Hey all. Who here has been on a cruise? If you don't mind my asking, which cruise line did you use and did you like it? Was it everything you thought it would be? The reason I am asking is my family and I recently went on our first cruise, and it was through Carnival on the Victory, and it was an absolute nightmare. We don't want to be put off from cruises from now on, as we had planned on going on lots of cruises once the kids were grown and gone. But now we are gun shy. We are going to try another cruise, using a different line, maybe. Thoughts?
Every family is different as are all children. Our experience is that for younger kids 12 and under, there are cruise lines which cater to them. The problem is the 13-17 year old kids who are "too old" for the kid stuff. Sure the bigger ships have pools, rock walls, "surfing" etc but long lines and you can only do it for so long and so many times. Dollar for dollar you can't beat the value of a cruise especially if you can drive to the cruise port and not need airfare. For me personally who has been to most of the Caribbean islands many many times for business, and we also already live in paradise, there is no draw to cruising for me. Again that is me personally. If I want to snorkel any time of year we can grab our gear, hop on our bicycles, motorcycle or car and be at a spot in a few minutes. If I want waterfront dining or outside dining, take your pick; parasailing, waverunners etc , again, 2-3 minutes from our house. If you have kids who are OK lounging around a pool and not "high-energy" then cruising would be enjoyable for you. If you have kids who are go-go-go, then you won't have any fun. There are many flavors of ice cream for a reason and cruising doesn't fit everyone
I have been a number of times. Carnival was the first, and that was the last time I sailed on Carnival. The hot tubs on deck packed full of screaming children in diapers were the breaking point for me. The meal schedules, etc, were not working for us. Royal Carribean was probably the best we've had. Their 'freestyle' concept is good for us, go to dinner where you want, when you want, etc. Not so many young children. Give it another try, and try a different line. Here's a tip: If you are near the port, go there without reservations, ready to board, and ask if they have any availability for cruises leaving that day. It used to be that if there were empty cabins on ships about to sail, they would give one to you for free, or deeply discounted. They make their money from upsells (liquor, casino, premium dining, etc) and would rather have a full boat than empty cabins.
Well I have already been on a cruise, and my 17 and 19 year old went with me. They had a mediocre time, as did my spouse and I. I just want to find out if Carnival is as lousy as I think it is. I want to try another line and see if it's better.
I don't really live too near a port, unfortunately. About 4 hours away to the bigger ports. I had the same problem. A thousand kids under the age of 10, running crazy through the ship, and no one to stop them, because the parents were getting drunk in the bar. As an adult who loves to imbibe, I have no problem with parents getting drunk in the bar, but I'm not your (*)(*)(*)(*)ing babysitter and neither is the staff on the ship. If you want to get drunk, leave the kids with a sitter. I have wondered if it was just Carnival. We got one of the lower priced, shorter cruises, because this was our first, and we honestly didn't know if we would enjoy it or not. We changed an 8 day to Aruba to a 4 day to Nassau. I have wondered if the 8 day would have been worse because the 4 day was excruciating, but I am beginning to wonder if the 8 day would have been better because it would have been a higher class of ship.
Carnival seems to attract people with kids, for some reason. More a "family friendly" model, like I imagine a Disney cruise would be. Our trip on Carnival wasn't a disaster, but I can get "not a disaster" at any fleabag hotel in Fla. When you cruise, you want spectacular, and that is what you pay for. My last cruise was 8 days to Cozumel out of Ft Lauderdale on Royal Caribbean, and it was spectacular, and perfect. They even delivered the perfect weather, somehow. My advice to you: try another cruise line before you give up.
I've been on almost all of the large Carnival lines, two Royal Caribbean's. I get a huge discount through the USO lottery. The Carnival Valor was my favorite by far. Jeff Foxworthy was on it with us. He performed and hung out with everyone on the ship. Some food network guy was there too. His name was "Guy" something. He was cooking burgers. Now that they have the Cheers program (sort of like all inclusive alcohol program) I don't worry about paying for each drink. Just swipe my room key because it's paid for in advance.
Really depends on your age. I'm in my late 20s and I love meeting people my age. I found that on Carnival vs. Royal Caribbean that many more people my age went Carnival because it's cheaper. I met more people in their late 30's and 40's on RC.
Totally agree. I'm in my early 50's, and found the RC cruise to be a more "mature" crowd, and FAR fewer diapers in the hot tubs, which I appreciate.
Yes, yes! I will try RC the next time. They were pricier, and I didn't want to pay extra if I was going to hate it. Now I know that I should have gone with RC and paid a smidgen extra. That extra would have been so worth it, it sounds like LOL. Thanks for the tips!
I tried that plan but with soda. It wasn't worth what I paid for it, because you couldn't get soda with room service, and you had to trek across the ship to find a bar to get it if you wanted it for breakfast, lunch or any other time of day. The only time I could get it was at dinner at night in the main dining room. They don't tell you that. They want you to pay for it in advance, and then not be able to use it.
Small short cruise on a small Carnival ship. Very blue collar crowd, low quality food. It was ok. The thing to remember for most people is that the drinks are VERY expensive and they run up a tab. Their tab surprises a lot of people. You can't bring liquor aboard of course and they are constantly pushing drinks at people never mentioning the price. OH, a curious thing was the extreme prices for telephone and internet access. Curiously, our cheapie pay-as-you-go phone worked so we avoided that, but the Iphone/Ipad and Galaxy did not.
I watched my "pay card" pretty closely. It's easy to let it get away from you, that's for sure. The drinks were pretty awesome, though. But you are right - blue collar is a perfect way to describe the ship we were on. Low quality food is putting it nicely. I am already looking into our next cruise. This time we are thinking Cozumel, and DEFINITELY not on Carnival.
