Carnival Cruise Line

kaos16 · April 2012

Has anyone cruised with Carnival before? What was your experience like? I have only ever cruised with Royal Caribbean. Any comparisons of the two would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!!

alithebride · April 2012

i haven't cruised on RC but have 2x on carnival-one week long caribbean last may and one 12 night medi. in sept 08. I've also cruised on princess, cunard and disney. i thought the service on carnival was excellent. i was very happily surprised with how much i enjoyed them.

what ship, itinerary are you looking at? i base my decisions more on the itinerary than the cruise line.

SuMmErKuTiE · April 2012

I've sailed on both and love both. The only difference I would say is there is a lot more kids on Carnival ships. However, both times I sailed with Carnival were in August, while I sailed RC in November while kids are usually in school.

I honestly feel that both cruiselines are pretty similar when it comes to size of the rooms, service, and food. The only differences are that Carnival is the "fun ship" which means the cruise director is always out and about making sure everyone's having fun, the waiters do a song and dance each night at dinner (always a riot!), and there's a comedy club on the ship.

We sailed on the Carnival Dream last August and LOVED the ship. It's one of their newest and biggest ships. We especially loved the main deck area (on the same level as the casino and atrium shops area) because there was no roof or lifeboats above it, and they had 4 hot tubs overlooking the water on the side of the ship. I have a very detailed review in my blog. Go into my archives from late August/early September and there's a post for each day. HTH!

HobokensFury · April 2012

I just sailed Carnival last week and loved it. I sailed RC as a kid so I can't really comapare the 2.

lls31 · April 2012

I've heard that the food isn't as good on Carnival ships compared to Royal Caribbean. People have told me that the food is good - but not AS good as RC. However, that didn't stop us from booking our HM with Carnival. We booked the Legend because of the itineraries offered during the time we were looking to go. The prices are so much better on Carnival - we were able to book a balcony cabin for about the same price we would've paid for an inside cabin on RC.

HobokenBride - which ship were you on and where did you sail to?

kaos16 · April 2012

Well, I thought we were doing a Napa and Sonoma honeymoon, but my fiance has since decided that while he wants to see and do a bunch of cool stuff, he doesn't want to unpack and repack in multiple hotels, which was the plan in CA. As such, we are now looking into a southern caribbean cruise on Carnival Victory. We are getting married in September, and my hope is that southern might get us away from any potential hurricanes. I know the ship can go around them, but at the same time, it would be nice to have great weather at the islands we visit.

Annas2013 · April 2012

We're using Carnival for our honeymoon! Plus I've been on two of their cruises before. I loved Carnival and thought the food was delicious. There are a good number of kids, but then again I said in the summer both times. Price-wise Carnival is cheaper than Royal Caribbean, but that still depends on the length of the trip, and the boat you choose to sail on.

HobokensFury · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_carnival-cruise-line?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:d0fb3e09-272e-47d1-a20e-71852a34648dPost:315a1e5b-6393-485a-a2a0-3d2c3756b21c">Re: Carnival Cruise Line</a>:
[QUOTE]I've heard that the food isn't as good on Carnival ships compared to Royal Caribbean. People have told me that the food is good - but not AS good as RC. However, that didn't stop us from booking our HM with Carnival. We booked the Legend because of the itineraries offered during the time we were looking to go. The prices are so much better on Carnival - we were able to book a balcony cabin for about the same price we would've paid for an inside cabin on RC. <strong>HobokenBride - which ship were you on and where did you sail to?</strong>
Posted by lls31[/QUOTE]

We did the Southern Carribbean on the Carnival Victory.

kaos16 · April 2012

Hoboken Bride: That's the exact one we're looking at. Any specific likes/dislikes. Did you do any excursions on the islands? Any advice?

HobokensFury · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_carnival-cruise-line?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:d0fb3e09-272e-47d1-a20e-71852a34648dPost:76dc4b6c-1f76-4896-b2fb-be701f5610bf">Re: Carnival Cruise Line</a>:
[QUOTE]Hoboken Bride: That's the exact one we're looking at. Any specific likes/dislikes. Did you do any excursions on the islands? Any advice?
Posted by kaos16[/QUOTE]

We actually did an excursion on every island. Yes it was a lot and a little expensive but it was our HM splurge. We booked through Carnival because we felt safer that way. (Paranoid about missing the boat or booking with a shady company)

St. Thomas- BOSS Underwater Adventure: It was an underwater scooter and snorkel trip. I enjoyed it but the water was murky and we didn't see many fish. I thought it was a bit expensive for what it was.

Barbados- 5 Star catamaran and turtle adventure: By far our favorite excursion. The water was beautiful, the boat/crew were great. We snorkeled at 2 different sites and went to a beach. It came with a full meal and free booze. Tons of fun.

St. Lucia- Volcano hike and mud bath: We had a lot of fun playing in the mud. The only problem was the 3.5 hour tour turned into 7 hours because of traffic and construction. Still a good excursion.

St. Kitts- Sofa Stone Hike/ Beach break: Another one of our favorites. The only problem was the "hike" was more like mountain climbing LOL. Tour guide was great and the beach had cool black sand. We also saw a lot of sites and monkeys.

St. Maarten- Butterfly Farm: Since it was our last day we didn't want to do anything too strenuous. I love butterflies so we went to the butterfly farm. It was very pretty and the trip included a stop in the French capitol Marigot. Only drawback to this excursion is a lot of kids. We were 1 of only 3 couples without kids. Afterwards we went back to the Dutch side and went to the Star Wars museum, which was the only thing DH insisted we do on the entire trip.

No complaints about the boat. We actually got a free upgrade from the inside to a window. If you have anymore questions just ask.

cwaggoner07 · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_carnival-cruise-line?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:d0fb3e09-272e-47d1-a20e-71852a34648dPost:d5f8baf1-2f99-40c0-a2e3-91b63c1121a8">Re: Carnival Cruise Line</a>:
[QUOTE]Well, I thought we were doing a Napa and Sonoma honeymoon, but my fiance has since decided that while he wants to see and do a bunch of cool stuff, he doesn't want to unpack and repack in multiple hotels, which was the plan in CA. As such, we are now looking into a southern caribbean cruise on Carnival Victory. We are getting married in September, and my hope is that southern might get us away from any potential hurricanes. <strong>I know the ship can go around them, but at the same time, it would be nice to have great weather at the islands we visit.</strong>
Posted by kaos16[/QUOTE]

FI and I were on a Carnival ship during Hurricane Ike that wiped out all of Galveston. We stayed way behind it and you never would have known there was a hurrican on our trip. We even got an extra day in Cozumel because we had to stay back. But the weather was beautiful 100% of our trip.
The part that was awful is that we left from Galveston, but the entire dock was taken out and everyone lost their cars. We had to dock in New Orleans which was probably a logistical nightmare for most, but my dad (a private pilot) had flown us in his plane down to Galveston, so he just picked us up in NO instead.

Magdala9 · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_carnival-cruise-line?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:d0fb3e09-272e-47d1-a20e-71852a34648dPost:26524e96-ee1a-4c09-ae31-a5e6df0035f1">Carnival Cruise Line</a>:
[QUOTE]Has anyone cruised with Carnival before? What was your experience like? I have only ever cruised with Royal Caribbean. Any comparisons of the two would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Posted by kaos16[/QUOTE]

<div>We cruised to the Western Carribbean on the Carnival Liberty this past February and to the eastern Carribbean on RC Monarch of the Seas last winter. Both trips were great fun and both ships were nice. I liked the dining room food and the shows on RC better. It was spicier and they had more vegetarian options. Carnival had better rooms and better service attendants. The spas were about equal. If you choose Carnival, find the adults only Serentity lounge. The music was so loud by the pool-waterslide that it gave me a headache. Sunning at the adults only lounge in a hot tub was so much better. RC had the better rock climbing wall and gym too. </div>

Wiscisbliss · April 2012

I've been on the Victory to the Southern Caribbean as well and loved it.

Tip: I always eat in the dining room for breakfast and dinner since the food there is better than at the buffet.

Carnival Cruise Line

Re: Carnival Cruise Line

Choose Another Board

Search Boards