Is Carnival a bad cruise line? I know their 'stereotype' is partying and drinking but I don't know if this is true.
My friends are considering Carnival so Im just wondering.
A couple of thoughts...
The "stereotypes" that Carnival is a "bad" cruise line come from the size and popularity of the line. For instance, about 10 years ago when I was a
travel agent there was a Carnival ship and another cruise line's ship (I think it was NCL) where both had small fires within about a month of each other. The Carnival fire was ALL OVER the news, getting a bad wrap, etc (because it's a "big name" cruise line). Yes, NCL is also well known, but for whatever reason the story about the NCL fire was never picked up (the news just didn't care as much I guess). Funny thing was, even though Carnival got the bad wrap, they gave concessions to people on board where NCL didn't! Carnival handled it well and got the bad wrap but no one knew about the poorly handled NCL incident. Therefore, just keep in mind that Carnival has more ships than just about anyone and is such a big name, which is why you will always hear more negativity about what happens with them over anyone else. Also keep in mind that the same people who complain about Carnival also PRAISE Holland America or Princess or Windstar - "higher end" cruise lines that are now or once were owned/ran/operated by Carnival (Just as
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are the same, so are HAL, PCL, and CCL). So again, it's all about "attitude."
With that said - I have sold and been on many cruise ships, including a 7 night sailing on Carnival, and I would not sail Carnival again unless it was a free cruise that was given to us or something. One thing we must remember is that stereotypes are born from some bit of truth, and in the case of Carnival I have found it true that they gear themselves towards the crowds who are looking for a "bargain" (typically younger folks who want to get away, have fun, and not spend much doing it). I wouldn't call them a "lower end" cruise line, but their goal is definitely to sell more space on more ships at a lower price, and that's exactly the crowd you will find. They are not by any means "higher end" (which is what Disney would be considered to most). On my sailing I found that there was a lot of drinking, partying, gambling, and loud/boisterous people (unlike a
Disney cruise packed with "family friendly activities" - but again, aside from a few games during the day, these were the only things to do on the Carnival cruise). Since my husband and I don't drink or gamble, Carnival is just not the cruise line for us. HOWEVER, keep in mind that hundreds of thousands of people love them. It just depends on the experience your friends are looking for. What they enjoy, don't enjoy, and what their expectations are. If they are fun-loving people who aren't looking for a family oriented Disney-type cruise or a luxury 5-star experience then Carnival would be a great choice for the money. They have descent food, good night-time shows and entertainment (comedy, magic shows, etc), lots of dance clubs, bars, and casinos. Just realize that the "quality of service" will be lower and you have to expect to "get what you pay for." (An example of that would be when I went on their cruise ship and got the soda card. Yes, I got soda any time I wanted. However, unlike Disney where you go to the fountain and get a fresh drink any time you want, on the Carnival cruise you had to go to a bar and ask for a soda. The would NOT give you a can, and they would NOT open a new can for you. Since they were the bar, they would poor whatever was sitting there left-over from whatever can they had just used to make a mixed drink. Often the soda was warm and flat. You had to take the soda, then throw it away and go back and ask for another until you got a soda worth drinking. It's been many years since I've been on CCL so I don't know if they have fountains now or if they still do it this way, but this is just one example of how the "quality" is lower).
LOL, I guess in the end the shorter thing to say would be "it's all based on personal preference." I would just recommend that your friends do some research before they book. They should determine what type of experience they're looking for, compare that to their budget and what's available, and then make a decision.
Good luck to them - I hope this helps!
I chose to book our Christmas holiday with them and they decided to cancel and throw a small OBC at you. It would be different if we were able to book another cruise for the 3 week holiday period for a similar price, but unfortunately we cannot.
