Hold on to your feathers! It’s band launch season. There are so many costume bands to choose from, ranging from price points, vibes and customer service. If it’s your first time attending Trinidad Carnival or you’re thinking about leaving the band you’ve been loyal to for a couple years, this article is for you. (Or if you can’t choose between all these pretty costumes). Let’s start with a list and score grid.

This Guide has been Updated in 2018

TRIBE CARNIVAL

Vibes: 4.9/5

Customer Service: TRIBE provides excellent customer service and communicates with their masqueraders. Costumes are of great quality and they are willing to go the extra mile to satisfy their customers. Food, amenities and drinks are top notch as well.

Ease of Registration: Tribe has one of the most difficult registration processes, you MUST know a committee member or affiliate to be registered; preference is also given to past masqueraders. Some costumes are open to the public if they do not sell out (which is rare).

Amenities:

Fitting room at costume collection
Online payment – you can pay off balances before you pickup
Lunch on both days
Unlimited Premium alcohol
Costume repair at the lunch stop
Extraction team

BLISS CARNIVAL

Vibes: 3.8/5

Customer Service: Owned by TRIBE, the customer service is quality and so are the costumes. On the road, drinks are flowing are all meals and snacks are delicious. Bliss Carnival caters to the masqueraders who want to stay pretty and tend to be less of the Bacchanalist group.

Ease of Registration: Registration is done through a committee member.

YUMA VIBE

Vibes: 4.7/5

Customer Service: Yuma rectified some of their customer service issues in 2016 and had organized pickup days. Lines moved quickly and there was crowd management. Vibes on the road is always on point. Bess DJS and some of the top upcoming soca artists were in the band. Lunch days provided great meal options, you could choose different cuisines, chinese, creole, italian, etc type meals of your choice. Their rest stop was a bit dusty and if you didn’t get there early you would definitely be sleeping on a piece of cardboard so always arrive early.

Ease of Registration: Registration is open to past masqueraders first, then opens to the general public after. Registration is not available online.

Amenities:

Ice cream & other dessert stands at lunch spot
Lunch on both days
Unlimited Premium alcohol
Extraction team
Vibes on vibes on the road!

PAPARAZZI CARNIVAL

Vibes: 4/5

Customer Service. Paparazzi has great vibes on the road with plenty of room for you to chip and whine as they are considered a small-big band (Smaller than IP and Yuma). Their costumes however are sometimes designed for the look, not for the road and are poorly constructed. Their road service – drinks and vibes will exceed your expectations especially if that’s what you’re paying for.

Ease of Registration: Registration available Online

Amenities:

Lunch on both days
Unlimited Premium alcohol
Extraction team

ENTICE CARNIVAL

Vibes: 4/5

Customer Service: New kids on the block, they are a part of Fantasy Carnival so expect the same level of service and vibes.

Ease of Registration: Registration can be done through a committee member or affiliate

PASSION CARNIVAL

Vibes: 4/5

Customer Service: Excellent customer service, unpretentious small big band (no more than 1000 masqueraders) with great vibes and bess girls! Passion Carnival does not disappoint.

Ease of Registration: Registration can be completed online

FANTASY CARNIVAL

Vibes: 4.5/5

Customer Service: Customer service with this band has been sometimes shaky but they are always willing to improve to take care of their masqueraders. Drinks and amenities are BESS on the road! They also have some of the most gorgeous costumes year after year. While a bead or two might fall off, a CSR is willing to stick it back on for you.

Ease of Registration: Registration is done via committee member or you can pre-register with affiliate organizations

HARTS CARNIVAL

Vibes: 3.9/5

Customer Service: Customer service is satisfactory, CSR are there to help. With Harts, you need to customize your costume to get the look you want, kind of like “build-a-costume”.

Ease of Registration: Contact harts@hartscarnival.com for registration or via mascamp

RONNIE & CARO

Vibes: 4/5

Customer Service: Customer service is excellent with this band. Their costumes and vibes have also won them Band of the Year in Trinidad. You won’t feel overcrowded in this band either. R&C crew provides mobile coolers with water and energy drinks and the workers ensured you were hydrated, passing out drinks.

Ease of Registration: Registration is available online

Yours in Mas