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Carnival Cruise Line

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
For those that have cruised with them before, how was your experience?

Ours wasn't so good...

Can't find my notes yet (I kept a list of things that weren't very good) but some things come to mind.

We got a room with a walk-out balcony. The room was about 1/2 the size of that pictured on their web site.

The food in general was poor. I don't eat deserts but Mrs. Zoom and daughter go for them. They were so bad, my daughter wouldn't eat them and that means they have to be terrible as my daughter loves all deserts.

The food for the sit-down, semi-formal restaurants was 95% the same as what was in the buffet.

There was a Space Shuttle launch while we were on the ship. It was in the distance, but was visible. Not a word of the launch over the intercom so people could watch it. 5 minutes later, the entertainment director came over the intercom to announce the "special events" of the day. HELLO!!! Watching a Space Shuttle launch may have been a point of interest.

As expected, I didn't see a single American on the staff (their name tags have their country listed). Not an issue really if the staff could at least speak English (beyond "Hello"). A real PITA when you go to Information or Customer Service and can't understand a word they're saying.

The on-board pool was empty for the first day. The other water parks and kids areas closed at 6 PM. Ummmm, what are the kids supposed to do after 6:00 when we're at sea?

Every staff member I asked about "Duty Free" gave me a different answer on what's allowed to be brought back. On the eve of debarkation, we get a pamphlet under our door with written info on the subject. Well, what was told verbally wasn't even close. I had to get up at 06:00 (at least an hour early) on the day the cruise ended so I could go visit with Customs to pay the taxes on the extra stuff I purchased (that all verbals said was within limits). Customs did waive the taxes for me though.

This one isn't related to Carnival but I was really caught off guard that when we debarked off the plane, we went past all the areas that said "no fruit, flowers... to be brought on-shore", another place where you walk past and hand over your customs form (for booze and cigarettes) but then straight out the door to the parking lot. WTH?!?!? Nobody debarking was stopped for Customs or Immigration to provide ID/Citizenship info.

There's a lot more but they're not coming to mind right now.
 

rback33

Hangin in Tornado Alley
SUPER Site Supporter
I saw a discussion somewhere the other day by people that had traveled two different cruise lines. One was rated far above the other. IIRC Carnival was the bottom of the two.
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Norwegian Cruise Lines was much better quality.

We took Carnival as a last-minute cruise add-on to an existing vacation. We were severely limited on cruise options since we needed to leave out or a particular port on a particular day (and to a specific destination) to make it work. If we're just going on a cruise where we're flexible, I don't see Carnival being our preferred line.
 

OhioTC18

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
We've only been on one cruise and it was with Carnival. I can't remember any single issue that we had on that cruise. The room came with 2 twin beds and we pushed them around to make one King. Not one person said anything about it the whole 7 days. Food was great as was the service.

In December we may be taking another one on Carnival. But I am not too excited about it. I don't want to be cooped up with the family members that arranged it.
 

HulaMac

New member
We took a Mexican Riviera cruise on the Tropical (Carnival) 20 years ago and had a great time. No complaints. June 6 we leave for an Alaska cruise on The Norwegian Pearl. It is the newest in the fleet and I've heard rave reviews about it.
 
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