I've now been on Carnival and RCI....

I will compare the Elation and the Rhapsody of the Seas as they are very comparable in size. These are strictly personal opinions, keeping very much in mind that a cruise is a cruise no matter what.

Rooms: Carnival gets a slight edge because of the size of the shower.

Food: IMO, no comparison. RCI wins hands down. Better in every category. Better in both the dining room and the buffet.

Entertainment: RCI gets an edge because 1. Almost every show on Carnival is wrapped around comedy, which gets boring after a while. 2. IMO, the two piano bars I went to on the Elation were very bad. 3. On the Rhapsody there were a couple of different places to do some ballroom dancing which we enjoy doing. There was none of that on the Elation.

Embarking and Debarking: Carnival gets the advantage simply because we took advantage of Faster To The Fun. Definitely worth the 50 bucks.

Overall layout and beauty: Rhapsody gets an advantage probably simply because of age.

Total comparison, remembering that a cruise is a cruise and we had a great time. Also remember that this is strictly a personal opinion.

Rhapsody gets an A

Elation gets a B

Have been on 28 cruises about evenly divided between the two lines and RCCL clearly has the superior product.

Overall layout and beauty: Rhapsody gets an advantage probably simply because of age.

Elation is actually a newer ship than the Rhapsody of the Seas. IMHO the problem that Carnival has with the Joe Farcus-Late 90's decor is that it doesn't "age" as well. What may have looked "cool and funky" then, probably will start looking outdated and run down 14 years later.

Royal's decor, while somewhat bland and repetitive, is also more elegant and timeless, which makes their older ships not look as outdated.

Have to agree with you about the shower. The RCCL ship we sailed on this year had tiny showers. We called them upright coffin tubes.

Have to agree with you about the shower. The RCCL ship we sailed on this year had tiny showers. We called them upright coffin tubes.

Personally, I like the tube. I thought that having the cylindrical glass shower was better than Carnival's sticking shower curtain from hell

Elation is actually a newer ship than the Rhapsody of the Seas. IMHO the problem that Carnival has with the Joe Farcus-Late 90's decor is that it doesn't "age" as well. What may have looked "cool and funky" then, probably will start looking outdated and run down 14 years later.

 

Royal's decor, while somewhat bland and repetitive, is also more elegant and timeless, which makes their older ships not look as outdated.

Very fair assessment between this and the ops thoughts.

Agree with this.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Please excuse any typographical errors.

We have been on both as well and do give the edge to RC in terms of shows, food and ship decor. Royal Caribbean has increased their prices significantly lately making them more comparable pricewise to celebrity and i dont think they are in celebritys league. If I had the money I would definitely pick celebrity.

I will not sail RC again until their prices come down. I will sail carnival if I have a certain budget to stick with. They are a good value in terms of what you're getting. I think RC should price themselves where they belong which is in between carnival and celebrity.

They are all good just in different ways.

We have been on both as well and do give the edge to RC in terms of shows, food and ship decor. Royal Caribbean has increased their prices significantly lately making them more comparable pricewise to celebrity and i dont think they are in celebritys league. If I had the money I would definitely pick celebrity.

 

I will not sail RC again until their prices come down. I will sail carnival if I have a certain budget to stick with. They are a good value in terms of what you're getting. I think RC should price themselves where they belong which is in between carnival and celebrity.

 

They are all good just in different ways.

I agree with this 100%. Celebrity is fabulous and worth every penny! Carnival and RCI are close enough to each other that with such a significant price difference Carnival will always win. The food on RCI is definitely not that much better....at least not to me :p

The standard rooms on Elation are much larger than Rhaspody. What I don't like about Elation is the dead end on deck 5. OP like you stated your evaluation is your opinion. The biggest negative for me on Elation is the theater with the booths instead of normal seating, I hate it. And otherwise RCL has better entertainment but to me everything else is about the same.

Personally, I like the tube. I thought that having the cylindrical glass shower was better than Carnival's sticking shower curtain from hell

Never sailed Royal but do hate that sticking shower curtain. Older Carnival ships like the Paradise have very big showers, not sticking problem on them.

I've been on both Carnival and Royal Caribbean. I love both. I'd give

Carnival - A

Royal - B+

Have been on 28 cruises about evenly divided between the two lines and RCCL clearly has the superior product.

I remember my first RCCL cruise, pen and paper in hand, ready to trash RCCL and show CCL cruisers what a mistake I made.

I ended up with my tail between my legs, cause I found that RCCL had the superior product. Most things were close, but RCCL won hands down, starting with their magnificent ships.

I've cruised on both, also, and for me, Royal Caribbean is the better of the two in many ways.

I'll be going on my first Carnival cruise this Wednesday. I have only sailed RCI on the Navigator and Adventure. Adventure was an amazing ship and I enjoyed both cruises immensely. But I had to keep budget in mind this cruise. Sail away an hour from my home. No need to hassle with airports or day before expense. I am going with an open mind.

Food: Carnival. Royal's was bland and I could tell most of it was fake.

Entertainment: Carnival. I liked the all-around-the-world show.

Décor: Carnival. So colorful and different. Royal is the same and looks like an office building

Stateroom: Tie. Carnival's beds are nicer and the bathrooms are bigger, but Royal has a nice layout and has a couch in oceanview rooms.

Itinerary: Royal most of the time.

Value: Carnival.

Elegance: Royal

What exactly is fake food?

What exactly is fake food?

thinking the same.

And gee, RCL doesn't even have meatloaf

I usually take two cruises a year, one with my husband and one with my friend. After cruising on Royal Caribbean for nine times we booked Carnival Dream for April. At the end of the cruise I asked her what she thought and she said, "I like the cheese better on Royal Caribbean."

Personally, I like the tube. I thought that having the cylindrical glass shower was better than Carnival's sticking shower curtain from hell

Ugh I actually have nausea. Make it stop!

That and dropping my conditioner every 5 seconds because of no place to put anything...

but the shower curtain.... ughhh help.... blahh get it off... :eek:

 

but the shower curtain.... ughhh help.... blahh get it off... :eek:

Just don't bring it to the wall, and it goes NOWHERE! Leave a half to an inch from the curtain to the wall.

I really like Carnival Elation. What some consider outdated is nostalgia for others.

The showers on Elation are large enough for two. ;)

I've been on both lines, and think they are very comparable, with the most notable differences being the advantage Carnival has in cabin size (especially when compared to the older RCCL ships) and the advantage RCCL has in food. When choosing between RCCL and Carnival, for me the key distinguishing feature is itinerary, since if a ship on either of those two lines is going from where I want to leave and to where I want to travel, I can be assured of an excellent product at a good price.

But I'd like to raise another point, and that is how thoughtful, restrained and civil the responses to this thread have been. Since I will be sailing the Norwegian Gem (my first foray on to NCL) on my next cruise, I have been spending a great deal of time on the NCL board to get information, and have been astonished at the bashing that often goes on over there if anyone expresses any opinion other than that NCL is the greatest cruise line ever to sail the seas.

It's very nice to be able to have an adult conversation about the pros and cons of various lines without fear of being trashed. Kudos, Carnival board posters.

Just don't bring it to the wall, and it goes NOWHERE! Leave a half to an inch from the curtain to the wall.

Yes because I LOOOVVE tons of water on the floor... :)

Yes because I LOOOVVE tons of water on the floor... :)

Unless its been trained a new law in physics, that shouldn't happen. Never had that problem.

I've been on two Royal Ships, The Allure and the Monarch of the Seas. The Monarch was when I was 13, so almost 20 years ago, and I don't have much of a memory of the ship.

While I thought Royals ships were significantly more beautiful, I thought the food was awful. Also, our service was terrible compared to what we had experienced on Carnival in the past.

This doesn't mean I won't cruise Royal again, but I'll definitely wait until my kids are old enough to take advantage of all the extra's (zip line, wave rider, rock wall etc.) before spending the extra money.