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Cruise Reviews » Carnival Cruise Line Reviews
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AVERAGE RATING 
Carnival Cruise Lines is a member of the exclusive World’s Leading Cruise Lines alliance which also includes Holland America Line, Cunard Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, Costa Cruises and Windstar Cruises. Together, these member lines share a commitment to quality and value, offering cruise vacations that appeal to a wide range of lifestyles and budgets and sail to some of the world’s most exciting destinations. |
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Carnival Triumph
Reviewed by David B on 23-4-2008 (Bolton) |
| The very best money ever spent on a vacation package: a Cruise . Because a package is what you're getting (except for the alcoholic beverages). It's like floating around in an all inclusive resort and waking up on a different island on some days and just floating around on the ocean on other days. The service is often unsurpassed, compared to your average 5 star hotel. We have cruised before, on Royal Caribbean, and we found ourselves comparing every so now and then. Royal Caribbean has a different crowd of people, your Holiday Inn type with lots of kids and your Hilton crowd more laid back. We have two small kids and love spending time with them on vacation and thought that Carnival would fit more into that picture than Royal Caribbean. Error on our part. Carnival does have kids clubs, but our kids were not allowed to be in one club together due to their age difference, my eldest is 7 and my youngest is 5. We were told that that is their policy. Secondly with most activities they expected you to drop off your kids and move on. We actually wanted to spend time with our kids, do the stuff they wanted to do together. Their kids club catered more to the parents that preferred their vacation more adult like with good care for their kids; hairy chest contests on the lido deck with a cocktail in one hand and a limbo stick in the other, or with a cocktail in one hand and a the handle of a casino slot in the other. For each their own. We did have an absolutely great time on board, we played mini golf with the kids, did the giant waterslide. We also visited the game room, which would be rated R for excessive violence for me, but we managed to speed them past the gory machines to the motorbikes and hockey table. But mind you, you do not spend much time on board. Most of the time you are out exploring some beautiful tropical island, tell you more about that later. The food is really good on board. For Lunch I loved going to the New York Deli and have perfectly crafted sandwiches or just a simple bagel with salmon, we usually skipped the hot Lunch Buffet. The kids had whatever they liked, more than enough choice there. We preferred the breakfast in the buffet style restaurant. The main restaurant was always too busy and whatever you ordered all came at once, so the kids had cereal with cold scrambled eggs, not good. The problem with the shortage of staff in the Main Restaurants applies to Dinner as well. It was very obvious that they were understaffed and they seemed very rushed. Drinks are expensive on board, they also had a 15% service charge to the bill. Don't try and smuggle any alcohol on board cause it will get confiscated and returned to you after your trip. My husband drinks a lot of soft, so he got a soft drink pass, which means you pay one price approx. $40 and you have unlimited soft drinks during your whole trip. The kids preferred the juice and ice tea, which is complimentary (free). The cocktail were good, the alcohol of excellent quality. The shows at night were also very entertaining. We visited Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios. Do not buy the excursions on board they are overpriced. I researched each destination and booked my excursions online and everything went great. We went sailing in Cozumel, swam with the Stingrays in Grand Cayman, and went riding in the mountains on ATV's and then climbed the waterfalls in Ocho Rios. I would wholeheartedly recommend a cruise to anyone, young and old. |
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16 Days of Bliss
Reviewed by Will on 26-4-2008 (Chiswick) |
| We hav just got back from a back to back Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Triumph and I can honestly say it was the holiday of a lifetime. Everythingabout the ship was magnificent from the balcony Cabin on lido deck, the staff who treat every passenger like royalty,the deliciuos food which is available 24/7 to the islands of the caribbean which are like heaven on earth. Our itinerary was the eastern and western caribbean taking islands such as San Juan, St Thomas, St Maarten, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios. cozumel was the favourite as we stopped there for 13 hoursand had the chanc to do 3 excursions but every island had something dfferent and magical to experence. I am really looking forward to booking my next cruise. We are well and truly hooked. |
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51% of users found this review helpful. |
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