Cruise Line differences for someone who likes Carnival?

I am just wondering- I have only sailed on the Carnival Paradise, and we
loved every minute of it. I like the itineraries on some of the other lines
but am wondering how the ship accomodations and the food compare to
Carnival? I am in particular wondering what are the key differences between
the food/rooms/passengers on Carnival vs. Holland vs. Norwegian vs. Royal
caribbean, well vs. ANY of the popular cruise lines.

The food on Carnival was enjoyable for us- how do the other ships' buffets
compare? I think RC is probably ccomparable- do all of the other ships have
similar dining to Carnival, in the sense of having casual buffet
alternatives to the main dining rooms etc? That is one thing we really
enjoy, the buffets.

Also, we had a balcony room but would like to consider possibly even an
interior cabin next time to save money- from what we saw, at least on the
Upper Deck level, the interior cabins on Carnival were ok- not that much
worse than the balcony cabins, the main difference being no window. Would we
be as content with interior or windowed cabins on any other line? We're not
that picky and would only hate a room if it was way too noisy to sleep, or
very uncomfortable etc.

Jill wrote:
I am just wondering- I have only sailed on the Carnival Paradise, and we
loved every minute of it. I like the itineraries on some of the other lines
but am wondering how the ship accomodations and the food compare to
Carnival? I am in particular wondering what are the key differences between
the food/rooms/passengers on Carnival vs. Holland vs. Norwegian vs. Royal
caribbean, well vs. ANY of the popular cruise lines.

The food on Carnival was enjoyable for us- how do the other ships' buffets
compare? I think RC is probably ccomparable- do all of the other ships have
similar dining to Carnival, in the sense of having casual buffet
alternatives to the main dining rooms etc? That is one thing we really
enjoy, the buffets.

Every ship I have heard of, on the mass market lines, has a buffet.

Also, we had a balcony room but would like to consider possibly even an
interior cabin next time to save money- from what we saw, at least on the
Upper Deck level, the interior cabins on Carnival were ok- not that much
worse than the balcony cabins, the main difference being no window. Would we
be as content with interior or windowed cabins on any other line? We're not
that picky and would only hate a room if it was way too noisy to sleep, or
very uncomfortable etc.

Your mileage really varies here. My husband and I had outside cabins (no
balcony on our first two cruises, but got an inside on the last to save money.
We spend virtually no time in our cabin, so a window was not terribly useful,
and my husband wakes easily in response to light, so the blackness of the
inside cabin allowed us to stay up "late" and sleep later in the morning.

Although I would love to have a balcony to sit on as we sail away from a port
like San Juan.

Inside cabins are generally small, small, SMALL, if that bothers you. We've
not had one over 144 square feet. Indeed cabin size will be a big deal
coming from Carnival, which has unusually large cabins overall, and going from
balcony to inside will be a significant downgrading in size.

I think you'll enjoy some of the other lines.

Julie


--
Julie
**********
Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm

"Juliana L Holm" wrote

Inside cabins are generally small, small, SMALL, if that bothers you.
We've
not had one over 144 square feet. Indeed cabin size will be a big deal
coming from Carnival, which has unusually large cabins overall, and going
from
balcony to inside will be a significant downgrading in size.

I don't know how I would do in an inside cabin. I can be claustrophobic, I
can also be ok...I notice that most inside cabins have "trickery" to make
you feel like you have windows or more room, such as curtains or mirrors, or
art on the walls that looks like a window view.

Honestly, I felt like I had to have a balcony on our first cruise, but while
we there- I did sit out there a lot but overall we didn't spend that much
time in the cabin. It was nice to get fresh air into the cabin...it's really
about the fresh air; I can get the views from the deck. If I am going to not
have a balcony then I may as well not have a closed in window unless the
cost isn't more than an inside room.

I feel like I should try an inside room at least once. It's better to be on
the ship at all. When I find a really good deal, I will take one cruise with
the absolute least expensive price I can possibly get, to see how we do. I
just feel better with a familiar ship because I at least saw those and think
I'd be ok.

I feel sure RC is about the same as carnival...I had heard some complaint
about Norwegian, that some of the ships are older and not in as good
condition, which wouldn;t really be an issue if they're still decent, if the
overall experience will be good.

More than likely, any cruise will do just fine...

Jill wrote:

"Juliana L Holm" wrote

Inside cabins are generally small, small, SMALL, if that bothers you.
We've
not had one over 144 square feet. Indeed cabin size will be a big deal
coming from Carnival, which has unusually large cabins overall, and going
from
balcony to inside will be a significant downgrading in size.

I don't know how I would do in an inside cabin. I can be claustrophobic, I
can also be ok...I notice that most inside cabins have "trickery" to make
you feel like you have windows or more room, such as curtains or mirrors, or
art on the walls that looks like a window view.

I'm not sure I'd take a chance on an inside. They ARE small, and no trickery
can totally erase this.

Honestly, I felt like I had to have a balcony on our first cruise, but while
we there- I did sit out there a lot but overall we didn't spend that much
time in the cabin. It was nice to get fresh air into the cabin...it's really
about the fresh air; I can get the views from the deck. If I am going to not
have a balcony then I may as well not have a closed in window unless the
cost isn't more than an inside room.

On many ships an outside is not terribly much more than an inside, the big
jump often comes at balcony.

I feel like I should try an inside room at least once. It's better to be on
the ship at all. When I find a really good deal, I will take one cruise with
the absolute least expensive price I can possibly get, to see how we do. I
just feel better with a familiar ship because I at least saw those and think
I'd be ok.

Then start with Carnival, same class ship as the last (there are no doubt
several ships with essentially the same plan, and hence the same cabin size)
before going to another line.

FWIW RCCL (except Voyager class ships, and particularly the older ships) and
NCL have notoriously small insides.

I feel sure RC is about the same as carnival...I had heard some complaint
about Norwegian, that some of the ships are older and not in as good
condition, which wouldn;t really be an issue if they're still decent, if the
overall experience will be good.

I've done NCL twice, an older ship and a new ship. Both in great condition, and
the overall experience was wonderful.


More than likely, any cruise will do just fine...



--
Julie
**********
Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 15:27:27 GMT, "Jill" wrote:

I am just wondering- I have only sailed on the Carnival Paradise, and we
loved every minute of it. I like the itineraries on some of the other lines
but am wondering how the ship accomodations and the food compare to
Carnival? I am in particular wondering what are the key differences between
the food/rooms/passengers on Carnival vs. Holland vs. Norwegian vs. Royal
caribbean, well vs. ANY of the popular cruise lines.

The food on Carnival was enjoyable for us- how do the other ships' buffets
compare? I think RC is probably ccomparable- do all of the other ships have
similar dining to Carnival, in the sense of having casual buffet
alternatives to the main dining rooms etc? That is one thing we really
enjoy, the buffets.

Also, we had a balcony room but would like to consider possibly even an
interior cabin next time to save money- from what we saw, at least on the
Upper Deck level, the interior cabins on Carnival were ok- not that much
worse than the balcony cabins, the main difference being no window. Would we
be as content with interior or windowed cabins on any other line? We're not
that picky and would only hate a room if it was way too noisy to sleep, or
very uncomfortable etc.

if you had a balcony on the paradise, than you had a suite..try one of
ccl's destiny class or newer and you can get a balcony for (in most
cases) cheaper then you paid for the suite on the paradise

"Juliana L Holm" wrote
Then start with Carnival, same class ship as the last (there are no doubt
several ships with essentially the same plan, and hence the same cabin
size)
before going to another line.

That's helpful to know. I think as long as I don't spend much time in the
cabin other than sleep and shower, I'd be ok in the smaller ones but do need
to try it to be sure. We really did find that when we had the balcony it was
enjoyed, but I had thought beforehand that maybe I'd really appreciate
having a private balcony instead of going out to public areas for a nice
few- this was true to an extent but I found I spent a LOT of time in the
public areas. The ship just never felt crowded so it wasn't a big deal. I
didn't know what to expect so I thought maybe the ships public areas would
always be crowded, but it was not true.

Stay inside-and try to get Veranda deck. You'll save money and sleep later cause
it's impossible to tell what time it is! Three times for us inside-hell, I'm
hardly there except to sleep. Being up on Veranda is choice-everything is close.

Juliana L Holm wrote:

Jill wrote:

"Juliana L Holm" wrote

Inside cabins are generally small, small, SMALL, if that bothers you.
We've
not had one over 144 square feet. Indeed cabin size will be a big deal
coming from Carnival, which has unusually large cabins overall, and going
from
balcony to inside will be a significant downgrading in size.

I don't know how I would do in an inside cabin. I can be claustrophobic, I
can also be ok...I notice that most inside cabins have "trickery" to make
you feel like you have windows or more room, such as curtains or mirrors, or
art on the walls that looks like a window view.

I'm not sure I'd take a chance on an inside. They ARE small, and no trickery
can totally erase this.

Honestly, I felt like I had to have a balcony on our first cruise, but while
we there- I did sit out there a lot but overall we didn't spend that much
time in the cabin. It was nice to get fresh air into the cabin...it's really
about the fresh air; I can get the views from the deck. If I am going to not
have a balcony then I may as well not have a closed in window unless the
cost isn't more than an inside room.

On many ships an outside is not terribly much more than an inside, the big
jump often comes at balcony.

I feel like I should try an inside room at least once. It's better to be on
the ship at all. When I find a really good deal, I will take one cruise with
the absolute least expensive price I can possibly get, to see how we do. I
just feel better with a familiar ship because I at least saw those and think
I'd be ok.

Then start with Carnival, same class ship as the last (there are no doubt
several ships with essentially the same plan, and hence the same cabin size)
before going to another line.

FWIW RCCL (except Voyager class ships, and particularly the older ships) and
NCL have notoriously small insides.

I feel sure RC is about the same as carnival...I had heard some complaint
about Norwegian, that some of the ships are older and not in as good
condition, which wouldn;t really be an issue if they're still decent, if the
overall experience will be good.

I've done NCL twice, an older ship and a new ship. Both in great condition, and
the overall experience was wonderful.

More than likely, any cruise will do just fine...

--
Julie
**********
Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm

Jill wrote:

I am just wondering- I have only sailed on the Carnival Paradise, and we
loved every minute of it. I like the itineraries on some of the other lines
but am wondering how the ship accomodations and the food compare to
Carnival? I am in particular wondering what are the key differences between
the food/rooms/passengers on Carnival vs. Holland vs. Norwegian vs. Royal
caribbean, well vs. ANY of the popular cruise lines.

Tall order, but I'll give it a shot:

You cannot really compare these things across cruiselines; it's more
reasonable to compare them across SHIPS. So nothing I say here is
anywhere near an absolute! IN GENERAL I would say the food on Carnival
and HAL is better than the other two (and that's just my opinion, of
course). I would also say that you might be likely to find a somewhat
older crowd of passengers on HAL than on the other lines you've named,
but even this is not necessarily true of a one-week Caribbean cruise. I
would also venture to say that on the OLDER ships, Carnival has larger
rooms, but on the newer ships, only NCL has smaller rooms in general
than the other lines, in my experience.


The food on Carnival was enjoyable for us- how do the other ships' buffets
compare? I think RC is probably ccomparable- do all of the other ships have
similar dining to Carnival, in the sense of having casual buffet
alternatives to the main dining rooms etc? That is one thing we really
enjoy, the buffets.

HAL has wonderful buffet food. Carnival's Destiny-class ships tend to
have better buffets than the Fantasy-class (of which Paradise is one),
and their Spirit-class ships have the best buffet food of all, as far as
I'm concerned. RCL's food is, in my opinion, not as good as Carnival's,
especially at the buffet restaurants. Yes, they all have buffets.

Also, we had a balcony room but would like to consider possibly even an
interior cabin next time to save money- from what we saw, at least on the
Upper Deck level, the interior cabins on Carnival were ok- not that much
worse than the balcony cabins, the main difference being no window. Would we
be as content with interior or windowed cabins on any other line? We're not
that picky and would only hate a room if it was way too noisy to sleep, or
very uncomfortable etc.

There are huge differences in cabins across classes of ships that are
probably more significant than across cruiselines. There's really no
way anyone can answer this, I think!

Eileen

Jill wrote:


Honestly, I felt like I had to have a balcony on our first cruise, but while
we there- I did sit out there a lot but overall we didn't spend that much
time in the cabin. It was nice to get fresh air into the cabin...it's really
about the fresh air; I can get the views from the deck. If I am going to not
have a balcony then I may as well not have a closed in window unless the
cost isn't more than an inside room.

You might want to check out some of the cabins on SOME Carnival ships (I
think both Destiny-class and Spirit-class have these) that have French
windows - you get the fresh air at a relatively low price.

I feel like I should try an inside room at least once. It's better to be on
the ship at all. When I find a really good deal, I will take one cruise with
the absolute least expensive price I can possibly get, to see how we do. I
just feel better with a familiar ship because I at least saw those and think
I'd be ok.

If you want familiarity, then do try one of the newer Carnival ships.
But I think before one settles on a cruiseline, they should try 'em all!

I feel sure RC is about the same as carnival...I had heard some complaint
about Norwegian, that some of the ships are older and not in as good
condition, which wouldn;t really be an issue if they're still decent, if the
overall experience will be good.

Far too many generalizations here for my taste!

More than likely, any cruise will do just fine...

If I might make a suggestion, pick a date that works for you, search for
the lowest prices for that date on ALL the cruiselines, then when you've
narrowed down your options, read some reviews (try
seacruisereviews.com). I agree, any cruise will do, more than likely!

Eileen

Good advice, Juliana!

Eileen

Juliana L Holm wrote:

Jill wrote:


"Juliana L Holm" wrote

Inside cabins are generally small, small, SMALL, if that bothers you.

We've

not had one over 144 square feet. Indeed cabin size will be a big deal
coming from Carnival, which has unusually large cabins overall, and going

from

balcony to inside will be a significant downgrading in size.


I don't know how I would do in an inside cabin. I can be claustrophobic, I
can also be ok...I notice that most inside cabins have "trickery" to make
you feel like you have windows or more room, such as curtains or mirrors, or
art on the walls that looks like a window view.


I'm not sure I'd take a chance on an inside. They ARE small, and no trickery
can totally erase this.


Honestly, I felt like I had to have a balcony on our first cruise, but while
we there- I did sit out there a lot but overall we didn't spend that much
time in the cabin. It was nice to get fresh air into the cabin...it's really
about the fresh air; I can get the views from the deck. If I am going to not
have a balcony then I may as well not have a closed in window unless the
cost isn't more than an inside room.


On many ships an outside is not terribly much more than an inside, the big
jump often comes at balcony.


I feel like I should try an inside room at least once. It's better to be on
the ship at all. When I find a really good deal, I will take one cruise with
the absolute least expensive price I can possibly get, to see how we do. I
just feel better with a familiar ship because I at least saw those and think
I'd be ok.


Then start with Carnival, same class ship as the last (there are no doubt
several ships with essentially the same plan, and hence the same cabin size)
before going to another line.

FWIW RCCL (except Voyager class ships, and particularly the older ships) and
NCL have notoriously small insides.


I feel sure RC is about the same as carnival...I had heard some complaint
about Norwegian, that some of the ships are older and not in as good
condition, which wouldn;t really be an issue if they're still decent, if the
overall experience will be good.


I've done NCL twice, an older ship and a new ship. Both in great condition, and
the overall experience was wonderful.



More than likely, any cruise will do just fine...