moira24

Hi Everyone, <BR>I have just booked my first cruise ever on the Carnival Victory and shortly after read all these horrible things that many of you had to say about their experience with Carnival. I have since started to get really nervous about going and was hoping that some people could share positive experiences with me. I am 28 and not afraid of the party scene and am going on this cruise with 8 friends. My main concern is feeling claustrophobic, as I have booked an inside cabin. I would love to hear what you think!

Starfish

Stop worrying. You are going to have a great time. <BR>You won't spend much time your cabin, just to get dressed and sleep.

Bo

&quot;A bad day cruising is better than a good day's work!&quot;<BR><BR>It'll be fine, you'll be with all of your friends and will have a blast. Have a great trip!

esd

We've been on two Carnival cruises and enjoyed both. I haven't seen or heard (personally)of anything like some of the scenarios I've read about here.<BR><BR>Don't worry...you'll have fun!!

snorkelcat

IMHO, the newer Carnival ships are much nicer than the older ones. I recently, I took a cruise on the Pride with some of my relatives and we had a great time. Especially at your age, I think that some of the other cruise lines may be a bit stuffy for you. I met many average Americans and many very nice people. I have also cruised on Royal Caribbean and those two lines have become very similar in product.<BR><BR>As for the inside cabin, as a first time cruiser, it may not be so bad. They do tend to be very dark, so bring a night light for the times you need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. You may not spend that much time in the cabin anyway - just for changing, cleaning up and sleeping -so it should be ok. What catagory did you book? You may get lucky and get an upgrade. Carnival has been giving some great upgrades lately.<BR><BR>Best advice - go with few expectations except to relax and have a good time. Best place to get positive feedback on Carnival - cruisecritic.com. Go to the message boards and click on the Carnival board. I have gotten so much valuable info there and it adds to my having a great cruise experience.

cruisin_tigger

I've sailed on Carnival 5 times and loved each one. Check out http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic<BR>plenty of Carnival lovers on that board!<BR>You will have a great time.

traveller333

I think if you book an inside cabin it's best to go with a category guarantee rather than a specific cabin number. My daughter booked a Category 4A or better guarantee on The Ecstasy and has already been upgraded 5 times...she now has an outside room at the inside guarantee price. She booked with cruisequick.com. Maybe she's just lucky but this has happened to her twice now (and she's only cruised twice)...maybe she's just been very lucky but both times she had the cheapest inside category guarantee. Of course, you must be prepared NOT to be upgraded and content with the worst cabin in that particular category if worse comes to worse. Good Luck!

esd

Forgot to mention an inside cabin..our first couple of cruises were outside cabins and the last 2 inside. The first time I booked an inside cabin I worried about it till we sailed and then found it was fine!

JimM

Moira ==&gt;<BR><BR>Carnival makes me think of Bob Boudet commercials for Motel 6...&quot;no French-milled soaps, no body oils, or exotic shampoos. Just a clean comfortable room.&quot; Or words to that effect. Sure...some Motel 6 locations undoubtedly leave a lot to be desired. But I've stayed a &quot;questionable&quot; Marriott, Fairmount, and other so-called high class hotels.<BR><BR>Carnival is a mass-market line that provides clean, comfortable ships that attract people of all ages from all walks of life. It may not have all the luxuries of a Radison, Crystal, or Silversea cruise. But it will cost you about half of what you'd pay on those three lines. Carnival offers you Fun Ships. So enjoy yourself!<BR><BR>As to an inside cabin, the night light should help. Hope for an upgrade to an outside cabin.<BR>

Cruiser

Don't worry over your inside cabin. Most of my cruises have been in them. They really aren't bad. I love to nap during the day, and the total darkness is great for that.<BR><BR>The rooms are well-lighted; they generally have a large mirror or two to help make you think it is larger; and sometimes a curtain over part of a wall to make you think a window is behind it.<BR><BR>You will have so much fun that you will forget about the room. With all the activities, you won't be in the cabin much and when you are, you will really be tired from having all that fun. Sleep will most likely come easy and quickly! <BR><BR>8 friends---- what a blast you'll have!!<BR>Be sure you let us know how things went!!<BR>Happy cruising!

Collina

We're booking our first cruise on Carnival's Paradise for Nov &amp; I also got a little scared reading all the negatives. Seems like people are more apt to post a bad experience than a good one - go figure.<BR><BR>I just keep telling myself that Carnival has the highest # of cruisers of all other lines &amp; that makes me feel a little better!<BR><BR>Have Fun!

Techydude

Pleas so not take this the wrong way. I am not anti CCL in any way. <BR><BR>I am anti the use of statistics to prove an issue (funny coming from a self professed techno geek). So be careful. Don't base your outcome on other peoples numbers.<BR><BR>Remember, according to Consumer Guide the Ford Pinto was the best compact car on the market in it's time. Statistically speaking.

Collina

My point was that Carnival cannot be the bottom of the barrel, worst cruise line to ever sail since SO many people travel on them every year. They obviously are doing SOMETHING right to have the number of cruisers sail on them - maybe it is the younger party crown, or the young couple with small kids that wants a family vacation, that book because of their resonable prices...I don't know the demographics of their customers. <BR><BR>They're still doing something right &amp; I for one have no reservations booking my first cruise on them for Nov.<BR><BR>It's so annoying to me that people have one bad experience on ONE ship and rule out the entire fleet. I've had bad experiences at Westins, Sheratons, etc and still find myself going back - what's the difference? It's unfortunate and I would make myself heard if something terrible happened on my vacation, but to rule out the ENTIRE cruise line? IMO, that's crzy...<BR><BR>Collina

PumpkinEater

Collina - the more important statistic is the percent repeat sailers and according to an independant cruise industry magazine, Carnival ranks second to the bottom for the top twenty five cruise lines (slightly ahead of NCL). Yes, people keep filling up the Carnival ships, but how many are satisfied repeat customers? Less than 10% according to that magazine.<BR><BR>Someone recommended cruisecritic for positive feedback on Carnival - thats true. However, my gripe with cruisecritic is that those on the Carnival board are super-pro Carnival, those on the RCCL board are super-pro RCCL, etc. The people over there tell you what you want to hear. If you do post something negative, they'll flame you till you leave. If you want someone to tell you that Carnival is wonderful and you'll have a great time and don't worry - go to cruisecritic (and this board seems to be gravitating that way too).<BR><BR>Because of its reputation and low price, Carnival will attract more of the party crowd. Does this mean you'll have a crappy cruise? No. It just means your neighbor in the cabin next door has a greater chance of being a 3:00 am party host than on RCCL, Princess, Celebrity or HAL.<BR><BR>Peter

torpeedo

After 6 cruises on HAL,wife &amp; I decided to try the Carnival Pride, sailing 7/27/02. We thoroughly enjoyed that experience, so much so that we booked the Legend for 12/4/2002. A much older crowd in December than July, but we had another great cruise. In our opinion, passengers on both Pride &amp; Legend represented a cross section of America, and we liked the fact that there were lots of families (children, parents, grandparents) travelling together. General atmosphere was casual, not stuffy, and aside from a few high spirited teenagers, behavior of fellow passengers was fine. Lots of partying in the lounges, but we saw no unruly behavior. Both ships in our opinion were beautiful, clean and well maintained. Lot's of activities to chose from, and service and food were surprisingly comparable to HAl. The ship didn't close down at 11 PM, and we did enjoy the more lively atmosphere. We cruised on the Rotterdam on 2/2/2003, but found it to be a little stuffy &amp; reserved. So we are going back to Carnival and will be on the Glory on 7/26/2003.

beachdreams

I am 32 and have been going on cruise ships since I was a small toddler and back then you couldn't bring hair dryers. I, personally love Carnival and yes I have been on many different cruise lines. I think the Motel 6 comment is way out of line with Carnival. I also have never had a loud neighbor before either. My husband and I are early risers and are often asleep by 10 or 11 and have slept soundly. We do not like to gamble but we do enjoy the shows. I have seen drunks but to be perfectly honest, I have seen drunks on other cruise lines as well. The food is fine as well. I like the atmosphere of Carnival. I have never had an inside cabin so I am not sure what they are like but I am sure they are fine. If I were to compare Carnival to a hotel line, I would be more apt to compare it to the Marriott chain. Not quite as high end as the Ritz the the place is clean, offers many amenities, and it is nothing to sneer at. I have always been of teh firm belief that those that are sneering have sour grapes anyway. Relax and have fun.

JimM

Beachdreams ==&gt;<BR><BR>I think you misinterpeted my comments about Motel 6. Also, I have to disagree with your comparison of Carnival to Marriott. I might compare Carnival to Marriott's Courtyard...a great, quality property that is more in the price range of Carnival. IMHO, the Marriotts are way too overpriced for a comparison to Carnival.<BR>We're a retired couple that travels a lot. In our opinion, Motel 6 generally provides an excellent value to the road traveller...just as Carnival provides an excellent value to the mass market cruiser. For example, their 4 - 5 night trips out of Galveston are fantastic.

torpeedo

This is an interesting thread. My Carnival experience is limited to veranndah cabins on the Pride (8C)and Legend (9A). I was amazed to find that our Carnival verandah cabins were comparable to a verandah mini suite, either cat A or B, on Holland America Statendam class ships. It's hard to equate a ship to a hotel, but Marriott is closer to the mark than Motel 6. Bottom line, the Pride and Legend are spectacular ships, and I would recommend them to anyone.

PumpkinEater

I can't hold out any longer. torpeedo -maybe the Pride and Legend seem like &quot;Marriott&quot; when compared to Holland America Statendam class ships, but I think you'd change your mind when compared to the Princess Grand class, the Celebrity Millenium class or the RCCL Voyager class ships. Compared to those three, the Pride and Legend are most certainly rank fourth.<BR><BR>Peter

talltraveler

moira24,<BR>You are going to love your Carnival cruise. Carnival traditionally has the largest cabins of all, even inside ones (generally 180 sq feet vs. 130-160 for other lines). My first cruise was on the Inspiration in 1997. I thought it was a great value and I had a great time. Since then, I've done 2 Princess ships. I now prefer Princess personally (everything is just a little more upscale it seems), but I have to say that my best cabin steward service was on Carnival and I thought the Carnival shows were better. I've had one window room (Carnival) then two insides on Princess to save money. The inside rooms were fine. If you ship has a TV that broadcasts a view of the outside, leave your TV on at night when you go to bed (sound off) and you'll get the effects of the sunrise in the morning on the TV. You're going to have a great time.<BR>Happy sailing!