It's not bad, it's just different. ...and some people don't like the differences. Originally, Carnival's passengers were young and wild -- drank a lot, partied a lot, and stayed up all night. Everybody agreed that was the case, and Carnival promoted it. As the years wore on, and the competition heated up, Carnival went to great lengths to re-shape their image and deliver a different message -- that they were more than just a wild party cruise line. The problem is, that they haven't yet completely shaken they're old image (and they may not want to) so they are still the leader in "young and wild" among the mass-market cruise lines.
I've sailed Carnival a few times, and personally, I don't like it because I prefer a much less lively environment -- however, I highly recommend them to a lot of people that ask my opinion, because Carnival does a great job.
Carnival is also one of the best, if not the best, values for the money. A technique that they have been using for years is to have one less port stop than similar cruises on other lines. This keeps the people on the ship an extra day spending money in the bars, casino, etc., which allows them to lower the fares. It's great for people on a budget because it allows them to get the full cruise experience, and if they can't afford to spend a lot of extra cash on-board, they don't have to.
For young people who are first-time cruisers, I almost always suggest a standard 7-day Caribbean itinerary on Carnival. That way, they will get a pretty balanced cruise experience with few surprises, so they can decide objectively whether or not they like cruising. Princess is often tagged as being too "sleepy" for young, first-time cruisers, and they may get turned off cruising for good as a result of it.
As for the acquisition of Princess by Carnival -- I've been sailing Princess for about 20 years, and although there have been all kinds of gradual changes over the years, I've seen none that I could directly relate to Carnival's influence. They are mostly bottom-line oriented changes that all businesses are going through. Keep in mind that all the cruise lines are held by a financial entity called Carnival Corp., not by Carnival Cruise Lines, so they each have to perform on their own -- which means that Princess is accountable only to Carnival Corp. and its shareholders, not to Carnival Cruise Lines. Princess is actually incented to outperform Carnival Cruise Lines by any means it sees fit, not to be governed by them. Unfortunately for us passengers, sometimes that means cutting costs -- but these days, that would be occurring no matter who owned them. Carnival Corp.'s muscle also helps Princess with a lot of the big things they couldn't do on their own, like getting ships built exactly when they need them. I was definitely not looking forward to the acquisition when I first heard of it, but it seems to have had no negative effects. ...and possibly some positive ones.
