Oh Jeez! I stayed in a banana yellow room with a shocking pink bathroom on Imagination years ago. It was a first and last on Carnival, dragged along for a friends pre-wedding celebration. I am sure that Carnival has improved a lot of things but the decor is still gaudy glitzy glam from my perspective. Each to his own, but Carnival is not my cup of tea either.
( My TA recently cruised the Carnival Legend and all she could say on her return was Putrid, Pewter Pots- guess "trophies" are the theme on the Legend?)
Come on folks - We are heading out for our 30th cruise in a couple of weeks. Have been on every line and I can honestly say that I haven't had a bad cruise yet!! If you go with a positive attitude you will have a great time - if you are looking for trouble and a reason to dislike the ship, people or whatever that is what you are going to get. Maybe cruising isn't your thing - try something else.
Or, perhaps those who are dissatisfied with Carnival just need to go on a different line. Contrary to what many who have never (or seldom) cruised think, all lines are NOT at all alike. Carnival is "the fun ship"; the party ship, and it is even so advertised. If that's not for you (and it is for some) you can go on a very quiet cruise without even switching companies by taking HAL, or for more elegance go with Carnival's Seabourn line. And there are too many others to discuss here that are different than Carnival in many ways, so anyone who does their research should be able to find a line to suit them (Carnival or not) without too much trouble.
We leave for our second cruise in a couple weeks, both Carnival. We sailed the Victory last year we had a blast, we look forward to our trip on the Conquest. We have two daughters ages 9 & 11, we spent a great deal of time together on the trip but our daughters had a great time in Camp Carnival, we think Camp Carnival is a plus. Another plus for a family of four sharing a cabin is the size of the cabins, my research has led me to beleive that Carnival cabins are larger than most.in the same price range. I hope that our family will cruise many more times in the future and will have the chance to check out other lines, but I have to tell you a good kids program and more space is a big deal at this point. BTW, I too was warned that Carnival was a PARTY line, we are not partyers , since we don't keep party hours we didn't see much wild stuff
Happy Holidays!!!
Tried Carnival once just to see what it was like. We didn't regret trying it, but it did live "down" to its reputation. CCL is the "McDonald's" of the cruise industry - it's adequate, but leaves much to be desired. Hey, some folks enjoy a Big Mac while others prefer Filet Mignon - that's what makes horse races!
Location: Wisconsin....about 100 miles south of the Frozen Tundra and 70 miles east of Camp Randall
Posts: 9,382
Re: Anti Carnival
Hey Adam - I agree with 99% of what you say, but I do have to blame Carnival for hiring the interior decorator and approving his color schemes......after all they paid Mr. Farcus for his work, so I do hold them responsible for the final product of his work. But, hey, a lot of people like it....not quite my taste, but I'll live with it (if it is really bad I'll just close the drapes and turn off the lights as everything looks the same in the dark! <vbg>)
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Crown Princess 1/18/14....the NEW Me, Myself and I cruise!
Last month I sailed on Carnival's Inspiration ship out of Tampa. Quite frankly my expectations were not very high, however I was pleasantly surprised. You won't see columns, beautiful statues or dolphins at the pool, but you will be well fed, have fun, and receive great value for your dollar. Over the years I have sailed on Sitmar, NCL, Cunard (transatlantic crossing) Princess, Costa and RCI. This was my 12th cruise but first time on Carnival. My cabin was one of the largest I have ever had, the food and service was excellent, pizza was the best I ever had on a ship, and the waiters can sing and dance. For an inexpensive cruise you can't beat Carnival! Now I know why Carnival is the 'Southwest' of the cruise industry! Happy 30th birthday Carnival!
We traveled twice with Carnival and both times had obnoxious neighbors. On the second trip we called security three times during the seven days because of loud parties until 3 or 4 in the morning. There are passengers that are on the cruise to do other things beside get drunk. Princess and Royal Caribbean are better choices for people that enjoy a quiter time.
My first ten cruises where on Carnival. Not untill the last four years have I cruised on other lines. Have always had a great time with Carnival. There staff back in the 8o. where just so much FUN.Realy made you feel special. Auguste
Some types of people just don't mix. As a former travel agency owner - it was my best guess NEVER to put older couples on a Spring-Break Cruise (unless THEY were going to throw the pool chairs overboard).
Carnival has a PAST reputation for a ROUGHER (read as more 'fun loving') crowd that apparently it has yet to live down. I personally know that they have taken major steps over the years to modify the behavior of passengers based on this history.
Uniformed security guards - patrolling in pairs were a common sight on the 3 day LA to Ensenada runduring the mid 90's. When I heard on the radio a few years ago (4-5 years?) that a cruise ship passnger had lost his nose in a bar fight - my first thought was Carnival -- and unfortunately I was right - and unfortunately it was that 3 day LA cruise where the fight occurred.
Since that time -- however -- there has never been a repeat performance on a Carnival ship that I know of.
You must balance this against some cruise lines who have the reputation of regularly pulling into port (unscheduled) to drop off some unfortunate passenger whose expiration date came up during the cruise. These ships normally go dead (pardon the expression) after 10PM.
Carnival in the past has looked to Las Vegas as it's competition for vacation travelers -- and Las Vegas is not everyone's favorite family destination. Again - Carnival has quieted down the decor of it's newer ships - as it modifies it's marketing image to be more inclusive to most travelers tastes.
Enjoy Carnival -- it'sa good cruise experience for the money -- certainly for first time cruisers and folks who like to have fun and behave in public.
Mikie: There was an article in today's Wall Street Journal about the food on the Fascination. I gather the reviewer was unimpressed, but despite my three college degrees I was unable to understand any of the specifics he mentioned. If anyone reads the article and understands these, please explain it to me, as the specifics sounded OK. He did mention the "glitz" so I see the Las Vegas comparisson. But again, the tone of the article was clearly prejudice against Carnival.
We were on Carnival Spirit a year ago on New Years Eve and was very disappointed about the champagne issue. We were told there would be free champagne, which we did not find....all we found was the bottles they were trying to sell. We did manage to get a free glass after midnight, when it didn't count. We've been on several New Years Eve cruises and they were a lot better than Carnival. RCCL had free champagne at midnight. We won't be booking another Carnival cruise in the near future.
Lack of free champagne? Who said there would be free C? I would'nt condemn them for a reason like that. I guess we all look for different things when we cruise <G>.
It wasn't just the champagne issue; there were a lot of other things that were wrong with that Carnival cruise. We always make the best of even a bad cruise, I'm just saying out of the almost 30 cruises I've taken, Carnival (of which I've taken 5) has been the worst of all the cruise lines I've been on........HAPPY CRUISING.....
My husband and I don't go out on New Years Eve unless we're on a cruise and I've been on enough New Years Eve Cruises, that I guess I just expected it. We were on the Carnival Spirit and for a new ship, it sure had a lot of problems. We liked Carnival because of the younger people and party atmosphere (my husband and I are in our mid-50's) and we always enjoy ourselves more when we're seated with younger people and that's why we booked Carnival. Our twins are 36 and we just enjoy people that age or younger, because we're young at heart ourselves. HAPPY CRUISING.......
My Wife and I cruised 2 times on the Fantasy and both times were disappointed. Food was oh-hum and portions were small. Stayed away from Carnival for 8 years.. We cruise every year. HAL, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean have been our choices. This past Dec. we decided why not give Carnival another try. Been reading alot of the boards on how Carnival has improved and we were very happy. We wanted to sail from Tampa, but the ships were out of suites. We decided that the drive (2 1/2hrs) to Pt. Canaveral wasn't too bad, so we booked the Pride, Cat 11. We had a great time. Food was great and ate twice in David's. Can't wait til next fall to cruise again....
My first cruise was on the "Carnivale." The food was great back then. The entertainment was done by the cruise staff, but some of the staff had fabulous voices, and they put on some fun shows. In the '80s, I went on the Holiday. It was a beautiful ship, pretty new at the time, but the food was terrible(steaks were grisley and tasted like they had been microwaved) and the entertainment was so bad that one of the dancers actually fell off of a chair she was doing a routine on(hope she didn't get hurt).
A fellow at the piano bar had a fabulous voice, and I asked him to sing "Memory," from "Cats," and he said in a nasty way that he had been asked to sing that about 30 times already. He went on to sing a sexually suggestive song to the three pretty young girls at the piano bar.
I hear that Carnival has greatly improved their food and entertainment, but I have been afraid to cruise with them because of the Holiday experience. I would, however, give the Paradise a try, because I have heard a lot of good things about that ship.
My husband and I have been on 7 cruises with 6 different cruise lines in 20 years. Carnival was our first "repeat" cruiseline. This was a happy and enjoyable trip. My kids (12 & 14) loved the lively colors and atmosphere of the Carnival Pride. This was their 4th cruise (first with Carnival) and their favorite. My daughter loved the glitter and busy activity schedule. It can't be that bad....they've been in business for 30 years.
HappyJan
Carnival Tropicale 1986
Carnival Pride 2003
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Re: Anti Carnival
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