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Originally posted by linerguy:
Just stepped off the Elation yesterday morning; once I regain my sanity and let my blood pressure level off, I'll write a few comments and post a few photos....

-Russ

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I'm sorry.....but that made me lmao.

I hope it wasn't that horrible. Just the way you wrote your post cracked me up.

Count me in on eagerly awaiting your review!

I will agree that the suites suck, however, a little research will show you that often Princess or HAL are priced lower than Carnival.

Also, I have had more problems with other passengers on HAL than on Carnival.

Anyways, back to the Breeze, mmmmm, why not just name it the Carnival Princess and be done with it, the interiors remind me a lot of the Princess grand class, lots of light oak and darker carpet.

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Originally posted by jetwet1:
I am kind off amazed at some of these comments, I guess I am a trashy person, being Platinum on Carnival and all.

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Do the comments really amaze you? I mean you haven't heard Carnival called "trashy" and "walmart of the seas" among others? This is nothing new. Try sailing a 4-day cruise out of Mobile on Carnival and you might discover just how trashy they can be.

I know it's not cool and all to be politically incorrect, and often times we walk around on egg shells trying not to offend anyone, but lets face it Carnival is sort of trashy. I'm not saying everyone that sails on Carnival is trashy, but it's likely you will see more trashy people on Carnival compared to other lines (plenty of wife beaters and buckets of beer by the pool). I don't consider myself above Carnival by any means, and I'm sailing on them in November, but I can admit they are a bit trashy and cheap. I'm probably very close to being Platinum on Carnival, not that it means much. Carnival doesn't seem as interested in catering to the past passenger (excuse me, guest) as much as other lines that offer a much more robust past passenger program.

I can also admit I would rather stay home than sail a 4-day Carnival cruise out of Mobile in July or August. No thank you.

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Originally posted by jetwet1:
I am kind off amazed at some of these comments, I guess I am a trashy person, being Platinum on Carnival and all.

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jetwet1 - I live in West Virginia and by all accounts the sterotyped image most Americans have of the locals here is worse than the image a lot of cruisers have of a stereotyped Carnival passenger. But there are a lot of really nice and decent people that live here, just like there are on Carnival. Nothing is meant as a personal attack on you.

Carnival does have sort of a stereotyped reputation, some of it true, some of it not so much. Not every Carnival cruise is a trailer park reunion around a beer keg and long discussions about the state of NASCAR. There are lots of variables involved and a Carnival cruise from Mobile or Charleston is not the same as a Carnival cruise from Los Angeles or Vancouver.

I too am Platinum on Carnival but through the years made a personal decision that they really no longer fit into the vision of what I want on my cruise holiday. It's not to say that if I ever did book them again I wouldn't have a good time, just that there are other options out there I choose to explore.

I've read the new menus on Carnival and see absolutely nothing wrong with them. At all. Nowadays to me eating out at Applebees is a freaking treat! The food on Carnival would suit me just fine. The food on Celebrity by that measure is ultra-gourmet. And there are folks cruising Celebrity that complain about the declining quality of that too.

And no one really knows you, and just because you enjoy Carnival doesn't make you trashy, low brow, or common, just like the fact that me enjoying Celebrity doesn't make me classy, sophisticated, and upscale. I barely make above minimum wage, work in Mental Health Care, and live in a small $350 a month apartment in freaking West Virginia. Top that. I'm sure there are some folks here that if they didn't know any better would probably call me a 'Hyacinth Bucket'. Do I care. Hell no. Just like you shouldn't care about the opinions of what others think of Carnival and it's clientele. Because no one knows the truth about your Carnival experiences, your choice of vacation, and you, better than you. 

I remember when I worked on the Song of America and we were docked or anchored near a Carnival ship, there really was a difference in the passenger's. As I waited for a tender in Grand Cayman, for example; there were two lines, one for our ship, Royal Caribbean's Song of America, then there was the Carnival line to the Holiday or whatever. There was a noticeable difference in the passenger mix clearly seen in the two lines.

I've cruised on Carnival's Jubilee back in '97, but have visited countless times many of the other ships in the fleet, and clearly, Carnival reaches a certain demographic. I think the average cost of a cruise, and the cruise line's marketing and image development determines what type of passengers will gravitate to that product...also the itinerary has a lot to do with the type of people on certain cruises. Doesn't matter if it's a mass market, upscale, luxury or whatever, you're still going to find a few "characters" in the passenger mix.

I think the crew / passenger ratio also has something to do with the passenger mix...as a high density ship like Carnival will attract a larger percentage of "challenging" people, while a very open and lower capacity ship will have fewer people like that.

I personally enjoy just being at sea, but I am becoming more appreciative of the more upscale, club environment. Even on the more luxury end, I have noticed, there are "challenging" people that don't know how to treat others or have proper manners.

My issue is, people on here (and other boards) are quick to judge Carnival, but when asked, they have never actually been on a Carnival cruise.

Just from my own experiences.

The food is pretty good, the steak house is very good.
The standard cabins are nice, they are certainly roomier than most other lines.
The beds and linens are some of the best afloat
The suites are, well a joke.
The crew are good, on our last cruise our cabin steward was amazing.

The passengers tend to be more "fun", not in a bad way, but more open to letting their hair down.

However, with the recent changes, IMHO Carnival is heading the wrong way.

For Russ just off the Elation in Mobile:

Canival Holiday out of Mobile

Breeze's decor has touches of new P&O, Celebrity and Epic!

Personally I think it is a great improvement, but of course it also loses all of the 'Carnival' uniqueness/brand identity.

Quite a brave move!

[ 09-01-2011: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

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Originally posted by oslo dutch:
Isn't this done by the same German company who does the Aida ships?

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Aida ships were built first in Finland (Aker), now at Meyer Werft (one more to go) before they move to Mitsubishi.

Carnival ships are exclusively build in Italy (Fincantieri).

They did use the same design firm as most Aida ships though (Partner Ship Design in Germany).

But since the Carnival Magic and the Carnival Fantasy were designed by that company I am not sure how much influence they had on the general interior theme.

[ 09-16-2011: Message edited by: FL_Cruiser64 ]