Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival Legend — Off to Alaska. I must say that our stateroom (we had the veranda suite) was nice. However, when the captain was hauling ass to get to our first stop it was very loud and the ship shakes and vibrates a LOT! Once we were in AK then cruising was great.
The entertainment on the ship was virtually non-​existent! Comedy was so so — and that’s about all we had beside a class «C» song and dance show with a bunch of choir players. Cruise director was ‘over the top’ in all areas but nice enough. Just didn’t seem like there was anything to do there but gamble.
Food was mediocre at best. And it seemed that every time we wanted to eat all we could find was pizza. REALLY? On a cruise ship! To not have good food ²⁴⁄₇ was surprising. We could of course order ‘room service’ — for a fee. The time in each port was also weird; 14 hours in Skagway — a town of less than 1000 people? How much can one person shop? Then in Juneau we had only 6 hours! Less time in Ketchikan and the stop in Victoria was useless. 4 hours! And all of that is at night!!! By the time we got off the ship it was just about time to get back on board. Saw nothing of Victoria except the bus ride to downtown where we finally had a somewhat decent meal.
The highlight of our trip was the sea plane to the Taku lodge. We flew over 5 glaciers in Juneau to the absolutely beautiful lodge. Had great BBQ salmon and chicken with all the fixins’! The place sits right across from the Hole in the Wall glacier and has a family of bears that entertains the guests. They actually jump up onto the BBQ and help clean up the drippings! Great place to take a nature walk — just be sure to bring the mosquito spray!
I was less than impressed with Carnival — we had to abort a cruise in 2015 due to the illness and later the passing of one of our party. I wrote to Carnival about his passing and they were kind enough to offer all of us credit for our unused passage. For that they get kudos. And it was because of that credit we did the cruise to AK. I’ve cruised only one other cruise line before Carnival — it was Royal Caribbean and their services, food and state rooms were much better.
I did enjoy cruising that’s for sure! Would I cruise Carnival again? Maybe but I’ll try another ship first.

Just returned from the 7 day Mexican Rivera Cruise on Carnival Miracle. Cabin 8126 on top deck extended balcony. The room was good balcony was the best part. For warning you cannot choice your cabin neighbors. The cruise itself was good. Like that there is a Serenity 21+ area so if you don’t have kids and want to hang out in that area it was nice. There are plenty of activities to keep you busy just make sure you arrive early to actually get a seat example for Trivia, Phantom Theater shows and especially for the Comedy Shows in the small Mad Hatters Ball Room. Dining room food was good lots of choices desserts were good order the Banana Split off the kids menu it’s delicious. It’s gets a little crazy the last 2 sea days as everyone is stuck on the ship and there are super long lines to get buffet lunch and dessert stations. I wanted to try the chopsticks station with Chinese food but didn’t get a chance because I didn’t have the patience to stand in line for 30 min to an hour to get some food.

Well we just returned from a nine day cruise on the Splendor. I won’t waste your time because I think when you cruise Carnival you know what you get. It was your classic party cruise. My wife and I prefer Princess and Holland America because of the lack of kids so I can’t say that this company is bad. Carnival is like the Grateful Dead, they have a following that you can’t shake and I can tell that they are trying to clean up their party image. The three stars is our comparison to the other two cruise lines.
Not so great:
TV. They don’t do a good job in keeping a steady signal. Even in port at Bermuda on a clear day they could not keep a strong signal and what used to be free as far as movies are now pay per view. Not so bad but many of the movies they advertise are not available but again my wife and I are close to retirement age and at times like to stay in.
Kids. We got a balcony so we wouldn’t have to deal with unsupervised children and it helped a lot but if you are out and about after 8 pm then they clearly had control of the boat. I was watching game 1 of the NBA Finals and the sports bar was packed which was cool. What was t cool was the serving if alcohol to minors.
Cigar lovers– forget it! They will regulate you to a part of the boat where it’s hard to even light a cigar let alone smoke it. They used to have an awesome cigar bar but it’s gone. The cigar selection is crap! Bring your own!
Gym was awful! They played four songs over and over and it was at ear splitting sound to say the least! Bring your own playlist. The equipment isn’t bad but needs updating. It’s been the same for years. Most of the equipment is defective when it comes to accessing the video channels. It’s hard to program many of the elliptical machines as well as treadmills. Find one early that you can and stick with it! The workout machines are good. Also, you cannot access steam rooms unless you buy the spa pass.
Getting back on the ship in port. Try and get back before the lines form!!! They only keep one line open. After a hot day, you can and will get sunburned standing in line to get on. There really isn’t a reason why they can’t have two open.
Good:
Cabin stewards were once again top notch. I’d put these guys up against anyone! They are extremely efficient and friendly. They are the heart and soul of the ship (as well as the wait staff in the dining rooms)
Spa was great. If you use the steam rooms then the spa pass us for you man. The hit chairs are great as well. Note that you do need to request a bathrobe.
Pizza man! Hardest working guy I’ve ever seen! He keeps the pizza moving! Many times it’s just better to eat pizza than to stand in line at the buffet. Buffet? Well I e seen and tasted a lot better. Burrito Bar is worth it if you want to stand in line. Omelette are far better than the watered down eggs!
Drinks of the day. They have good bartenders. They don’t scrimp on the booze. Problem is there isn’t enough of them.
Adult pool and areas. They are doing a better job in maintaining these areas from being over run by kids. Problem is seating area is too small and so is pool but it’s not an ongoing problem.
Burger line is good. Between this line and the pizza I’m not sure what I would have done! Great pita chips as well.
In a nutshell getting better in some areas but the areas that they could improve on would be such an easy fix but if you’re a Carnival fan then you know what to elect but if you like the other lines you’re likely to be disappointed

This was my first experience on a cruise ship and it was the best. We took Carnival Sensation and it was an experience to die for. I can’t think of anything to complain about. This was fantastic, first the service was awesome. My cleaning Stewart Madeline and she was on top of things. Always made sure our room was spotless. It’s literally a hotel on water. The food was bomb. The activities were so splendid, they had it all planned out perfectly. Matt the cruise director was the bomb and got everyone to participate as much as possible. This was the best!!!

I am so frustrated right now. I was wondering why I had not heard from Carnival to make the final payment on my family vacation. So, I did a search under Carnival on my email to get a phone number. When I did I get a reminder to make payment or the cruise will cancel. I call and they (Carnival) canceled the entire trip. I said, «Why would no one call me?» They said it’s not our policy, we send emails. I said, I see that but they went to junk email. I was traveling and didn’t have the time to redo all the flights and everything.
Today, I decide to save our vacation and rebook with Carnival. I go through over an hour on the phone and realize that they have a $ 1,600 cancelation fee for the vacation I never wanted to cancel in the first place. They said there is nothing they can do to remove that. I should have read the contract. Are you kidding me? The guy on the phone said this is really common. To me it’s a scam to steal my $ 1,600. They were kind enough to offer a credit if I booked with them next year. It couldn’t be used this year if I rebooked though. Of course not, that would be too customer service friendly. Also, they gave me 10 min to decide because there were only 2 rooms left that were side by side. Easy decision… NOT!
Now my whole family misses this years vacation that has been booked for months. It’s only 30 days away and it’s the only window we had. Thanks Carnival… Great Service!

I don’t understand the bad reviews for Carnival Fantasy. Just finished the May 16 to 20 cruise to Key West and Cozmel and had a pretty fantastic time all around. Sure, the ship is a little old and smaller than most, but it is kept very clean and the staff does a great job. From scrubbing the decks to preparing and presenting the food, all of them work hard and try to keep you happy.
Our cabin was toward the back of the ship and we had pretty smooth sailing at night. I talked to a few folks that slept toward the front and they experienced some rough nights due to high waves and stormy weather. I would recommend a room toward the aft on this ship for that reason and also because the main dining, buffet and bar are toward the aft. The casino and show area are foward if you are into that, but you can walk the length of the ship from the upper open decks, which I would recommend as some of the interior floors don’t let you travel straight through, in about 2 minutes. Also, the water park, if you have kids, and great sunning areas that are a little less crowded and more quiet, are in the aft section. For the money spent I would do this ship again. As for all the negitive reviews, I say this… people are pretty much as happy as they decide to be, not much else matters.

I know, I know… you get what you pay for. First of all it wasn’t all bad. We were on the Fantasy and we upgraded to the penthouse. It is a suite not on the manifest and offered for upgrade when Carnival brass aren’t using it. At least that is what we were told. The penthouse is definitely the nicest suite on the ship. Very spacious, living room with sofa bed, dining room with table for 4 (maybe 5), and a bar area. The balcony doesn’t have the greatest view but still nice. The noise is obvious from Lido deck but I was previously warned and earplugs sufficed. The shower is more spacious than most ship showers and the jacuzzi tub was a nice retreat at the end of the day. My only complaint is that service on board is somewhat lacking. Disembarking was a chore despite having written instructions on when and where to meet for priority disembarkation.

Just got off the ship. It was our first cruise and we had THE TIME OF OUR LIVES! First and foremost, Dustin the cruise director coming from the ceiling was awesome. I didn’t meet one staff member who didn’t go above and beyond for us. Our server Jason was awesome. Our stewardess was great. Bartenders friendly and fast (especially Art, Jessie James and Maryia in the casino).
The room was clean and kept clean the whole 8 days we were there.
Food was great. Drinks were heavy. Slots were loose and music was on point.
Was never bored. Was always able to find a spot to lay out.
Excursions booked through the cruise line were amazing! I highly suggest the ruins in Belize and the secret River in Cozumel!
We had so much fun! We will definetly be cruising with carnival again!

Only reason this is getting two stars is cause of the awesome times spent with all my friends and my fav bands, the trip it’s self was a great one and it was such an awesome experience but my 2^nd cruise started out with a disappointment when I found out my Chanel perfume was STOLEN BY YOUR INSPECTION STAFF!!! I bought it JUST for the occasion and I couldn’t even try it. I wrote to Carnival and Sixthman about this and all I got was an apology claiming that surveillance tapes were looked over and it doesn’t look like anyone stole it from the staff and there isn’t anything they can do. You guys were the only ones to touch my luggage, so please enlighten me? Where did it go? I’ll never go on Carnival again, teach your employees honesty and respect. It might’ve only been a bottle but I wonder what else they stole from other luggage. I really don’t care about what the product they stole is but it’s a matter of respect towards a paying customer who has spent thousands to this company.
Looks like if I ever decide to ever go on a cruise line it’ll be Norwegian who gets my business. You guys lost a good customer.

Being the intrepid traveler and cruiser that I am, I’ve been lucky enough to have now been on more cruises and crossings than I can remember and aboard the ocean liners and cruise ships of most major lines. If you think all cruise ships and cruise lines are the same, you’re making a big mistake. They aren’t the same. Each caters to a certain element, which fortunately means that there is a cruise line or ship somewhere best suited for you. For me and what I like are parties and fun, fun, fun. Sitting around on a deck chair reading, lounging poolside or just feeding my face and getting fat are completely boring for me, and for me that is where Carnival shines above and beyond most cruise lines. Sometimes called the «Walmart of the Seas» or as BPB Unilocaler Jim D. described it, «Las Vegas on water,» Carnival usually has not only a fun loving crew but also a group of party going fun loving passengers too.
My most memorable Carnival cruise was aboard Carnival Legend for 24 days from Long Beach, California to Sydney, Australia. Everything about it proved fun with bath robe parties, dancing, an adult music piano bar with Seth providing the most hilarious and irreverent of songs that would never be permitted aboard a Princess, Cunard, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean or, god forbid, a ship of the Disney Line.
Though Carnival Ships are generally speaking not the most glamorous in décor, I’ve found their food to be first rate and service top notch but most of all more adult like in party fun as well as in entertainment.

Day One
* Strongly recommend arriving early, we arrived at 11am and it was worth it for the following reasons
o Parking was easy to get to and lots of empty spaces. We pre-​paid for the carnival parking lot which was across the street from the terminal. Extremely convenient and worth the $ 75.
o Security at the terminal (just like an airport security so be prepared) was not busy at all.
o Going upstairs after security to be greeted by a Carnival Rep. without waiting inline
o Get into the boat early, lots of food and plenty of time to enjoy the pool and other stuff while others still coming in.
* We received our cabin at 1:30pm and it was ready and clean… we got the balcony and it was worth the extra money.
* Our luggage came in around 2pm. Obviously other reviewers who complained about their luggage being late failed to mentioned that they check-​in into the boat just before 4pm…
* Us and the kids had a great time at the pool before we even leave the port, it felt like and extra day of vacation.
* We pre-​reserved the early dinner at 6pm and it worked perfect four us.
* We had our own private 4 seats table… food was awesome.
Money
* It’s all about the Sail and Sign card which you will receive from the Carnival rep at the terminal when you check in.
* The card is linked to your credit card. Adults have no spending limits which kids have zero money. You can add money to the kids cards at the guest services at the ship. Basically you put a limit on how much they can spend. We started with $ 20 and didn’t add any more.
* We prepaid the gratuity when we booked the trip. It was convenient
Drinks
* Really good and strong mixed drinks, between $ 7 and $ 9.
* Domestic beer plus some imports, $ 5-​$ 6
* Wine list at dinner is extensive and reasonably priced $ 25 to $ 95 per bottle. We had two bottles at $ 25 each and they were great.
* We also checked-​in with two bottles of wine. Each adult is allowed one 750ml wine bottle.
Nassau
* We stayed away from the Atlantis excursions because we’ve heard it is too crowded and of course, the price was way too high.
* We did the private island excursion and it was worth the money. The kids loved it.
* A 10 minutes walk off the Victory to a small boat that takes you to the private island (Balmoral). It took us 30 minutes. We arrived at 10am. Beautiful, worm, shallow beach. Two good size pools, nice bar, and a market to get food (decent food but overpriced). Food prices at the island don’t include gratuity or taxes. In our case, that was almost 20% of additional charges.
* Left the island at 2:15pm
* Coming back, the boat drops you on the other side of the island to go through the shops which were not interesting to me.
FreePort
* Grand Lucayan was perfect. Awesome beach…
* $ 10 round-​trip in a van per person. 25 minutes drive.
* Day pass $ 20 per adult $ 10 per child. Wifi free.
* We liked this place so much, we are planning on going there for a few days.
* Van leaves the taxi parking every 30 minutes. We left the resort at 2:30 and we got back to the port on time.
* Highly recommended.
Victory
* Food was great and plenty.
* Pirates pizza open 24 hours and it was very good.
* Breakfast and lunch buffets were really good and everywhere. Lunch changes with different themes.
* Lower decks especially deck 2 smelled funny. I suggest staying away from the lower ones.
* Casino smelled like and ashtray. Almost no ventilation.
* Alchemy bar was very different and interesting. It is a must to try.
* Didn’t make it to the club or the piano bar.
* Arcade section was subpar. Too tight and too expensive.
* Three decent size pools. With multiple hot tubs.
* Hanging around the pool and hot tubs, having drinks was the way to go.
* Movies at the main pool were really good. The kids loved them. Free popcorn.
* Crew very nice and friendly.
Other observations
* Embarkation and debarkation were so smooth and well organized. I was really impressed with the luggage handling on both occasions. Airlines should learn something from Carnival.
* On the last day some of the kids were really annoying and out of control with no parent supervision in site. I think their parents were too tired to too drunk to stop some of the loud and annoying behavior.
* I don’t think I would take this cruse if I didn’t have my kids. If you are a couple looking for some relaxing time, go somewhere else.
* Catching the sunrise every morning was the best part of our trip.

Carnival sucks! Canival Fantasy is an old outdated junk of ship! I would like to think Carnival for notifying me a few hours before my cruise that I wasn’t going to Cozumel or see Kathy Griffin. I was notified my ship was going to travel to Freeport & Nassau. I arrived at the port of Miami at 10am and I didn’t board Carnival cruises until 945PM! The ship was extremely late! The icing on the cake was when I was abruptly woken up at 11AM for a safety meeting!
The ship broke down in Freeport (worst port in the world) & was late arriving to Nassau the 3^rd day. The entire trip was a comedy of errors & carnival refused to right the situation.

I went on a weekend cruise on ship Fantasy and it was a complete nightmare! There were so many things wrong that I made a blog!
When spending your money on a weekend vacation make sure to do your research, I didn’t and had a terrible time!
Time is the one thing we can never get back! Make sure you spend yours wisely! Not EVER onboard a Carnival Cruise!

I was going to book a cruise, until I had such a horrible experience with their sales team. Now I don’t know.
I called to ask the difference between two of the rooms when it was not clear online and the sales person initially tried to help me then maybe after 90 seconds and he couldn’t figure it out he just said «one moment, let me transfer you»… nice thing to say so your bosses and everyone still think you’re doing your job.
The next dept. then told me they couldn’t help me and I needed to be transferred back to the original dept… not worth it, I hang up. I decide to go with the cheaper room. As I get to the check-​out I see my $ 65 onboard credit was never applied. So I call again and this lady was rude and ignoring my questions just trying to push through a sale. I stopped answering her questions and she finally answered mine and said their was no onboard credit available on this cruis. «but I received an email that said…» hangs up on me. And I already gave her my phone number «in case of a disconnect» so it was definitely intentional because i received no call back.
I’m not for 100% not going to cruise with these guys, as they are the cheapest option, but I guess you get what you pay for, and in this case that means horrible customer service. Honestly this should really be a two-​star rating.

I had so much fun going to every carribbean cruises. We went this Jan 2016 and it was AWESOME! The staff were very nice! And their shore excursions are AMAZING BALLS! I love playing their miniature golf and going to watch movies on the lido deck. Get the Rio Secreto if your visiting Cozumel and Mayan ruins in Belize, also this may not be in their package but get to little french key when you go to Roatan, Honduras. LOVE LOVE LOVE the cruise!
Check out video carnival cruise 2016

Carnival only received a 1 star rating from me, because 0 wasn’t an option.
I just returned from my LAST Carnival cruise. I had a week of unbelievable experiences and felt like I was living in a sitcom in a Walmart parking lot. Here are several examples of how Carnival ranks ZERO in customer service…
1) I ordered a bottle of wine from room service which was finally delivered about 45 minutes later:
Me: Thank you! But, there’s no corkscrew. Can you please go get one and bring it back so I can open the bottle?
Room Service: no
Me: Really, I’d like to open the bottle.
Room Service: I can’t help you, I’m not authorized.
Me: You’re not authorized to deliver a corkscrew? Well, will you please take the bottle back, open it and return it to me?
Room Service: I can’t help you with that either. I’m not authorized.
Me: How do you suggest I open the bottle?
Room Service: You have to call room service.
Me: But, you ARE Room Service!
Room Service: I’m sorry, I can’t help you. (said as he walked away)
He turned and left me standing at the door with an unopened bottle of wine and 2 glasses. I called Room Service and had to order a corkscrew, which they delivered about 30 minutes later, along with a «bill» requesting I sign for it and add gratuity for the delivery. Fail.
2) Dinner in their upscale dining room:
It took 2−½ hours to be served the entrees for our dinner. When it arrived, the food was cold. We called the manager over to discuss the service and the length of time it took to get our food. She explained to us that when you have a «large party» (we had only 5 people), it’s «impossible to serve the food at the same time and have it be served hot». One of the gentlemen in our group politely pointed out that there are restaurants all over the world who have actually been doing this for years with great success!
When we expressed our displeasure with the entire experience– which we had to pay for over and above the cruise cost– she told us she couldn’t help us– that it is what it is. I went above her head and spoke to the head of Food and Beverage for our ship. He recommended that we cancel our reservations for the rest of the week because they don’t offer the service that we expect. It is really asking too much to be served in less than 2 hours and to have the food be hot?
3) Carnival’s focus in on the upsell– ALWAYS.
— We can’t take a photo of the towel animal characters on board, unless we use their photographer and purchase a photo for $ 29 – 49 each. Yet, they attempt to take our photo every time we walk anywhere on the ship and do anything!
— They confiscated mini blenders that we brought for protein shakes in the morning, for fear that we’d be making mixed drinks in the cabin rather than purchasing them from their bar.
— The «free» drink coupon that we received for being a return guests is only good for a portion of the glass of wine, and the balance and the full tip are billed to your account.
4) Many places on the boat– including our cabin and deck– reeked of a sewer gas smell. The head of housekeeping did visit us and told us that it was sewer gas from the island blowing to us… but we smelled it the worst when we were out to sea.
5) The FunShops were closed for renovation after the first 2 days! Not one of them, or even ½ of them– they closed all of them at the same time! No shopping for us! Disappointing!
6) It was freezing on the ship– wearing jeans and a jacket in the Southern Caribbean. We went with a large business group and a large percentage of our group got sick. We couldn’t warm up anywhere except off the ship! No matter how many time we asked them to warm it up, nothing changed.
7) Our steward failed to deliver the proper forms to send our luggage directly through to our airline when disembarking the ship. I called Guest Services and they told me that I was 20 minutes too late to return the form (that I never received). I persisted and asked to talk with anyone who had the authority to help me, and they said there wasn’t anyone– and hung up on me.
In talking with the staff, I believe that Carnival disempowers their employees, who are frightened to make a decision on their own for fear of getting fired. How much better would this vacation experience have been if their employees’ job was to actually make the customer happy? It’s so easy and would create such a win/​win situation!
Carnival, you could learn a lot about customer service. Needless to say, if you want a budget cruise– go anywhere but Carnival. With all of the add ons, my final bill was much more expensive then we could have booked on a competent cruise line. Never again!

We sailed from Galveston TX to Cozumel and then Progresso Mexico. The food in the dining room was good. However, the food in the cafeteria was cold and bland. The wait staff were pretty friendly, but they clearly wanted to feed you and have you get out of their way.
The beds were comfortable. Parts of the boat are showing its age — rust and non working lights. Our stateroom smelled of sewage on the last two days.
Carnival sets up photo shoot locations all over the ship, usually in the hallways to the event rooms. This makes getting in and out of the events very difficult. I felt like I was on Carnival’s version of the home shopping network. Every day, all day they pitched photographs and buying stuff from their preferred vendors when we got ashore.
Progresso Mexico is a dump. You take buses from the ship to the city — about 4 miles. The beaches are blah and the city is really dirty. I feel sorry that the people are poor, but even poor people can be clean. There is trash everywhere.
This was our first and last Carnival cruise.

Not one of my favourite experiences in travelling on Carnival Destiny.
Not a big fan of herding with the masses to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Room Service had a poor selection of menu choices and didn’t make it enjoyable to stay in your cabin.
Décor of this ship was a throw back to Miami’s 1980s pastel colour palettes! This boat needs a major update. But, I did like the murals in the lobby and elevator landings.
I got to say that the service provided by the crew was good and made up for a lot of the deficiencies.
My next cruise will more than likely not be on a Carnival «Fun Ship»

I’ve only ever done Disney cruises before going on Carnival so I may be a bit biased because this may be comparing a Hilton to a Days Inn. However, Carnival is just fine in my book. You can’t bring liquor on board — well you can but it’s very limited so the bill really adds up if you are drinking. The bingo doesn’t seem to have as good as prizes as on Disney and the food definitely isn’t as good. Plus Carnival is just packed with tons of teenagers and early 20s kids which ain’t my thing. Plus the activities aren’t as fun and they don’t have as wide a variety.
However, Carnival is cheap. It gets you to exotic locations on the low and that’s what it’s all about with Carnival. If you are looking for luxury and not being overcrowded, Carnival isn’t for you. But if you want to have a food-​inclusive trip that visits fun new places, Carnival is probably the way to go.

First, let me say that the customer service is OUTSTANDING. Our room attendant and waitstaff knew everyone by first name. Whenever I would walk down the hall, they would greet me with a nice smile.
I was on Carnival Ecstasy.
Very inefficient safety drill. We gathered in our muster stations, waited 30 minutes and were then instructed on how to put a life jacket on. They then lead us up to the deck to stand shoulder-​to-​shoulder. After waiting about another 10 minutes without any further instruction, we were dismissed. I didn’t feel like I knew what to do in case of emergency at all, and even though I watched the safety video in my room, I didn’t feel assured my fellow passengers had a clue.
Only one pool on the whole entire vessel. There are approximately 2,000 passengers and 900 crew members. One pool. There are also 2 hot tubs and then an extra level for 21+ with 2 other hot tubs. One pool. The pool was always over crowded, and there was no room on the deck to sit.
Overall, it was a decent experience.