First Carnival Cruise in 10 years

[dfishner]

Well it has been a long time since we last sailed Carnival, the last cruise was on Sensation, we did enjoy our cruise but the food was very bland and had decided to go a different direction and sail with Royal.

 

We have become much more educated about ship cuisine and fully understand mass market dining. We do like the Speciality restaurants on Royal but the food in the main dining room is average to good and that is why we choose Royal because we felt if the food was so-so in the dining room we had options. We learned that dining alone does not make a cruise great. We were on the Princess recently and although we felt the food was great the overall experience was not to our liking mainly the lounges were boring and dislike the layout of the horizon court so much that we ate breakfast and lunch in the dining room.

 

Which brings us to Carnival, from what we remember we had a great time on the Sensation even with all that purple it really did make a statement.

We are taking the Liberty and have read so many great reviews about the ship especially from Paul and Stargate fan and many others and we like many of the photos we have seen.

 

My question is how has Carnival evolved in the last 10 years. Even though we like royal quite a bit, we go on a cruise for the total experience. We do not need Rock walls and flow riders to have a good time. We like lounges that have friendly people, a good band or piano player. We like to have so many activities that we need to make choices. We do enjoy a good meal and have read Carnval has really stepped up with there cuisine but as we all know food is subjective.

 

So any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks so much

[mcfam5]

The food is V~E~R~Y good! You are correct, food is a subjective thing, but there are so many options available I am confindent you will find many foods you will enjoy.

 

We find there is much to do on board. We love trivia games (there are usually several a day), games on the Lido deck, bingo, great shows, karaoke, etc.

 

As far as the lounges, we found a nice crowd for karaoke and the dance club appeared to be hopping.

 

I am sure you will have a good time, after all you will be on a cruise!

[98Charlie]

Can only give you our experience with Carnival. DH & i started cruising about 6 years ago, took our first cruise on NCL Majesty and second cruise on the Norway a few months later. We cruised Princess, RCI, and Celebrity before we tried Carnival as we were afraid of the ``party ship'' concept.

 

We read info on these boards about Carnival for a few years before we took our first Carnival cruise and booked a balcony cabin, figuring we could always escape to our balcony if we didn't enjoy the activities on the ship.

 

DH & I have now cruised on Carnival ships 4 times in 2 years and have cruises 5 & 6 booked for next year. We love the Carnival experience as we enjoy lounges, specially piano bars. We're definitely not teeny boppers. Both DH & I will celebrate our 61st birthdays this year.

 

On our last Carnival cruise in January we helped close down the piano bar many a night!

 

Carnival's dining room food is great for our palates (and DH has been in the restaurant business for 35 years). Have never felt the need to book a specialty restaurant on Carnival because we enjoy the dining room that much.

 

We are not buffet eaters normally, but we do enjoy Carnival's deli stations and am firm believers that Carnival serves the best pizza afloat. In fact, you can normally find us at the pizza station right after the piano bar closes down for the night.:D

 

DH & I do not cruise during summer months or spring break so our Carnival experiences have all been late fall and winter experiences while kids and college students are normally in school.

 

Hopes this helps.

 

Dianne

[RatherBFishin]

... We have become much more educated about ship cuisine and fully understand mass market dining.

 

I get the impression that your initial experience probably had alot to do with pre-conceived expectations about what a cruise is or isn't. And when you say you are more educated, you're referring specifically to the reality that food preparation on a cruise ship has more in common with a large wedding reception, than a 5-Star land restaurant.

 

My question is how has Carnival evolved in the last 10 years.

 

The food is still prepared the same, if that's what you're asking. Plus I doubt they spend any higher percentage of a Pax's per-diem revenue on food than they did 10 years ago.

 

The menus do evolve, but slowly. They keep what's popular, and replace what's not.

 

And the newer ships have Supper Club specialty restaurants (including Liberty).

[KatSt]

We were on the Liberty last year and had a great time. I have only cruised Carnival so I can't compare to other cruise lines.

 

The Liberty is a beautiful ship. The food was very good and the activities were fun. There was something for everyone. They had the silly poolside activites as well as the inside trivia, dance lessons, etc.

 

The Liberty also has Harry's Supper Club. The food there is wonderful. There is a $30 per person fee and it's worth every penny.

 

I think you will have a wonderful on the Liberty or any of Carnival's ships.

[LHP]

My recommendation is to start with a Spirit class ship.

 

They do 7 day cruises. They have the Supper Club. And the layout is nice.

 

I could be wrong (since I don't have experience with other lines), but I think (on even given day) all the mass market lines will provide as good a meal as any other.

 

Happy Cruising!!

[southbayer]

You'll have a good time, carnival's come a long way in ten years, and the food is great.

 

Have a great time!

Well it has been a long time since we last sailed Carnival, the last cruise was on Sensation, we did enjoy our cruise but the food was very bland and had decided to go a different direction and sail with Royal.

 

We have become much more educated about ship cuisine and fully understand mass market dining. We do like the Speciality restaurants on Royal but the food in the main dining room is average to good and that is why we choose Royal because we felt if the food was so-so in the dining room we had options. We learned that dining alone does not make a cruise great. We were on the Princess recently and although we felt the food was great the overall experience was not to our liking mainly the lounges were boring and dislike the layout of the horizon court so much that we ate breakfast and lunch in the dining room.

 

Which brings us to Carnival, from what we remember we had a great time on the Sensation even with all that purple it really did make a statement.

We are taking the Liberty and have read so many great reviews about the ship especially from Paul and Stargate fan and many others and we like many of the photos we have seen.

 

My question is how has Carnival evolved in the last 10 years. Even though we like royal quite a bit, we go on a cruise for the total experience. We do not need Rock walls and flow riders to have a good time. We like lounges that have friendly people, a good band or piano player. We like to have so many activities that we need to make choices. We do enjoy a good meal and have read Carnval has really stepped up with there cuisine but as we all know food is subjective.

 

So any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks so much

[Majesty Fan]

I was a die hard RCI fan I have 26 cruises with them even married onboard the Majesty in 01 but hubby and I wanted to get away for a quick time. We wanted a 4-5 ccruise wear we did not have drive to South Florida and did not want to go to the Bahamas. So we opted to go to carnival as RCI has not one cruise in the summer that fits that critieria. We sailed on the Inspiration. From the check in to debarkation everything was nice. I will give Carnival the nod on the food. Loved the drinks too. More discounts on that too. Last year on the Radiance I spent over $100 a coke card and everytime I went to the pool bar I had to wait 5-10 minutes to have my cup refilled not on Carnival. Really enjoyed the minigolf and slide. We had such a great time that we canceled our RCI cruise to the Panama Canal and switched to Carnival Spirit for the Mexican Riveria saving over $2000! And now are booked on the Dream too.

Lexi

[dfishner]

Thanks for the replies they were just what I was looking for. You hear so much pros and cons about Carnival on some of the other boards so it was good to hear from others here. I am looking forward to my cruise on Carnival.

 

Thanks once again.

[Quench]

Well it has been a long time since we last sailed Carnival, the last cruise was on Sensation, we did enjoy our cruise but the food was very bland and had decided to go a different direction and sail with Royal.

 

We have become much more educated about ship cuisine and fully understand mass market dining. We do like the Speciality restaurants on Royal but the food in the main dining room is average to good and that is why we choose Royal because we felt if the food was so-so in the dining room we had options. We learned that dining alone does not make a cruise great. We were on the Princess recently and although we felt the food was great the overall experience was not to our liking mainly the lounges were boring and dislike the layout of the horizon court so much that we ate breakfast and lunch in the dining room.

 

Which brings us to Carnival, from what we remember we had a great time on the Sensation even with all that purple it really did make a statement.

We are taking the Liberty and have read so many great reviews about the ship especially from Paul and Stargate fan and many others and we like many of the photos we have seen.

 

My question is how has Carnival evolved in the last 10 years. Even though we like royal quite a bit, we go on a cruise for the total experience. We do not need Rock walls and flow riders to have a good time. We like lounges that have friendly people, a good band or piano player. We like to have so many activities that we need to make choices. We do enjoy a good meal and have read Carnval has really stepped up with there cuisine but as we all know food is subjective.

 

So any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks so much

 

My last cruise with Carnival was 22 years ago on the Holiday and I remember the food being bland too. This was my first cruise and it wasn't anything to brag about but after reading so many great reviews about the Miracle I decided to give Carnival another try hopfully it will be a better experience.