What the internet gets wrong about Carnival cruises
Deciding which cruise line to sail for your first cruise isn't easy. With so many options available today, there's a cruise line for just about every travel style, but determining which one is right for you can be a challenge.
Relying on opinions from cruise influencers may not steer you in the right direction, since frequent cruisers can be biased toward their favorite cruise line and lean into stereotypes to judge other cruise lines and their passengers.
With no cruise line is this more apparent than Carnival, which often gets misjudged as a party cruise line that only offers "booze cruises." Although Carnival does attract vacationers eager to party, Carnival sailings are not truly defined by a rowdy, party atmosphere.
Vacationers looking for a lively, laidback style of cruising that offers fun for all ages shouldn't be so quick to rule out Carnival. How the internet tends to define a party cruise isn't really the type of party style that Carnival and the majority of its passengers embrace.
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Carnival Cruise Line's party image isn't what it seems
In an April 27 Facebook video, Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald discussed how the term party cruise line has been misconstrued after receiving a message from a passenger named Erin who almost didn't book because of the internet's definition.
"We joined up with your page recently to help with some research before we decided to book a cruise on the Carnival Venezia with our two teenage children. We were very worried that the ship would be a party ship full of vulgar people. Well, that was the cruise experience that some of the cruise pages with cruise experts were saying," Erin wrote to Heald.
According to Erin, cruise influencers said that Carnival cruises were party cruises featuring people who drop their stuff off in the stateroom and never returned to it sober.
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Instead of believing the internet, Erin consulted Heald's Facebook page, a community of more than 670,000 Carnival cruisers.
"I found your page, read so many cruise opinions from people, all of who said they had the best vacation ever. And that's what we just returned from, the best vacation ever. We were surrounded by people of all ages, having fun," Erin said. "If we had believed the internet, we would have seen people all over the pool deck and in the halls who were drunk. We didn't, we had some amazing times and we have booked another cruise, four rooms total for the family to cruise on the Mardi Gras."
Carnival embraces partying in the spirit of fun
After sharing Erin's message, Heald explained that partying is something that Carnival embraces, but not in the way that the internet often characterizes it.
"I think the word party has been completely defined incorrectly. I really do. I mean, to me, the word party means having fun, laughing, relaxing, dancing, spending time with friends and family, cocktails, good food, happy days, doing things that normal everyday life does not allow you to do," Heald said.
That's the kind of partying that Carnival encourages on its ships.
"If that's what the word party means to you, then yeah, we embrace it as a cruise line. We really do. And we've done so for many, many years," Heald added.
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For Heald and most loyal Carnival passengers who follow his page, taking a party cruise on a Carnival ship means having fun, relaxing, and enjoying activities that normal everyday stresses of life do not allow you to do. Not everyone parties in the same way, but a rowdy party style doesn't dominate Carnival cruises.
"I think you make your cruise what you want it to be. There are some that (party differently), but even in everyday life there are those people. We have always had a great time. We love Carnival," Pam Perkins commented on the brand ambassador's video.
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This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 8:43 AM.