Thread: Bon Voyage Smart Traveler (Andrea and mom Becky) Carnival Sensation, Port Canaveral to Nassau, 3days

Pete, let me clarify something.

I was only referring to the actual ships, not the lines in general, when I said RCCL is not as good as Carnival. Here's why: Monarch of the Seas has smaller ocean view cabins. When I read the square footage for each ship, Carnival had the biggest outside cabins. Even 185 sf is barely big enough so there is no way I could be happy in a MOTS cabin. That was the deciding factor when choosing between Carnival and RCCL, not someone else's opinion about Carnival having better food than RCCL.

As for Disney, my sister and BIL sailed on the Dream for her maiden voyage for their tenth anniversary because they knew it's better than Princess for six-year old boys. That is a giveaway I should stay off Disney ships. My BIL said afterward the food on Princess is better and he has taken three Princess cruises. Then there is the price being too high because none of its ships has a casino so it will stay out of my price range forever.

Mom is one of those people who relies heavily on opinions of other people. She never buys stuff on Amazon with lots of negative reviews so if I say, "My CLF friends tell me Carnival has better food than RCCL," which some members did, she will reject RCCL immediately.

I thought you were just referring to the cruise lines in general, thank you for clarifying that. I hear what you're saying about size of the cabin. Sometimes bigger is better.

As for Disney, it really does depend on when you go as to how many kids they will be onboard. We went the 2nd week in December while school was still in session and everyone was planning for Christmas, so we didn't have alot of kids on our cruise, which made it wonderful. I have no doubt we'll have to bit the bullet in a year or so in order to take our grandson on a Disney cruise. And while I'll really look forward to doing one again since we really loved our cruise, I'm not looking forward to paying the high price nor the food - we'll definitely be eating in Palo's more often than last time.

But you really do have some wonderful choices available in your area. Just keep in mind that with cruising, you definitely get what you pay for, so sometimes you have to pay just a bit more to get alot more. As Warren Buffet said, "Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."

If we're cruising just for the fun of it, we will really take a hard look at HAL cruises because they often have some great pricing. And when looking at the quality, the value for the money is tough to beat. But if we want a really good cruise (by our standards), we'll go with Celebrity. Then again, comparing Carnival to HAL or Celebrity is really not fair since they are as different as night and day.

As for opinions, it's now our human nature to complain about everything. It's been proven that people are more apt to complain about something when things go wrong than to praise something when all goes well. In other words, if we get what we paid for, then we're satisfied so there's nothing to praise. But if anything goes wrong, we're quick to complain that it was not up to what we expected. And expectation is different for different people. Up until this cruise, you've never been on a cruise so your expectation is going to be different than someone like me who's been on 43 cruises. So while we may pay the exact same price and get the exact same experience, what we expected to get may be entirely different based on many factors. As Lee Iaccoca said in his book, and I'm paraphrasing, a satisfied customer will tell 2 or 3 people, whereas a dissatisfied customer will tell 8 to 10 people. Of course, with the internet you can now multiply those figures by a million! But he recognized the importance of making sure the customer was satisfied.

To prove the point, look at the other popular cruise forum that we so lovingly call The Dark Side. It is absolutely FULL of people who want to complain, find fault, and criticize. Critic is definitely the proper description in their name! In fact, if you look up the word in the dictionary, one of the definitions is, "One given to harsh or captious judgment."

I've been banned on there three times under different names. I once had the audacity to disagree with a long-time poster who was completely wrong in the information they were providing. Another time I found a lady who posted all the time and was always coming across as someone who had done alot of cruises and knew everything about everything. But to me the information she was giving seemed a little off-base. Out of curiosity, I did some research and found that, in fact, she had never even been on one cruise! I got banned for pointing it out and she's still posting.

Bottom line is, as I always say, opinions are like bellybuttons - everyone has one. So it's always best to take opinions from those you know and trust because all the rest are just bellybuttons! Besides, in this case, every cruise line out there has thousands and thousands of devoted fans for a reason. And that's the fun part about cruising; trying them all so you can find the right cruise or cruises for you, which is more than likely going to be different than how others feel.

And that is why I love cruising! There's something for everyone!!

Pete

I know what you mean about Cruise Critic. One thread is about Princess not making its Love Boat Dream with the sea witch logo anymore. Is it really that important? Its size, shape, and color have not changed!

I know different people have different reasons for preferring certain cruise lines. Some people like small ships. Some people like big ships. In my case, a big ship with few kids onboard is ideal, but Mom's job and financial situation forced me to rule those out.

I haven't been around a lot lately, between going to band functions, administration meetings at the school (to lecture them on being anti-band, despite the fact that they have an award-winning band), and playing shrink for someone. Plus, I did some pro bono publicity for the upcoming band competition in less than two weeks...so missed this thread before.

Personally, I much more enjoyed visiting Key West (we were there post-cruise for a couple of days) than Nassau. But then we hadn't planned a specific excursion in Nassau.

I'm not a Disney type -- living less than 100 miles away as a kid from Disneyland, been there about five to eight times, I think. But never been enthralled by the whole Disney Corp. thing. If hubby had suggested we go on a Disney cruise or go to Disney world, I would go along. But I think you're paying for the Disney name so unless it's a big thing for you... If fact, my girl's fifth grade teacher was really into Disney -- she and her husband went to DW on winter break -- actually spent 10 days there, and then nine months later, their kid was born.

But as Pete said, you could probably go on a Disney cruise while school is in session and not find it full of kids. There's a lot of adult Disney fans just like Mrs. H.

There could have been some kids that are being homeschooled or out on a short school break (I've heard some areas take off when teachers go to conferences; there's probably some Los Angeles school kids who may be on cruises Thanksgiving week as most of their schools have furlough days that week due to the budget crisis, even though not my daughter's school). Or there could be families with kids not yet in school, so they could go at any time of year. But most likely, cruises between mid-June to late August, end of December, and the week around Easter will have plenty of kids. But a well run kids' program will keep the kids busy, especially if the parents aren't insisting that the kids always hang out with them.

But if you would rather have seminars and that kind of activity, you might prefer lines such as Princess, Celebrity, Holland. It really depends on the cruise director, too. It also depends on whether you are attached to the waist with another -- and they have their own preferences. Sometimes I'll just do what hubby wants to do, but sometimes I'll suggest something and he'll be willing to go (the last cruise I was part of a trivia team, and he realized it was a lot of fun either watching or participating with us). I would help him bring his music and stand when he wanted to play guitar, and sometimes would just kick back with a puzzle magazine, or else take a hula or lei making lesson while he plays.

If I was traveling alone, I definitely would have sailed at a different time on a different ship from a different port. But if I did that I would not get the chance to look at butterflies in port or watch waiters sing and dance before getting a dessert menu or get three cute towel animals on one bed (a seal, turtle, and walrus). The best and most surprising part for my mom was the two times she said, "Bingo!" and on a better ship, she would not have played that game.

Originally Posted by Smart Traveler

Some people like big ships. In my case, a big ship with few kids onboard is ideal, but Mom's job and financial situation forced me to rule those out.

But the thing is you don't have to spend alot to get alot. For example, you can get an inside cabin on the beautiful new Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam for 7-nights on November 25, 2012 for $399 per person plus tax. That's an amazing deal! And you're traveling on a 4-star cruise (out of 5 stars). This is only $40 more per person than the cheapest Carnival cruise during the same time period on a 2-1/2 star cruise. Needless to say, much more bang for the buck, that's for sure! So you can get big, and nice, and no kids without spending alot more money.

Not trying to push Holland America, but just wanted to use that as an example as there are some amazing deals out there on some wonderful upscale ships without an upscale price. To me, it's a no-brainer.

And personally, I would much rather get an inside cabin on a more upscale ship than a balcony on a lesser quality cruise. You don't spend all the time in your cabin and once you leave the cabin, for the most part, everything is the same for everybody.

Pete

I hear you on the inside cabins, but we did look out the window a lot and agreed to never settle for less than ocean view.

I will think about HAL later, but for now, I only care about E721 on the Sapphire Princess.

Originally Posted by cruisin' chick

But if you would rather have seminars and that kind of activity, you might prefer lines such as Princess, Celebrity, Holland. It really depends on the cruise director, too. It also depends on whether you are attached to the waist with another -- and they have their own preferences. Sometimes I'll just do what hubby wants to do, but sometimes I'll suggest something and he'll be willing to go (the last cruise I was part of a trivia team, and he realized it was a lot of fun either watching or participating with us). I would help him bring his music and stand when he wanted to play guitar, and sometimes would just kick back with a puzzle magazine, or else take a hula or lei making lesson while he plays.

Does you hubby play his guitar in a public area Patty ?

If I remember, he has!

On the subject or Key West versus Nassau:

Next cruise (Reflection) docks in Nassau the same day as 5 other ships, we will not be getting off the ship. We visited Nassau back the end of Sept when we stopped there on Monarch. I really wanted to see the straw market in it's new digs. Needless to say I was disappointed, looks like the same straw market with a cinder block building built around it.

Key West OTOH is one of my favorite stops, not enough ships make that a stop IMHO. So we're flying into Miami 12/1 and will spend 3 days there pre-Reflection. Looking forward to playing tourist. We've already seen the Maritime Museum and the Aquarium and have done the Conch Train. Want to see Truman's House and Hemingway's Museum this trip. We'll also get to see a sunset from Mallory Square, never been there for that!

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