Top 5 reasons you need to try out Carnival Cruise Lines

I constantly hear from clients and friends that they don't like Carnival even though they have never sailed on them, they feel this way simply because they heard something bad! Sadly many of them are missing out on a great Cruise Line. When someone has a bad experience they tell everyone, but when that same person has a good experience, they don't share it the same way. Also, Carnival doesn't jump when there is bad news about them, they fix the situation and move on from there.  Here are my family's top reasons why we love Carnival and you should consider them as your next family vacation!

#1 - Ports visited in the Caribbean 

On Carnival Cruise Lines my family has visited Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Honduras, Belize, and multiple ports in Mexico!

Disney has 4 ships and they all pretty much follow the same itinerary schedule month after month.

Their newer ships the Fantasy and Dream sail year round out of Port Canaveral. The older ships float between a few departure ports, but no where close to the number of ports that Carnival offers!

 

I absolutely loved Curacao! It was easy to get around with my daughter in a wheelchair from the ship too. Very few ports are easy to get around by foot/wheelchair as Curacao is. We enjoyed strolling through the floating markets and shops without being haggled as we've been in the more common ports that ships stop at.

#2 - Departure Ports!

I guarantee you are closer to a Carnival departure port than a Disney one. Carnival even sails from all the departure ports that Disney does! New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, New Orleans, California.... Where is your closest port? Message me to plan your cruise from the best port near you!

#3 - Dining... mmm Pizza!

Carnival Cruise Lines MAKES their pizza on board! You can see them mix the dough, toss it and add your toppings. The great thing about this is that you can make special requests. We love the quality pizza aboard Carnival ships. On Carnival you can get pizza 24 hours a day. It was great to have pizza for breakfast one morning!

Disney Cruise Lines Magic Ship uses BOXED Amy's organic pizza, do I really need to say more? Pizza is only offered during certain times in the afternoon. My kids said the pizza in the dining room was different tasting, so not sure if it is boxed there. I'm not a fan of my children eating pizza at dinner on a ship when there are so many other great options on the adult menu. The newer ships do make their pizzas on board but again they are only available during certain times of the day.

 

 I can't find a picture of the salad from Carnival but it gave you the option of Caesar or plain. Disney only offers Caesar salad on the room service menu. When I asked Disney if I could just get a plain salad they said no, that the food for room service is pre-made... Disney didn't even have veggies and dip as an option on the room service menu! 

#4 - Downtime! 
On Disney we felt like we had to do everything, because it was Disney and it cost us $$$!!! On Carnival, we all read a book, played some card games together as a family, relaxed through dinner. Laid on the top deck and star gazed after dinner.. While Carnival has activities around the clock, we didn't feel that urge to do EVERYTHING. It is amazing how much of our time on Disney is sucked up by waiting for events to start and meeting characters.
My family enjoys taking a card game to the promenade to play before dinner a few days throughout the week. We walk off of a Carnival Ship feeling like we got quality time together and feel relaxed, not stressed!

#5 - Casino!! 
Disney does not offer casinos, ALL Carnival ships have one! I don't think this needs more explaining!

If you are still nervous about sailing on Carnival, consider their 110% Guarantee! If you realize in the first 24 hours of sailing that you are on the worst vacation of your life, Carnival will get you home and offer you a future shipboard credit incase you want to give it another try. I have NEVER had a client use this program!

To talk more about cruising contact Jennifer today! 412-716-5065 or jenniehenn@gmail.com

~ Jennifer 

Cruise Specialist

Dining aboard Royal Caribbeans Oasis of the Seas - Main Dining Room Only

Breakfast

Sit down breakfast in the dining room was nicely done and less hectic than the buffet, or Wipe Out Cafe. We preferred to have breakfast at Park Cafe or the Solarium Bistro, due to the quality and speed of service. Both of those are cafeteria/buffet style lines but they keep the tables clean and it was quick and easy to move through the line. 

You have the choice between a menu, and a buffet in the main dining room for breakfast. The buffet seemed to have a very nice variety to choose from. We made the mistake of ordering from the menu, and it took forever. Service in the main dining room for breakfast was very slow, we only did it one morning.

Cold items ~ Meat and Cheeses. 

Hot Buffet area ~ eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage..

We loved the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables in all of the dining locations.

No breakfast is complete with out a pastry bar!

Muesli and toppings bar.

I ordered a create your own omelet and it was exactly what I expected. Tasted great! They also bring around baskets of toast when your breakfast arrives.

Dinner

When we cruise we generally eat in the main dining room every night. It is one of many things that we enjoy when cruising. My children loved the kids program and the waiters tried to rush their dinner order so they could meet the counselor outside the dining room in time to be escorted to camp, but I always felt like they had to eat super fast once it arrived. They only had time for dessert 1 night out of the 6 we ate in the dining room. We did enjoy relaxing together after they went off to camp though! Overall we enjoyed the service and the quality of the food. Since the kids missed dessert most nights in the dining room we took them to the Promenade to grab something from the Cafe, ordered room service, or took back something from the main dining room.

The first night in the dining room of our 7 night Western Caribbean sailing.

A small bowl of fruit was brought to the table every night for each of our children. It was the perfect way to start the meal and the adults kept taking little bites from their bowls! On the right is Smoked Fish Rillettes. As you can see all that is left of the shrimp is the tail, my son had to eat it right away because it looked so good! 

Off the children's menu, Vegetables Crudite, is on the left. On the right is Strawberry, Kiwi and Pineapple Medley off the regular menu. We really couldn't ask for more produce to be offered on the Oasis of the Seas.

Mojo Marinated Grilled Pork Chop. 

On the left is the Slow Roasted Beef Strip loin, our sons favorite, the waiter jumped to cut it up for him. On the right is the Soft Shell Flour Tortillas.

From the Children's Menu ~ Macaroni and cheese. My girl loves carbs! Thankfully she ate up all the fruit before this plate arrived!

Day 2 in the dining room. We were busy all day, and forgot to take pictures of the menu as well as most of the food! Kids went with the children's menu so they could be picked up by the camp counselors at 7pm. 

Chicken Fingers and french fries.

Kids pepperoni pizza and fries.

Bittersweet Chocolate Souffle for my husband, and I enjoyed the Double Strawberry Cheesecake.

Day 3 in the main dining room.

In the front is Minestrone soup and in the back is Creamy Roasted Garlic Soup. I couldn't decide, and if you ask the waiter to decide anything for you, they just bring both. :) On the right is Chilled Strawberry Bisque. All 3 were good!

On the left was Chicken Marsala, and on the right is Eggplant Parmigiana. 

Garlic Tiger Shrimp, my son always chooses whatever meal offers shrimp. Even if it is just a garnish!

I enjoyed the Sticky Bread and Butter Pudding, while my daughter attempted to eat the Mini brownie madness, she didn't get very far!

Day 4 in the main dining room, looking out at Falmouth, Jamaica as we started to leave. 

 Premium Angus Beef Sliders. For burgers, they were pretty good. We all stole french fries off of her plate!

 Seafood Ceviche 

 New England Clam Chowder on the left and Chilled Mango and Pineapple Soup on the right. I love Clam Chowder, this tasted fine, but wasn't exciting in anyway.

 No dinner pictures tonight because by the time we get the food, we can't wait to eat! I do remember that I had the Conchiglioni Pasta and enjoyed it!

 BBB Creme Brulee

 On the left is Two-Tone Chocolate Praline Finger and on the right is the Warm Chocolate Cake. Since the cake was warm the ice cream melted very fast!

Day 5 in the main dining room. My husband went with the Roasted Peach Soup. 

 No surprise here, but our son had the Royal Shrimp Cocktail and I enjoyed the Roasted Poblano Pepper and Corn Soup. 

Our youngest went with the veggies off of the kids menu.

I went with the Marinated Chicken Breast. It tasted fine, but was nothing to talk about. A great dish if you don't like flavor, yeah, that boring! Our son had the Fisherman's Plate. Lobster night is treated like an event on Royal Caribbean. There was a table near us that had a tray full of lobster tail shells at the end of the night. The Wait staff seemed excited to serve multiple to people. 

My husband tried the Soy Meatballs and said they were good. 

This is my favorite part of every meal! Dessert!

 Baked Alaska and Ivory Chocolate Mouse. My son took it as a challenge to eat the Baked Alaska. He loved that it had more than one ice cream flavor underneath! 

On night 6 of our sailing we visited Johnny Rockets.

Night 7, last night of our cruise.

On the left is Pan Seared Bay Scallops and Chorizo. I was happy to finally see my favorite soup on the menu, French Onion. 

 Our daughter enjoyed the veggies and dip again, but stole some shrimp from her brother.

Roasted Turkey

Rosemary Lamb Shank

For dessert I had the Frozen Strawberry Souffle.

On the left is the Low-Fat Warm Apple Strudel and on the right is one of Royal Caribbean's signature desserts, the Chocolate Sensation. We had that for dessert whenever it showed up on the buffets, which was most days at lunch.

The children's menu on Royal Caribbean is the same every night. There were no variations to this on our 7 night sailing.

To book your next Royal Caribbean Cruise, contact me today!

Jennifer ~ 412-716-5065

jenniehenn@gmail.com