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Carnival 7 Day Southern Caribbean Cruise Reviews / Feedback? Worth Taking?
Hello All,
My family and I are currently shopping around for a 7 Day Southern Caribbean cruise from San Juan, Puerto Rico for February. We are specifically looking at cruises that visit the following 5 islands: St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua. After doing some research we've discovered that Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Carnival all offer cruises with the same itinerary. We've sailed on several cruises with Royal Caribbean and one with Princess. We've had a great time on each cruise and never had any negative comments. None of us have ever sailed Carnival and I'm hoping some of you out there can give some feedback about the cruising Carnival. I've heard very mixed reviews about sailing with Carnival and would like to hear how Carnival's food, service, cleanliness, activities, atmosphere, etc. compare to Royal Caribbean and Princess? The cruise we're looking at will be aboard the Carnival Destiny ship. Have anyone sailed this ship before, if so, how was your experience? If we were to sail Royal Caribbean it would be aboard the Serenade Of The Seas and for Princess it would be aboard the Crown Princess. Any comments about either of these two ships? Any feedback would be a great help. Thanks, - Dave |
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Carnival 7 Day Southern Caribbean Cruise Reviews / Feedback? Worth Taking?
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Carnival 7 Day Southern Caribbean Cruise Reviews / Feedback? Worth Taking?
Hi, Dave,
That's a lovely itinerary you're contemplating. The ships can't really be compared "apples to apples." The Destiny is quite a bit older and will feature fewer bells and whistles, not to mention some very gaudy/glitzy interiors as compared to what you've enjoyed on Princess and RCI. I think she has been in drydock fairly recently for a face lift, but bottom line, there is no way you can compare the Destiny to the other two ships, at least on "hardware" alone. For my tastes, the Serenade is the most gorgeous ship I've ever cruised--we were on her inaugural voyage in August 2003. And then, there's the Crown. She hasn't even made her debut, has she? I have read lots of interesting things about that ship, and hands down, if you are looking at what the ship will offer, then I think the Crown is the most intriguing of the bunch. I also imagine the three cruises are priced accordingly, with the Destiny being quite a deal and the Crown being premium, but only slightly ahead of the Serenade. Price for all three is probably going to hold strong as February is peak season. Are you going over President's Day/Week by any chance? That is a high demand week, and more families with kids will be cruising due to school holidays, which could be a plus or minus for you. From a "software" standpoint, we've cruised all three lines, but in the Carnival line, only on a Spirit-class ship. (Destiny is a Destiny-class ship!) The Spirit class is the one class of Carnival ship that draws mostly high praise from all and is easily comparable in many categories to RCI and Princess. We felt the food and service were above average on that Carnival cruise and, in fact, competitive with Princess. We didn't let the "Fun Ship" features like singing waiters and cheesey games distract us (see other thread below), but we do prefer the more understated ambiance of Princess. RCI is our first choice when it comes to entertainment. What are your tastes, and what's important to you when you cruise? This kind of discussion is sooooooo subjective..... I'd certainly recommend that you study many firsthand reviews of the Destiny if you are leaning in that direction. You can find a bunch over at www.cruisecritic.com and also at www.cruisereviews.com Of course, another way to look at that trip is, the itinerary is so port-intensive, the choice of ship/line might be less significant to you than the finer details of the itinerary, relative value considering the amount of time spent on the ship, etc. I am a traveler who frequently analyzes cruises that way--especially because we travel as a family of 4, so travel gets expensive--but by my observation, most cruisers are much more emotionally invested in the cruise ship as a destination. If you are going for the cruise as much or more as you are going for the ports, I think most would agree, the new Crown would have to come out on top, with the Serenade a close second. And in this case, I think I'd have to reason that having invested in the RT air fares to get to San Juan, it is silly to pinch pennies over the cruise when the difference in cruise experience is potentially so great, i.e., I, personally, do see the Crown and Serenade as being much better choices than the Destiny. My opinions are just that, my opinions. I'm sure others will weigh in, too! Note, we hit St. Thomas, Dominica and Barbados last December 2005. If you want to look at our port reports, they are posted here and can be accessed via Google Groups search of rec.travel.cruises by using, e.g., Dominica as the keyword, my handle "D Ball" as author, and date after 1/1/2006. Take care, have fun researching your trip! Diana Ball near Houston, TX |
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Carnival 7 Day Southern Caribbean Cruise Reviews / Feedback? Worth Taking?
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Carnival 7 Day Southern Caribbean Cruise Reviews / Feedback? Worth Taking?
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Carnival 7 Day Southern Caribbean Cruise Reviews / Feedback?Worth Taking?
wrote: We've sailed on several cruises with Royal Caribbean and one with Princess. We've had a great time on each cruise and never had any negative comments. None of us have ever sailed Carnival and I'm hoping some of you out there can give some feedback about the cruising Carnival. I've heard very mixed reviews about sailing with Carnival and would like to hear how Carnival's food, service, cleanliness, activities, atmosphere, etc. compare to Royal Caribbean and Princess? The cruise we're looking at will be aboard the Carnival Destiny ship. Have anyone sailed this ship before, if so, how was your experience? If we were to sail Royal Caribbean it would be aboard the Serenade Of The Seas and for Princess it would be aboard the Crown Princess. Any comments about either of these two ships? Dave, To compare the three ships and what they have or don't have, go to this link and click on each ship in turn. http://travel.travelocity.com/ecruis...ce=TRAVELOCITY We have found food and service to be very good to excellant on Carnival. The negatives are the singing/dancing waiters, but that isn't a deal breaker for us. The major problem we have with Carnival is the smoke in the casino and in most of the lougnges. The other thing to consider is that the Destiny is an older ship, but you can find out if it meets your needs by going to the above link. Royal Caribbean we have also had good service, but the food was not very good. I have heard some reports of the food improving and you are talking about a newer ship, so the food "might" be better on the Serenade of the Seas. The Crown Princess has not sailed yet, first sailing is the middle of June and we are booked on one of her August sailings. She is a slightly improved/expanded version of the Carribean Princess, which has always gotten good reports. I have always had good food and service on Princess ships, nothing to complain about. Of these three choices I would pick the Crown Princess since it is a new ship and I have always been pleased with Princess food, service etc. You are the only one who knows if what "I" consider a problem on Carnival or Royal Carribean would be problems for you. In addition to the links Diana gave you, you can read reviews at: http://www.seacruisereviews.com/reviews.asp sue |
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Carnival 7 Day Southern Caribbean Cruise Reviews / Feedback? Worth Taking?
wrote in message oups.com... Hello All, My family and I are currently shopping around for a 7 Day Southern Caribbean cruise from San Juan, Puerto Rico for February. We are specifically looking at cruises that visit the following 5 islands: St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua. After doing some research we've discovered that Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Carnival all offer cruises with the same itinerary. We've sailed on several cruises with Royal Caribbean and one with Princess. We've had a great time on each cruise and never had any negative comments. None of us have ever sailed Carnival and I'm hoping some of you out there can give some feedback about the cruising Carnival. I've heard very mixed reviews about sailing with Carnival and would like to hear how Carnival's food, service, cleanliness, activities, atmosphere, etc. compare to Royal Caribbean and Princess? The cruise we're looking at will be aboard the Carnival Destiny ship. Have anyone sailed this ship before, if so, how was your experience? If we were to sail Royal Caribbean it would be aboard the Serenade Of The Seas and for Princess it would be aboard the Crown Princess. Any comments about either of these two ships? Any feedback would be a great help. Thanks, - Dave I've been on about 30 cruises and did one on Carnival. It will be my first and last on Carnival. This group tends to be very divided on Carnival. Half seems to love Carnival. The other half don't like Carnival. Me... I won't go on Carnival again if it was free. I would rate Carnival lower than the likes of Princess and Celebrity as far as food, service, and cleanliness. Though many here like Carnival's food. The ship designs tend to be on the hideous side as far as interiors. Activities are pretty similar to other lines, though we found the comedians and cruise directors a bit more "low class" than you'll find on other lines. On our sailing (on Destiny FWIW)... we had a barrage of fart jokes from comedians and John Heald, the CD. Another comedian featured a serious of jokes that were very derogatory of women. My wife walked out halfway through the show. Destiny would be pretty much my last choice for a Southern Caribbean sailing. I'd rather not go than sail Destiny again. --Tom |
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Carnival 7 Day Southern Caribbean Cruise Reviews / Feedback? Worth Taking?
"Tom K" :
I've been on about 30 cruises and did one on Carnival. It will be my first and last on Carnival. So you say. This group tends to be very divided on Carnival. Half seems to love Carnival. The other half don't like Carnival. Me... I won't go on Carnival again if it was free. ???? That is not what you said last week. If you are going to give advice don't you think you should be constant in what you say? I would rate Carnival lower than the likes of Princess and Celebrity as far as food, You are the only person I have ever seen claim Carnival's food quality is lower than the over lines. Infact almost every single review out there says the opposite. service, Depending what you mean by service yes the other lines are better. But I never found them lacking. and cleanliness. You have got to be kidding! You are so out to get Carnival you need to lie? How come you did not complain about cleanliness in your own review of your Carnival trip when you post one? How come no-one else has? Though many here like Carnival's food. The ship designs tend to be on the hideous side as far as interiors. Let me get this right, one of the most popular cruise-iines stays in business by having hideous interiors? I think it is time you get new glasses. Activities are pretty similar to other lines, though we found the comedians and cruise directors a bit more "low class" than you'll find on other lines. Cruder jokes, using the term "low class" tells us more about you than the comedians. On our sailing (on Destiny FWIW)... we had a barrage of fart jokes from comedians and John Heald, the CD. Another comedian featured a serious of jokes that were very derogatory of women. My wife walked out halfway through the show. And on my cruise the lady up front said some crude things about men and the women were laughting at us. It goes both ways. Destiny would be pretty much my last choice for a Southern Caribbean sailing. I'd rather not go than sail Destiny again. Make up your mind, is it Destiny or Carnival you have a beef with? Earl Colby Pottinger (Loved his Carnival cruise) -- Cruising, building a Catamaran, Rebuilding Cabin, New Peroxide Still Design, Writting SF, Programming FOSS - What happened to the time? |
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Carnival 7 Day Southern Caribbean Cruise Reviews / Feedback? Worth Taking?
On Tue, 16 May 2006 18:41:59 -0400, Tom K wrote:
I've been on about 30 cruises and did one on Carnival. It will be my first and last on Carnival. This group tends to be very divided on Carnival. Half seems to love Carnival. The other half don't like Carnival. Me... I won't go on Carnival again if it was free. Got it wrong, Tom half like Carnival, half minus you dislike Carnival. You're freaking obsessed with your hate for Carnival. -- http://www.punkvoter.com/anim/anim-idiot.html |
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Carnival 7 Day Southern Caribbean Cruise Reviews / Feedback? Worth Taking?
Earl Colby Pottinger wrote: "Tom K" : The ship designs tend to be on the hideous side as far as interiors. Let me get this right, one of the most popular cruise-iines stays in business by having hideous interiors? I think it is time you get new glasses. Come on now Earl. Even the hard core Carnival lovers admit that the interiors are pretty out there. I like to think of Carnival interior design kind of like a Michael Graves "architectural entertainment" sort of thing. The interiors are designed to get a reaction from passengers - they're designed to startle, surprise, amuse or offend as the case may be. I've yet to hear anyone, even Carnival fans, say anything positive about the Bacchus dining room on Miracle, for instance. It's downright hideous, to use Tom's word. I'm just happy that they seem to keep the cabins somewhat subdued. After the eyes being assaulted non-stop during the day, it's nice to retreat to a space that's a little more relaxing. Let's just say I was, for the most part, amused by the Miracle's interior design, but I'm thankful that I don't have to look at it every day of my life. It's exhausting to have to absorb that much, all the time. I was very, very impressed, though, by the attention to detail, and how the theme was carried out to the nth degree. I found the Miracle to be much more pleasing to the eye than Paradise, but I understand that Miracle is about the most subdued of the Carnival fleet. Paradise was ugly beyond belief. All that being said, I don't think I'd ever make a cruise choice based on what a ship's interior design is like. It's just decoration...background. Just not that important to me. Lee |
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