whats going on everyone! was planning on going on a cruise with a few friends on carnival cruises to mexico, was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this cruise company. I have read that it is one of the cheaper cruises out there so im not expecting too much, its about $300 for everything for a 4 day cruise.

 

i did this a few times with my buddies in college. it was a great time. you can't beat the entertainment for the money. sneak some clear liquor in and you've got everything you need. we went on carnival each time. always had a great time. one time was especially good, the food and everything was fantastic. the other times it was probably mediocre for the cruising standard but still oodles better than what we were eating in college lol.

it's hard to beat the value of a carnival cruise, just don't expect the highest level of service at ~$80/day. they'll still give you great service though, but they won't be following you around waiting on you hand a foot.

 

Bad news: Carnival has had some maintenance and upkeep issues on their ships, mostly around 2013. Remember the infamous Poop Cruise?. Yeah, that was them. Also, remember that Italian cruise ship that ran aground and the captain tried make a break for it? Yeah, the parent company of the cruise line was Carnival Corporation.

Good news: That was 2013. It's 2015. Cruises are a blast, and if it's a bunch of folks who need a few days away, the Carnival Mexico trip will absolutely fit the bill. Like jkelley said, it's a good value for the money. My free advice:

1. I can't condone smuggling booze on board, but read VERY CAREFULLY the booze policy beforehand, because some of the pre-packaged booze options on some cruise lines are a good deal, some, not-so-much.

2. If you buy any shore tours, take a look beforehand, and order early. The better ones can fill up. However, on a Mexico cruise, sometimes just getting off the boat and finding more Tequila and bad decisions is all the shore tour you may need.

3. Don't forget the tips for the waitstaff and your housekeeper/room porter. Remember, they're not U.S. employees, so they're getting per diem minimum wage for the ship's registry. Carnival has their tip guidelines online.

4. Have fun, and don't forget to close the deal in their stateroom, not yours.

 

Just keep in mind that cruising on Carnival is not like taking a real cruise. Real cruises are fun and very good deals considering all you get.

Carnival treats you more like a captive audience at a movie theater or F1 race. Things can get very costly in a hurry.

 

I prefer Royal Carribean... Check out the Oasis of the Seas.

I was on it for 7 days and honestly i don't think i saw half the ship. It was huge!!

 

I've been on Carnival twice, will likely never use them again. Their service really sucks, but if you only want to go party it should be fine. RC and Princess are much better for service, food, entertainment, pretty much everything, lol!

 

I posted above but I'll go into more detail for you.

I've been on 8 cruises, including norwegian, royal caribbean, and carnival.
Norwegian is my preferred cruise liner.
However, I have enjoyed most of my times on carnival and it was much cheaper to boot.
You definitely want to research the better ships between any company. More important than the actual cruise line company is the ship itself.
I don't like royal caribbean, and that included 2 cruises i took with them 10-day alaskan cruise and 10-day western mexico cruise (baja peninsula, starting in cali) - the reason why is because it's an "older folks" type cruise. No, not like retirees, but probably 40's-60's is a common age bracket. It's not that fun couldn't be had for the 20-somethings, but it wasn't as prevalent as some of the other cruise lines (like carnival).

Norwegian was a good mix, and had the best service in my opinion. Best food, best boats, best entertainment, and better casinos. But we also took their best boats.

 

Princess should be better than Carnival, as they're a premium-brand of Carnival Corp.. . .

My dad's post-retirement-fun job is as a travel agent, and what jkelley is saying right there is spot on: the demographics are everything, and they're usually commensurate to pricing. Understand too, that each of these cruise companies have separate lines at separate price points for any kind of traveler. To the point: Carnival is the largest cruise company in the world; they have a bunch of brands from Carnival all the way up to Cunard and Seabourn on the luxe end.

The last cruise I did was a 9-day Alaskan cruise on Celebrity (a Royal Carribbean Company, fyi). Pro: basically a 4-star+ floating resort. The service, food, facilities, and atmosphere were outstanding. Con: because it is upmarket, the crowd leaned a bit older than both the RC or NCL boats. Pro: still younger (by a lot) than the average guest on the Holland America boats, but make no mistake, Wingman Matt and I were still on Cougar Patrol.

I think the OP will have fun. If you've got enough friends and enough booze, the rest will sort itself out.