Carnival Cruises

We went on a Carnival cruise a year ago in December and loved it! We took the Freedom, which was a brand new ship at the time (we were on the second sailing). We went to St. Thomas, St. Marteen and San Juan. We really enjoyed those destinations...They were beautiful! The staff on our ship was great, and they seemed to really enjoy their jobs. The shows were fun and so was the casino. We are already talking about wanting to go on another one! Have Fun! :o)

We went on Carnival 2 years ago for a friends wedding. The ship was nice. Our rooms were comfortable and clean. THe bed was amazingly comfortable!! The food was very good. Pizza bar, buffet and dining room. We went with a large group of people, which I think is the way to do it. THe reason I say this is because if you don't gamble, karaokee, smoke cigars or drink. It's not that much fun! Some of the shows were fun to watch, but they are the same ones over and over. It was very reasonably priced, but I think next time my husband and I have decided we'd rather spend the money to fly to our destination and spend extra time there. Our trip was 4 nights, stopping in Cozumel. We would have rather had more time in Cozumel than the 5 or 6 hours we had.

We have taken 4 cruises -3 with Carnival. We tried out Norwegian, but returned to Carnival because we had a better experience. In my opinion, they are a GREAT value. I have always thought the food was very good, that there is always something fun to do on the ship, and that the service is excellent. We haven't gone since our son was born, so I can't speak to any of the kids' activities, though it seems like there is always a lot for them to do.

I would assume that the fancier cruiselines would be nicer, but I have had no problems with Carnival. We have cruised on the Celebration, Elation, and one other, but I don't remember which. We have done shorter trips (4 or 5 nights), and have gone to Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, and Cancun. They always have a ton of excursions to choose from, though now that we have been a couple times, we have started booking our own when we dock, since it is cheaper.

I think you will all have a good time on Carnival. Though I don't see how one could have a bad time on any cruise! We will defintiely be cruising again once our kids get a bit older.

I have been on carnival. Last year on the conquest leaving out of houston due to the hurricane but the port will be galveson. We went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. It was fun. Would I go on carnival again? No. I thought the food was awful. That might not be your experience though. I will cruise again this year but will try Disney. I just didnt like the cheesy neon and smoking all over the ship. The actual cruise experience is nice. You can go to cruisecritic.com and find info on all their ships, I also thought the deals were amazing but I should have known, you get what you pay for. You can expect to have a decent cabin though, they arent as small as people say, we had a balcony and it was just enough space, plus the balcony made it feel larger. The kids programs are ok, not so great, they close during the day at very inconvenient times. The entertainment again was low quality though the karaoke guy is histerical. The casino was fun, but the smoking is just awful, if you smoke I guess it wouldnt be a problem. If you are taking kids, they will have a good time. I say if you can afford to go on another line, try another one. If you arent a picky eater then you might not be too dissapointed.

We have been on 2 Carnival cruises and loved both of them. Our last one was on the Conquest out of Galveston, we went to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

Our experience was great, the food, staff and ship were all wonderful. I'm not sure about the smoke issue the other poster commented on but we never thought there were any problems.

I would definitely recommend Carnival.