Carnival Cruise lines

[happygirl]

Please tell me the good and bad about them

 

[sam_gordon]

Go to http://www.cruisecritic.com. Reviews on every ship of every line, plus a forum, with branches for each line.

 

[happygirl]

Go to http://www.cruisecritic.com. Reviews on every ship of every line, plus a forum, with branches for each line.

Thank you so much

 

[shortbun]

Last time I was on Carnival, the atmosphere on deck during the day was 'frat party'; there was lots of overdrinking and innappropriate/funny behavior. It's possible to stand back and observe but total avoidance might be tough. Their food is ok, their ships decor is wild/think mixed and unco-ordinated prints, but fun for some people. They have good tours in port. Their owner is the owner of The Miami Heat-ala LeBron. He also owns Costa now. Lots and lots of people love Carnival. I prefer something a tad more sedate but that's just personal preference. Royal Caribbean, still active but slightly more sophisticated activity would be my go to. I really love Celebrity!

 

[Janepod]

Last time I was on Carnival, the atmosphere on deck during the day was 'frat party'; there was lots of overdrinking and innappropriate/funny behavior. It's possible to stand back and observe but total avoidance might be tough. Their food is ok, their ships decor is wild/think mixed and unco-ordinated prints, but fun for some people. They have good tours in port. Their owner is the owner of The Miami Heat-ala LeBron. He also owns Costa now. Lots and lots of people love Carnival. I prefer something a tad more sedate but that's just personal preference. Royal Caribbean, still active but slightly more sophisticated activity would be my go to. I really love Celebrity!

I've never been on Carnival but this is how my SIL describes it -- or more specifically, frat house crossed with PeopleofWalmart.com. It's definitely for younger people.

 

[zippingalong]

I've sailed Carnival several times. Not because it's my favorite, but because it's my 16 YO DDs favorite line. (And we've sailed Carnival, RCCL, Disney, NCL and X)..

We've never sailed older ships or shorter itineraries. The new ships are fine. The rooms are reasonably sized, the itineraries are fine and the food is fine. We're sailing the Disney Fantasy concierge this August. My guess is that if DD has her way, our 2014 cruise will be back on Carnival.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I have sailed 3 times. I myself have not seen heavy partying. I think the food is good. I am not the big fan of them. I will be trying Princess this year.

 

[Acklander]

We've done Carnival (3x) Disney (2x) and Costa (2x)

Ds13 likes carnival the best - he enjoys the kids activities out of all the lines, so we're probably going to continue on until he graduates.
I don't see the frat house atmosphere that I've heard others mention but we tend to do the 7 day cruises or longer so it's not as much as a problem. It's more affordable than many others, so that frees up money for excursions.

 

[GordonD]

I have done Carnival from New Orleans, and this March a 4 day leaving Port Canaveral to the Bahamas. Carnival (like most) is very family oriented and my 11 YO daughter loved CampC. The cost is reasonable, and you can cruise as formal or as freestyle as you like. If you are Luxury type Cruiser (Cunard) or a older adult who does not want to cruise with teens and young "adults" then Carnival is not for you. Every day there is plenty of space on the ships to find Family, Youth, and adult places, and enough space for the frats have their place.

 

[AndreaDM]

We've been on two Carnival cruises with a third planned and have never seen "frat party" stuff going on. In fact, on this last one, a 7 day out of Tampa, most of the passengers were seniors, I would have liked a little more partying! I think the 3 day ones out of Miami might be a little crazier, but most of the 5-7 day cruises are not. The 5 day cruise we took out of Charleston last year was full of very polite southeners. We like Carnival because it fits our budget and frees up money for excursions, etc. we also like that they allow one bottle of wine per adult and a 12 pack of soda per person to be brought on board. Carnivals slogan is the fun ships, and we go on vacation to have fun!

 

[Kimberle]

My friend (50's) has been on 10 cruises with her husband. They love them. They aren't drinkers or "partiers". They haven't experienced any "frat party" behaivor. They really enjoy the food.

 

[etoiles]

We have taken Carnival and NCL before for 7 night cruises each and overall we did prefer NCL.

Carnival, as others have mentioned, has more of a 'party' atmosphere and we didn't enjoy the types of shows they offered. We also did not like the buffet as much as on NCL and the way it was set up makes for long lines at times. One thing that we did like better on Carnival than NCL is the dining room was nicer and had better meals than NCL.

NCL we enjoyed all of their shows and liked that we did not have to have an assigned seating time for dining. (carnival does offer this but it is a limited feature and so we did not get the any time seating) The buffets were also nicer and we enjoyed the atmosphere of the ship more. The dining room food was not as nice as Carnival but we still enjoyed NCL more overall.

Staff on both ships were very pleasant and courteous.

 

[scdak]

I leave on my 23rd Carnival cruise in 2 weeks! For me cruising is all about being on vacation - I can let my mind stop working! I dont have to drive, I dont have to make hotel plans, decide on dining for the family, I get alot more rest than walking around Disney parks or other tourist sites for hours on end. I can read anytime I want, I can take a nap and not feel guilty about missing theme park time, etc. Carnival has good food, decent entertainment, excellent crew and I enjoy cruising with them. I have not cruised on any other lines so I can't compare them to Carnival but for me I am happy with them. And I am not a frat partying person or "the walmart crowd" as described, I am a middle aged, middle class nurse that just enjoys a good value for a fun vacation If I want high class I will go to Disney and stay at a Deluxe resort! But there are times its just nice to sit down, relax and people watch while sipping a cool beverage on the deck of a Carnival "Funship".

 

[palmtreegirl]

We sailed on Carnival for our first cruise 2 years ago. It was a 3 night on the Carnival Sensation. It was during Hurricane Irene and our ship got diverted from Nassau to Key West.

Loved-

The layout of the ship, very easy to navigate
The food
The cabin was nice(inside) and the beds super comfy.
Lots of chairs and places to sit on decks.
Free ice cream 24 hors a day, long food court hours.
Late night buffets
Pool at night was empty!
The value- can't beat Carnival in terms of price

The OK-
The dining room. Only ate there on our first night, it wasn't bad but we just thought it took too long. Turns out this is normal because it happened on Disney & RCL as well.

The Bad-
Party atmosphere at pool on day at sea, lots of crazy people.
Not enough activities, but it was because we were on a smaller ship.
It was a pretty ugly ship, its nickname is Barney because of all the purple! lol


Now that we've sailed on 3 cruise lines I'd put them in this order-

1-Disney
2 RCL, a very close second!
3- Carnival- great value and would sail again if I couldn't find reasonably priced cruise on the first two.

We do have some really great memories from our Carnival cruise, it was a blast!!

 

[Lorelei Lee]

We sauled the Carnival Valor 3 years ago and loved it. Sailing on the Breeze next summer. I got a lot of good info at Cruise Critic.

 

[happygirl]

Thanks everyoone

How much does it cost to take kids to the kids clubs?

Also is the food included in the cost of the cruise or does some food cost extra?

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

The price says it all, it's a price that all the college kids can afford. We've done it once and will stick with Disney.

 

[zippingalong]

The kids clubs during normal hours are included in the price. There is after hour club which is additional...I don't know that rate anymore..

The food, with the exception of upcharge restaurants, alcohol and sodas is included. There is also an upcharge coffee shop, pastry place. Soda cards are available also.

 

[happygirl]

The kids clubs during normal hours are included in the price. There is after hour club which is additional...I don't know that rate anymore..

The food, with the exception of upcharge restaurants, alcohol and sodas is included. There is also an upcharge coffee shop, pastry place. Soda cards are available also.

Thank You What is a soda card?

 

[zippingalong]

A card you can buy on the first day of your trip that you can then use for unlimited sodas onboard.