Are Carnival Cruises fun?

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Paul in San Diego

Carnival bills itself as the cruise line with the "Fun Ships." But, all cruise lines are fun and there's plenty of things to keep you occupied.

Most cruises I have been on were with Carnival. My daughter has been on Princess and Royal Caribbean cruises, and she thinks Carnival is low class (kind of dumpy) and the food isn't very good. I've been on Holland America and thought it was a bit stuffy (not laid back enough).

Across the board, Carnival is cheaper than any other cruise line for a particular destination. So, you get a lot of families with kids, especially during the holidays and spring break. The other cruise lines tend to get an older crowd. And, cruises to cold places (like Alaska and Canada) are almost exclusively adults and older people.

It doesn't cost any different having a travel agent book your cruise for you than it does to do it yourself. And, even though it might be a bit more expensive, seriously consider booking your flight through the cruise line. If something changes (departure date or city), it's up to the cruise line to make sure you get to the home port in time. If you book your flight separate, you're responsible for the changes. And, this will result in extra charges, if you can even change the dates or city.

I went on a cruise with the fam (my wife, our 3 adult kids, my broght-in-law, and his teenage son) back in November of 2005. We booked in March and were going to the Caribbean out of New Orleans. Fortunately, we waited to book our air transportation, because they moved our home port to Galveston after Hurricane Katrina wiped out New Orleans. Then Hurricane Rita hit Galveston and we almost got bumped again. My brother-in-law booked his flight through the cruise line and had no worries.

Also, remember that Caribbean cruise prices are cheaper from June to October for a reason: it's hurricane season. If a hurricane is supposed to hit when you're supposed to be on your cruise, they can either change the itinerary, alter the cruise dates, or cancel it altogether. I went on a cruise a couple years ago to the Mexican Riviera in late October. Sure enough, the last hurricane of the season in the Pacific was scheduled to hit Cabo San Lucas the day we were supposed to be there. So, the ship just turned circles off the coast of Baja California for a couple days while the hurricane passed. By then, it was too late to go to Mazatlan and the only port we could hit was Puerto Vallarta.

Another thing to consider is that you should monitor how much your cruise is from the time you put your down payment on it until you pay the balance (travel agencies may require like 25% down with the balance due 45 days before the cruise date). Cruise prices can change and you can get the lower price by requesting it. But, they don't automatically lower your price for you.

Ted P

If you are younger than the age of 40 Carnival is the cruise line for you. They may not have the lavish spa's ( but the do have a spa) or the best food for the cruise lines( don't get me wrong the food is great, and plenty of it) it is the one for you. Hundreds of activities for you to do during the day or you can just lay around and drink. I have been on many cruises, and have found that for the money and the fun ( fun ship cruises is their slogan) Carnival is the way to go. As for booking everything though at travel agent, I would do it yourself. Google cruise discounts and you can find the cheapest and best one suited for you. And as for airfare. You will save $150-$250 if you book it yourself. The only risk is that if you miss the boat due to plane problems you are on your own getting to the ship, so I would book the earliest flight out that day, or even the night before and get a cheap hotel. You are still saving a few hundred dollars.

LadyBug

The answer by Ted P is very good and informative; however the only thing I would say different is for a first cruise, go with a travel agent.

I am a member of AAA and went through a local AAA travel agent. The travel agents get their money from the cruise lines. Someone I know said the same about her travel agent. The rate I got was no different than if I'd booked the cruise myself. I went with a travel agent because as a FTC (first time cruiser) I had lots of questions.

Flights: If your ship leaves Miami, it's cheaper to fly into Ft. Lauderdale most of the time. Most ships leave around 4:00 pm. If you fly down the same day, book your flight to arrive early and when you return, book your flight to leave no earlier than 1:00 pm (3 travel agents told me this).

Go to cruisecritic.com and click on Reviews/Member Reviews..read about other people's experiences...do's and don'ts....the good, bad, and ugly. I did and it was loads of help.

HAVE FUN!!

bluedreams1810

Hello! I live in PA as well, and have been on 2 cruises, about to go on my 3rd. All were carnival! I love carnival! there is always something to do! It's so much fun! You can try calling AAA and having them book everything for you, they can usually get air fare at a cheaper rate. A little warning though- of you let the cruise line book your air travel, they get you the cheapest flights they can find, so they are not always a non-stop flight. I went 12 years ago with my family, and they booked it through the airline. We ended up having a connection through Kentucky. it was really stupid. When we went last time my fiance & I booked our on air fare, and air fare is really cheap now. good luck! u will have a lot of fun.

gcswimmer03

I'm a strong believer in cruises being as fun as you make them.

I took a Carnival cruise in the Mediterranean last October. I booked the Carnival Cruise and all the shore excursions through Carnival's website and got my plane tickets from CheapTickets.com. (Fourteen hours of flying between Detroit and Rome = not fun) At one point, my original flight times were changed, making it impossible for me to catch my return flight at the end of the cruise. Luckily, CheapTickets dealt with the airlines and tried to get my flight changed and when that didn't work CheapTickets refunded my first ticket with no penalities and I booked a cheaper ticket.

There is pretty much always some sort of activity going on on the boat. Some of them are kind of cheesy, but if you're into that kind of stuff you're all set. Most of my time was spent either on a shore excursion or chilling in my room. I did go to a couple of art auctions, played some bingo, and watched a couple of the big shows. I had a blast.

Emily M

They're nice, but I perfer Disney Cruises. I like to indulge my inner child, though. If you don't want a lot of kids, go for something aside from Carnival or Disney... I suppose that one of the smaller cruise lines (still big) would be good.

anitad_1108

I've been on 2 cruises. We loved them. There are shows, dance clubs, great food, you can gamble. And you wake up somewhere new almost everyday. How coll is that. I'm from PA too. The first cruise we left from FL but the 2nd we left from Puerto Rico. I liked leaving from Purto Rico the best. The water is calm and we got to go to more islands. HAVE FUN!!!!

peash

My first cruise was on carnival and my second was on royal caribbean. I preferred royal. They had way more activities on board, the ship was nicer, better food, just more fun. I spent most of my time on carnival taking naps ! LOL it was a bit boring on board. But hey that's just my opinion.

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