A cruise specialist’s take on Carnival Adventure: Are the complaints justified? 

After recently sailing on Carnival Encounter, I was interested to see what a cruise on Carnival Adventure would be like. Both ships transitioned to the Carnival fleet earlier this year and both continue to receive mixed reviews on sites like Cruise Critic.  

With ratings ranging from one to five stars, it was hard to know what to expect when I got onboard, even as a specialist cruise journalist. Just because each ship was virtually identical was no guarantee the onboard experience would be the same on both.

Here’s my take on what to expect onboard Carnival Adventure, including what was similar to my experience on Carnival Encounter and what was different.

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Wear and Tear: Carnival Adventure is showing its age

During our three nights onboard Carnival Adventure, we couldn’t help but notice it seemed more worn overall compared to Carnival Encounter. This could be due to Carnival Adventure’s popularity with Sydney cruisers, the fact it’s a year older, or both.

We experienced this firsthand when a water leak adjacent to our cabin meant we had to move rooms, and we noticed toilets out of order in several public bathrooms during our cruise. These types of issues can happen on any ship, of course, but there’s no denying Carnival Adventure is beginning to show its age.

Carnival Adventure isn’t scheduled for a major dry dock until February 2027, a year later than sister ship Carnival Encounter. It’s a shame the two ships aren’t being refurbished in the opposite order, as we felt Adventure was more in need of some TLC.

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Upgrading: It’s worth considering on this ship

One thing that has attracted the ire of cruisers on these two ex-P&O Cruises ships is the number of chargeable things onboard, like upgraded menu and dining options. However, we felt many of these justified the spend on our cruises.

A particular standout was the Byron Beach Club which was quite different to the one we experienced on Carnival Encounter. On Carnival Adventure, there’s an additional sun deck with two-person clamshell cabanas and loads of extra loungers.

The overall look and feel of the Byron Beach Club on this ship also showed a lot of pride from the staff, with neatly laid out seating, cute towel animals decorating some chairs and tables, and proactive waiters who couldn’t do enough for their guests.

And if you don’t like paying extra for dishes like eggs Benedict that some cruisers think should be free, treating yourself to a Byron Beach Club room or a suite will make you even happier. These room categories include access to Byron Beach Club inclusions like a separate section of Angelo’s for breakfast for Byron Beach Club guests, and also a separate menu. This includes extras like ‘real’ juice instead of juice mix and dishes like avocado toast topped with poached eggs that are usually chargeable.

When you consider every guest in eligible cabins can enjoy the Club (including children), it’s a splurge that’s worth considering, especially if you pick up a sale fare.

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Food: Good overall but also great in some restaurants

We felt the included restaurants we visited on Carnival Adventure were (ever so slightly) better than what we experienced on Carnival Encounter. However, we did have one unexpected dining disappointment while we were onboard.

After enjoying the Chinese takeaway-style dishes at Dragon Lady on Carnival Encounter, we were looking forward to having dinner at this restaurant. However, when we were presented with the menu, we discovered the Dragon Lady restaurant on Carnival Adventure serves the same dishes as the main dining room on elegant nights.

If we had known about this menu change in advance, we would have switched a specialty dining booking to elegant night. This would have allowed us to enjoy the tasty spring rolls and black pepper beef at Dragon Lady again, on a different day.

Speaking of specialty dining, both of the upmarket dining choices on Carnival Adventure – Luke’s Bar & Grill and Trattoria – were excellent once again. The latter was a particular standout on Carnival Encounter and the same was true on Adventure. We treated ourselves to a steak here but there’s a workaround if you’re on a tight budget.

It’s possible to enjoy the same upmarket surrounds and excellent service at this restaurant as we did for the cost of a pizza. These are made to order and several steps above the complimentary basic ones on offer here from 11am to 4pm daily.  

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Staff: Friendly, committed crew are a standout

One thing that stood out onboard and in reviews (even the less than positive ones) is the staff who consistently earned superlatives like “excellent”, “wonderful” and “so lovely and helpful” online and from the passengers on our sailing.

Without fail, every crew member we interacted with on Carnival Adventure was friendly, engaged and eager to help us have a good time. It’s hard not to when you’re met with smiles and cheery hellos whenever you’re out and about around the ship.

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The verdict

Carnival Adventure may not be as young as she used to be but, as they say in showbiz, she’s still got ‘it’, especially when it comes to knowing how to have a good time.

If you want to get the most of out of this ship, snap up one of its affordable fares and spoil yourself onboard, perhaps with an upgraded Byron Beach Club room or a suite, dinner at Trattoria, or a naughty but nice night out at the 18+ Blanc de Blanc Uncorked show.

Disclosure: The writer sailed as a guest of Carnival Cruise Line.