Advice for a RCI Newbie?

Just finished my third Carnival cruise and my wife and I are not interested in going back.

We live within driving distance to Galveston, so the Liberty of the Seas is an option for us.

For those who have sailed CCL, what differences should I expect? Are there fewer "People of Walmart" on board? How's the food?

Some differences from Carnival:

No Faster to the Fun on Royal.

No Early Saver price rules on Royal.

Royal has no daily limit on drinks with their drink packages, nor do they require all guests in a stateroom to buy a package.

I have been on 6 cruises. My first 3 were on Carnival, with the last 3 on RC. I definitely understand the "walmart" people of Carnival. On my last cruise with them, a guy at our table was absolutely trashed every night. He passed out face first into his spaghetti one night. Finally, he passed out somewhere at port and never made it back to the ship. That's not my reason for leaving. My dad is loyal to the royal, and when he took me on my first RC cruise, I never went back. Biggest differences:

1) RC is quieter at night

2) Food is better than Carnival

3) Average age of passengers have consistently been around 45ish

4) RC is more laid back

That's not to say Carnival has more things to do - far from it. There's no way I could come close to taking advantage of all RC has to offer.

Are there fewer "People of Walmart" on board? How's the food?

We saw very few "PoW" on RCI. Exception being the weird guy with old, gross jeans, a fedora, and a tuxedo-printed tshirt on formal night. Can't believe they let him in the main dining room looking like that.

I cruise both lines. I love the comedy shows on Carnival. Royal has a more upscale feel compared to Carnival. I have seen the dining room staff turn guests away who were not dressed appropriately. While Royal never had water slides some ships are being retrofitted with them (like Liberty of the Seas). There are many more physical activities available on Royal. On liberty: ice skating, rock climbing, there's a boxing ring, of course there is golf like on Carnival and quite a few pools and whirlpools. either way it's better to be at sea then at a desk :)

We've only sailed Carnival once. Based on that limited experience here are a few observations/comparisons.

Royal has much prettier ships (not as "glitzy") and better designed ships (easier to navigate). The Royal Promenade is a lovely gathering place.

I felt the food was actually a little better on Carnival. MDR was pretty close, but I thought the buffet for breakfast and lunch had better options and it was not as difficult to find a seat on Carnival. I really enjoyed Carnivals Wok and Deli sections of the buffet. Carnival's Warm Chocolate Melting Cake is awesome and better than any desert I've had on Royal!

Royal is quieter at night. We grew weary of the "thump, thump, thump" of bands everywhere and found it difficult to find a quiet place for a drink at night.

Royal is dresser as shorts are not welcome in the MDR during dinner service. Personally, I loved not having to change out of shorts for dinner on Carnival.

I enjoyed our Carnival cruise but have a preference to Royal.

We think the crew is much more friendly on RCI.

Thanks. We're not huge drinkers, and in our 40s we're kind of lost in the dance club. Looking to cruise with more professional types who aren't afraid to dress up at dinner. When we did the spa deck on the Magic we felt like we were in our element. On the Freedom we felt out of place.

Carnival's main dining room isn't what it used to be. The new "American Table" reminds me of Golden Corral and the Lido was mostly terrible. Living in Houston we're spoiled by a good dining scene and we know what good food is. So on our next cruise (hopefully next year) we're looking for something more refined and classier. I'll forego a balcony for interior if it means the rest of the experience is higher class, you know what I mean?

I too live close to Galveston and wish Royal will drop off another ship in the future to do short cruises cant pull the 7 nighters Royal only offers out of Galveston during the school year due to wifes schedule and I can't come to terms with airline pricing so I reluctantly book Carnival for the short cruises. Better than nothing...... But I'd much rather Royal

If you're looking for something a little more refined and classier, RCCL is the way to go over Carnival without sacrificing the fun factor.

However, I would also recommend looking into X. I'm not sure if they have ships from Galveston, but their food is one step-up from RCCL (IMO) and has an more "upscale" feeling overall.

RCCL is still my personal favourite though. Fun atmosphere, luxurious without being stuffy, and without the "pow" crowd that you find on Carnival ships.

Disney has some short cruises out of Galveston. But our 5 night Disney actually costs more than our Royal 7 day. But we got a REALLY good price on our Royal 7 day.

We're doing a Royal/Disney B2B. Get off Royal spend one night and step on Disney. Should make an interesting comparison.