Carnival Cruise Lines operates 24 ships featuring voyages lasting three to fourteen days. Destinations include the Caribbean, Bahamas, Mexico, Europe, Alaska, Canada, New England, Hawaii, Bermuda, and Australia. All cruises are family-friendly with lots of activities for children and teenagers to enjoy. Two formal nights are standard on cruises lasting seven nights. Normal attire for men includes dark suits or sport coats and ties. For shorter trips, one night is usually required. All other nights are casual and allow jeans or dress shorts to be worn in the dining areas. The cruise ships request that cutoffs and short-shorts not be worn after 6 p.m.
Carnival ships contain high-energy entertainment options, from Las Vegas styled revues to glitzy casinos, live bands and comedy shows. You can work out in the fitness center or take a run along a jogging track that encircles the outer portion of the ship. Families can watch movies on a giant outdoor screen or head to the waterpark. Tons of activities are available for children of all ages. Shopping includes themed stores for kids including a candy store.
The Carnival Cruise's website offers features to help you plan your vacation and find the lowest prices and discounts on upcoming cruises. Senior discounts, military discounts and other incentives are available as well. If you find a better Carnival advertised deal somewhere else within two days of booking a cruise, Carnival will give you 110 percent of the difference in onboard credit.
Carnival tries to protect their guests when making a reservation through their cruise lines. They understand that some may need to utilize travel insurance. Carnival's Cruise Vacation Protection protects you with a 100 percent cash reimbursement of applicable penalties for cancellations due to specified reasons, such as:
Carnival Cruise Lines feature six dining options on their ships which include seafood, burgers, steakhouse, Italian cuisine, Mexican cuisine, and a themed restaurant for kids called Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast. A jogging track encircles the outer part of the ship. Spa services, hair salon, and fitness center services are also available. Standard amenities on each Carnival ship also include:
Carnival Cruise ships travel to the Caribbean, Bahamas, Mexico, Europe, Alaska, Canada, New England, Hawaii, Bermuda, and Australia. Dates and times for when these cruise ships depart depend on a number of contributing factors. Pricing information for some of these destinations are broken down as follows:
Transportation to and from the cruise ship (back to the airport) is also included. Transportation from the airports in New York, Los Angeles, Orlando, and others are available. Cruises are available all year long and can extend anywhere from three to fourteen days.
For those who are looking for a quiet and relaxing getaway, Carnival Cruises may not be the ideal choice. Large crowds and boisterous entertainment options are ongoing throughout the length of the cruise. There are areas of the ship that are private retreats to get away from the bustle, but most options available on the ship are geared toward kids and teenagers and create loud noises that may be disturbing for those wanting to relax.
Offshore excursions cost extra and can be a bit pricey for families seeking an affordable vacation experience. Some of the activities onboard cost extra as well. It is too easy to rack up a large vacation bill with the extra costs involved. Most children's activities are free, but late-night party program fees and video game charges can add up quickly. On top of regular rates, other costs may include:
Because of the large number of people on board the cruise ships, individual attention may lack on occasion and it may be hard to get the attention of attendants should you need anything. Babysitting is available, but it costs extra. The rate for babysitting is $6 per hour, and $4 for each additional child. For those with infants, you will be required to provide staff with diapers and wipes for children under two years old.
Carnival cruises are designed for families seeking a high-octane and affordable vacation. Carnival Cruises is perfect for those seeking colorful and boisterous entertainment options in a laid-back party-style atmosphere. If you are looking for luxury options or personalized attention Carnival Cruises may not be the best choice for you.
All in all we recommend Carnival Cruise Lines for having a great get-a-way experience.
Star Rating
711 Reviews
Review Breakdown
Sentiment Criteria
Sanetta Rigby
Not my favorite cruise line. It seems to me that it is more of a lower end cruise line. I will say that the customer service was good and I thought the food selection was good but not great. That being said, it was much cheaper than other cruise lines. So I guess you get what you pay for.
Sara Smith
I love cruising on Carnival and have even taken my kids on cruises as they provide such great entertainment and have so many options that we just have a blast non stop. The crew has always been great.
Connor
This cruise line was extremely cheap and extremely fun. This is a great introduction to cruises and had great food and entertainment on and off the boat.
Michelle W
I had a blast during my Carnival Cruise where there was a concert series. It was the cherry on top to see Luke Bryan perform of an awesome vacation. The staff was super friendly and we had so much fun!
Roman Christiansen
I went on a Carnival Cruise this last summer and it was one of the best experiences of my life! The staff on the boat were amazing and helped me with all my needs and concerns!
Caleb Campbell
I went on a cruise with Carnival and it was so much fun. It had some of the best food as well.
Benji Frandsen
I loved the Carnival Cruise! the food was very delicious except that I got tuna that made me sick and so that kind of ruined my trip.
Daphne Brown
I liked my experience on the cruise and the activities were fun. I wish the variety in the buffets were a little more diverse. The ship was a little older but we had a great time.
Martha Gourley
I traveled with Carnival one time. They were a good service for the price. The ship was a little old and the service was not like the more expensive ships. Not sure I would go again even if I found a really great price....
Tom Gourley
A low end cruise line that offers few frills and a marginal quality of services
Genevieve Murdoch
Beautiful cruise. Clean and welcoming. Great destinations and cruise team was great
JC
Carnival is just so fantastic you can’t even explain it!!! The food is so delicious! The staff is super helpful and nice! It’s always clean as well! The rooms are awesome! And there is always something for the kids to do!
Katherine Whyte
Carnival Cruises is an amazing cruise line with beautiful stops at many different ports! Their cruises are more affordable and are amazing for the whole family and even solo travelers.
Jon Posey
You get what you pay for. Cheap, younger crowd who like to party, food is mediocre. I got a weird rash from their towels. Ya, not my favorite.
Tony
Went on a Baja cruise with Carnival and really enjoyed it for the most part. Food was good, room was clean and stops were enjoyable. The only downer was bad weather....obviously no fault of Carnival.
Eric Smith
We love cruising. The newer ships have so much cool stuff to do. We have even taken our kids with us and they love all of the activities and food and places we have gone. The staff went above and beyond to put a smile on our kids faces.
Sydney Pinto
Carnival is not the best of the cruise lines. It was a very fun and eventful cruise but the food was not the best nor was the room assigned. The customer service was decent.
Cole
It was great service. The workers was my favorite part. It was just an old boat and there were so many lines.
McKinzie Figueroa
Great Food! Great Family Friendly Fun! Great service! Overall I would highly recommend taking a cruise through Carnival! I won't go anywhere else.
Tanner Cook
My family and I took a cruise for vacation - we typically do your regular camping/resort kind of vacations, but decided to give the cruise a try! We had a blast and honestly I’d do it again. They had so much to do, I was never not having fun.
Darius Williams
very nice an affordable cruise lines! Took me and my family on our very first cruise!
Tiffany
Went on a week long crusie great service fun times and always something to do. will definitely be taking another one with carnival soon.
Jami Schmieding
I have been on three carnival cruises in the past 2 years and i highly recommend. all of the ships were extremely nice., staff is excellent, prices are reasonable.
Dee Farquharson
I went on my first cruise and it was GREAT! IT was for 7 days. The staff was very courteous and made my experience very pleasant. I especially loved all of the events taking place around the boat, pretty much 24/7. I would like some more food choices that were open either 24 or late, but it's understandable since it's food service. The journey was well spaced out and the ports of call were nice choices as well. The only issue I had, which i got over quickly, was that the boat had to make up time" and was speeding. For my first cruise, it was hard to keep my balance from time to time. Over all, an awesome experience that i look forward to doing again.
Mackenzie
The staff there have so much fun and create a great atmosphere! I went for my sister’s graduation and was able to party when I wanted to but also relax when I wanted to. The unlimited ice cream and 24 hour pizza was an added bonus!
Randal hyde
Carnival cruises are really affordable and pretty fun for families. The food isn't the best, but it's a good value for what you get.
Karen S Priest
We took our whole family on a carnival cruise and we're had the funnest time of our life. We had a wide range of ages and there was something for everyone! Food was great, entertainment awesome and service exceptional.
Shari Evers
So so so much to do. Great entertainment, and there was always something fun going on on the deck!
Dylan Findlay
What an awesome vacation! Service, food, and environment was unmatchable!
Thomas Hullinger
Went on Carnival Cruise Lines from California to Ensenada, Mexico and it was awesome. Great food, wonderful accommodations, very friendly people, so much to do and also great entertainment.
Anika Larson
Carnival is such a great line for families! The adults were able to hang out while the kids did their own thing with the kids' club.
James Nelson
What a fantastic experience. Food, entertainment and customer service were incredible!
jordan cummins
Loved the pizza that they cooked on the cruise. Other food was just alright. My wife and i don't drink so sometimes hard to find activities to do .
Hannah Cummins
Had a great experience going to Mexico with Carnival. The food was amazing and the service was great as well. The only thing I would change is more activities for adults that dont revolve around alcohol for passengers that don't drink or don't want to drink. Otherwise awesome experience and great food!
Karen Nelson
I don't like Carnival. I have been on two Carnival cruises and was not happy with either one. They just seem a little dirty and different than I had hoped. I have been on another cruise line which was significantly superior.
Sandra Jensen
Good quality for the money. Had good experiences.
Taylor Vance
Went down to Mexico. It was a fun boat. It needed bigger pools, but other than that it was awesome.
t rudden
This is a rust bucket. We went with them july 7, 2018. There was lots of rust everywhere you looked even on the mechanism that lowers the life boats. . Sewage backed up I KNOW into rooms on deck 7, deck 6, deck 10. The rooms were hot the AC system did not work as it should have. Someone came into our room to check the AC and told us that Carnival's policy is that the AC is working fine at 74 degrees'. Go into a small room with NO air moving at 74 an you will be sick...................... Customer service lied about excursions even printed lies to sell them making false statements about what was included in each of them.. Some of the liars there names are Luis and James who works at excursions desk, they even clamed to be managers.... Nikola who claimed to be manager at the customer service desk lied about them. Alexandau and Alina lied when we ask for a refund due to NOT going to a coral reef which was printed in the sales pitch and Nikola told us in person the morning of the excursion there was in fact a stop at a coral reef. Alexandau and Alina told us we would get refund the first thing the next morning..... They gave us the runaround for 36 hours before saying there would be NO refund due to the excursion went according to plan.... I GUESS THEY PLAN TO LIE AND CHEAT FROM THE BEGINNING... I mention that I could get many more that went on the excursion to tell them we DID NOT GO TO A CORAL REEF. Luis said he did not care if I took 100 people to speak to him he was going to charge my credit card for it anyway... Luis, when I told him I would stop payment with my credit card company said "they (the CC company) will call Carnival and they will tell the credit card company things went as they should have" ................ I wish I had have looked at Carnival's reviews before we went because I saw others where Carnival stole from them also in the same way they did us... I knew we were in trouble when I saw all the rust on the ship that Carnival was and is BOTTOM OF THE BARREL when it comes to cruise lines....... Tell all of your friends to stay away from Carnival anything............ I guess that is why the are a little bit cheaper that other lines........ Remember the Carnival that stopped cold dead on a cruise and had to be towed back to port that took a week or more with NO power people sick throwing up, burning up.........
Anna Hu
My main appeal for a Carnival Cruise was the extremely low price. I enjoyed the cruise experience, but do see it being on the cheaper side-- the food was classic cheap buffet food and our rooms were extremely small with not much inside. However, we had extremely professional service from all of the staff and everything went extremely smoothly. Had a great experience, although I definitely got what I paid for.
Cody Linden
Very affordable, especially if you have flexible travel dates. Used for a trip to mexico and had a nice variety of excursions as well. Room service was also a plus. Very polite staff.
Spencer Hodgson
They didn't have that many fun activities. Also the food wasn't that great.
Rafael
Great price service product and activities
Deanna Parry
Every aspect of my cruise was fantastic the customer service to Quality the food the cleanliness of the room there prompt attention to any problem I might have had it was fantastic.
Steve Yates
Great onboard service, good eating variety. Great variety of entertainment and tours. But over crowded.
cassandra y hurd
Love they ship and the food on the ship and love the prices for the vacations that I have been on.
Edith Garrison
Great time good food fun events clean music and movies were awesome
Bob Trammell
Cruise was a bit pricey. Boarding took a long time, as did disembarkation. Cruise itself was very nice. Great entertainment.
Martha Rabe
Too many unsupervised childern running and pushing their way thru!
John Walker
The quality of prices and options offered for cruises
John M Stanley
We have been on 6-7 cruises altogether; four on Carnival - they have very good service, excellent shows, wonderful food, but their "downfall" for us is in shore choices - just too expensive for the time spent ashore.