Comparison of Carnival Glory to Royal Caribbean Mariner....stay away from Carnival

[lnm]

We went on the Carnival Glory on March 19. I've got to say that this cruise was definitely not worth the money. We didn't have a bad time, it was better than being at work, but I wish we hadn't gone with Carnival. We have always had a great time on RCCL, but hubby wanted to try a new ship and kids heard Carnival was so much fun.
Well our 2 teens weren't too happy with the "teen area". Nothing for them to do. On Royal Caribbean they never wanted to get off, there is a whole area where parents aren't allowed and the kids hang out there all the time and have a blast. They think of ways to stow away! This time, they were ready to go home. My 17 year old actually read his book in the cabin all day and went out at night. I can't get him to crack a book at home unless it's at gunpoint! lol
Entertainment was OK. Carlo kind of got on my nerves....he woke me up at 10:00 a.m. on a sea day with announcements, but wasn't really very visible around the ship.
With 3400 people on the ship, there isn't enough open space. It's kind of like a trailer park cruise compared to a luxury cruise (please don't flame me, no offense meant, just a comparison) I felt like a sardine! No chairs at the pool, the employees seemed ragged out TIRED!!! Our cabin steward (Tamara) was awesome and we thanked her by tipping her an extra $20. The captain should learn how to use the stabalizers.....very rocky ship; which didn't bother us, but I'd hate to be a waiter! We took our bonine each night and we were fine.
We don't really cruise for the food. We normally don't go to the diniing room every night and prefer to eat when we want to, which means if we miss our seating, we just go to the buffet. Food in the dining room was good (not great) but the service was pretty slow. The 1st night that we decided to go to the buffet, I thought we took a wrong turn and ended up at the school cafeteria line. There was nothing appetizing to eat....hardly any food at all actually. Not much of a choice and just blah looking. Breakfast was pretty bad both in the dining room and the cafeteria. Room service is continental breakfast or sandwich (which BLT was good). The grill by the pool was really great! Best chili dog I've ever eaten.....but they werren't open after 6:00. Pizza was also good, open 24 hours. Except for when we got off the ship, we had lunch instead of breakfast.

Again, to compare to Royal Caribbean, I wish I would have spent the extra money and gone with them. In hindsight, it wasn't that much more, but would have been well worth it! (about $1000 more for the 4 of us -- 2 rooms) Live and learn.

[dickinson]

Sorry you did not enjoy your cruise. I have never sailed Royal Caribbean but have enjoyed all my carnival cruises. I have read a lot of threads on this board comparing the two lines and most say the lines are fairly even with one line a little better in one area and the other line a little better in a different area. Luckily there are many cruise lines so if carnival is not for you then there are plenty others out there to choose from.

I am curious about one thing though. You said breakfast was pretty bad in the buffet and in the dining room . What was so bad that you skipped breakfast? I find that they have practically everything. Mostly I have cereal and fruit and sometimes have the omelet guy make an omelet with eggbeaters instead of the eggs. What did you find missing?

[GoinCruisin]

I'm so sorry you did not enjoy your cruise... I hope you enjoy your next one, on whichever ship, more!!!

I will say one thing... I understand that when you have a bad time, sometimes you want to vent about it... however, on another thread, where a woman has a wonderful cruise planned for her hubby after he returns from serving our country, and is asking suggestions as to what to do to make it more memorable... your comment (which was simply "Royal Caribbean") was completely uncalled for. You can vent all you want to, but I personally think that was way out of line. You could have either not posted, or offered a suggestion to help answer her question... just no sense in that, just my opinion... again, sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise. I was not going to post this over there as to not further infect that woman's thread.

[lnm]

You are absolutely right about the other post....I'll go try to delete it.
My whole family was very disappointed in the cruise....although we made the best of it. It was a waste of $5000.....that is what hurts!
As far as breakfast......omlettes were greasy...and we skipped breakfast so we could enjoy lunch at the grille which was very good. We just can't eat breakfast lunch and dinner in that short of a time frame! When you sleep in breakfast time falls too close to lunch.

[tortugas]

I've been on and enjoyed both. Every one is entitled to their opinion, but it's just plain ignorant to assume that your personal opinion is a valid reason to warn everyone to "stay away from carnival"

silly!!!

[GoinCruisin]

Thank you LNM, i know it was a "heat of the moment" kind of thing... just inappropriate. I have done it before... sometimes I really don't stop and think! LOL!! I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise... I'm sorry that you feel you wasted $5K... I hope that someday you can look back with your family and see some good things about the cruise. But I hope whatever you decide in the future, brings you happy times and smooth seas!!!

[Magnifique1908]

And here we go again ....I'm sincerely sorry that you didn't have a good time. I hope the remainder of your cruises on RCI are as wonderful as you can make them. I also sincerely hope that your imploring others to "stay away from Carnival" isn't taken seriously. Hopefully other cruisers, especially first-timers, will read your review objectively, but still make their own decision; they could board the same ship, or the same line for that matter, and have a wonderful time. I just kinda wish that people would just state their case, whether it be the good, or the bad, and leave the other stuff off. No one needs to be "saved" from a specific cruise line. God forbid you ever have a bad time on Royal Caribbean. Good luck on your future travels.

[cruisemom2]

Again, to compare to Royal Caribbean, I wish I would have spent the extra money and gone with them. In hindsight, it wasn't that much more, but would have been well worth it! (about $1000 more for the 4 of us -- 2 rooms) Live and learn.

I kind of feel the same way, only in reverse. We've done six cruises with Carnival and two with Royal Caribbean. Royal Caribbean isn't always more expensive; in fact, both times we cruised with them it was mainly because it was less expensive for that particular week than anything we could find on Carnival. We didn't have a bad time on RCI (we've never had a bad cruise), we just have found our Carnival cruises to be more enjoyable. Would I do RCI again? Yes, but only if the price is lower than Carnival and if it's a port-intensive itinerary. On Carnival we like more sea days (plenty to do), and on RCI we need more ports. I realize we haven't done any of RCI's Voyager class ships yet, and maybe that's the difference. Surely there must be more to do on them than on RCI's smaller ships.

[lilsonicfan]

While I enjoy hearing good and bad reviews, I must say I never enjoy hearing "Stay away from Carnival." I'm here to plan my Carnival vacation which has already been booked. It's a little disheartening. Maybe something like "We will now stay away from Carnival" would be better. Frankly if all that was wrong with your cruise was slow service and food you didn't like, it's really not a sufficient reason to try and steer other people away from that particular cruiseline. Well, that was badly worded - I didn't mean that it isn't sufficient - just that for many people, the food isn't the major issue. I dunno. Thank you for writing a review, I read all the Glory reviews in preparation for our cruise... and I'm sure we'll enjoy Carnival no matter what.

[jima53]

Hey,
I've had one great carnival cruise and one bad carnival cruise, and this morning I drove by the bad cruise ship, and guess what, I caught myself saying, I sure wished I were boarding her again for another cruise. This was after I said I would never sail her again. We really look forward to our
Glory cruise in january, and don't let others dislikes of carnival scare us away. Maybe he did have a bad cruise, some people do, I sure did once. If I got the right port visits, right departing port, and the ship I love, I sure wouldn't be on Carnival, but the glory will do for us this next time.

Jim

[Host Randy]

Ok......I've done Glory and Mariner.......Here's my thoughts......When we sailed with Mariner it was a crown and anchor sailing meaning most of the top sailing RCI people and staff were aboard as well as all of us HOSTS from CruiseCritic....I partied and did shots with Jack Williams (ceo with RCI) as he was on there too and a great guy that many were asking if he and I were brothers and we said yes.....lol.....BUT.....with all the extra staff and the special sailing......RCI STILL failed to my worst Carnival cruise......The food wasn't as good....the service was lacking and the nightlife was almost non existing except for us crazy CC Hosts and a few we recruited......I was shocked that on this special sailing that they didn't do better but oh well.......Now I'm not totally dismissing RCI....I said they failed to my worst Carnival cruise......but my worst Carnival Cruise was a b+.....lol......I actually am giving RCI another shot on Rhapsody this summer as I heard it's the best with food and service so we'll see......but I'm TOTALLY sold on Carnival hands down at their worst....make sense?

[jckvpa0]

[quote=lnm]
Well our 2 teens weren't too happy with the "teen area". Nothing for them to do. On Royal Caribbean they never wanted to get off, there is a whole area where parents aren't allowed and the kids hang out there all the time and have a blast. They think of ways to stow away! This time, they were ready to go home. My 17 year old actually read his book in the cabin all day and went out at night. I can't get him to crack a book at home unless it's at gunpoint! lol

First of all let me start off by saying my first cruise will be in mid April. We are traveling with our 17yro son & if he were to stay in his room & read a book all day I would call the ships doctor STAT!!! I can't Imagine my 17yro not finding anything to do all day long. Just poolside should be enough for any 17yro! to keep busy!!! Did you ever try to get him out of his room & maybe do something with him that might make him interact with his kids his own age? Kids take cues from their parents, if their not having a good time, they won't either!!!

[glrounds]

Yes, the "stay away from Carnival" was a bit ill-informed. How could one cruise on one class of ship somehow become a survey?

I was on the GLORY and although I loved the food, especially the omelettes, I was not impressed with the layout of the ship at all. It (Conquest-class) has become my least favorite Carnival ship, but Carnival is still my beloved cruiseline.

If I were to cruise on the RCI ship that does the 3 and 4 day cruises out of LA, based on what I've heard from others, I may not have a very good opinion of this ship either, but I wouldn't berate all the ships in the RCI fleet by warning paxs to "stay away from RCI".

Brush is too broad.

Incidentally, I must commend the Original Poster, after having taken a brutal chastising by goincruisin' , to come back, admit he erred in a previous thread and attempt to fix it by having his post from that thread removed. Takes a good man to admit he's wrong now and then. Refreshing !

"When you're wrong, admit it and admit it emphatically" . . . Dale Carnegie

[GoinCruisin]

Originally Posted by glrounds

Incidentally, I must commend the Original Poster, after having taken a brutal chastising by goincruisin' , to come back, admit he erred in a previous thread and attempt to fix it by having his post from that thread removed. Takes a good man to admit he's wrong now and then. Refreshing !

"When you're wrong, admit it and admit it emphatically" . . . Dale Carnegie

I completely agree!!!!! But really, was it that brutal a chastising?? LOL!!! It takes class to admit to something like that... and the OP handled it very nicely!!!!

[sea_u_onboard]

Originally Posted by Host Randy

I actually am giving RCI another shot on Rhapsody this summer as I heard it's the best with food and service so we'll see

Good Luck !

[Host Randy]

I know Cheryl.......it's not Carnival and I have my expectations set low so not to be disappointed....I just like that we can drive there in 4.5 hours.....lol

[glrounds]

Originally Posted by GoinCruisin

I completely agree!!!!! But really, was it that brutal a chastising?? LOL!!! It takes class to admit to something like that... and the OP handled it very nicely!!!!

[sea_u_onboard]

Originally Posted by Host Randy

I know Cheryl.......it's not Carnival and I have my expectations set low so not to be disappointed....I just like that we can drive there in 4.5 hours.....lol

Sorry to hear that you have set your sights low. Everyone at our table (10)thought the food was horrible. People from CC on the same cruise thought it was some of the best. I told them they either had a different dining time, different staff or I was possibly on a different plant and only thought I was on a cruise ship - . One thing I love about cruising is the food and I have to say it was not even in the same class as the food I've had on Carnival. It was cold, tasteless, undercooked (lobster- yuk!), and I could have used the rolls as shuffle board pucks. Pack some jerky.

[StuartLittle]

I have done 2 RCI cruises in the past and just 2 weeks ago sailed on Conquest. I found both better and worse to compare between the 2 lines.

IMO, RCI does a little better job with the embarkation/debarkation at ports. I have never seen such lines as I did on Conquest. In Cayman, both Conquest and Mariner of The Seas were there. We waited in line for an hour, while RCI (with a similar departure time) was virtually "walk on" to the tender. While Mariner wasn't at all of our ports, I did find getting on Conquest lines to be slower than anything I had ever experienced on RCI.

I felt the food was about the same, but IMO, Conquest had a little more variety to choose from outside the dining area.

Entertainment wise, once again, I feel they are similar, but found Conquest to be a little more "free spirited" and jovial (sp?). My kids (10 & 16) both preferred the Conquest.

I could type much more, but my point is, I find both good, and not so good in both. I would sail either line again in a heartbeat. If I were to really be dissapointed about anything, it would have to be the slow lines getting on the Conquest. Didn't bother me enough to write them off for future cruises though. I will just remember to have a large drink in my hand to last me through the line..lol.

[GoinCruisin]

Originally Posted by sea_u_onboard

Sorry to hear that you have set your sights low. Everyone at our table (10)thought the food was horrible. People from CC on the same cruise thought it was some of the best. I told them they either had a different dining time, different staff or I was possibly on a different plant and only thought I was on a cruise ship - . One thing I love about cruising is the food and I have to say it was not even in the same class as the food I've had on Carnival. It was cold, tasteless, undercooked (lobster- yuk!), and I could have used the rolls as shuffle board pucks. Pack some jerky.

Quit it Cheryl, you are making me hooongry!!!! LOL!!!!