Converted from Princess to Carnival

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 6

Review summary

Carnival review Let me start saying we are elite with Princess so our first time with Carnival and we were overall pleasantly surprised. Embarkation was much worse than it needed to be. The staff was welcoming and communicating but the Carnival dome was hot, stifling, and overcrowded. A crowded enclosed place in southern Cali without AC is not going to make any guest happy. Our boarding appt was at 11 am and we were aboard before noon. We had balcony 6419 and it was small. I dont know or look at the square footage of the rooms but it was smaller than anything we've had on Princess or Royal Caribbean. Our room steward was Agus and I was not impressed. I believe I've seen his name with good things in other reviews so I expected his service to at least be on par with all other room attendants we've encountered but it was easily the most disappointing. We met him on embarkation day and asked for extra pillows and a mattress topper. When he delivered those we gave him a $10 tip figuring it would set the tone of our stay. We keep our room pretty tidy so really only need the trash emptied, dishes cleared, and bed made. Every morning we would leave $10 with his name and note thanking him. We started to notice he would never take away the empty dishes and kept stacking them on the desk. Never having been on Carnival we weren't sure if it was policy to put everything in the hallway floor as many others were doing. We asked some friends and other guests and were told their room attendant always cleared old dishes. At one point we just decided to leave them on the desk to see how long he would collect them. He continued to stack used plates, glasses, and silverware for 3 days on the desk. On the fourth day we put all the dishes on the hallway floor and stopped leaving cash tips. We were not tipping $10/day to have our bed made. Puerto Vallarta and Ensenada were cancelled due to Hurricane Kay so that sucked. The boat was rocking with the rough water but we were fine with just Sea-Bands. One of our favorite things was the pasta making class in the Carnival Kitchen. Chef Manish was funny and patient with everyone and our meal turned out delicious. They emailed us the recipe we used and look forward to making it again at home. We had so much fun we just wish we would have booked more cooking classes. We couldnt believe how many food options were onboard. Obviously we knew not everything would be to our liking but we ate almost everywhere so got a really good variety. We tried the Vista, the buffet, pizza, Pig & Anchor, Guys burgers, steakhouse, Cucina del Capitano, Jiji"s, Seafood Shack, the Chefs Table, Blue Iguana, and Bonsai teppenyaki. I think we tried everything but the room service and Bonsai Sushi. We enjoyed all the premium restaurants and found all the food flavorful and worth the extra fees The Chefs Table was the most expensive at $99 per person and was easily our least favorite meal. The portions were small and underwhelming. It seemed more for show and didn't live up to the hype. It took 3 hours, had an intermission, and the largest course was a warm salted beet with green foam. We really enjoyed the production shows. There were 4 different productions during our 7 day cruise. These are actual production shows with singing, dancing, costumes, and choreography. Our favorite was Celestial Strings not only because of the beautiful costumes and incredible violinists but the songs ranged from Alanis Morrisette to Evanescence to Rhianna to Metallica had everyone appreciative of the performance. Princess "production" shows now basically consist of someone standing on stage just singing. There were also some comedy shows but nothing memorable. We were just on the Discovery Princess to Alaska in May and our time on the Carnival Panorama was 100% better. I can't imagine going back to Princess after having such a variety on Carnival.

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Long Beach (Los Angeles), California

Mazatlan, Mexico

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Disembarkation

Other reviews of this sailing