sillecruisers
Dreaming of the Dream
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2013
- Messages
- 477
I went on a disney cruise last Sept. Loved it. But it was pricey. To save money and get my cruise fix, we recently went on a 4 day Carnival cruise out of NOLA. Two sea days and Cozumel. We LOVED Cozumel.
I am not going to give a full review at all, just point out what we disliked about Carnival vs Disney. But first let me say what I liked:
The ship (triumph) was actually very nice, not run down and dirty like I kind of expected. Except, our hallway did smell like sewage frequently, and other times, they had huge fans running in the hallways with way overpowering air freshener (which I thought was worse than the subtle sewage smell because I couldn't breathe!)
The food was very good. Better than DCL, even. And I am gluten free. I felt like Carnival did a better job handling the food sensitivity than Disney.
The comedy shows were excellent, and a highlight for our family. We went to the earlier, kid friendly versions of each act and loved them. We did not go to any big shows, but did attend a towel folding seminar, and it was very well done.
Negatives: very, very crowded ship. We literally never swam in the main pool. The indoor pool was usually empty but if you wanted to be in the sun, forget it. Every lounger was taken or claimed, the outdoor hottubs and outdoor pool were people soup and there was always some stupid, loud game going on at the pool. When we went to pull out of Cozumel, I took the kids up on deck to watch, and we couldn't even elbow our way to a spot on the railing to see. Crowds everywhere. Waiting on line at the buffet or Guys or Blue Iguana, the lines were long and slow, and crowds trying to move in the opposite direction had nowhere to go. I thought the layout was poorly done in these areas.
Everything was geared toward drinking. Everything. Even at breakfast, the waiters were sooo excited to tell us the bar was open and expected us to order shots. And were dismayed when we declined. Alcohol everywhere. Also, the kids had to walk through the very smokey casino in order to get to the arcade.
Our stateroom host asked us as soon as we arrived, if we wanted the standard twice a day room cleaning, or if once a day was okay, and would morning or evening be better? He explained that their work load had been increased from x amount of rooms to y amount of rooms (I can't remember the numbers, but how is this our problem?). Seems to me I am expected to tip the same regardless. Since we felt put on the spot, we agreed to once a day in the morning but found this very off-putting. (we did not change our tip amount).
Getting on the ship was very unpleasant and took forever. Once we were onboard, we had to wait in the buffet line for an hour. After waiting two hours to board after our 11:30 boarding time (which we arrived right on time for).
Now keep in mind, I am comparing DCL concierge to CCL non concierge. Of course one is going to have better service, but the basics like crowd control, room cleaning service, pool area, type of crowd (heavy drinkers and partiers vs families) were in stark contrast.
Overall, my impression is we will never sail Carnival again. I'm looking at trying NCL next because we really want to try ports that DCL does not offer, such as Belize and Roatan.
I know there are other posts comparing the two lines, but does anyone have thoughts on my experience, or recommendations for a cruise line that fits our family?
I am not going to give a full review at all, just point out what we disliked about Carnival vs Disney. But first let me say what I liked:
The ship (triumph) was actually very nice, not run down and dirty like I kind of expected. Except, our hallway did smell like sewage frequently, and other times, they had huge fans running in the hallways with way overpowering air freshener (which I thought was worse than the subtle sewage smell because I couldn't breathe!)
The food was very good. Better than DCL, even. And I am gluten free. I felt like Carnival did a better job handling the food sensitivity than Disney.
The comedy shows were excellent, and a highlight for our family. We went to the earlier, kid friendly versions of each act and loved them. We did not go to any big shows, but did attend a towel folding seminar, and it was very well done.
Negatives: very, very crowded ship. We literally never swam in the main pool. The indoor pool was usually empty but if you wanted to be in the sun, forget it. Every lounger was taken or claimed, the outdoor hottubs and outdoor pool were people soup and there was always some stupid, loud game going on at the pool. When we went to pull out of Cozumel, I took the kids up on deck to watch, and we couldn't even elbow our way to a spot on the railing to see. Crowds everywhere. Waiting on line at the buffet or Guys or Blue Iguana, the lines were long and slow, and crowds trying to move in the opposite direction had nowhere to go. I thought the layout was poorly done in these areas.
Everything was geared toward drinking. Everything. Even at breakfast, the waiters were sooo excited to tell us the bar was open and expected us to order shots. And were dismayed when we declined. Alcohol everywhere. Also, the kids had to walk through the very smokey casino in order to get to the arcade.
Our stateroom host asked us as soon as we arrived, if we wanted the standard twice a day room cleaning, or if once a day was okay, and would morning or evening be better? He explained that their work load had been increased from x amount of rooms to y amount of rooms (I can't remember the numbers, but how is this our problem?). Seems to me I am expected to tip the same regardless. Since we felt put on the spot, we agreed to once a day in the morning but found this very off-putting. (we did not change our tip amount).
Getting on the ship was very unpleasant and took forever. Once we were onboard, we had to wait in the buffet line for an hour. After waiting two hours to board after our 11:30 boarding time (which we arrived right on time for).
Now keep in mind, I am comparing DCL concierge to CCL non concierge. Of course one is going to have better service, but the basics like crowd control, room cleaning service, pool area, type of crowd (heavy drinkers and partiers vs families) were in stark contrast.
Overall, my impression is we will never sail Carnival again. I'm looking at trying NCL next because we really want to try ports that DCL does not offer, such as Belize and Roatan.
I know there are other posts comparing the two lines, but does anyone have thoughts on my experience, or recommendations for a cruise line that fits our family?
. That is how I knew to reserve character meets and adult dining in advance of our first DCL cruise. Research and planning make most vacations more enjoyable!
