and an expectation to lose a day's wages in the casino, then you wont be disappointed. And - for $25 per person, you can have a GREAT dinner in the supper club. I went twice on the Conquest last October. The steak was great there and well worth the extra money. It was cheap if you ask me.

 

I see Carnival as sort of a Marriott experience. (JW - don't be mad)

If I want a Ritz Carlton experience, I'd stay at a Ritz Carlton or a Four Seasons Hotel. I'm looking for value. That's what I EXPECT when I cruise Carnival.

 

I've cruised Carnival since the early 80's onboard the Tropicale. Ive never been disappointed and I'm off on my 7th Carnival cruise next month on the Legend.

 

After 6 cruises, its hard to exceed my expectations, but my experiences usally meet my expectations, and I leave happy.

[Rustynail]

I had a fabulous time on the Legend in Dec 2003.

It's all the jealous folks who haven't tried Carnival that try to give it a bad rap.

Shame...Shame....Shame on you!!!!!

[wenhigh]

I love these posts about different cruise lines appealing to different moods. I have only been on Carnival, but my wife on NCL. She enjoyed it, although she felt the room was quite cramped. It was, however, an older ship, show that is not an NCL problem. I may take another cruise line in the future, but I enjoy Carnival and think that they have all but lived down their old reputation. It is true that more expensive does not always mean it is better.

[yarlenna]

There was a time when Carnival only offered a floating party. The rooms were not really comfortable, but some were large. The ships were all old refitted ships - and they didn't really feel all that tropical. On top of that, the food and service were not great. But all of that was more than 20 years ago. So if somebody went on Carnival in the early 80s, they would have had a really bargain basement experience. Things have changed. Carnival built new ships. The old ships are gone. Carnival has been upgrading their onboard experience. The elements of the cruise are now as good as any and better than many. The ships are comfortable and they have some of the best food on any mass market cruise ship. I would have to go back to the old Home lines to remember ANY meal as fine as the meal I had at David's on the Pride last year. BUT reputations are slow to change. I am very glad that the only cruise I could manage for a certain week was on Fantasy. We found her to be so much better than expected that we go back every couple of years. We have watched Carnival improve (as other lines endured cost cuttings that cut into the basic cruise experience.) Anytime that I am in the mood for a great time, I start hinting for another Carnival cruise.

[Riviera Deck Randy]

I have got to go check this out

[yarlenna]

There are still people who will NOT like a Carnival cruise: IMHO

1. folks who do not like to be near kids - Carnival attracts lots of them.

2. folks that insist on white glove service - Carnival doesn't do that.

3. folks who want an uncrowded or quiet experience - see #2

4. folks who expect wait staff to remember them after they order drink #1 - sometimes that does happen, but often it does not. An extra tip helps this.

5. folks who expect a Carnival cruise to be like any other cruise they were on - Yes, the ship is in the water and it will go to ports. I have found expecting ANY cruise to be like ANY other cruise is a formula for unhappiness.

6. folks who want a fresh water pool - The pools are salt water.

 

I must say that I love Carnival.

1. I especially enjoyed it the times when the kids were teens and we took them. It was wonderful. I loved watching them dance - and touch sting rays - and try to get away with stuff. They are among my happiest memories.

2. I also love the casual atmosphere of a floating party. Yes, the service can be a bit informal and the language problem has surfaced on several occasions. BUT it rarely diminishes my enjoyment of the cruise experience.

3. Crowds are OK by me. I am a city girl - I love nightlife with live music for dancing or listening.

4. When Carnival Destiny was new, we had our girls on a cruise - and a bar waiter addressed my DH and asked him if he wanted a Grolsch. He remembered us from a Holland America cruise several years before. That experience blew my socks off!

5. No two cruises are the same - not even back-to-back cruises on the same ship. You can't step into the same river twice.

6. I am glad they change the water every evening. With all those kids, I'd be worried if they didn't.

[cantwait2cruise]

I always say don't knock it til you try it. ;)

[mike2000]

My first carnvial cruse almost made me go on another cruise with them. It was my third cruise but first with carnival.The waiter we has on that cruise

was rude and gave me the impression he did't like any one. I desided to try carnival again and my last 3 cruises with them were great. I 'm going on the miracle in Feb. Also that first cruise with carnvial I still had a great time. I don't let one bad thing make or break my trip. :)

[cruisercathy]

I have been lurking over on the RCCL boards for quite awhile.....as we just came back from our first RCCL cruise after many carnival and a disney thrown in.

 

The Navigator of the Seas is absolutely beautiful ship..............we had a nice time but was terribly disappointed in the food.........My dad loved the idea of the adult pool with the stairs as he can't climb the ladders.

 

I already have the Valor booked for next July...........and will probably do another Carnival..........because I can get the cruise experience that I want on Carnival...happy people on a fun ship........with good food, good entertainment (especially the dinner waiters) boy did I miss their dancing this cruise...........and for a decent rate.

 

It is very true that most people who don;t like carnival have never cruised them...........to each his own and happy sailing to all...........

[skitch57]

I sailed the Victory several years ago from New York and really enjoyed it. I just got back today from my second cruise on her and I am sad to say that I didn't enjoy the cruise too much this time. We had bad weather, lot of fog which is not the fault of the cruise line at all, but they didn't adapt well to it. They really didn't offer anything to do as an alternative indoors as sunning of the Lido deck was sort of out of the question for 2 of the 3 days. Lots of people walking around the ship aimlessly with their kids and families. Could have shown a movie in the Show Lounge or something but it seemed that they were more interested in people spending money in the bars, casinos, or shops than offering activities on board to do in the cold windy weather. The Newlywed Show, the Marriage Show, although we went to these, were so very much the same and seemed stale and staged. The food in the dining room was okay but nothing to rave about. I remembered it being much better the first time on this ship. Breakfast in the Lido Level Restaurant was cold! No excuse for that. The staff was hard working and seemed exhausted to me, especially the cabin stewards and the waiters. Some of the cruisers were borderline abusive to the staff. We witnessed several instances of passengers just lighting into crew members. The weather being somewhat of a factor, it was one of my least favorite cruise experiences and I see a marked decline in the Carnival cruise experience compared to my cruises in 98 and 01 on carnival.

[jemingway]

I am one of the people who believed the anti-Carnival nonsense for years. As a result, I avoided going on Carnival at all costs. I went on Celebrity, NCL, Costa, Dolphin, Regal, and RCCL before I finally "lowered myself" to go on the Carnival Paradise. The cruise was absolutely fantastic and less expensive than almost all the others I had been on. Since then, I have been on the Imagination and now have the Legend and Valor booked. It just shows, you don't know what you don't know.;)

[BADBUOY]

We're cruising for the very first time this Dec on the Glory. I've lurked on other boards but can honestly say that the Carnival people seem to be fun loving, easy going, respectful and really down to earth.

 

I'm going to be on holidays why would I want to spend my week with a bunch of stuffy shirts?

 

Bring on the FUN..............

 

BD

[mfs2k]

Skitch - Sorry to hear your experience on the Victory was below your expectations..... I agree that when you already know what to expect from a previous cruise, you want to have, at least, as good a time, if not better, the next time. I'm hoping to have a good time on the Legend in 4 weeks.

[halos]

I'm thinking that a lot of disappointment in any line would be lessened if people did a little bit of homework beofre they traveled.

From what I have been reading on other boards (I've been lurking all over the place) there is a different 'group' of people on each line. There are so many more younger couples with young kids that cruise both CCL and RCI...these are more 'family' types of cruises...then you have Princess and Celebrity with families...but maybe less of them and these cruisers may be a little older than the CCL or RCI cruisers...THEN...you have folks with a little more money...AKA...the EMPTY NEST guys (won't we all be wealthy when the kids are gone??? Heck YES!!) who sail the HAL, Crystal, RSSC and that type of ship...and they are obviously older. Now, of course, there may be young people on HAL and empty nesters on Carnival...sure, but for the most part, this is the way it works out to be....

SO...if you are an empty nester, who has sailed HAL, or maybe even Celebrity the past few times, and THEN you get this wild idea to cruise with Carnival...in the summer...OF COURSE it is not going to be what you are used to and you are going to be disappointed. Because no matter how good the food is, or how spacious your cabin and how awesome the shows...the ship is going to be jam packed with little kiddies, service will not be the same because the ship is at full capacity and let's face it, when you are past the point of having little kids...they tend to irritate you a bit more quickly than when you were young and patient...esecially since there are a lot of parents these days that let their kids run free. (but that's another topic)

So, I'd bet that if more of these people who cruise 'other' lines, booked a Carnival cruise OFF season, taking maybe a longer cruise to Alaska or Panama Canal...or maybe, now one of these trans-Atlantic cruises on the Liberty...they'd have a great time and they'd get to see what Carnival is really made of.

End of my rant.

[MrPete]

Celebration 1989

Destiny 1997

Cathy....

 

Why the HUGE gap in your cruising time?

[momofmeg]

I also think Carnival gets the bad rep because she has more older ships that do the mini bargain cruises. You just can't compare the Princess grand class ships or the RCCL voyager class ships to ships like Holiday and Jubilee-unfair and even the voyger class ships are considerably larger then then the conquest class ships so it is still unfair to compare them.

 

We have also found that the "hard partiers" you know obnoxious drunks and partying college students were also on Sovereign but then Sovereign also is a budget mini cruise. RCCL also has Majesty and they also do a couple of 5 day mini cruises on other ships but mostly she has the nicer 7 day ships. I don't think that makes RCCL better-heck sometimes all I can afford is the shorter mini cruise and am glad Carnival offers more of a variety of them. It is alot easier to come up with $300 then $800 or more for a lot of us. I do know though (and I am no snob) I will run ito more of the obnoxious types on a mini cruise but heck I don't let that spoil my day-ships are defientely big enough you can always go elsewhere.

 

Then too your have another valid point-I have ran into the complete opposite you know the old rich biddies that think everyone should cator to THEM and look down their noses at us middle class folks on both HAL and Princess. CLASS does not come with money as we all know.Forunately that is not EVERYONE on ship and as I said already a ship is a big place and I can always go elsewhere .

 

Classy people can have any income-unfortunately though we can find both sterotypes- I just say avoid them all and have a good time no matter what line or ship you are on.

[tngirl1979]

I have sailed on RCCL and we (myself and DH) were very pleased. As you can see, we are hooked on cruising. We are trying to plan to cruise once a year at least. I had heard good and bad about Carnival and wanted to try myself and see. I have tried all my life to not talk about something that I have never done (that is not to say it sometimes happens), but I would not dog any cruiseline that I have not tried myself.

[cantwait2cruise]

.

 

We have also found that the "hard partiers" you know obnoxious drunks and partying college students were also on Sovereign but then Sovereign also is a budget mini cruise.

 

Yeah, I know my mom and I couldn't even enjoy laying out by the pool on Sovereign b/c of a group of about 4 couples (and they were well over college age) acting like they were at a frat party. They stacked all the beers they drank by the side of the pool (about 50 cans) and were taking provocative pictures during their drunken stupor. I saw way more drunk partiers on this cruise than any of the Carnival ones I've been on.

[buck_92105]

From my experience, I can see why Carnival has the reputation it has. I sailed on the Spirit out of San Diego last year. While the ship and most staff were great, the Carnival fiasco was enough for me to avoid Carnival in the future. First day problem with no ones Sign and Sail card working (2100 people) meant we couldn't get into our cabins. Pursors desk told everyone to come and get in line to get a new, vaild card. The line was 3 hours long and was only staffed by 2 folks. The were issuing cards until the 2nd day of the cruise. This problem led to late departure and late arrival in the first port. Further problems with a "Scanner down" meant we waiting in a hall for 2 hours to get off the ship. Due to late arrival and scanner problems, excursions that were supposed to start at noon, started at 4 pm and most of it was in the dark. Same scanner problem resulted in an hour long line to get back on board the ship. By that time dining room and buffett closed and most of the 2100 people were in line at the pizza counter, which is not equipped to handle that number of people.

 

Since I travel alone and therefore pay 200% rates, don't think I will waste precious vacation time and money on giving Carnival another chance. I took a Celebrity Cruise last October, no problems and much better organized. The difference was like night and day.

 

I liked the Carnival Spirit ship, but the problems and rude staff at the pursors desk were enough to make me avoid any of the Carival brands in the future.

[DreadPirateRobert]

Buck, sorry you had such a bad experience on a Carnival ship. I'm sure that could taint your view and make you think about spending your dollars elsewhere.

You've got to admit however, that one incident like yours is not indicative of the entire line. With tens of thousands of passengers weekly there are bound to be a few problems.

I've been on Carnival 5 times without a single situation like you described. I've always had pleasant, efficient service.

I hope you enjoy Celebrity or whoever you choose. I doubt you'll find anyone that never has any problems.

[halos]

I hope you enjoy Celebrity or whoever you choose. I doubt you'll find anyone that never has any problems.

 

 

 

I can understand Buck's reluctance to try Carnival again...if I had a bad experience when I sailed, it would be difficult for me to go back...BUT like you said Pirate, all lines must have difficulties on occasion and it's basically just the luck of the draw. Having systems go down could happen on any ship at any time. If you spent any time reading the other boards, you'd see there are complaints about this-that and the other thing from people on every line. As someone said...ship happens.

[DeckCadet]

Buck, you have to be fair.

Carnival uses the same A-Pass security/card system as RCCL, Celebrity, Etc.

It could have happened on any of the lines. It just happened on your cruise.

If you think that machines won't break down because you're on Celebrity, I don/t know what you are thinking......

Sorry you had a bad experience, but with all the problems going on of course it will be hectic. People do learn from mistakes.

[dbmiller1956]

I have to put in my two cents here, for what it's worth....

Someone made a comment about getting what you pay for, that is kinda' interesting. My husband and I had the opportunity to cruise on the Costa Atlantica several years ago. If you look at their brochure and online, you will find their prices to be somewhat higher than most lines. Being that they are touted as the "Italian Cruiing Experience", I was truly looking forward to the trip. (Mind you, we got a great rate based on some unbelievable discounts, we are not rich....LOL)

 

While the ship is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, the fact that I was not used to every announcement being offered in 6 languages, every word on the ship is Italian and you must look for the translation, my idea of italian food is not the same as theirs, I am sure others enjoyed it, but my husband did not. I think he would rather have a root canal than go back on a Costa ship. He found the trip to be extremely overwhelming.

 

I think like I have stated in other posts, a cruise is what you make of it...good or bad. I can take my next trip in September and make it absolutely miserable, if I wanted....but "I'm cruising...on a Sunday afternoon....hmmmmhmmmmmhmmmmm"

 

You get the idea.....

[wenhigh]

I think this is a good discussion that needs to be brought to the front one more time! Again, I love Carnival cruises and look forward to the Carnival Glory in the next year or two!

[cruisercathy]

IN answer to your question.......the reason for the 8 year gap in cruising time......I started to cruise when i was single.....got my hubby hooked on cruising when we went on the Tropicale for our honeymoon....was able to do 2 more and then along came the children....You know the saying...we lived from paycheck to paycheck...........

 

Unfortunately my husband passed away in 1996 and I introduced my sons the following year to cruising at the ages of 9 and 5 and they were hooked.

 

Moral of the story.......for everyone out there...........please don't think it will never happen to you, please make sure your loved ones will be taken care of financially if you pass.........life can stop at any time....when it is least expected.