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I know several photos and comments related to CARNIVAL SPLENDOR interiors have already been seen on the internet or on this forum so most of the ones from the following link are certainly not a novelty for you but I think it summarizes rather well all the horror and bad taste of the decoration of the ship's interiors. I know those are strong words and that certainly won't prevent passengers (all the contrary for most of them) to book on this ship and Carnival to make monney (and I reckon they do know how to do business from the start of their existence), but they reflect my opinion.As I had previously written here on one occasion, for a modern cruise ship, I rather do like the exterior of the ship, their best and most elegant one from the past 15 years or so (still, my opinion).
So, here's the link:http://www.meretmarine.com/article.cfm?id=108243
Note: I'm not bashing and have never bashed Carnival at all. That would be pointless (and this is a successful company, certainly not by chance). I just want to comment and express my opinion about these interiors from a pure artistic and design point of view. Nothing more.
PS: The only thing of good taste, although a bit misplaced, is the semi model of NORMANDIE, altough they could have make all the windows and portholes dark.
[ 09-13-2008: Message edited by: Vaccaro ]
The first was CARNIVAL VICTORY. I was on board for lunch and the food was excellent (except for the rather poor, very American [doughy and somewhat sweet] bread) and the portions twice as big as one normally gets on an in-port luncheon. The service was excellent as well, though the waiters' song-and-dance routine, while very enthusiastic, was definitely not my taste. The decor was sensory overload! Even though it was daytime it felt like night inside much of the ship (actually, it would probably all have looked better at night, without the sun shining in in places and highlighting the garishness of everything). It was definitely interesting and creative but it was really just too much. I really dislike a lot of the color choices and such - it is impossible to describe how GREEN the atrium is. It is the greenest thing I have ever seen. Add to that the awful layout of this class of ship and I was not terribly impressed.
COSTA FORTUNA was my second Farcusian excursion and I found her far more appealing inside. There was no mistaking her for anything other than a Farcus design but she also had a very different feel than CARNIVAL VICTORY. I do not mean for a moment to suggest that this was because one is a Costa ship and one a Carnival ship - it just happened that these two particular ships have very different versions of the Farcus style. Whereas I thought all the colors, textures and such on CARNIVAL VICTORY were simply too much, on COSTA FORTUNA they seemed to add interest rather than cause sensory overload. The connections between most of the public areas and the Italian ocean liners after which they are named are rather tenuous but there is the benefit of a huge collection of spectacular models all over the ship. Again I found the food quite good (not as good as my favorite Italian restaurant, but still pretty decent ) and the service seemed quite professional. (Costa has especially smart-looking uniforms, I think.) Again there was the song-and-dance routine from the waiters, not really appreciated but oh well! The whole thing is very obviously the European/Italian Carnival but I am much more inclined to sail in COSTA FORTUNA simply because I liked her decor a lot better. Pity she has the same terrible layout - for that reason, if I try Carnival I would like to do it on one of the SPIRIT-class ships (apparently better laid-out) while with Costa I would go for one of the pre-Carnival vessels still in the fleet. But certainly, Farcus decor alone would not be enough to keep me off a ship... Though I have very little desire to sail in CARNIVAL VICTORY, I still wouldn't say I won't, just that I wouldn't choose it. Next summer I am doing a five-night Canada/New England cruise on QM2 with my parents as we have not been on a cruise together for a while - I think we could have done an almost-identical cruise on VICTORY for less than half as much but that wasn't even an option. (My mother liked CARNIVAL VICTORY even less than I did - in fact I think she would outright refuse to sail in her, though she too thought the food was excellent. She is hardly a snob but she just did not like the ship at all, and I don't blame her.)
Love the pool and spa areas, very relaxing.
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