DocLC Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 While I know we're all loyal to Royal here, I had to mention Carnival Corp's announcement that they will soon be debuting the world's largest cruise ship . . . at 180,000 gross registered tons. Yes, I know that the Oasis class is 225,000 GRT and the upcoming sister will be approximately 227,000 GRT, but Carnival is making their claim based on the number of passengers that each of the four ships will hold: about 6,600. Allegedly, they are "going to make smart use of space" to fit nearly 1,000 more people in a ship 40,000 GRT less in size. Sounds like a large sardine can to me even though I've enjoyed a couple of cruises on Carnival, but never right after a Royal cruise and it took me 17 years before I was willing to give them a second try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 I'll reserve judgement until we see the final product. I'm sure people said similar things about the Oasis class but I don't think you're off base with your thoughts either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted July 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 I completely agree, Matt. However, one of the things I've always enjoyed about Royal are the many lounges and areas to escape the crowds even on the smaller ships. And while I have enjoyed my recent Carnival cruises, I just don't see how a significantly smaller ship can comfortable handle a sizeable increase in the number of passengers. Time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Interesting news. I hadn't heard this (but of course, I don't keep up with Carnival news). Yes, it will be interesting to see. I guess the RCI big ships must be hurting the Fun Ship business or they wouldn't be making this big investment. Interesting indeed DocLC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michel Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 I've seen a video animation montage of this ship on Youtube a few weeks a go. If the images we see in the video are real, this ship will be amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Is there a name for this ship yet ? When will it debut ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatMe Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 If I recall correctly, the 4 new shis will not be sailing under the carnival brand. They will all be going to Europe with 2 sailing under Aida, and 2 under Costa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Pretty sure they are having at least one under the Carnival name...as you can look at it on their site and maybe even book now for future cruises on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 I think Carnival Vista is their "coming soon" ship (Booked on it for next summer), but these 4 are even further in the future. Will be interesting to see what they come up with. There is certainly a ton of dead space on Oasis class, not sure how they measure the Gross Tonnage bit I would guess the Central Park and Boardwalk spaces count somehow so if you turned those into public spaces and decked them in you would have a lot of floorspace to work with for example. We shall see :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 I don't cruise Carnival and don't likely have any plans to do so BUT as a Royal Caribbean fan, we should be happy to see Carnival competing head-to-head with Royal Caribbean. Competition is great for the consumer! Galveston Steve, markinct, JohnK6404 and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 I couldn't agree with you more, Matt. I think RCI can use some competition in the big ship arena. Happy to see it ! markinct 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michel Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Is there a name for this ship yet ? When will it debut ? Debut ?? April 2016: source Wikipedia But the name will be Carnival Vista: DocLC and Michael Vitale 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted July 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Just to clarify, I did say Carnival Corps in the beginning of my post, which entails seven different brands. The upcoming ship for Carnival Cruise Line (not corps) is the Carnival Vista mentioned above. I'm actually eager to see what Carnival Vista has to offer as there are some interesting cabin options for families and some interesting onboard amenities (e.g., Sky Rider). In past experience, though, while Carnival's cabins tend to be large overall, my experience is mixed. In some ways, they seem to nickel and dime you more, but at the same time that have some great included features (e.g., Guy's Burger Joint) that isn't available on other lines without an added fee. And one of my best surcharge meals was at their Italian restaurant at only $12.50 per person and their comedy clubs feature four different comics on a 7-night cruise. Am I eager to go back, not necessarily, but they were much better than they were after my first experience with them. Of course, I had only sailed Royal prior to this, so that may have been the reason why. :). An unfair comparison, perhaps. I have to agree with Matt that the more competition there is, the better. I don't think we'd have the Oasis or Quantum class without the "ship wars," which I believe Royal has won hands down. I also don't think the new ships, or the new returns, would have water slides, faster and even included internet, etc. without this level of competition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galveston Steve Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Thanks for posting the video Michel. Its interesting to see some nice innovation from Carnival on this ship. Although it's not quite the WOW of some of the RCI innovations its a pretty snazzy ship and a great video. I agree with Matt and love to see the competition. DocLC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Speaking of Carnival, they are going to Cuba. I hope this is a catalyst for Royal Caribbean to go there too! DocLC, Michel and Galveston Steve 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galveston Steve Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Speaking of Carnival, they are going to Cuba. I hope this is a catalyst for Royal Caribbean to go there too! I hope so! That would be a change of pace from many of the typical Caribbean ports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted July 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Carnival Corps is going to Cuba, not Carnival Cruises. Their new line, Fathom, will be going to Cuba to provide humanitarian projects based on the new line's mission of "volunteering" vacationing. Matt and Galveston Steve 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 And did you see the pricing? Close to $3000 for the cruise, double what they charge for a week cruise to the D.R!! They must be expecting a huge pent up demands for Americans to visit Cuba with that kind of pricing. I have been to Cuba many many times...I normally pay less than $1000 CAD(about$800USD) for a whole week there...all meals and drinks included, as well as airfare! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooper Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 I think I'll stick with Oasis / Allure / Harmony... I love the fact that despite more then 5,000 guests, the ship never feels crowded. 6,000+ in a smaller ship? I guess it's workable... markinct 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted August 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 Carnival Corp. is claiming that they can accommodate more people in a smaller ship because of how the space will be used. Apparently, the will have flexible-space venues much like 270 on the Quantum-class that can be used for multiple things. For example, the card room by day may be a lounge at night. If you do think about the number of venues that go unused for large parts of the day, this may make sense. However, I think more space per person, regardless of how efficiently it is used, is always better. Ironically, ships use to market the amount of space available per person and the number of crew per person; however, I don't see this being mentioned as much as it was a decade ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Vitale Posted August 16, 2015 Report Share Posted August 16, 2015 Ok, at the risk of being accused of blasphemy, I have to ask. Has anyone cruised on Carnival recently ? I hate that RC doesn't do any 5 day cruises out of Galveston, but Carnival does. I'm thinking of an "in between" cruises getaway. Navigator/Liberty is my Labor Day cruise, but it's been a LONG year since last Labor Day. A quickie 5 day during February/March would break up the year nicely. I've seen some YouTube videos of Carnival and I'm very skeptical. It doesn't look as nice as RC, but it IS priced accordingly. Comments ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted August 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2015 I sailed on the Carnival Glory in June 2013 and the Carnival Breeze in January 2014. Mainly tried the Glory because the price was right, we wanted to do another Canada/New England cruise and there were limited options in June, and because we wanted to try the Fun Ship 2.0 upgrades (Guy's Burger Joint, George Lopez Comedy Club, etc.). While I did not have a good experience when we first cruised them in 1996, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed both cruises quite a bit. I don't have any cruises booked on Carnival--have four currently booked with Royal through 2017--I wouldn't hesitate to book them again. I actually feel that Carnival's daytime food options are better than Royal's, but that Royal's food quality is better overall, particular in the MDR. Royal's production shows are also superior in my opinion. Carnival is a hard nut to crack especially because their Fantasy class ships don't have the features of their newer ships, so you need to be very careful with what ship you're booking as that could greatly change the experience you might have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted August 17, 2015 Report Share Posted August 17, 2015 Two of our first three cruises were on the old/small Fantasy(?) class, obviously we enjoyed them enough to want to keep cruising, but swore we wouldn't do Carnival again. With the newer bigger ships and the 2.0 upgrades we have allowed ourselves to be talked into giving them another try. Personally I felt our problem was more older/smaller ships than necessarily Carnival vs Royal so I am looking forward to the Vista next year. DocLC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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