CCL - Carnival Corp - Reviewing the top three Brands

Comparing the top three CCL Brands: Carnival, Holland America and Princess

This year I set out on the wonderful journey of comparing Carnival Corp's top three cruise lines:  Carnival, Holland America and Princess.  It was a tough job, but someone had too do it!

I started my year on the beautiful and surprising Holland America Koningsdam in January.  If you read my other blog about this experience, you know I loved it!  The Koningsdam is so wide open it is very refreshing. My claustrophobic husband was in his glory.

The second ship was the spanking new Carnival Horizon in March.  Very modern ship, just like the Vista with a few changes.  For the money Carnival never disappoints me.

My third comparison was with the Princess Royal Princess ship just last month in May.  

So here we go with some quick discoveries:

Best Lobby and Lobby Bar area:  PRINCESS...loved the whole Piazza experience!  The wide open area with the venues all around...just just the one bar.  I just loved the big dance floor surrounded by the activity and venues.  However, Holland has beautiful, live plants throughout the ship.  Carnival new ships have vastly improved here.

Best Dining Room experience and food:  HOLLAND. All the wait staff speaks the  same language which is huge when wanting your order to be correct. While Princess did have some good entree choices the service was horrible.  I didn't like that there were no red wine glasses either.  Overall, all three lines had good food.  But...Carnival's desserts always win!

Best/Worst Specialty Dining Reservation System:  HOLLAND is hands down the Best!  They have a hostess stand with a computer that helps you and keeps you from double booking your events.  Princess is the worse...you have to do it via the phone to someone you can't even understand.  We were double booked once, tripled booked once and one night we were booked for Sabatini's which we didn't even want.  It was horrible.  It caused us to miss Chef's Table, Luminare and Crab Shack.  At least with Carnival...you can speak to a person, in person.

Best Lido Deck food:  HOLLAND.  Everything was better.....from the way they serve you.... to the choices of food.  Their salad bar is by far the best thing ever on a ship!

Best BAR:  CARNIVAL.  Nothing beats the Alchemy Bar.  It is just as entertaining as it is intoxicating.

Best Piano Bar:  HOLLAND...the Dueling Piano players were extremely entertaining.  More seats, more interaction, better singing, better playing and snacks!  Most of Carnival's Piano Bars are decent...it is 50/50.

Best SPA Thermal Suite:  PRINCESS, however Holland wasn't far behind.  The new spa areas on Carnival new ships are a huge disappointment.  Don't even get me started on the whirlpool/thalassotherapy pool...or should I say "lack of".......

Best Pizza:  PRINCESS...but that is because of Alfredo's.  They have a sit down restaurant called Alfredo's in the Piazza...and it is free!  They have calzone too and it is delicious.

Best Main Pool Area:  HOLLAND.  I loved the deck and seating choices, covered and not covered.  Plus the little curtains at the edge and reading lights.  Only Carnival makes you "check out" pool towels...not a fan!  Towels are there for the taking on both Princess and Holland.  By the way...no hammocks in the Horizon Serenity area.

Best/Worst Guest Services:  HOLLAND was gracious and spacious!  Princess is severely lacking.  Kevin asked what the current temperature in our port was and the guy read it from the newsletter that was printed the night before.

Best Comedy:  CARNIVAL!  (mic dropped...LOL)

Best Outdoor Fun Areas:  CARNIVAL!  The sky bike thing is fun, long lines.  Please note:  make sure you are not wearing flip flops!  Don't stand in line only to fin out you can't wear them!  Fellow guests...tell people as soon as they walk up please!

Best BBQ: CARNIVAL!  The new Guy's Pig and Anchor id incredible.  Go for lunch as soon as you board.  The food is very good and no extra fees during lunch, smoke cocktails in the bar too.

Best Laundry Service: PRINCESS but it is pricey if you don't have loyalty status.  They hang your shirts, pants, etc on hangers. But....no "bag pricing" was offered like on Carnival and HAL. And let me mention...I didn't not see any self laundry on the Koningsdam like other ships.

Worst Breads at Dinner:  PRINCESS. The rolls are already on the table but they are extremely hard.  I could not eat them.  They were the same every night.

Best Ice Cubes:  Now you may be thinking...who cares?  Well, a lot of people do...LOL....PRINCESS has very nice, large square cubes that don't seem to melt as fast.

Best/Worst Elevators:  CARNIVAL, the new elevator system takes a little getting used to but it is awesome.  It only stops on floors that is programmed to stop on which makes it faster and more efficient.  Princess makes you touch all the buttons when calling to go up or down.  We had to press three different buttons to call the three sets in the same area.

Best/Worst Loyalty Party:  Toss up between Carnival and HAL, but I guess I would have to pick HOLLAND.  The Princess party was blah.

Best Coffee/Coffee Bar:  PRINCESS at the International Cafe.  Holland coffee was not bad but I liked the separate "Coffee Card" on Princess.

Best/Worst Towel Animals:  CARNIVAL....LOL! I love the last Sea Day when they display the lot out by the main pool.  Princess doesn't do them :(

Best Ship Horn:  PRINCESS....they play the theme from the "Love Boat" show the last night.

Most Comfortable Bed:  PRINCESS...I didn't even notice the seam between the two beds pushed together.

Best Escargot:  HOLLAND but Carnival's isn't bad.  Princess used some kind of beef broth, it was weird tasting.

Closet Space:  Vast differences but I can't decide what was better/worse.  The Horizon space was smaller than previous Carnival ships and on the Royal Princess it was one long open space.

Photography:  Most offered:  Carnival, Least offered:  HAL.  Horizon has facial recognition but it doesn't always find all of your photos.  Carnival is still the most pushy, whereas HAL was barely noticed.

Most Wasted Amount of Paper:  CARNIVAL.....They make me sad for the trees.  One thing we loved on HAL...they don't print a receipt for everything you do, the have the least amount of printed flyers and they aren't expecting a TIP for everything you buy either!

Best Room Service:  HOLLAND and they even ask you to call to have the dirty tray of dishes removed.  No "yuck" in the hallways like Carnival and Princess.

Best Internet/Facebook Deal:  Carnival...unless you are top level in the other ship's loyalty programs

These are just some of my notes and I imagine it varies from ship to ship within the three lines.  I still say they are all worth it, beautiful and the best way to travel.

I love to talk about cruises.  Call me anytime even if it is just to chat about any of these differences.  My phone number is 727-644-0023 ;)

Koningsdam - the food! (part 2 of an awesome cruise)

 HAL Koningsdam Part Two - The Food!

The Holland America Koningsdam had great food choices and we actually deliciously experienced all but one.  For that one we only observed :)  I don't even need to write much here today...you can just look, salviate, and dream!

    

Dining Room Breakfast

We usually prefer waking up to Room Service with delivery of a pot of coffee.  Then it is off to the Dining room for a sit down and be served breakfast.  Kevin almost always gets Eggs Benedict. 

But breakfast from the Lido Deck was also amazing on this ship!

We especially liked how clean everything was and how the great the service was up there.  The Sticky Buns and Cinnamon rolls were my favorite.

Fresh fruits at all meals! and the staff is there for you!

                                   



Pictures from the Asian themed TAMARIND:

   

Pictures from SEL de MER:

Here everything is price ala carte...and worth it! 

     

     

 More Dining Room pictures:

   

    

  

    

   

   

   

 

MSC Seaside -Part 3, the Final Chapter

MSC Seaside has a great kids area, amusement area and outdoor facilities.     

In the Amusement area there is full size bowling lane (2 sides), a 5D simulator ride that seats 8 at a time with 3 interactive games and a Formula 1 race car simulator on Deck 7.  There is also a claw machine, air hockey etc.  Make sure you check out their package deals to save $$

    

The kid's area is phenomenal....There is an adventure trail, treetop sort of thing over the Aqua Park with a rope bridge, water cannons, and more.  Check out the 4 waterslides, especially the two racing ones that hang over the side of the ship with clear tubes.  A special area for the little ones too.  

   

 LEGO sponsors the Kid Club areas on Deck 18 for the 3-6 year olds and the 7-11 year olds.  Also on Deck 18 is the 12-14 Young Teen club with games and a disco.  The 15-17 year olds can enjoy an exclusive Teen Club that even has digital messaging!

 Great Productions!

 Heli-Pad, waterfall and deck pool

 Gelato and Bars outside on AFT 

    Beautiful Adult and Children's Pools

KONINGSDAM - I have to admit........(part 1, the comparison)

Comparing Holland's Awesome Koningsdam

Okay, okay....I am getting a little older!  I still hold on to "there is no such thing as a bad cruise" but I am ready to admit..."there could be a better cruise for YOU" in certain circumstances.

Recently, a group of 10 went on the Koningsdam....have to say...it is my favorite ship so far!  It is beautiful, classic and still fun! I kept adding notes in my phone every time I experienced something that I loved. There is so much to say but I want to highlight some right away:

• The level of service is wonderful
• No long lines getting back on the ship in ports and they have drinks and warm wash clothes waiting for you
• We were not bombarded with photographers
• We were not constantly bothered by waitstaff to order drinks and they didn't shove receipts 
• in front of us constantly to sign and/or add tips
• Happy Hours!!! several lounges, multiple times! second drink  only $2
• Bar Snacks
• They didn't police the pool towels!  You could have as many as you wanted and they didn't check them out to you!
• only 13 kids on board
• Guest Services is spacious, plenty of help and hardly ever saw a line
• Real LIVE plants and flowers
• Waitstaff in diningroom were all from the same country and understood each other.  This may not seem important to you...but I can say, I never had my order messed up!
• Best SALAD BAR ever
• Lido deck was cleaned immediately and you could always find a seat
• Lido deck food was great, served to you, great choices and sanitary
• My husband and I fit in our glass shower together
• Room Service is delivered on a cart and they ask you to call for pick up when you're done...no dishes in hallway or cabin!
• Dueling Pianos were the best
• BB Kings was also the best
• Nobody cheated at trivia and no one cared if they didn't win
• No arguing, drunk passengers or noisy people around you
• You are treated with respect, valued and made happy  

 and to be fair...things were we not used to:Getting dirty looks from a passenger or two, who thought we were too young to be onboard...lol...and maybe seeing more scooters and walkers than normal!
There are floor mats in the elevators telling you what day of the week it is!
 
BB Kings was really cool:

 

MSC Seaside - part 2 of preview party

Part two......

I was entitled to preview the Seaside because I made a little video at a Travel Agent conference remarking how MSC allows cruisers to experience the cruise line for their first time while matching their loyalty level with another cruise line. In other words...if you are 'diamond' with Carnival you get too cruise at MSC's highest loyalty level for your first MSC cruise too. It was just a one night preview cruise so I did not get to experience all that I would have liked too this trip. I can say that what I did experience was modern, beautiful and exciting! Everyone should look into taking MSC up on their challenge and use that "loyalty level match" to experience this ship.  When you look at the ship itself, it literally looks like someone set a condo building on top of a flatbed ship.

On the back of the ship are glass elevators that can lead you up to Deck 16 for the "Bridge of Sighs" which is like the infinity bridge at the Westside of the Grand Canyon. This unique catwalk has a glass floor and you can look down 131 feet underneath to the aft ship pool. The view of the sea is breathtaking from up there! 

Another great feature are the waterfront boardwalks and the extra wide decks. As a matter of fact, everywhere you walk is "open" and I never felt closed in or crowded any time on this ship...or anywhere on this ship. I even remarked that some areas seemed to have "wasted space" if you can believe that...lol.

Even the buffet areas were spacious and I loved the design. There are two on this ship....deck 8 and deck 16 and I have to admit, they had the best food of any other ship buffets I have encountered.  Everything was organized, the staff was professional and I was not worried about "germs".  The food stations were in a square, in the center. As you walked around to view the offerings there came a place where it started to repeat for passengers on the other side. I found homemade pizza, grill foods, salad and fruit corners, bakery items and in the morning there were even breakfast pizzas!  And of course, there was a bar...with espresso, lattes, etc. too!

     

        

      

I know in my previous post I talked about the bars and lounges but I must comment further on the dining options.  While I was less impressed with the main dining room....The Specialty Restaurants looked amazing! 

We were only able to sample the Asian Market Kitchen by Roy Yamaguchi. This restaurant is rather large and found on Deck 16, besides the Asian menu items there is also sushi and 4 teppanyaki grills. The decor is very well themed and gorgeous. I loved the place settings, dishes and the aluminum chopsticks!

    

    

Also on Deck 16 is Ocean Cay, a seafood fusion type of restaurant and Butcher’s Cut steakhouse which looked amazing to Kevin.

OMG...I haven't even talked about the bowling alley, racecar simulator or the outside, pools or kids area yet!  Guess there is a Part 3