I have sailed Disney, HAL, Princess, Regent, Celebrity,,Royal and Carnival and have never had a bad cruise. I have fond memories of every single cruise. No grocery shopping, no cooking, no cleaning, great entertainment and great destinations. Love it.
I am a friend to my children and grandchildren. why would I want them to dislike me because I’m nasty and mean. There is also no bad behaviour in my family
@@Hildred6My parents definitely were not my friends and they could care less if I liked them or not. However, I am so very grateful for their firm discipline and the fact that they weren’t afraid to be “assholes” when the need arose.
In the now distant past, I became a platinum guest on Carnival. What has changed is the huge, huge ships, the behavior of people on the ships and in the ports, and the give me everything attitude. Now I sail on small ships, pleasant people on board, no misbehaving children, and a focus on the people and history of the ports.
The kids really kill the deal for lots of people. It's like being stuck at Chucky Cheese for days on end. When you pay good money for a vacation someone's kids can really destroy any value in the experience. Kids will be kids but the newer generation of parents simply abrogate all responsibility the minute they step on board. The cruise lines make the situation worse by not enforcing the basic rules and allowing things to spiral out of control.
Yes our kids came with us when they turned nine and 10. They stayed with us the whole time. They still do and they are teenagers now lol. We are older parents maybe that has a lot to do with it. It blows my mind to see kids running all over the ship. Where are their parents...
I agree the cruise lines don’t do enough or enforce rules enough. Too scared of getting flack from the cruisers. Maybe we need to complain more. However, those parents don’t abrogate all responsibility the minute they step on board. They abrogate almost all the time, until they are forced to take responsibility. Those kids act like that when they’re at home/in public too. That’s another reason they are so bad on ships. They’re used to acting up and doing whatever they want, so they just continue to do so on the ship.
@@rcfnc The parents have got on the ship with their kids so they don't have to do their job and they think those kids should be everybody else's problem. They let their kids run around while they sit and have cocktails
I have 6 kids and I agree with you. Mine are well behaved, but if one is having a rough moment, we go to our cabin to recompose ourselves. I don’t believe in letting my children run feral and have public tantrums ruining someone else’s good time.
We're in our 70's, have been cruising for years on all lines,until I discovered Virgin. Now there's no chance I'm cruising any other line. It's unique,food is fabulous and you can just relax if you want...and there's no children..
I agree - and would not sail on any of the top five you mentioned for the reasons you gave - i would also add Norwegian and MSC to my “do not sail” list. My three I stick to are Holland America / Celebrity / Princess - relaxing cruises for adults that don’t feel like Vegas, an Amusement Park, or some Frat Party. I go on a cruise to relax, enjoy very good food, and have great service. I don’t want to be around drunks or riff raff or lots of screaming kids
We are 64. We are Sapphire on NCL and Diamond on RCCL, but our favorite is now Virgin Voyages! We have been on 10 VV cruises and have 6 more booked. So much included in the rate (WiFi, gratuities, ALL restaurants, sodas & water, specialty exercise classes, and more). Did I mention no kids! Best food I have ever had at sea. Hammocks on the balconies. Diverse and happy crew who are allowed to show their personality (visible tattoos, comfortable uniforms, and staff in all ages, shapes, colors, sizes, and sexual orientations). Yes, we are 64 years old, so don’t believe the rumors that it is just a sexy party ship. There are fun parties to be found, for sure, but also relaxation and easy going fun as well. Shows are unique and energetic and they think outside the box. Don’t listen to people who have never tried it; check it out for yourself. I believe that you will be very glad that you did! My tip would be to arrive with an open mind and an open heart and the Virgin team and your fellow Sailors will welcome you with open arms!
@@staciebrooks1328 have not tried Virgin yet, sort of on the back burner for now. Their offerings do sound interesting, maybe I’m hoping that through Virgin cell phone service I someday get an offer I can’t refuse
I’ve been going back and forth about whether to book princess or VV. Both are significantly more costly than NCL. But I understand the experience is worth the expense. You make a very strong case for VV. Thanks for your experience.
@@mattiemathis9549You are very welcome! Also, when looking at NCL and RCCL, their prices do not include gratuities, WiFi, sodas & waters, specialty dining, or spin classes and such. If you would normally get any of those, add it to their prices for comparison. The WiFi alone can be quite pricey these days. Hope to see you soon on VV!
I’m having a really good day, because you look so strong. Vigorous & healthy! I’ve been following since your health struggle days & you so look darned good. ❤
Surprised at finding Royal Caribbean here. I was really surprized when sailing on a fully booked Allure of the seas. Except for first day when everybody was running around finding their way there were basically no time when we had to wait for anything. Buffet, pool chairs, entertainment. People tend to spread around so much that it is never a hassle. And with so much activities to choose from you are never bored. Totally loved the helpful staff too.
Older couple here. We sail carnival on the Mediterranean, and other areas that are longer cruised and not party cruises and we love carnival. We have also done carnival out of Galveston several times and have never had a problem. However as we get older we prefer princess and celebrity. I will never do Royal Caribbean because going on a vacation with 7000 people and their kids does not appeal to me.
We just sailed on Cunard. We thought the food and shows were both so-so. Great cruise for someone who wants quiet and to just relax, read a book and enjoy the view
We have been on RCL, HAL, MSC and Carnival. 14 with Carnival cruises and have never seen one fight. We love Guy's burgers and BBQ, Shaq's chicken, and the Blue Iguana Cantina. The deli and pizza are good too. They have so many included food options, unlike some of the others. I'm not sure why people are always so negative about them.
Have sailed on Disney, Royal, Celebrity, Princess and Holland America. Liked something on all of them, but recently Holland America has won us over. The smaller ship, great food and service is fantastic. The shows aren’t our favourite but that’s not why we’re there.
We love carnival no matter what people say we're laid back neither one of us drink don't do anything under a 7 night cruise never had an issue we do xl class ship.
Had 5 night cruise that was ok. Bigger issue about a short cruise is the day of the week and stat holiday times or school vacation times. We made the mistake of going on an 4 day RCL cruise that happened to fall on Martin Luther Kong day. Not being an American we didn’t even think of that weekend being a national holiday weekend. The ship was full of kids and party party party, no different than a 3 day Carnival cruise on a weekend.
Couldn’t agree more! Carnival has our vote. We have tried them all over the last twenty years. We do like a few others like Princess , but we always come back to Carnival in the end.
We're married old farts, and our favorite cruise of all was on Symphony of the Seas, Royal Caribbean. Ship was full but never felt crowded. Liked the reservation for shows, which were above and beyond what you see on other cruise lines.
Our last favourite cruise was on Symphony LOL. It was at MAX capacity. Attractions had very limited hours, no late night food. So many things were extra cost. Family in the Solarium hot tub at 10pm. Our room steward took 3 days before introducing herself and did a lousy job (left glasses piled up inside of the door on the floor). We were loyal Royals before.
We only sail Carnival. 65 years old, we found the 8-14 day cruises are much more laid back. If you sail a longer cruise, during the school year you'll have a similar experience as NCL or Royal. Carnival has improved the food and selections so much!!
We are in our 70’s and do 4 trips a year on Viking ocean. The food is good and the quiet atmosphere is perfect for us. Each line has its niche market and Viking has done it right for us.
@@kevindill9748 with only 930 passengers maximum, the ships are never crowded. Viking really look after you especially on shore excursions. We have always booked the VS2 grade stateroom and have found it great for size and sitting areas. The wine list is decent and very affordable. Cocktails are also reasonable. Beer and wine is included for lunch and dinner. You will find the passengers are well traveled and educated. This makes for a lot of pleasant conversations. We have done Alaska twice and loved it. Just got back from the London to Bergen cruise and the fiords of Norway are amazing.
@@kevindill9748 We have been to Alaska twice and you're in for a treat. The Viking ships are small with only 930 passengers. You will find the Viking passengers well educated and traveled. Most will great at conversation. The Viking staff are like "mother hens" (very attentive) especially on shore trips you see staff all over and ready to help with any problem or question.
Our first experience with cruising was on the original Princess “Love Boat” ship. We loved that cruise because it only had 800 people on board. Tried Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, then back to Princess Lines. We still like Princess Lines the best. 👍🏻💕🇺🇸
I think we are very unlucky here in Australia. In the winter months, since covid we have had only 2 cruise lines that sail here. Carnival and P & O Australia. Now that Carnival who owns P & O are closing P & O down in March 2025, we will only have Carnival ships left. Carnival says its not changing anything about the 2 P & O ships except their name, but I bet they will.
I have cruised on Virgin I was skeptical but I really did like it it's cheeky and if you can't get by that then it's not the Cruise Line for you. But I had no problem with it at all and the food is amazing❤
Carnival was a 1 and done for us. Came out of our cabin a little after 10pm and there was security seated at each end of the corridor. Never have I seen that on any other cruiseline. It was rowdy as well with adult women jumping into the pool top less with young kids all around. It was disgusting.
Of those 5, the only one you would never find me on is Disney. Heck I think every family that wants to bring little kids, should be on their ship. I've had my fill of unsupervised and the I don't care what my kids do parents to last me a life time. Costa isn't on my never, but only would if the deal was too good to pass up. As for RCC and Carnival you won't find me on their mega ships, but both lines still have normal sized ships.
I love Disney Cruise Line. I have no small children. My youngest is 34 and he would rather go on Disney Cruise than any other. They have no casinos aboard and I like that. They have plenty of adult entertainment. I never had a problem with too many children around.
Who else has been on the Queen Mary? Even though it so permanently docked, it's being renovated and has nice events. I enjoy just going for lunch. It's beautiful to me
I loved visiting it the 3 times i have been there...to me that is the most fun part of Long Beach exit and you then get to see two very different times and ships..I adore they are keeping her up and one time they were having a period party and I got to see people all dressed up as they arrived and snuck into the big chappel on board..something i had not seen...that was large for a ship and way back then I thought....later I thought of when it was refitted for war crossings and maybe the folks who lost loved ones taking her later...so much history.
My husband and I have no children and we recently returned from our 21st Disney cruise and are already booked for our 22nd Disney cruise next year. We have been on all 5 Disney Cruise line ships and really enjoyed the fabulous shows, great food and beautiful ports. We have never had any problem with children on any of these cruises because they are entertained and kept busy most of the day into the night at the various kids clubs and labs. In fact we have been on the beach next to other couples who complained that they never got to see their children because they were too busy having fun until late each night at these labs and clubs. There are certainly no kids just running around causing trouble. If you don’t want to see kids at all there are adult only districts on each ship; separate decks where there are bars lounges and clubs only for adults, separate pools for adults only and even separate areas on Disney’s private islands that are only for adults. We occasionally did see children during meals or shows where they well behaved. And the only time we ever witnessed kids acting up were the mornings we were departing to go home. Children were crying that they did not want to leave because they were having lots of fun and did not want it to end.
I have only sailed on Royal. 24 cruises now. As you and others have pointed out you need to choose the cruise line that meets your needs! Family oriented, party ship, adult only ship, or you will be disappointed.
One cruise with Carnival, a three night one with family. Never again, the food was very ordinary and the decor almost gave me nightmares 😂. Back to our favourite, HAL, very soon.
We have cruised 10 times on Carnival and enjoy it. We could afford royal, did it once, it was nice but not worth how expensive it is. Going on Carnival in March!!!
We've cruised 30 times since the eighties (40 years). My legs and lungs are no longer what they were and I cannot enjoy the quarter mile walks from my stateroom to, say, the MDR. As ships became longer, we've avoided these newer ones in favor of older, shorter models. Now in our 70s, we also prefer the calmer lifestyles aboard.
We cruise based on itineries but all the factors mentioned about the list of five also go in to the equation. We also tend to like the smaller ships - huge when we started cruising. I wont blame anyone for using any of the reasons for not sailing on those cruise lines but for some of them it doesnt mean they are a bad cruise line, they just dont fit the bill for some people.
Good topic..... interesting... we went on our first Virgin Voyages cruise in our late-60s and have been on five more including a transatlantic and a trip from Greece to Singapore (the ship continued to Australia but we only did the first two legs). We interacted with plenty of people our age and had lots of entertaining things to do that didn't include wild partying until dawn. I believe many folks speak based on perception and not on evidence.
I love Disney cruises. Going on the Disney Treasure in 2025 (5th Disney cruise) with my family (all adults, I’ll be the youngest at 27). Yes it is family oriented but I think you would be surprised at how much adult only things are on the ship. Yes they do have adult only comedy shows, magic shows, game shows, trivia, etc. it’s not just for families and people without children can have a great time
I completely agree. My wife and took our kids on many Disney cruises over the years and now our “kids” are ages 20 and 23. But my wife and I now go just the two of us and have a blast. Plenty of “adult only” activities on Disney to keep us entertained. And service that’s hard to beat.
We just got off the Carnival Pride this past Sunday that sailed to Bermuda. This was our 5th Carnival cruise! We had a fantastic time. No drama. No fights. Entertainment was a little lacking this time but the entertainment they did have was great!
We sailed Carnival once and that was quite enough for us. Haven’t sailed Disney yet, but we love Royal for our current station in life with teens & small children. As our kids grow up and move out, we will probably gravitate toward Princess, Cunard and Celebrity.
We ssail HAL and Viking, never less than 10 day itineraries, and have never had any issues. Would like to try Silver Sea or Regent at some point. Can never see us setting foot on a Carnival ship, worked too hard have my leisure time ruined by unruly kids and drunks.
Carnival was my very first cruise line, I was mid 30’s at the time, so it was the late 80’s, early 90’s. The agent found a great set up for us and the kids room wise. Even then I found it gaudy. But it was fun. Then took the kids on Disney. Fabulous experience for us and the kids! The kids were busy in the kids clubs a good part of the day/eve and we had to haul them out close to midnight once! There were plenty of adult areas that were great. I would do Disney without kids. We did a few more, both lines. Took a break from cruising in favor of land vacations to Europe and Asia, fabulous!! Now some health issues brought me back around to cruising lol. My sis and I wanted to give it a go. She guided me to NCL where I immediately zeroed in on a 2 bedroom/2 bath suite in the Haven. The experience was so fantastic we booked another Haven cruise within a week of getting home. It is a premium price but we appreciated the privacy of separate bedrooms when needed / wanted (sisters!), but common living room, dining to come together. The service was top notch, priority to everything had the due effect of spoiling us. Would I like NCL outside of Haven? 🤷🏻♀️ We’re doing a quickie 4 nighter on Royal in September, Navigator, separate rooms. We shall see how that goes. I’ve also cruised Holland which was very meh, at least the one I was on.
We won’t sail on Carnival (too much of a party atmosphere and loud) or MSC (food was terrible) again and even though I’m a huge Disney fan, we won’t sail Disney either. We prefer cruises with the fewest number of kids as possible. We already raised ours and when we shell out this much money, we want to relax, not trip over unsupervised kids. We also avoid the mega ships. We are sailing Princess for the first time next month, but Celebrity is our favorite right now.
Sailed on a Carnival once and probably would not do again. I’m loyal to Princess as I found the food is better, more things to do and prefer twice a day room service. Not interested in Virgin or Disney. Would like to try a Holland, a Royal mid-size ship and/or NCL Breakaway. However, like I said I Know I’ve always been happy with Princess and I always seem to look there first.
We just did our first Disney Cruise in April and my wife and I were very pleased with the adult only entertainment. There was plenty for adults to do. The food was fantastic and the crew was top notch. We loved it so much we booked a second cruise for this coming April.
Carnival I have done and enjoyed, but prefer Princess. Disney I would love to do, but too expensive for me. Royal Caribbean I have done and hope to do again in future. Virgin I have no interest in, but I am sure it is great for most. Costa I would definitely consider if the right opportunity came up. I just love being on a ship in the Ocean.
Carnival!!! We went on our honeymoon cruise 42 years ago before the cruise fad really took off. The ship was a renovated cargo hauler with a dumpy feel to it. It had so soured us we have never returned to a Carnival cruise.
I have been on two Costa cruises,I really enjoyed it.The food was great as was the service.I think it is because the dinner in the main dining room is more of a “European experince”.Be prepared to spend double the usual time for dinner.I did find that very relaxing no rushing thru your meal.
I, agree, I took Costa in my 20's once on a refurbished "Big Red Boat"....ship awful but still had fun,,,,Dining and service wonderful...i guess i had had "European" on many levels studying and travelling afterwords there very fortunately in college and liked that too. They even made a dessert souffle' again on a not souffle' night for our table that we all loved..a flavor in vanilla category but not that..just amazing. All new ships look as nice as Carnival when it is nice.
I wouldn’t go on carnival because of the drunks. Now on princess ones I think they are far more calm. You get probably some action at the pool but other than that it’s so very nice. Enchanted I want to go again 🎉😊
We've done many cruises on Disney. There are many adult activities including in the evenings. Only 1 cruise was done with a child, our grandson in 2023. Disney has 4 different pool areas: children , teens , family and adults only. We only saw our grandson at dinner !
We’ve only sailed on Disney, yes there are adult show. Kids don’t bother us, done a dozen of them and will go back again. We don’t gamble nor do we really drink, the food is great, shows are great and the crew treats us very well. Is it for everyone no but for us its perfect .
I have told sooooo many people that I would never take a Carnival cruise It’s not the ship, it’s the environment. Never shutting down the incessant fighting over the past few years, and arresting these people, and making them sign something to tell them the consequences in advance ticks me off. Those 3-4 day cruises are scary. You never know if a chair or body is going to come flying in your direction. Thank you, but NO!
@@cruise799 my old boss didn’t call me “Murphy” for no reason. Every time I went on vacation I experienced some sort of accident- like a broken leg, a hurricane flooding up to the 2nd floor of our hotel, and a car being hit by the Amtrak train we were on, to name just a couple of mishaps. Nothing has changed. My family now makes bets on what horrible thing will happen to me. It’s a forgone conclusion to all my friends and family that somehow a ruckus would occur on the ship if I took Carnival and it would somehow “Murphy’s Law” would strike again! S, no thank you. lol 😂
Leaving tomorrow on our 11th cruise with Carnival and turning Platinum. We've NEVER seen a fight onboard. It's not "incessant", it just that the news coverages highlights only the negative. Give a 6+ day cruise a chance.
We have only cruised on Holland America and Princess so far, and have status on each; given their itineraries, crew, ship size (not garguantuan), and other factors, we‘re booked up on them until the summer of 2026. Would like to try Virgin.
Disney has adult night clubs and the more adult fair can be seen in those at night. No not everything is kid oriented, but they are focused in adult only areas.
People judge the cruise lines just as they judge each other. Get over it folks. Just be happy and get over yourself. Life is too short! Enjoy today because tomorrow is not promised.
My husband and I sail mostly on Celebrity. Years ago, when we were young we went on Carnival, which we never would today. We went on back to back cruises last year in the Caribbean. The second one was a 4 day cruise. The difference in the clientele was astounding! They were younger wild partiers, that seemed that they were there to get drunk with their drink packages. We won’t go on any short cruises again because of it. We plan to go on Princess for an Alaskan cruise. We are headed on back to back in the Mediterranean next month. We generally choose the Equinox, because it’s smaller.
We gave them a chance in January and they were worse than what we had imagined. Waiter in restaurant acted annoyed, almost ate rancid potato salad from the buffet, little entertainment options, felt like the circus with vendors walking around selling trinkets... we've been in over 10 cruises on other lines and I'd sail in any of those again.
Hey Don The survey doesn't surprise me all!! Absolutely spot on! -Death by Disney no thanks -trashy carnival heck no -6,000 rccl guest heck no -virgin no! Too over the top and crazy.
I love Carnival. Never had a problem. Made lots of friends and lots of fun. I agree if you want to be a slug and lay around all day being snooty it's not for you. I can afford any cruise line but I always return to carnival. Never seen a fight. Service has always been great. But I like meeting people and I find most everybody on Carnival is very friendly and approachable.
Hi Don, I have sailed with Carnival since October of 2011 and I have always had great cruises with them. As far as I heard about fights breaking out on Carnival cruise ships that would be because of guests drinking too much alcohol while on board and it has to do with the maximum number of alcoholic drinks they order that day. If there was a much lower limit on alcoholic drinks per day such as only 5 drinks per day and not only that. If there was also a certain time window to where guests had to wait to order their next alcoholic drink such as 1 drink every 2 hours it would make it less likely for fights to break out on Carnival cruise ships.
No surprises about Carnival. It has the worst reputation! The "party ship", fighting, and poor manners reputation. Of course their other brands like Princess, Holland America, Costa, Aida, and P&O don't have that reputation.
Been on 2 cruises, first was Carnival and I saw enough. The food was so so, the sleazy deck entertainment and the drunks fight with security called. Swore I wouldn’t cruise again, but this year I gave Royal a try. It was awesome and I immediately booked another with Royal in 2025
NCL is the best bang for your buck. Especially if you drink alcohol. They aren't as good as they were before the shutdown unfortunately and have cut back on cruises out of Florida.
I'm sailing on Oasis of the seas in June and I'm hoping I like it. For some reason I call it a mall at sea which is what it looks like to me. My bf wants to go so we are going to try but I guess I'll have to wait and see if I like it
Years ago we thought we would try them out and just go on a 3 day cruise. We were so glad it was only 3days, because we felt that the food was so bad. We spent those 3 days eating hamburgers and tacos, which were good.
1:43 I think you should address NDL, or nickel and dime line as they have come to be known. They had a good product pre-lockdown and just totally went out of control
Been on thirty plus cruises. We have been on VV three times so far and have loved it. We are in our 50’s and don’t party. Just like all ships there is something for everyone. Don’t knock it till you try it. We love VV and will go again if it works out. Don give them a try! We are also going on Princess for the first time in three weeks to Alaska. It just finally worked out.
First cruise ever last week on Carnival. I felt like it was spring break. The food was also disappointing. The staff seemed to be going through the motions and really exhausted.
My dad used to always say that carnival lives up to its name and we agree. We were Holland fans until carnival bought them. They used to have wonderful formal nights and no kids. It’s went down hill. We like celebrity, until we find another cruise line that isn’t an amusement park.
My wife and I would also never go on any of those five cruise lines you mentioned. We currently have five cruises booked, and they are with Celebrity, Oceania and Princess. My wife and I don’t have young children so we don’t like the Disney or Carnival vibe. We also don’t like the excessive partying you would get on Virgin or the mega ships you get on RCL.
We took a break from CCL FOR a year..till i spotted a trans Atlantic for cheap.. im betting its a different clientele from the 3/4 nite booze cruises.. least i hope so!
The thing that all the top 5 have in common are that they specialize in something and hyper focus on the best experience for a certain group. Which makes them the worse one for a different group. There's a reason they're on the list and they should be proud imo
Carnival is a one and done for us. We thought because it was a 7 day cruise on a newer ship, we would avoid the uncouth behaviors, to no avail. We would try Virgin except the cabins look small.
Fully agree. We went on Costa in 2018 for the first time and loved it. Food is great (not if you expect US junk food however). Done 5 more cruises since another one next week and 1 was on Costa again.