How bad are Carnival cruise ships?

A

AstroHorn2001

25+ Posts
My girlfriend and I are trying to develop a contingency plan in the event we do not make the BCS this year. I've noticed that Carnival has a 4-night cruise that leaves from Galveston the first week of January.

However, most of the reviews I've read about Carnival seem to be sketchy at best. Can anyone share some experiences in cruising with this line? Keep in mind we're not looking for anything lavish, just something clean and comfortable that will make us feel like we're actually on vacation.

Also, as far as pricing goes, how much do you allocate for booze? I assume meals are pre-paid but drinking could be a whole separate expense. Any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks.
 
for a 5 night cruise, me and wife usually spend about $600 on alcohol.

carnival sux. norweigian sux. those are the only two i have been to.
 
My wife & I took a short cruise from Galveston to Playa/Cozumel on their ship called "Celebration" a half dozen years or so ago. At the time, the ship seemed completely out of date, with a strong "Miami Vice" vibe going on. The food was OK, and 24-hour pizza was enough to quell the late-night casino hunger, but I wouldn't expect luxury, because you won't get it.

I don't know how much you have to pay for a decent room, either, but ours consisted of what were basically two dorm beds that we were able to push together. Also, it's windy as hell on deck, and not all that fun.
 
i'll pile on. i'm no cruise expert. i've been on exactly one cruise, and it was carnival. our goal was to just have a fun trip, we did a short cruise from port canaveral FL to the bahamas. i'd say one word sums it up, cheesy. now cheesy can be fun, but i wouldn't expect it to be anything near nice. rooms were very blah, but then again you probably won't be in the room much. food was average at best, and the midnight pizza wasn't available when we went to get it one evening. we got excited to do karoke one night, but the machine was broken and the event canceled. i hear there are other/better cruise lines but i will defer to the cruise experts on here.
 
The only one I have ever been on was princess. I was 21 at the time and loved the **** out of it. Service was always great and food was too. I remember leaving a bar at 2 or 3 in the morning and going to a full buffet that they kept open pretty much around the clock.

I think it was 2300 a person (based on double occupancy in the room) for a week. There were cheaper options for a smaller room w/o a balcony. More expensive options as well.
 
The only cruise I have ever been on was royal carribean and the food was pretty good.

Most people that go on Carnival say that their food is very average. i just had a friend come back from a carnival cruise on saturday and he had a rather average time.

I smuggled a bottle of Rum and a bottle of Jack and I spent about $150 on alcohol for a 7 day cruise. Thats actually kind of cheap....some of my friends spent well over $500 on booze. Outside of the days that you dock, there really isn't anything else to do except drink.
 
Thanks for the replies. The more I think about this, the less desireable it apepears. I seem to have also forgotten to account for the throngs of white trash from Long Isand all the way to Arkansas that I'm sure are fixtures on any Carnival voyage. Looks like we're better off just flying somewhere nice for a few nights.
 
Wife and I went on a Carnival cruise out of Miami a couple years ago. It was a newer boat and it was clean and updated. We enjoyed ourselves but it certainly wasn't anything spectacular. Royal Carib is far and above Carnival, but since it was a newer boat it was nice.

The boats out of Galveston and New Orleans are the older boats. 1995 and older from what I recall. This may have changed since this was 2 years ago, but I doubt it. These boats are the ones I hear the biggest complaints about, FWIW
 
I probably should have said this in my initial post, but I didn't: no way would I do that cruise again. I'd much rather hop a flight to Savannah or the Broadmoor or NYC or even the Florida Gulf.
 
I would not sail on the Carnival Ectasy due to it being built in 1991. The other Carnival option out of Galveston is the Conquest which I have been on. It was built in 2002 and moved from New Orleans to Galveston due to Katrina.It is one of Carnivals better ships, I though the ship itself was very nice. The comments on here are pretty dead on, food ok not great, not much to due at sea but drink, spent about 600.00 for a week on alcohol for 2. I spent extra and got a room with a balcony, that is worth every penny cause the rooms do basically suck. The worst part is visiting a port you really like and only having 6-8 hours to enjoy it, then back on the ship for more drinking.
 
cheesy is what they were calling the "lido deck", aka the pool area. it looked like an overgrown kiddie pool that was in bad need of cleaning, with some terrible music being piped in, with a nascar crowd livin la vida loca.
 
I have been on two Carnival cruises and enjoyed them both. I guess it depends on what you expect and what you're looking for. There is something to be said for having your transportation and destination being the same thing.

The food is pretty good, but not spectacular. There are plenty of things to do on the ship and in port. Personally, I like not having a phone to answer and crises to deal with. A cruise is pretty relaxing to me.
hookem.gif
 
getting on a carnival cruise is like going to a sooner game in norman. fly down to playa del carmen for a long weekend instead. if you have to take a cruise out of galveston, take the norwegian instead of carnival. i dont like cruises personally but i also am picky about what i eat.
 
been on two cruises. royal caribbean and holland america. it's basically the difference between the Hilton New York and the Hampton Inn Hoboken.
 
The wife and I took a 4-night Celebrity cruise out of Miami back in March. It was a great trip. The food in the main dining rooms was pretty good, but the food in the "restaurant" was outstanding. I mean REALLY good - equivalent to a 4-star restaurant (like the 4-seasons Austin). We found a $169 round trip out of Dallas to Miami - so it wasn't that much more expensive. Then we stayed an extra two nights in Miami. If you are looking to cruise the Carribean, I recommend this route. The ship was very nice and classy.

Our Cruise

We had an inside stateroom and it was fine. We actually liked it because we could sleep REALLY late because it was so dark. There isn't really much to see outside the window on this trip anyway.
 
I'd rather fly somewhere and spend a long weekend. I have been on one cruise and we had a big group of people with us so it was pretty fun. It was not something I would do with just the wife and I, and we do like each other!
 
jesus. i've had fun on every cruise i've been on. i've been on 2 carnival cruises (with groups) which were a blast. i have to admit i would never recommend carnival for a romantic 2 person getaway.

i proposed to my wife on a princess cruise. splurged for the balcony and had a blast.

you just gotta know what you want. cruises can be a blast. just bring lots of books and sunblock and you'll be fine no matter what, as long as you want to drink expensive boat drinks and relax.
 
holland america was the hilton. you can just look at the prices and figure that out. we took holland america to alaska and it was really nice. it was cheesy, like all cruises, but much nicer than royal caribbean.

also, i forgot to mention that i also have been a disney cruise. the food and entertainment on that cruise were better than anything on the other two. top notch at both of them... and they didn't expect you to dress up for dinner... very nice. there are parts of the boat that are adults only and you won't see any kids there.
 
My wife and I went with some friends. As stated above, I wouldn't recommend it for just two people.

We had fun. I would have liked to have spent more time at the ports. Food was ok. I got really bored by the 4th day -- but I was also diagnosed with ADHD 3 days after we got back from the cruise so that might have had something to do with it.

I didn't have any complaints...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Weekly Prediction Contest

* Predict HORNS-AGGIES *
Sat, Nov 30 • 6:30 PM on ABC

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top