http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/ 114-216 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/carnival/carnival-triumph.html This was our 5th Carnival Cruise and the first on the Carnival Triumph which was taken on Aug. 28, 2011. We could smell raw sewerage in our cabin, in the hallway and even near the London dining room area. The air conditioning in our room did not blow cold air and it was very hot at times. These issues were reported to our cabin steward, the customer service desk, and a ship inspector (who was looking at loose edgings on stairs). Nothing was done to take care of these reports. Many other passengers were also complaining about the same things. On the day of departure, 3 women told us they got a $50 credit and they complained 3 times a day for the entire 5 day cruise. We love to take cruises but this will be taken into consideration when we choose the cruise line to book with next time... ]]> Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:09:53 -0500 317-206 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/carnival/carnival-dream.html To give you some perspective our family has cruised before with Princess and Royal Caribbean. We haven't sailed with Carnival but heard they had a good children's program which was important to us. We saw this cruise and decided to book it. Embarkation was easy and we were onboard within 20 minutes. Our cabin was ready before 1:30pm which was nice so we could unpack. The ship is quite beautiful and a larger ship so it took us a while to get familiar with it. We noticed on deck in certain areas you could smell the sewage which wasn't appealing. The kids liked the kids water play area and slides so that kept them very happy. We however were not very happy with the pools onboard. First of all there are only 2 small pools for all those people. Second they were filled with salt water which I didn't think any cruise ship did. We usually enjoy relaxing in the pool but found we couldn't do that on this trip which was disappointing. The cabins were livable and had space for all of our belongings. It was nothing fancy but it did the job. As for the food in the main dining rooms and around the ship it was average at best. The alternate restaurants were good if you are willing to pay to eat there. Though eating there every night would be expensive. Our kids did enjoy the Camp Carnival and had a lot of fun and made some friends onboard. I wouldn't sail on the Carnival Dream again as though some of the staff tried hard I think they just corners everywhere and those little things make or break a trip for me. I think I will stick with Princess and RCCL. ]]> Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:47:55 -0500 99-56 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/carnival/carnival-elation.html As we live in San Diego taking this cruise was so easy. After parking our car at a local lot we were able to get onboard and to the Lido in about 10 minutes. Our room was finished around 1:30 and our luggage arrived soon after. The Elation is an older vessel but it is clean and well maintained. They really do a good job of keeping it up to date. Our room was nice right by the Atrium but still quiet. Our stewart went out of his way to make us feel at home. The activities on the Elation were fun as this was a Halloween cruise and the costume contest was hilarious. The Hypnotist and juggling comedian were both really funny. Service was good both in the dining room and on the ship. As for shore excursions we book our own tours privately from the cruise line. Everything went well and we really enjoyed La Paz and wish we had more time there. Ensenada was more of a disappointment. Disembarkation was again quick and easy and we were on the ship and through customs in no time. Overall a great and relaxing cruise vacation. ]]> Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:25:15 -0600 97-55 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/carnival/carnival-destiny.html This was my fourth cruise (2 on Royal Caribbean and 2 on Carnival). Having travelled with Carnival before I had certain expectations, though not as high as others, and I found they have been met by this cruise. Though other people I talked to on this sailing wouldn't agree. My husband and I flew into Miami on the morning we started and had no problems getting to the boat early. We decided to get a taxi and arrived quickly at the pier. The check in process went smoothly and in a matter of 10 minutes we were on the Destiny and eating lunch. The boat looked very similar in appearance to the other Carnival ship we were on before. Are there better ships out there, yes but it was clean and nice. I had no problems with the overall quality of the ship. There were plenty of activities, but my favourite activity was finding a quiet spot to just relax and read my book and soak in the sun. Our first port was on Wednesday (after a day at sea) at Grand Turks/Caicos. This poor island has been devastated by hurricane Ike; Though getting off the ship we did find a shopping area to the right of the pier. They had good shopping, great eating (Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville was THE place to be), a nice pool, and a beautiful, easy to access beach all right there. The pool and beach access were free and we enjoyed snorkeling off the shore. It was a rather short day as we had to be back on the boat early, I think at 1:00. The next day we stopped at Half Moon Cay which is Carnival's private island. We ended up renting a cabana for the day for $225 which is worth it. The cabana was air conditioned, had a fan that sprayed mist, a shower for rinsing off, soft drinks, snacks, and hammocks for relaxing. They also provided snorkel equipment for 4 and floats. I would really recommend this option. Our final port was Nassau. We didn't end up doing much at this port as we didn't book any shore excursions ahead of time. I would recommend for this port that this would be a good idea. There was a local market nearby so we did a bit of shopping The food was good and we ate in the dining room all week long. By the end of the week though I was getting tired of the food. I am not used to eating so much all the time. On the day of disembarkation we got off the ship around 9:00am and quickly found our luggage and were on our way. Overall we got what we wanted from this cruise and that was a nice relaxing vacation. ]]> Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:23:11 -0600 96-67 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/carnival/carnival-conquest.html Embarkation went smoothly much to our delight. Once we arrived we were quickly onboard and enjoying lunch in the Lido buffet. Our bags were in our room by 1:15 and we were able to unpack before the lifeboat drill. We splurged on this trip and got a balcony cabin. What we didn't realize is that the casino was right below with the loud noise keeping us up to all hours of the night. Be sure you look what is underneath and above when booking your cabin. The food was Ok the breakfast buffet was average and really we had no good dining experience for the entire cruise. Things were overcooked or undercooked or just not fresh. Overall the ship was clean and the staff tried hard. However the food, smoking and noise levels were our main problems with this ship. The recent cost cutting is apparent with this cruise as they are trying to cut corners everywhere. ]]> Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:53:42 -0500 110-72 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/carnival/carnival-pride.html After doing many cruises with Carnival Cruises we thought we would give the Carnival Pride a try. On embarkation we tried to arrive late to avoid the crowds but there were still really long lines. I guess you just can't avoid them. On the ship we got a balcony cabin which was a good size and we did enjoy having the balcony. The room itself was not that clean and there were stains and other problems with the cabin. We found hairs still in the bathroom so someone was not cleaning properly. Our room steward never came by to introduce himself but he seemed friendly enough. The entertainment for the most part was good. Some of the shows were better than others. One comedian was to vulgar for my tastes and I didn't care for him. The cruise director was good and quite entertaining. The Bingo we found wasn't worth it though we did like the casino onboard. The food was average but adequate. We found the same thing being served for breakfast and lunch all the time. The dining room waiters offered horrible service. One time he forgot to take our order as we waited for ever for him. Water glasses were never refilled. Overall not a good exerience in the dining room. The ship overall wasn't very glitzy like other Carnival ships and I actually prefer the glitzy Las Vegas style. Most of the staff we encountered onboard never smiled and were very unfriendly. Service just wasn't what I was used to on other cruiselines. Overall a fun cruise but I wouldn't sail on the Carnival Pride again. ]]> Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:04:31 -0500 102-71 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/carnival/carnival-freedom.html We had saved a long time to do this dream trip of ours to Europe. We choose the Carnival Freedom because it went to most of the places we wanted and was the lowest cost. Flying over was a long trip and we decided to stay a few days in Rome ahead of time to get rid of our jetlag. The day of the cruise embarkation was very easy and organized. The publice rooms on the ship are beautiful and we really did enjoy all the places we could just sit and relax. The decor was great though we found in the theatre it was hard to see the front from certain seats. Our cabin stewart was great and our room was small but adequate. The food was great and we really enjoyed the buffet for breakfast and dinner. The dinners weren't great as we found that the service was horrible onboard. We were seated with people that we didn't get along with and almost felt trapped there. We ended up eating dinner at the buffet and enjoyed it more. The shows were really good and the cruise director was quite funny. The dining room staff was horrible but otherwise the service onboard was good. Overall we would sail with Carnival again. ]]> Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:02:30 -0500 109-39 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/carnival/carnival-paradise.html This was my first time on Paradise but I had done the itinerary before on Ecstacy in 2002. Both are same class of ship so pretty easy to navigate once you figure out the sadistic \"hey, let\'s put an elevator and resturant here\" which makes some navigation a challenge. This was golf cruise with my buddy. I love Catalina and the weather was great. First time in 2002, we almost didn\'t make the tender boats because we didn\'t know about how many wanted off. Suggest you go early and you won\'t have the problem. Overall, service was good. Never saw room steward but he did a great job. Dining room could have used some friendliness. Food didn\'t seem to be as good as in past but still ok. Considering feeding 1000 people at a time it is pretty good and they will do what it takes to please. Common areas were clean. Karoake bar was the busiest part of entertainment. Mini golf was good fun. Overall, a good experience and I am going back for my daughters HS grad and birthday in June again. ]]> Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:42:55 -0500 105-92 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/carnival/carnival-inspiration.html I have been on many different cruises and I won't be on the Inspiration again. The food on the Lido deck was okay but lacked variety. The dining room dinner was good though the lobster tails are small. The beds in the room were really hard and we left every day by 8-9am and our room wasn't cleaned by 12:00. The entertainment was average. I heard many people complaining about service, food and excursions. I won't be travelling Carnival again. ]]> Wed, 14 May 2008 00:39:16 -0500