Carnival Share Discussion Threads

[tlobs2] 08/4/2024 08:00

Marella have gone down the all inclusive full day Weatherspoons mode. Some nice people onboard surrounded by people on the pop from the minute the bar opens :-(

[sambuca] 07/4/2024 19:39

Saying about queuing on Iona large part of the problem was that the weather was mostly bad as well so most of the people were inside where as with good weather 3000 plus people get outside so it was not just queueing for events it was just packed all the time..

Sam

[tradejunkie2] 05/4/2024 18:20

There's allot of big booty on those American cruises.

[jan-mar] 05/4/2024 17:58

On our Cunard cruise, all dressed up in the restaurant, a guy two tables away was not looking well. I thought he was having a stroke so went over to help. Thank you, he will be ok. 5 minutes later he was spark out at the Restaurant entrance with several waiters holding sheets up to avoid anyone looking at him. Really funny, we spoke to his wife the next day, sorry for last night but we are on the drinks package.

[pierre oreilly] 05/4/2024 17:04

Ah, I see you're talking about US cruises - all I said only applies to UK and European cruises.

Alaska is on our wish list and it's a definite downside having mainly Americans on board - utube videos seem to show lots of them fighting and generally downmarket (unlike most Americans we met while working there)

[pierre oreilly] 05/4/2024 17:02

Ditto.

It's quite surprising that with so many on drinks packages we've very rarely seen anyone drunk (as in can't talk or can't walk or causing trouble). We've seen 3 like that on probably 30 cruises with several lines (and none causing trouble)

There was a stag party on a Hamburg qm2 short cruise once - a bit loud in the afternoon outside. I expect many complained fearing what was to come. But we never saw them again. No idea whether they were drinking themselves stupid in bars we didn't visit or - much more likely - they were warned to keep it down else they'd be locked in their cabins until the next port. Barmen are instructed not to serve anyone too affected by the booze, package or not. Drunks are a safety hazard. Plenty have a bottle of wine each with dinner and ime you can see the degradation both in appearance (and accent!) as the week went on.

[jan-mar] 05/4/2024 16:53

I have been on two cruises one time Alaska from LA, full of Americans eating themselves into a coma, not a great cruise. We did the QE around the Canaries and throughly enjoyed it, so yes, some good some bad.

[panshanger1] 05/4/2024 16:39

You can have a bad experience in a hotel or at a resort or indeed on a cruise ship Doing your research and exploring all the different types of cruises and cruise ships available will mitigate this We have had many amazing cruises without any of the disappointments your daughter suffered

[smurfy2001] 05/4/2024 16:21

I'm sure it will get below 1000p, let the price come to me. Reckon 2 buy orders might be needed as see a technical 945p target.

[jan-mar] 05/4/2024 15:40

Mg daughter went on her first cruise, she said, never again, a ship full of people drinking themselves stupid, just because they could

[jan-mar] 05/4/2024 15:38

Still got your 999 buy order, not enough good news to drive the price forward

[smurfy2001] 05/4/2024 15:25

Oil price a negative.

[sambuca] 04/4/2024 20:19

On QM2 we had a drink in one of the bays in the buffet bit and there was a coffee splash up the wall 3 days later sat in the same bay and coffee stain still there. We did QM2 to NY, night in hotel in Times Sq then 12 nights to the Caribbean on Norwegian Gem then QM2 back 2 Southampton, the Gem closed off a section at a time in the buffet from about 9pm onwards and washed all the walls, floors, tables, chairs etc, that was the standard + that we expected from Cunard but sadly not achieved.

smurfy
Too many people may be good to hear in the short term but if they are not enjoying the experience and telling others who may then not use them in the future and go with a different co not good in the long run.
As they say it takes a long time to build a good reputation but a very short time to lose it.
Pierre has partially switched to MSC, we did our 1st MSC in 2022 and would go with them again which I can not say I would with Iona or Arvia.
Because my wife will not fly are are restricted to where we can travel from and fortunately for P & O they were the only ones that do the Canaries from Southampton at this time of year. We booked this cruise in June last year so have not looked around since as to weather MSC or any others are noticing this gap in the market.

Sam

[smurfy2001] 04/4/2024 18:42

Sambuca, good to hear there's too many people music to a shareholders ear.

[pierre oreilly] 04/4/2024 17:40

Go for the last show of the evening - no probs getting in then, can stretch out on the comfy seats then (at least on all 4 times we've been on it). Otherwise get there 30 mins before. Really good entertainment in a cosy atmosphere. One of that Take That blokes great initiatives.

Ave age much less in our experience (always out of school hols) with plenty of 30/40 somethings as well as the 70 somethings.

One of the best things is the Quays fish and chips. Freshly cooked, keep away from obvious times and no queuse (big queues at meal times). Thai food OK, don't touch the burgers, but great for those who want them. We must get a big percentage of the fare back in fish and chips! (we don't eat the batter to keep the calories down).

[ickleinvestments] 04/4/2024 16:57

Limelight great.
Couldn't get into 710 for love nor money though....

[ickleinvestments] 04/4/2024 16:56

We were on the IONA to Canaries 2/3 to 16/3 (second time on that ship) and it was ok but nothing special.

We met two types of passenger.
1. Cruises before the pandemic with memories of how it used to be, and angry at the changes and money-grabbing items which were included as standard before
2. New passengers who were loving it and thought it was a great experience

Only c100 children on board and most under 5yrs.
Only queues were for shows, as when booking a restaurant table from the cabin it was always ready by the time we got there.
Great comedian (ex-bouncer) in the Clubhouse.
Food good but definitely not great in the dining rooms.

Average passenger age 70+ 👀

[pierre oreilly] 03/4/2024 12:54

Afaics, iona and arvia haven't lowered their standard, they were always lowish and cheap. If you look at Cunard, prices and standards are now going up (at least if you like the formality of them). Dress code is being enforced more over the last 12 months. I'll report back on the QA in a few months, but the bumph they send me it looks like it's really stuffy and formal with eg ents doing more classical plays rather than song and dance. So it's simples, ccl is repositioning to expand into mass market with big p&o ships, and reclaiming the upmarket with Cunard (which also used to be cheap). This is probably reflected in their other brands too.

[sambuca] 03/4/2024 10:38

It's not just these things standards way down, people wearing shorts and football shirts in the dining room, lunch menu in the dining room nothing to what they used to be, used to have the set fish, chicken and steak as a separate menu in the restaurant in the evening these were all part of the main menu, choice in horizon roughly one third of the choice you used to get, queues for everything shows repeated over two nights because too many people on to all see it in one night.

Sam

[sambuca] 03/4/2024 10:29

We went two weeks before the Easter holiday so weren't expecting many kids must have been about two hundred kids on board paid 1200 pound each for inside cabin 2 weeks before would have been 300 pound each cheaper but that one overnighted in Lisbon and we don't like Lisbon much whereas this one went to Fuerteventura where we haven't been before so paid the extra to do this one it was fully booked people were saying there are 600 more children on the one going for the easter two weeks

Sam

[panshanger1] 03/4/2024 08:53

Going for volume and attracting shall we say a mixed crowd with very keen pricing I've been on both and feel the same Off to the Med with Celebrity Friday