Professor Melissa's Cruise Pod
Jun 22, 2026 · 10 min · 10 segments
Is Carnival still the best value cruise line, or has the math changed? In this video, we look at why Carnival’s low base fares still matter, but why gratuities, drink packages, Wi-Fi, private island…
All right, I want to get to that private island comparison in particular because it's probably the clearest single illustration I can give you of that gap between what Carnival advertises and what you're actually paying for.
But first, let's start with the base fare picture because Carnival does deserve its credit here.
Short Bahamas sailings, and they're usually going to be, of course, on older, smaller ships, but they're affordable.
They start under $200 per person, and seven-night Caribbean cruises, even on newer ships, regularly come in under $400 per person for an inside cabin, of course, and before taxes and fees.
Nothing in the land-based vacation market is going to touch that number.
In fact, nowadays you'd be hard pressed to find a nice hotel that you can get for that cost, let alone a cruise on a per night basis.
So if your primary goal is to spend the least amount of money to wake up in multiple ports over a week, the starting fair here is pretty hard to beat.
Now, the problem is that starting fair is precisely what it is, a starting point.
And that distance between what Carnival advertises and what you actually spend, it's starting to grow more and more in ways that are worth understanding before you compare it against anything else.
All right, I want to get to that private island comparison in particular because it's probably the clearest single illustration I can give you of that gap between what Carnival advertises and what you're actually paying for.
But first, let's start with the base fare picture because Carnival does deserve its credit here.
Short Bahamas sailings, and they're usually going to be, of course, on older, smaller ships, but they're affordable.
They start under $200 per person, and seven-night Caribbean cruises, even on newer ships, regularly come in under $400 per person for an inside cabin, of course, and before taxes and fees.
Nothing in the land-based vacation market is going to touch that number.
In fact, nowadays you'd be hard pressed to find a nice hotel that you can get for that cost, let alone a cruise on a per night basis.
So if your primary goal is to spend the least amount of money to wake up in multiple ports over a week, the starting fair here is pretty hard to beat.
Now, the problem is that starting fair is precisely what it is, a starting point.
And that distance between what Carnival advertises and what you actually spend, it's starting to grow more and more in ways that are worth understanding before you compare it against anything else.
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