Carnival Legand 1/10-1/17/2010

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:53:13 -0800, Ray Goldenberg
wrote:

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:38:49 -0600, Stu wrote:


Why, what happened? When was the cruise?

Hi Stu,

Many folks love the Carnival experience and some do not care for it at
all. This is why there are a diversity of cruise lines & travel
agents to assist in finding the correct cruise line experience. :+)


Thank you for your interjection Ray, but I was replying to Tom K.

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:53:13 -0800, Ray Goldenberg
wrote:

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:38:49 -0600, Stu wrote:


Why, what happened? When was the cruise?

Hi Stu,

Many folks love the Carnival experience and some do not care for it at
all. This is why there are a diversity of cruise lines & travel
agents to assist in finding the correct cruise line experience. :+)

Our trivia partners on Celebrity Mercury (who helped fill in the
blanks of our knowledge) are long time cruisers on Carnival and really
like that cruise line. They went on one Princess cruise and were
highly annoyed when Princess charged them extra for ice cream. Said
they would never do a Princess cruise again. I've never done either
of them. I am looking forward to trying Carnival because I hear the
food is terrific. And although I was disappointed in the food and
general 'togetherness' of the crew on Grandeur of the Seas, we are
trying RCCL again next year on a different ship.

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:56:52 -0500, wrote:

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:53:13 -0800, Ray Goldenberg
wrote:

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:38:49 -0600, Stu wrote:


Why, what happened? When was the cruise?

Hi Stu,

Many folks love the Carnival experience and some do not care for it at
all. This is why there are a diversity of cruise lines & travel
agents to assist in finding the correct cruise line experience. :+)

Our trivia partners on Celebrity Mercury (who helped fill in the
blanks of our knowledge) are long time cruisers on Carnival and really
like that cruise line. They went on one Princess cruise and were
highly annoyed when Princess charged them extra for ice cream. Said
they would never do a Princess cruise again. I've never done either
of them. I am looking forward to trying Carnival because I hear the
food is terrific. And although I was disappointed in the food and
general 'togetherness' of the crew on Grandeur of the Seas, we are
trying RCCL again next year on a different ship.


At late dinner the crew put on a huge show every night, it was always
something different. They had most of the dining room up dancing and
singing, this when most were having desserts and coffee so it didn't
interfere while eating.
As for the togetherness, the crew went out of their way for us at
every turn, I don't believe it was the gratuities, I believe it was
because they really wanted to.

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:28:49 -0600, Stu wrote:

Thank you for your interjection Ray, but I was replying to Tom K.

Hi Stu,

We all give our opinions here on r.t.cruises. Tom is free and I am
sure will tell you all about it. BTW, if you do a search on Tom and
Carnival you will see many threads on this subject. Bring a lunch,
though. :+)
--
Ray Goldenberg 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
Lighthouse Travel http://www.lighthousetravel.com
Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/lighthousetravl
Follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ray.goldenberg

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:25:22 -0600, Stu wrote:



At late dinner the crew put on a huge show every night, it was always
something different. They had most of the dining room up dancing and
singing, this when most were having desserts and coffee so it didn't
interfere while eating.

Hi Stu,

This has been one of the signature experiences on Carnival for many
years. This is a major irritant to many cruisers who dislike the
Carnival experience. Others enjoy it. Are you old enough to remember
the expression, "Different strokes for different folks" or was it the
other way around? I am so old I forgot. :+)
--
Ray Goldenberg 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
Lighthouse Travel http://www.lighthousetravel.com
Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/lighthousetravl
Follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ray.goldenberg

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:51:06 -0800, Ray Goldenberg
wrote:

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:25:22 -0600, Stu wrote:



At late dinner the crew put on a huge show every night, it was always
something different. They had most of the dining room up dancing and
singing, this when most were having desserts and coffee so it didn't
interfere while eating.

Hi Stu,

This has been one of the signature experiences on Carnival for many
years. This is a major irritant to many cruisers who dislike the
Carnival experience. Others enjoy it. Are you old enough to remember
the expression, "Different strokes for different folks" or was it the
other way around? I am so old I forgot. :+)

Oh I remember it, it was from a sitcom Diff'rent Strokes with Gary
Coleman in it circa 1975

As for the entertainment, I'm 59 going on 18, I enjoyed the cruises.
I hear there are specific cruise lines for people who don't want that
sort of thing, I've been told that Holland is one such.

I don't understand why people cruise if they don't want to be
involved, you might as well save your money, stay home or fly.

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:30:07 -0600, Stu wrote:

I don't understand why people cruise if they don't want to be
involved, you might as well save your money, stay home or fly.

Hi Stu,

While you may enjoy that type of involvement, there are many that
enjoy cruising but not Carnival's version of Involvement. BTW,
Carnival calls it "fun".
--
Ray Goldenberg 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
Lighthouse Travel http://www.lighthousetravel.com
Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/lighthousetravl
Follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ray.goldenberg

"Stu" wrote in message
...


Thank you for your interjection Ray, but I was replying to Tom K.

Have you ever gone on Cunard or Celebrity?

It's a very different experience from "OUR" sailing on Carnival. We were on
Carnival Destiny on a sailing to Halifax from NYC. Quite a number of years
ago.

I found the ship rather un-clean to say the least. The deck has partially
eaten apple cores sitting there all day... till the night crew cleaned up.
People outside crushed cigarette butts on the beautiful teak decking and let
them sit there like it was a street in NYC. Things like that. But then you
might get the same on other ships. On our sailing, albeit quite a number of
years ago, pretty much when the ship had come out, it was a relatively new
ship. Yet not very well cared for. There was a perpetual spoiled food odor
by the coffee/tee station in the buffet.

They put is in a booth in the dining room, and the waiter (who had smelly
armpits) had to reach past my nose to serve the person next to me... the
whole booth idea turned me off.

The food on our sailing... again a long time ago... but enough to make me
never to want to go back... like for breakfast... The buffet had huge (like
3 ft across) bowls of scrambled eggs, greasy bacon, sausages, melon and
grapefruit slices. That was pretty much the entire buffet, other than some
packs of cold cereal. On Celebrity at the time, you could get
crepes/blintzes, lox and bagels, fresh made omelets, all different kinds of
fruit... just a very different buffet experience. At least back then.

When walking down the hallway... I remember the guy wearing the "Suck This"
T-shirt... my young daughter at the time asked "suck what?" Or the guy in
the hallway with an undershirt on, ciggys rolled up in the sleeve of the
undershirt, long neck beer in his hand, smoking away in the hallway right
outside his room...

And then the hideous pink corrugated sheet metal all over the ship... but
then I will probably never see eye to eye with Farcus' design themes...

There were just a lot of things. And combined, it was a big turn off.

Would I ever go on Carnival again? I guess you should never say never...
but at this point, I can see no reason to. There are just so many other
options that fit me better. I love the Queen Mary 2. I love Celebrity. I
think Royal Caribbean Voyager class ships are best ships out there, even
though I don't like their food. I can do Holland America. And Princess.
And would love to try Regent, Oceania and Crystal some year... but those are
big bucks.

To me there are just so many better options than Carnival, at least for me.
Particularly in this economy when you can get a Celebrity sailing for about
the same price as a Carnival sailing.

But hey... that's just me. My style... my personality. What I want from a
cruise. And I'm also "kinda" fussy... especially about food. Hence my
fondness for Celebrity and Cunard. I like to try fish (particularly mild
white fish)... so lines that do better seafood are an attraction to me. But
since seafood can be kind of funny... I won't even bother with seafood on
lines like Royal Caribbean, NCL , or even Princess. Too many bad
experiences.

A number of years ago, a lot of Carnival people came to RTC from the AOL
boards... and many of them thought they could never find anything more
wonderful than Carnival... but after a little convincing, a few tried other
things - like the Celebrity ship Constellation... and going on Celebrity...
at least it opened a few eyes to other, rather different, options. I
e-mailed a few privately when they thanked me for recommendations...

Is Carnival for everyone? No... but then neither is Celebrity. Or Cunard.
But each has it's own style. Just like a sports car has it's own style from
an SUV or mini van. And as customers, we also have our own styles and
preferences. It's all about finding a good fit. Just like Ray said.
That's why I say not everyone has the same feeling about Carnival. If I was
planning a cruise, if Carnival was my only option... I most likely wouldn't
go. I just wouldn't enjoy it. But the not everyone is going to like
Celebrity or Cunard either.

Most here have heard these stories a dozen times before, but at least it
offers perspective on how our own styles influence our thoughts regarding
various cruise lines.

--Tom

"Ray Goldenberg" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:28:49 -0600, Stu wrote:

Thank you for your interjection Ray, but I was replying to Tom K.

Hi Stu,

We all give our opinions here on r.t.cruises. Tom is free and I am
sure will tell you all about it. BTW, if you do a search on Tom and
Carnival you will see many threads on this subject. Bring a lunch,
though. :+)

Yep... bring lunch... and dessert... LOL

"Stu" wrote in message
...

At late dinner the crew put on a huge show every night, it was always
something different. They had most of the dining room up dancing and
singing, this when most were having desserts and coffee so it didn't
interfere while eating.

Another MAJOR turn off... I despise singing and dancing waiters. I find it
so irritating.

I thought we might have been able to avoid it in Holland America... but
alas.... no luck.

--Tom


As for the togetherness, the crew went out of their way for us at
every turn, I don't believe it was the gratuities, I believe it was
because they really wanted to.