Monday, October 16, 2006
Carnival Cruiselines "The Fun Ship."
I just returned from a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas. Now, you have to understand that from here in Miami, Nassau, the Bahamas is NOT at 1 day or even a half day cruise away. It's 90 less than 30 minutes flight time and it's about 3 hours by boat - even a little motor boat. So a "cruise" is just another way of saying you will get on board the ship, spend a full day going round in circles, dock in the Bahamas for one day and then spend another full day going round in circles in the ocean until you dock back in Miami again.
Carnival advertises that they are "the Fun Ships". Don't beleive it. Or maybe if your idea of "fun" means ganbling, eating and spending money then it's fun. I found it to be not a very fun experience. Dinner was ok in the dining room, with assigned seating and a reasonable menu. But when you hear "food" you always get told about the fabulous buffet, food available around the clock, no limits. Wrong. Oh there's a buffet ok, but it closes at certain hours, to be replaced by...nothing.
There are duty free shops...that save you 40% (of the suggested retail price, meaning you can get better bargains at your mall in your hometown if you watch the sales.)
You can drink all you want (and pay a hefty bar bill upon disembarkation). There are shows comparable to Las Vegas shows. Wrong, there are shows, but not all of them good.
There is always something going on. Sure, if you want to go to a towel folding class, or pay extra for some gym or spa thing. There are games (if you call playing golf on a miniture golf course on a VERY windy sports deck" fun. Or you can play 1/2 court basketball in some caged in area. Shuffleboard tournaments? Never saw one in 3 days. Bingo? yeah, if you want to play for a big jackpot you have to pay $$.
You can gamble and drink or smoke and drink, or just drink and eat.
See any pattern here? The "Fun" ship seems to equate the word fun with alcohol, gambling and spending money. I don't.
And since I don't I didn't have any fun.
Carnival advertises that they are "the Fun Ships". Don't beleive it. Or maybe if your idea of "fun" means ganbling, eating and spending money then it's fun. I found it to be not a very fun experience. Dinner was ok in the dining room, with assigned seating and a reasonable menu. But when you hear "food" you always get told about the fabulous buffet, food available around the clock, no limits. Wrong. Oh there's a buffet ok, but it closes at certain hours, to be replaced by...nothing.
There are duty free shops...that save you 40% (of the suggested retail price, meaning you can get better bargains at your mall in your hometown if you watch the sales.)
You can drink all you want (and pay a hefty bar bill upon disembarkation). There are shows comparable to Las Vegas shows. Wrong, there are shows, but not all of them good.
There is always something going on. Sure, if you want to go to a towel folding class, or pay extra for some gym or spa thing. There are games (if you call playing golf on a miniture golf course on a VERY windy sports deck" fun. Or you can play 1/2 court basketball in some caged in area. Shuffleboard tournaments? Never saw one in 3 days. Bingo? yeah, if you want to play for a big jackpot you have to pay $$.
You can gamble and drink or smoke and drink, or just drink and eat.
See any pattern here? The "Fun" ship seems to equate the word fun with alcohol, gambling and spending money. I don't.
And since I don't I didn't have any fun.
