Lately I can't even tell the new Carnival ships apart anymore. Farcus seems to be repeating the same themes and designs over and over again. They all just seem to run together.

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Originally posted by Waynaro:
With this ship, I am more interested in her improved layout. The wrap around promenade with the indoor/outdoor cafe looks pretty cool. I am a little concern about the hull-hole balcony below the lifeboats.

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I do love the large wrap around Promenade Deck, even if it is enclosed by glass walls. That indoor/outdoor cafe looks a little cheesy to me .... kind of like a food court at a mall.

The hull-hole balconies are the best. I would absolutely book one on the lowest deck. I would love being that close to the water line. Of course QM2 has had these for years so it's not really new. It was really just a way for Carnival to squeeze in more balconies on an existing Destiny/Conquest Class design.

Two things I wish Carnival would do.

1. Upgrade their cabin color scheme. The peach walls, peach leatherette couch, and orange/red carpet is tired.

2. Design better pool areas. Carnival's pools are so small and not very inviting compared to other cruise lines. I never understood this since such a large percent of Carnival passengers use the pool.

Carnival's ships quit being AMAZING about 10 ships ago. Nice enough but nothing worth writing home about. Some of the public areas on recent ships have been downright ugly (kind of like that last commercial I saw of theirs).

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Originally posted by eroller:
Out of curiosity, what is so amazing about these venues? They look like every other Carnival ship. I really don't see anything different.

Lately I can't even tell the new Carnival ships apart anymore. Farcus seems to be repeating the same themes and designs over and over again. They all just seem to run together.

Ernie

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In a sense all big new ships are ‘amazing ‘, the new ‘Carnival Dream’ is no exception. On the other hand, apart from its exterior appearance, which is very attractive (for a big ship) it’s just more of the same from Carnival’s assembly line.

Although I do not deny Carnival’s success, RCI and NCL lead the way in terms of ship design/innovation. Only Carnival’s décor stands apart, love it or hate it, but of course the idea is repeated on all of their ships (and now on Costa ships too). I’m sure that Carnival would argue: “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it”. I would argue: ”just cos it isn’t broke, does not mean that it don’t need a good overhaul”. (Maybe that’s why I’m not a billionaire shipping tycoon).

Finally, why do the big lines insist on copying ship names from each other? What next ’Carnival Oasis’, ‘Norwegian Solstice’, ‘Dream of the Seas’? At least Celebrity are more original in their name choices.

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:
Although I do not deny Carnival’s success, RCI and NCL lead the way in terms of ship design/innovation.

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Maybe F3 will change this but I think the last innovative ship NCL built was...um...maybe STARWARD in 1968.

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Originally posted by dougnewman:
Mmm... What has NCL done for ship design lately?

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Although hardly recent, I think the 'freestyle' thing was a very important innovation. I see it as a major change in thinking. I belive that most lines will (or have already) adopted aspects of it.

I appreciate that Carnival pioneered mass market cruising to a large extent. However, apart from there decor, their ships have quite a traditional design (modern tradition, taht is) compared to NCL's ships with multiple dining options.

I'm hoping the F3 will 'truely' bean innovative vessel and not just media hype.

Yes, RCI lead the way forward.

[ 01-07-2009: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

Although hardly recent, I think the 'freestyle' thing was a very important innovation. I see it as a major change in thinking. I belive that most lines will (or have already) adopted aspects of it.

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I think you can thank Star Cruises for the Freestyle concept and the current design of the NCL ships. NCL just adopted it and formatted it for Western cruising.

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Originally posted by dougnewman:

Maybe F3 will change this but I think the last innovative ship NCL built was...um...maybe STARWARD in 1968.

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Originally posted by Noordam:
I work in Digital Marketing, and assume that this was posted by Carnival or a company that Carnival uses for blog/message board outreach. Smart move.

I do love that promenade deck!

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
A few posters have asked if he/she was a Carnival employee. Did they respond?

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The Big C claims to be an educator living in Florida yet all of his posts are being made from a Comcast account in Fairfield, California. I would be interested in hearing from The Big C and how that can be.

Big C, care to respond?

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Originally posted by eroller:

The hull-hole balconies are the best. I would absolutely book one on the lowest deck. I would love being that close to the water line. Of course QM2 has had these for years so it's not really new. It was really just a way for Carnival to squeeze in more balconies on an existing Destiny/Conquest Class design.

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Originally posted by Waynaro:
We hear much nowadays about passengers jumping the rail. I fear with the waterline hull-hole balconies, we may hear more...

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Originally posted by The Big C:
I just happen to be a connoisseur of fine things and Carnival in my humble opinion is the best.

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I am just as passionate about Princess and I know many of you don't like them. I am not thrilled that CC owns them, I am over it. I used to have the same passion for RCL when they were a cruise line and not a floating resort