Image study of Carnivale Cruise Lines

Being that we have been inundated lately with opportunity costs,
opportunity analyses, 'thank you for this opportunity,' 'this job
seems like a great opportunity,' and 'where's the opportunity for
growth?', I may have overlooked the fact that 'opinion' has only
one 'p.' I do apologize for inconveniencing your eyes with the
multiple misspellings.

Hi Miranda, I'll play along. First forgive some of the crabby and picky
posters. They haven't cruise in a while and haven't kept up on the
stewed prunes in their diet. RTC is known for some of their less then
helpful replies.

What goes into choosing a Carnival Line/Ship? What goes into choosing a
hotel brand? Carnival puts out a "good" product for the cost. Not
according to Tom but their are obviously alot of people who don't listen
to Tom. Their cabins are comfortable, the food is enjoyable and the
service is "good". Some people pick a Line/Ship for the ship itself. I
do prefer Royal Caribbean over Carnival, but will sail Princess in two
weeks for the second time in 5 years. I was not overly impressed with
Princess the first time but will give them a second chance. I would
rank NCL as dead last on my list.

My order of importance in choosing a Line/Ship is:
1. Service
2. Cabin (must have Balcony or I don't go)
3. Price
4. Ship itself (different, alot to offer)
5. Destination (Caribbean)

Carnival offers alot of eye candy. Flashing lights, glitzy decorations
that kind of stuff. After you cruise a few times you not always in the
mood for glitz and "in your face" party atmosphere. You don't want to
hear the song "Hot, Hot, Hot" 12 times a day every day for 7 days.
Thats where the other lines come into play. While the other lines are
more conservative (eligant without being boring) they tend to do a
better job in the service area.
Royal Caribbean in my opinion is one of those lines who exceeds in
service. Would I sail Carnival again....You bet I will. Great value
for the product they offer.

wrote in message
ps.com...
Being that we have been inundated lately with opportunity costs,
opportunity analyses, 'thank you for this opportunity,' 'this job
seems like a great opportunity,' and 'where's the opportunity for
growth?', I may have overlooked the fact that 'opinion' has only
one 'p.' I do apologize for inconveniencing your eyes with the
multiple misspellings.

Miranda,

I am not sure if your study is dealing with the corporate entity that is
Carnival Cruise Lines, which consists of a whole bunch of disparate
companies, including Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess
Cruises, Cunard Line, Seabourn Cruise Line, Costa Cruises and Windstar
Cruises. In other words, something for every taste.
--
DG in Cherry Hill, NJ

There are several other cruise lines that are much nicer than CARNIVAL

(.a cruise lover.)

The original poster didn't ask about nicer cruise lines. Because we
all know it can be said there are worse cruise lines than Carnival also.
The question was what factors and criteria go into your choosing a
cruise line/ship. Its amazing how people go to the effort to respond to
a post but don't answer the question. Instead they just post a negative
comment to be mean.....or appear superior.

wrote:

Sorry to all. I did in fact mean Carnival with no 'e.' There was a typo
on the assignment sheet, and I had not yet begun my secondary research.
Thank you for the clarification. Also, all of your posts are very
helpful, so I do encourage anyone to give their oppinions of the
crucial elements in determining the cruise ship carrier.

The way I pick a cruise is probably MOST different from the way other
people do it. This is the order of requirements - #1 is more
important than #2 etc. and by the time you get down to #7 it's just
something nice to have, but would not keep me from going if I wanted
to.

1) Price. It has to be less than $100/day/person for me to even
consider it.

2) Embarkation port. Has to be somewhere we can drive to within a
half a day. My husband has stopped flying unless it is an emergency
last resort thing because of all the hassle since 9-11.

3) Itinerary. Ideally the ship should go to places we have not yet
been. Alternatively it should go to places that we have been that we
liked. We would also like to be in a port for an extended time if we
have been there and liked it. So for instance Bermuda is good for us
because we have more than one day. [I've never been to Bermuda when
I had enough time to do all I wanted to do].

4) Size of ship - smaller is better, both because I don't like crowds
and because I enjoy being in places that the larger ships can't go.
Also a small ship means I don't have to walk miles to get to the
dining room.

5) Appearance of ship - I like traditional looking ships and not
behemoths.

6) Internet access at reasonable cost and speed.

7) Ship's tours that are going to the places I want to go at a price
that isn't too much higher than what I'd pay if I did it on my own.

I prefer an inside mid ships room. Do not care whether we have an
outside room or balcony.

It would be nice if the food was good, but I'm pretty easy to please.
I like the Freestyle dining - that is I like to eat when I'm hungry
and with different people each night.

I like to have good service, but if I don't get good service, I won't
worry too much about it. I try to be the kind of person who will get
good service.

I'm not interested in climbing walls or those kinds of things.

I don't want to watch movies or gamble. I don't drink. I don't want
to buy art. I don't want to buy jewelry. I don't want to shop very
much. Shows are nice, but I wouldn't worry too much if they didn't
have them. Don't care about spas. Can't stand hot tubs (too hot).

The only amenity which I can think of that isn't offered AFAIK is a
lap pool.


grandma Rosalie

wrote:
Hi everyone,

My name is Miranda and I'm an MBA student at the University of New
Hampshire. I am conducting an image study for Carnivale Cruise Lines
and I was hoping to get some of your thoughts on Carnivale. I am also
wondering what criteria and factors go into your choosing a cruise
line/ship. Please share your oppinions.

Out of our 15 cruises so far, we have been on four Carnival cruises
and enjoyed them all. Our last Carnival cruise, Conquest 11/04, is
most likely to be our last Carnival cruise. The only bad thing I have
to say about Carnival, is that you couldn't get away from all the
smoke in the casino and lounges. Most other cruise lines/ships we have
been on, the smoke has not been anywhere near as bad as the Conquest.
Also other ships on other cruise lines had lounges with non-smoking
sections, Carnival did not.

When we look for a cruise we look at the itin., the cruise line, the
ship itself and then we look to see if it is a price we are willing to
pay at the time. As I said above, we have ruled out Carnival for now
because of the smoke. Maybe sometime in the future, with better
reports of smoke issues, we will give them another try. We have put
RCCL just above Carnival, they also have a good product, but you can't
count on good quality food.

sue

Rosalie B. wrote:

Can't stand hot tubs (too hot).

In recent years the hot tubs on the ships have not been all that hot,
temperature wise. I wish they would make them as hot as a hot tub is
meant to be.

sue

Sue, You might want to try the hot tubs in the gym/spa area. They are
usually much hotter than the outdoor spas. I think they keep the pool
spa temps low because of all the drinking around the pool and all the
sun & heat. You always see people sitting in the hot tubs with a drink.
Not the best thing to do. Your also not supposed to exceed 10 mins
(according to my gym) at any one time. Yet you'll see groups in there
for up to an hour or more. It just my opinion why they keep them low
temp. This Dec. I will complete my 20th cruise.

RICK DAVIS wrote:

Sue, You might want to try the hot tubs in the gym/spa area. They are
usually much hotter than the outdoor spas.

Thanks, I will keep this in mind for when my body is really hurting.

I think they keep the pool
spa temps low because of all the drinking around the pool and all the
sun & heat. You always see people sitting in the hot tubs with a drink.
Not the best thing to do.

IMO also because there are often kids in the hot tubs, even though
they aren't allowed.

Your also not supposed to exceed 10 mins
(according to my gym) at any one time. Yet you'll see groups in there
for up to an hour or more. It just my opinion why they keep them low
temp.

When the hot tubs are as hot as they should be, most people can't stay
in them for very long. Our clubhouse hot tub says no longer then 15
minutes at a time. I don't know how hot it is, but hope to find out
this summer.

This Dec. I will complete my 20th cruise.

By Dec. we will of completed our 16th cruise, can't keep up with
people like you who have lots of vacation time(grin). What cruise are
you going on in Dec.?

sue