Not going to spoil my views

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mlzangel78

Guest
I had to post this message, for all of you:

My first cruise was to be and still is booked for Decmber 7 onboard the Grand CW. This is my fiances and I long awaited vacation, and it could not come soon enough.
Every year the husbands go hunting and my self and my girlfriend take "girly vacation" this year we decided to go to orlando for 5 days and relax at the royal pacific on universal property. At the last minute, we found that it was cheaper to do a 3 day cruise to the bahamas versus hotel fare, and we could still get in a day at disney, and half a day at universal, which was fine cause we have both been there before.

We booked with Carnival, we have no expectations at all, it was just a cheap way to go to the bahamas, and all in all saved us about 300.00

I have not booked any of my cruises directly, it has been with an internet TA:
Kimskruises.com for princess, and cruise compete for carnival. that being said:

Whenever i call princess to double check something on our booking they are the most pleasant wonderful people, though it is not booked with them they answer questins and give me all the info i need.... this is not true with carnival

Down right nasty customer service, they refuse to answer any questions, and i have been through about 6 cust serv reps who have ALL been rude.
I must say that this is kinda dissapointing as though it is only a 3 day , it will actually be my first cruise... However i know that princess will be my first real cruise, and i am still looking forward to it despite the horrible time i expect on carnival.

We will now only be booking with Princess and RCL as carnival has made me feel, like god.. were not even on the ship and weve already got crappy service,, whats it going to be like on the ship...

For those of you that have booked with carnival in the past on the fantasy only... your opinions would be much appreciated as to the difference between Princess and Carnival,, though i can already see for my self Princess has got it going on :)
 
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scamper

Guest
This is an exemple of one of those questions of life that you are so sure of, you want to scream it from the highest roof top. Princess by far in every catagory. However if your main objective in life is to party HARD! Or, if Carnival is absolutely all you can afford then absolutely cruise carnival.
 
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mlzangel78

Guest
No it wasnt all we could afford, we actually were going to do the Rcl 4 DAY, However, since we had origianlly planned to do disny the 3 day with carnival was the only one that fit our arrival and depart dates with 2 day after to enjoy, disney and universal... believe me carnival was not our first choice but it was a cruise to the bahamas none the less...
Cant wait for Grand on Dec 7th less than 60 days to go...
 
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ron123

Guest
ML,
You folks are very fortunate to do these back to back cruises!! So many posts in here are about what the cruise lines are like... This always changes.... i.e. staff, cruise directors, captains... You'all will have first hand experience of the 'what if' senerios people play out!!
I have only cruised Princess and have never been unhappy! not even on a bad day! Enjoy both trips for what they are! [Next year you'all will be booking a 10 day cruise instead] on Princess!!!
I recomend the pre-booking option that Princess offers. This is the chance to pre-book future cruise of your choice with $100.00 each charged to your account. It is good on Princess for almost 2 years it gives the the chance to shop around and find the best price and then use your pre -booking. No deposit for cruise, plus shipboard credits await!!
Happy Cruising Ron
 
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mlzangel78

Guest
Actually we are booking an 11 day on RCL brillance :) got an unbelievable rate at 949 for balcony :) hopefully it will go down :)
 
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Jim in NC

Guest
Don't worry about the rude customer service. We took a cruise on the Fantasy with 6 cabins full of family members who had never cruised. The ranged in age from 19 to 68 and without exception, everyone had a great time. Our experience with Carnival has been that their customer service is their greatest weakness, the ship is fine. As others have pointed out, it's a different cruise experience from Princess, but you'll still have a great time. Remember, a bad day on a cruise is better than a good day at work.
Jim in NC
 
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Lady Jag

Guest
Sorry to say, but from my experience, your rude cust. service reps are just the beginning with Carnival. If I could, I would encourage you to book with RCI instead. Maybe things won't be so bad once you're on the ship. One can always hope! Good luck and go with your eyes open.
 
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mlzangel78

Guest
HELP !!! i am getting so much flack for this post on the carnival board..... im not mean, but i will defend myself.... doesnt anyone double check vavcation details or is it just me ????


How long till drinks on the caribe deck??????? :)

cant wait to meet everyone
 
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Lady Jag

Guest
When you post something like this here, on the Princess board, you're bound to get responses from people that like Princess more compared to other cruise lines.

Don't worry about it. If you can't change your plans, just go with the flow and appreciate the Carnival cruise for what it is - a non-stop party ship. The point is that you're getting away, right? :)
 
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belgique

Guest
I've been on HAL, RCI, NCL, Cunard, Celebrity, Costa and Princess. My behavior does not change according to what line I'm on. People are good everywhere and people are bad everywhere.

I'm sure you will enjoy your cruise - the people you are with and the people you meet make the trip special. Don't go looking for negatives - the positives will far outweigh the negatives.

Have a wonderful time!
 
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rns91294

Guest
Let me give you some advise. I have been on RCCL, Carnival, Princess, and NCL. Of all of them, I disliked Royal Caribbean the most (didn't like their food and this one waiter was a real jerk, I actually had to go to the Pursers desk to complain and I NEVER do that). I have not been on Princess for a while, but am going in 26 days and my parents won't cruise any other line. Anyhow, my husaband and I love cruising and so far, Carnival, believe it or not, has been my favorite. There is one thing I will say though. We were on the Destiny for our honeymoon and ordered this neat plaque thing that they were going to engrave with our honeymoon dates and send to us. Needless to say, we paid and never received it. I had such problems with their customer service department that I know what you are talking about. In the end, they refunded me mroe than I paid and sent two t-shirts and a bag, but the hassle was horrible!! So don't let the custoemr service department get you down. The people on the ship have nothing to do with the CS Department and you will still have a wonderful time. Now all you Princess people, don't be mad for me saying I like Carnival best. I am going on the Grand next month and it is my first Princess cruise since I was 16, so I may change my opinion of my favorite cruise line next month.
 
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caribgoddess

Guest
Now here's my two cents worth! A work associate booked his first cruise with Carnival and just returned. I myself am a cruise nut and love both Princess and Royal Caribbean. I was disappointed to learn of his choice for a first cruise but since I have never cruised Carnival I am not the best qualified to comment on their product. Well.....unfortunately his experience was less than we all had hoped for. Partly because they ran into two hurricanes and the itinerary changed significantly. What started out as a cruise to Mexico turned out to be a stop in San Francisco, San Diego, and Catalina Islands. The unfortunate part is that my friend lives in the SF Bay area, works in downtown San Francisco and frequently visits San Diego on business. Not much of a cruise for him. His overall comment about the service, accommodations, acitvities, etc. was also not what he had hoped for, compared to the rave reviews he heard from me about RCL and Princess. Of the 16 cruises I have taken on these two lines, I have not one complaint. My cruise experience has been so wonderful that now I am hooked on back to back cruises. I'm counting the days til my January 11th and January 18th cruises on the Dawn Princess. Enjoy your cruise on Carnival and go with an open mind. You may have a totally different experience than the negative feedback you are getting here. Consider this....they wouldn't be one of the largest cruise lines if things were really that bad. Also, now you will have something to compare future cruises to. Happy sailing
 
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Lady Jag

Guest
Caribgoddess puts it well. One thing that cruising with many different cruise lines gives you is a chance to compare them all to one another. IMO, each cruise line does something really well.

My sister's first cruise was on the Adventure of the Seas. She figured all cruise ships were that big, that beautiful, that clean and that new. Then she went on the Ecstasy, despite the fact that I warned her. She was so very, very disappointed. She couldn't wait to get off the ship from the very first day.

Now, she knows that all ships and cruise lines are not alike and can compare these two at least.
 
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smiley

Guest
My husband and I have taken our first cruise ever on the Carnival Spirit we did the 8 day southern carribbean. We are both in our early 50's and had a wonderful time. And we plan on cruising on Carnival again. Carnival seems to be for the young and young at heart . You will have a wonderful time! I never had to deal with their customer service.

And for all you princess fans, our second cruise is going to be in March 2004 on the Golden (7-day eastern carribbean) Our room is on the Baja deck. After reading all the reviews and posts I know we won't be dissappointed with a princess cruise either.
 
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mlzangel78

Guest
After reading all your comments I will say this, Whatever we do on vacation, we will not be at work ... we are very much just looking forward t saying "were in the bahamas!!!" and thats all that matters, cheap vacation getaway, and were gonna have ablast.


As for December on the grand, my fiance and i are doing that cruise, and we know that it will be one of themost romantic vacations ever. carnival good cruise for the "wives weekend"

Princess,,, romance class and style,,,

Either way im a happy girl that i am fortunate enough to not only go on my first cruise, but to do 2 cruises in 2 months...wow..


thanks every one :)
 
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Ken_2001

Guest
And I myself would have to agree with everyone here as well. MY wife and I have sailed both Carnival and Princess, (Legend and the Golden) and say in spite of some very different worlds here, We will never forget the times we've had on either.


BTW MLZANGEL, how on earth do you "DO a cruise" or "DO"an excursion"? It sounds terrible. We prefer to sail on ships and go on shore excurions.
 
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mlzangel78

Guest
Some of us here, :) lol dont have our minds that far down in the gutter, just kidding, but sounds like your from NY which is where im from, dont you guys "do" anything up there??

What ever happened to - hey what are you doing??
I couldnt have been gone from NY that long :)
 
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Ken_2001

Guest
LOL! HORRIBLE!! LOL! Allow me to deviate just for a second here. one of my co workers uses the word "DO" so much he sounds silly. I have a diet pepsi next to me and says " Oh i see your DOING a diet pepsi" I"m like what is that? a Dance or something? LOL!!!

But I'd like to share this with you...

As mentioned above, my wife and I sailed both Carnival Legend and The Golden. Very different worlds. Know what? Carnival's new Spirit class vessels are wonderful. The service aboard, is outstanding, the food we enjoyed thoroughly. Our cabin steward left no room for improvement. The second I put the cabin phone down after paging him, he was knocking on our stateroom door. Three times he did this.

Legend, Spirit, Pride, all got very good reviews except for the people who like to complain. I anxciously await the new Lady, Carnival Miracle. Another twin sister.


We sailed in late May. So we had no kiddies, and just one small group of boozers that I had ejected from the theater real fast. I have no tolerance for boozers. Sorry. Cruises are an expensive proposition.

The Golden had just as much activity as the Legend but different types. Wonderful people on both. Any problems are so minute, the ain't worth mentioning. My Motto is a cruise is what you make it. If you sail Carnival, Read your Caper each night and plan your next day.

If you sail Princess, Read your Patter each night, and again, plan out your following day.

No matter who you sail, you;ll have a good time!!

P.S. Yes I'm from the Big Apple. I work way up high in Rockefeller Center that faces the Hudson river docks where I can see ©¿© all of the cruise ships. {even though all we get here are virtual tug boat and commuter sized ferry cruise ships.} :eek: )



Post Edited (12-02-03 12:07)
 
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