Posted on 01/19/2012 7:44:38 PM PST by DManA
The culture of the passengers? Don’t want to generalize; just quoting.
The food is horrible. Expect Europeans blowing smoke everywhere. My entire suitcase and clothing at the end of the trip reeked of smoke. They rarely cleaned the deck so I personally slipped 4 times and saw 20 people slip. There are inadequate warnings in place by the pool to indicate that the floor is slippery. If you are elderly, this is a walking death trap. Nobody ever lines up and expect people to push you out of the way or bite your hand off while trying to get food at the buffet.
Serious....I know that everybody is hungry but people will literally push you out of the way to get a piece of salami. The workers seems completly worn out and I honestly feel bad for them because apparently the ship's tipping structure doesn't allow them to get much if at anything at all. Most
(Excerpt) Read more at lileks.com ...
I have never done a cruise
I really hope to do one fairly soon
I’d like to go Norwegian Cruise lines
i will NOT do anything related to Carnival!!
I’ve never had an interest in those monstrosities and this reinforces my aversion.
I wouldn’t mind going through the Panama Canal.
This posed a crisis for the ship. The captain was summoned and then announced to the passengers it was necessary for the ship to change course to get my SIL to a hospital. The captain even suggested to passengers they pray for my SIL and daughter.
Carnival couldn't have handled this crisis any better. They even followed up later to make sure my SIL was getting good care. We have a real loyalty to Carnival Cruise line after that experience.
See my post. no. 5.
Never been on a cruise myself either, but my wife used to join with her mother occasionally when she was alive on cruises to various locations about the World. MIL loved Norwegian Cruise Lines, and we often saw her off on those. She spoke only a few times about Carnival, and said she had heard too much from traveling friends to bother with them.
Neighbors took a Carnival Cruise into Mexico, and South America a number of years ago, and reported back that they’d never ever do it again on Carnival. Others have come back with similar attitude about Carnival.
Personally not interested in cruises. Don’t drink, I like what I cook, not much else, and am pretty much a cheapskate/pinchpenny/tightwad/scrooge.
The ship's structure is certainly tipping now.
Joined my daughter and grandson on a three Disney cruise out of Florida several years ago. It was wonderful. Kids activities all day so had lots of just adult time. Great food and very attentive staff.
Lileks himself is a cruise ship fan. His remarks were narrowly focused on this ship.
I was once fishing the inside passage off the coast of British Columbia. We were in a small zodiac and saw the cruse ship coming from a long way off but the fishing was so good, we didn’t bother to move. They passed within a hundred yards. There was a group of people yelling at us but we didn’t pay them much mind.. until they started throwing life preserver rings at us. I guess they thought we were ship wrecked or something. The guy whose boat it was still has the rings. Gave me a pretty silly impression of the people who take these cruses.
Wife and I are not interested in cruises or, now, tours. The Viatour of the Vatican was a wasted half day. We went back and did it on our own having an experience of a lifetime. Cruises sound like a moving resort hotel where you eat and drink to excess. We study up on the places we go and rent a car if possible (Japan has such remarkable public transportation that car rental is neither necessary nor wise).
Our last cruise was #7. We have been on Carnival twice. We will never book a Carnival cruise. We took the second one only because our daughter booked it. We have also been on Norwegian, one of our favorite trips. Any cruise is good in our book unless you don’t like to relax. Carnival is ok but the others are better.. I think Carnival is a little cheaper up front, but they will make up for it during the cruise. Pay a little more, it’s worth it.
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/index.php
Forums for cruisers worldwide, and they are indeed a stout and loyal group that lives to see who can cruise the most.
Currently they are in a bit of a shock phase after this disaster but no where near in as such as the shockwaves running through the shareholders of certain cruise lines.
Forum police are eliminating contrary comments in earnest to keep people from exposing a lot of dirty truths. Granted some cruises lines are far better than others but they are all very concerned the cruise public is slowly turning against them.
Good description of what happened using the ship’s AIS (Automatic Identification System)
I have never done a cruise on a big ship either.
But I do know several people who cruise often, and 100% of them say go on Norwegian Cruise Lines, or don’t go at all.
I plan on following the advice of experienced people I know and trust. A cruise vacation would be a once in a lifetime event for me.
When there is no chance for a second try, you have to do your best to get it absolutely right the first time.
If I ever decided to save enough money for a cruise, I would go for the sure thing, not the budget version.
I have been on several Carnival Cruises, and I am anxious to go again. One was to the Canadian Maritime provinces out of NYC. I remember the first evening out sitting in the steam bath drinking ice water while watching the sun set over the North Atlantic through a picture window. Pavarotti was singing Nessun Dorma over the sound system, and I thought to myself "This isn't bad for $1200 bucks a couple."
There are a few things I learned to get the most out of the experience. (1) Blow off every dinner. Don't go to a single one. It's a huge waste of time and disrupts your schedule. Free food is available 24 hours a day somewhere on the ship. Take advantage of it. (2) Get the cheapest cabin you can, on the lower level, over the rudder, if need be. By the time you're ready to go back to your cabin, any dark place with a mattress will do. (3) Explore the ship. Even with 5,000 people on board, there's a deck somewhere no one is using if you just want to be alone and read a book. (4) Count on going to a magic show or some lowbrow entertainment every evening, and avoid the casinos -- I can't say how they do it, but I'm pretty sure the games are fixed.
You are correct in your assesment of Carnival. Costs cruise lines is wholly owned by Carnival. It is by far one of the best run cruise companies in the industry and first class in all the cruise lines” they serve...
I find it hard to believe that that beautiful ship was unkept and the food lousy.
I have been on a lot of cruises and all the Carnival lines seems most consistent in delivering the “cruise experience”
Take the Holland America Statendam thru the Panama Canal - the two weeks cruise all the way through, either Ft Lauderdale to San Diego or the reverse. Or go for a month and do both :-). The “small ship” experience can’t be beat.
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