I went on my first cruise as an adult. Although I enjoyed the entertainment and food, Carnival is not for me

First-time cruisers have a unique perspective, often noticing certain aspects of the onboard experience that seasoned cruisers have grown accustomed to. Moreover, experiencing everything for the first time is also exciting, opening a new world of possibilities for those keen on cruising.

Of course, not all vacations go as we meticulously plan. Reality can fall short of our expectations, leading to the disappointment of time and money wasted. Nobody wants to spend their hard-earned money on a lackluster cruise experience, but that’s just what happened to this Carnival cruiser.

Posting to the r/Cruise thread on Reddit, the user (@skyelardb) shared details about their recent cruise onboard Carnival Valor, describing the cruise as a “pretty horrific experience.” Having sailed previously as a child with Carnival Cruise Line about 13 years prior, Skyelar was eager to see how their cruise experience would compare as an adult.

In addition, Skyelar shared how their Carnival Valor cruise was considered their first adult cruise in general. They explained how this cruise was the first since starting their working career, having paid for it themselves. Moreover, Skyelar said this was the first time they could drink alcohol while cruising.

Carnival Valor is a Conquest Class ship built in 2004, making her 20 years old this year. While not the oldest ship in Carnival’s fleet, she is certainly not the newest either. Holding 2,980 passengers at capacity, Carnival Valor is a midsized vessel that sails year-round from New Orleans, Louisiana, mostly on short voyages to Mexico.

Skyelar’s popular post “Things I wish I knew beforehand…” has garnered more than 100 responses from fellow cruisers. Although the poster’s Carnival cruise experience had a few standout moments, such as quality entertainment and surprisingly good food, other aspects were highly disappointing, including frequent upselling and the ship’s old age with lack of amenities.

Here’s why the vacationer said cruising, especially with Carnival, is absolutely not for them and why they will never go again.

Read more: First time cruise tips that really work

1. Nickel-and-diming

Although cruising is often viewed as a fairly all-inclusive vacation, Skyelar would disagree. In fact, Carnival is often viewed as more inclusive than other cruise lines, with many onboard activities and dining options included in the base cruise fare. Of course, the cruise lines always push add-ons like internet, shore excursions, and drink packages.

Skyelar was surprised by Carnival’s pervasive “nickel-and-diming” practice for everything onboard: “We chose a cruise because we’re just starting out, the economy isn’t great. We just wanted to enjoy ourselves. Other than the food, everything costs money and they are constantly trying to sell you art, foot massages, drinks, bingo cards.”

As a first-time adult cruiser, the upselling onboard a cruise can be unexpected and disappointing. This is especially true for budget cruisers who do not want to be pressured to spend more money. However, the practice of upselling is common across the industry, even for premium cruise lines like Celebrity Cruises and Princess Cruises.

Regardless, Skyelar states the nickel-and-diming practice came off as “desperate” and seriously impacted their ability to relax. Even worse, the cruiser shared how the upselling practice continued off the ship while exploring the ports of call; however, they shared this was expected.

2. Food

Most find Carnival Cruise Line to have some of the best complimentary food at sea, and Skyelar would agree.

With options like Guy’s Burger Joint for juicy burgers and BlueIguana Cantina for freshly-made tacos, there are many food options to try during your Carnival cruise. While not necessarily sophisticated and exquisite, the dining experiences are casual, well varied and appeal to cruisers of all ages.

Although much of their first Carnival experience was disappointing, the food was one of the few highlights for Skyelar. “The food was surprisingly good for having to serve 3000 people, especially the made-to-order food like the Mongolian Wok,” writes Skyelar.

Carnival Valor has an impressive number of complimentary dining options onboard, especially when you consider her smaller size and older age. Guests can indulge in burgers on the pool deck from Guy’s Burger Joint, made-to-order stir fry at Mongolian Wok, or barbecue meats at Old Fashioned BBQ.

Other Carnival staples onboard include pizza and sandwiches, along with SeaDay Brunch served in the main dining room. However, those wanting a more upscale dining experience eat at one of the specialty restaurants on Carnival Valor, such as Scarlett’s Steakhouse.

Of course, you can’t mention Carnival’s food without raving about the Melting Chocolate Cake, which is served daily in the Main Dining Room. The decadent, sinful dessert is synonymous with Carnival Cruise Line.

Skyelar notes how the lack of trash cans was particularly perplexing. “Another weird thing-there are no trash cans. Literally. You just set your plates down on any table and it gets picked up pretty quickly,” shared the cruiser.

Read more: 11 foods you must eat on a Carnival cruise

3. Entertainment

Along with Carnival Valor’s impressive dining, Skyelar mentioned the ship’s entertainment was another highlight of their cruise. Because of Valor’s older age and smaller size, the entertainment offered onboard is more simplistic than the cruise line’s newer ships. However, Skyelar was not disappointed in the options onboard.

Skyelar shared, “The entertainment was actually pretty great, especially the cruise director George. He was hands down the best part of the cruise. There [were] a lot of opportunities for everyone.”

In general, Carnival Cruise Line boasts a variety of entertainment onboard its ships from comedy shows to in-house production headliners. Other activities are typically very popular and well attended, including trivia and gameshows.

Moreover, Carnival cruisers are always eager to get involved with the events. You’ll find activities to be particularly engaging and interactive. Many cruisers aren’t afraid to get onstage when needed!

4. The ship’s age and size

Carnival operates a large fleet of 27 vessels with a wide range of ages and sizes. Carnival Valor is on the older side, although her size is not especially small. Because of the midsize design, the ship boasts more amenities than older Fantasy Class ships.

Nonetheless, Skyelar was off-put by the ship’s old age and seemingly poor maintenance: “The ship is really, really old. In retrospect, I wish I would’ve searched for a newer boat before booking.”

While age is not always an indicator of poor maintenance, older ships tend to have more rust. Wear and tear is not uncommon, although some cruise lines are better at maintenance than others. Carnival Valor underwent an extensive refurbishment in 2016, which saw the addition of new bars and restaurants.

In addition, the poster shared how Carnival Valor had some unwanted smells onboard. Skyelar argues the smell was bad enough for them to avoid cruising entirely in the future: “I should’ve known, but [the smell] alone was enough to make me not want to cruise again. You’ll just randomly get a [whiff] of crap every so often.”

Random, unpleasant smells are not uncommon on cruise ships, including newer vessels. Because the ship is essentially a floating city, sewage and food waste are processed onboard. Older ships tend to have more potent smells, in my experience.

Finally, according to Skyelar, Carnival Valor’s smaller size made the ship more susceptible to rockier seas while cruising. Although this wasn’t necessarily a complaint about the experience, the cruiser was surprised to learn how smaller ships are rockier.

Unfortunately, Skyelar booked a cabin at the front of the ship on a higher deck. Those prone to motion sickness are often encouraged to book a cabin midship for this reason. “We were frequently grabbing something solid to keep ourselves up. Also, October is apparently not a great time to cruise,” concluded Skyelar.

4. Sanitization

Cruise ships are cleaned continuously by diligent staff members with guests’ staterooms refreshed daily by cabin stewards. Most cruise lines hold their staff to a high standard when it comes to cleaning, and many ships are often spotless as a result.

However, Skyelar was especially disappointed with Carnival Valor’s sanitation. The cruiser had high hopes that the ship’s cleaning standards would be higher, particularly after the pandemic. Of note, Skyelar found their stateroom to be dirty.

“There were layers of dust on the headboard, the phone, old eyelashes in the trash can. I know the employees are doing the best they can. I seriously believe it’s the company’s fault for pushing too much in too short of a time, in an effort to make more money,” the cruiser explained. 

5. Crew members

Speaking of the crew members, Skyelar’s perspective on Carnival Valor’s staff could be considered controversial: “I got the feeling that so many of the employees were miserable.”

It’s well known that cruise ship workers have long days and busy schedules, often working every single day of their contract. Most are 6- to 7-month contracts onboard, followed by a few months of vacation. “Most of them were from around the world We met some really great people with smiles on their faces, but most of them looked absolutely miserable,” the post continued. 

In addition, the cruiser struggled to communicate with some of the workers due to language barriers. Because most crew members are international workers, English is not their primary language. With this, Skyelar said it was difficult to request anything.

6. Fellow passengers

Carnival has a notorious record of being a rowdier cruise line, especially when you add alcohol to the mix. Parties onboard can be crazy with passengers letting loose and having a good time. In fact, the occasional news headline of fights breaking out on Carnival ships can deter some guests from booking the cruise line.

However, this was not the case for Skyelar. In fact, the clientele onboard Carnival Valor was considered a highlight for the cruiser. They wrote, “We were so pleasantly surprised [about] how awesome the other guests were. Everyone was so nice and nothing really ever got out of hand.”

7. Ports of call

Sailing on an older ship is often more appealing for those focused on the itinerary’s destinations. Unfortunately, Skyelar was disappointed in the ports of call during their Carnival Valor sailing. The itinerary featured stops in Costa Maya, Mexico, and Cozumel, Mexico, two popular ports in the Western Caribbean.

Skyelar commented, “I would 1000% not recommend Costa Maya, it was absolutely terrible. So overpriced and not authentic at all. You can tell they’re pandering towards the tourists that just want knick knacks and not learn about the culture of the area.”

In addition, Skyelar shared how the shopping near the cruise ports was “incredibly expensive”. The cruiser states when they inquired about venturing outside the port area, many of the employees were not willing to help.

“We wanted to explore the culture outside of the port, and we felt like we just kept getting pushed into spending money on Carnival.”

Bottom line

Although Skyelar was disappointed with their experience on Carnival Valor, many commenters encouraged the cruise to try other brands before swearing off cruising altogether. Also, many users suggested doing more research before booking a future cruise. Some even mentioned researching ports of call for a future cruise itinerary, emphasizing Carnival Valor’s lackluster itinerary.

One user responded, “You shouldn’t swear off cruising based on one cruise on the Carnival Valor. That would be like swearing off restaurants after eating one cheeseburger at McDonalds.”

Another cruiser commented, “It’s Carnival. They are not known as the ‘Walmart of Cruises’ for no reason.”

“I would also suggest that you choose a cruise based on researching ports you might actually want to visit. You probably picked the worst ports (Costa Maya is a joke). Most of the Caribbean is over-commercialized and you won’t find a lot of authentic charm until you hit smaller islands, which only the smaller, more luxurious ships visit (like St. Vincent, Tobago, St. Barts, etc.).”

In the comment section, Skyelar admitted to not doing enough research before booking their cruise on Carnival Valor. They stated, “Maybe I just didn’t research hard enough! I always thought the [stereotype] about Carnival was related to the guests it attracted.”

While cruising remains one of the most popular vacation choices for many, it’s not a perfect fit for everyone. Skyelar’s first-time experience highlights the importance of properly researching a cruise ship and itinerary before booking. With more realistic expectations, some of these disappointments could have been avoided.