I cruised CCL and RCL back to back. here's my comparo/review

I got back yesterday morning. I have cruised RCL three times, CCL eight times and Princess 2 times.

I have done a four day CCL in the past (Ecstacy) when she was in LA, so I know the differences in big/small, new /old ship. The ships I did this trup were the CCL Liberty and the RCL Majesty.

The bottom line was CCL was excellent, RCL was average. I don't really like RCL but my kids have never sailed them, the cruises was cheap, and I liked the ports it went to.

 

Decor- majesty looked elegant, if a bit dated. The dated part came from the design it being an old ship, with low ceilings and being small.It actually reminded me of the Dawn Princess.

The Liberty actually wowed us. No offense to CCL groupies, but the Liberty didn't look tacky like other CCL ships (including the Valor and Glory)- it really had an upclass look. It has a lot of fake brick and flowers all over. It was really a nice ship. My family took notice and the word "wow" came up a lot.

 

Food- I'll adress this one now as there were huge differences. The size and age of a ship should not make a difference as I have had great food on ancient CCL ships. The food on the Linerty ranged from fair to excellent. On the Majesty, ranked from poor to average.

Examples:

Shrimp: CCL had sweet and sour and panko shrimp which were excellent. the shrimp were also triple the size of what was served on RCL

On RCL, shrimp cocktail was offerred only twice, not every night like CCL. Shirmp in dinner was also sparce. For example, the "scampi" consisted of four small shrimp, served butterfly style (to make them look bigger) with a huge dollop of rice in the middle (starches are cheaper than shrimp!).

RCL doesn't offer lobster on 4 day cruises, but the lobster on CCL was excellent, a 6 oz tail cooked perfectly, best I have had in years on a ship.

Soups? RCL only served stuff cold. The french onion on RCL as awful, stone cold. It came in a small cup with chunks of cheese floating on the top because it was too cold to melt.On CCL, the soup was hot, with lots of melted cheese, the top brown bown and lightly crisp. I know some of the RCL fan boys will say "food is subjective", but how can anyone prefer cold soup?

Prime rib- CCL excellent, RCL ok. The difference was that CCL was thicker (maybe 1/4" thicker) and had excellent marbling.

Deli- CCL now uses pressed corned beef, but they always had a line. The Compass Deli on RCL only serves up turkey, tune and ham and never had a line. I had a spicey chicken quesadilla- it was ok.

Pizza- almost a tie. RCL sorrentos was ok, CCL pizza tastes like they are mixing fake cheese into it- boo hoo!

Dining room breakfast- RCL was poor, CCL was average. RCL only served cold pancakes, cold eggs, etc. CCL also served stuff cold, but there two times where my pancakes were actually warm. Waffles were always cold. I give CCL better marks because of that and because they offer turkey bacon and free espresso.

At night, if you are hungry, your only options are pizza or pay for Johnny Rockets. On CCL, if you want a evening bite, there is pizza, icecream/yogurt, burgers, chicken strips or deli sandwiches.

Private island:

getting to it, CCL was better. They had you sit in the theater and wait for your number to be called, then you boarded the tender. RCL made you stand for 15 minutes in crowded area.

RCL Coco Cay vs CCL Half moon Cay.

Half Moon Cay (Hal's private island) was more beutiful. It had lots of powdery sand, the lace is designed so that you don't see buildings, there are no rocks at the beach.

RCL Coco Cay has all the buildings in view and the beach can be rocky. The snorkeling, depending on how you look, can be excellent or poor. The water can be rough and there were a lot of jelly fish out there, but I saw a great variety of fish and even some squid. If you are willing to fight off jelly fish and go where the water gets deep, the snorkeling was fantastic. So, if you are lay on the beach or float in the water person, Half moon rules, snorkleing, RCL was better.

Entertainment- CCL shows were great, but I adit that I skipped Rock on Broadway as I have seen it too many times. The singers on the Majesty were better, four in total, strong voices. Overall, my family gave the nod to RCL for entertainment.Oh, special merit goes "Music Boardwalk", that band was the best I have heard on a cruise ship.

Pool area- The liberty has that giant tv which is nice. We watch a basketball final up there. It really gives new life to the pool deck at night when they show movies too.They showed a movie at night on the Majesty with a blow up screen, uh, not the same as the wind blew it around. However, RCL had a good calypso band which always played when I was in the pool. The pools, both of them are 7' deep which I liked. My kids prefered CCL pool deck, I preferred RCl because of the pool and the band.

Kids program- My two teens did lot at Camp Carnival. They didn't like the RCL program, calling it disorganized.

Cabin- we had insides on both ships, on RCl it was so small, that we had to take turns getting ready, a couple of us leaving the room. There was insufficient room for our stuff. Just a miserable room!

Summery- CCL has changed a bit since I sailed them two yeas ago. Some things qualify as cutbacks, others as minor improvements. They seem to try to tweek the formula. Overall, even though fuel is expensive and they are trying to kep up profits, we were still very impressed.

RCL- We liked the entertainment and ports. However, objectively, everything else was a few clicks below CCL. With the food, that is a RCL problem, not a problem specific to the size of the ship. I was on the sister ship, the Sovereign, when she was a few months old and wow, what food! But that was a different time, before made huge cutbacks.

We still place Princess as our favorite,but CCL had a few areas that surpassed them - we like them both.

Thanks for your careful comparison. It is very useful to me right now.

Mary Lou

Excellent review! I think I will stick with Carnival as long as possible with a side deviation to Princess. I have read enough reviews of RCI to know that I don't want to go on their ships, unless someone else pays for me to go.

 

I have the chance to go to Alaska next summer and I am pushing them towards Carnival. RCI has a ship, but the price would be a little more than Carnival. I'll find out next week if it is a go or not. I'd like to go, really like to go....Perhaps if it falls through I'll say what the hell and go on my own!!!!!! Three cruises in a year would be awesome!!!!!

Very interesting review - I like having the two different cruise companies and cruise ships compared. Thanks for sharing!:)

we have done Half Moon and Coco Cay....Coco was okay, but Half Moon was fantastic (IMO)

 

 

seems to be a pretty good comparison...Thanks

Thanks for the comparison. We have sailed CCL many times but doing RCI next year also.

 

Keeping an open mind here.

Loved your review. And I too think you can discuss the non- subjective part of the food. Such as correct temp for the serving. Also the actual quality of the ingredients and preperation style. How spicey or bland is something that is subjective but if you list what spices are used it is helpful. Some kitchens might only use salt and pepper for example. The details on the shrimp and lobster really made your point.

 

I think you did a great job of trying to compare the food.

 

And I agree an older ship can have great food and service which makes them comparable in those areas.

 

I think you have helped alot of folks by taking the time to do your review.

 

Thanks.

I was on Majest last Dec and had some of the best service and meals I've had on my 5 cruises. I actually took time to send a letter to RC commending our server and stateroom attendant and praising the galley staff. I'd sail Majesty of the Seas again in a hearbeat for a quick vacation if I could get the same price range. Overall however, I've found the food to be better on Carnival than RC and the service to be equal except for one horrendous Steward we had on the Paradise....took a call to the Hotel Director to have that problem taken care of in a satisfactory manner so no biggie.

Great review, fair and balanced. :) Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the comparison. We will be on the Majesty of the Seas next Monday. Thank goodness for good food in Key West. :p

 

And hey, if I lose weight on this vacation it won't be a bad thing.

Thanks for the fair review. I'm pretty much in agreement with you in regard to my sailings on both RCI and Carnival. I've only been to RCI's private islands so I can't give you an opinion on Half Moon Cay. But, I did LOVE both of RCI's private islands.

With only 4 shrimp, that would be Shrimp Skimpy! :D

Great review, fair and balanced. :) Thanks for posting.

:D

 

Agreed!

 

... and thank you for putting such careful thought into your review!

I appreciate the comparo. I am planning on giving RCCL a whirl at some point, so it's good to get the LD on what to expect.

 

Even with all the CCL vs. RCCL animosity, it seems like the only major difference between the two is that RCCL has bigger ships with more features. Thats really the only thing that everyone seems to agree upon. I see many reviews that go back and forth on the topics of food, service and entertainment. So I guess I will have to find out if I am willing to pay extra for the bigger ship and its features.

 

Even with all the CCL vs. RCCL animosity, it seems like the only major difference between the two is that RCCL has bigger ships with more features. Thats really the only thing that everyone seems to agree upon. I see many reviews that go back and forth on the topics of food, service and entertainment. So I guess I will have to find out if I am willing to pay extra for the bigger ship and its features.

 

I'm the op. I think it is possible to be objective about all areas, I have taken pains to do so. Although I have done more CCL cruises, I don't conisder myself a cheerleader. Heck, until recently, I held stock in both companies. It is hard to say RCL sucks when you own about $10,000 worth of their stock:p

The features are easy to compare and I can that on sea days, the RCL big boys (Adventure class on up) have more to offer and are much more fun than the crowded deck of a conquest class ship (note how I picked a conquest class ship with four days!). I don't think my comparo should discourage anyone from going. Although RCL was much below CCL in food quality, they were above them in entertainment. Different people have a different priorities. I do think people should try different cruiselines if they can. My mother in law has done five CCL cruises and refuses to try anyone else ("Why should I try anyone else? How can anyone be better?"). My sister has done three RCL cruises and one NCl cruises and refuses to do a CCL. My little brother has done one RCL, one HAL and one Princess and refuses to do a CCL ("those ships are all full of drunken slobs!").

Try them all!

I got back yesterday morning. I have cruised RCL three times, CCL eight times and Princess 2 times.

I have done a four day CCL in the past (Ecstacy) when she was in LA, so I know the differences in big/small, new /old ship. The ships I did this trup were the CCL Liberty and the RCL Majesty.

The bottom line was CCL was excellent, RCL was average. I don't really like RCL but my kids have never sailed them, the cruises was cheap, and I liked the ports it went to.

 

Decor- majesty looked elegant, if a bit dated. The dated part came from the design it being an old ship, with low ceilings and being small.It actually reminded me of the Dawn Princess.

The Liberty actually wowed us. No offense to CCL groupies, but the Liberty didn't look tacky like other CCL ships (including the Valor and Glory)- it really had an upclass look. It has a lot of fake brick and flowers all over. It was really a nice ship. My family took notice and the word "wow" came up a lot.

 

Food- I'll adress this one now as there were huge differences. The size and age of a ship should not make a difference as I have had great food on ancient CCL ships. The food on the Linerty ranged from fair to excellent. On the Majesty, ranked from poor to average.

Examples:

Shrimp: CCL had sweet and sour and panko shrimp which were excellent. the shrimp were also triple the size of what was served on RCL

On RCL, shrimp cocktail was offerred only twice, not every night like CCL. Shirmp in dinner was also sparce. For example, the "scampi" consisted of four small shrimp, served butterfly style (to make them look bigger) with a huge dollop of rice in the middle (starches are cheaper than shrimp!).

RCL doesn't offer lobster on 4 day cruises, but the lobster on CCL was excellent, a 6 oz tail cooked perfectly, best I have had in years on a ship.

Soups? RCL only served stuff cold. The french onion on RCL as awful, stone cold. It came in a small cup with chunks of cheese floating on the top because it was too cold to melt.On CCL, the soup was hot, with lots of melted cheese, the top brown bown and lightly crisp. I know some of the RCL fan boys will say "food is subjective", but how can anyone prefer cold soup?

Prime rib- CCL excellent, RCL ok. The difference was that CCL was thicker (maybe 1/4" thicker) and had excellent marbling.

Deli- CCL now uses pressed corned beef, but they always had a line. The Compass Deli on RCL only serves up turkey, tune and ham and never had a line. I had a spicey chicken quesadilla- it was ok.

Pizza- almost a tie. RCL sorrentos was ok, CCL pizza tastes like they are mixing fake cheese into it- boo hoo!

Dining room breakfast- RCL was poor, CCL was average. RCL only served cold pancakes, cold eggs, etc. CCL also served stuff cold, but there two times where my pancakes were actually warm. Waffles were always cold. I give CCL better marks because of that and because they offer turkey bacon and free espresso.

At night, if you are hungry, your only options are pizza or pay for Johnny Rockets. On CCL, if you want a evening bite, there is pizza, icecream/yogurt, burgers, chicken strips or deli sandwiches.

Private island:

getting to it, CCL was better. They had you sit in the theater and wait for your number to be called, then you boarded the tender. RCL made you stand for 15 minutes in crowded area.

RCL Coco Cay vs CCL Half moon Cay.

Half Moon Cay (Hal's private island) was more beutiful. It had lots of powdery sand, the lace is designed so that you don't see buildings, there are no rocks at the beach.

RCL Coco Cay has all the buildings in view and the beach can be rocky. The snorkeling, depending on how you look, can be excellent or poor. The water can be rough and there were a lot of jelly fish out there, but I saw a great variety of fish and even some squid. If you are willing to fight off jelly fish and go where the water gets deep, the snorkeling was fantastic. So, if you are lay on the beach or float in the water person, Half moon rules, snorkleing, RCL was better.

Entertainment- CCL shows were great, but I adit that I skipped Rock on Broadway as I have seen it too many times. The singers on the Majesty were better, four in total, strong voices. Overall, my family gave the nod to RCL for entertainment.Oh, special merit goes "Music Boardwalk", that band was the best I have heard on a cruise ship.

Pool area- The liberty has that giant tv which is nice. We watch a basketball final up there. It really gives new life to the pool deck at night when they show movies too.They showed a movie at night on the Majesty with a blow up screen, uh, not the same as the wind blew it around. However, RCL had a good calypso band which always played when I was in the pool. The pools, both of them are 7' deep which I liked. My kids prefered CCL pool deck, I preferred RCl because of the pool and the band.

Kids program- My two teens did lot at Camp Carnival. They didn't like the RCL program, calling it disorganized.

Cabin- we had insides on both ships, on RCl it was so small, that we had to take turns getting ready, a couple of us leaving the room. There was insufficient room for our stuff. Just a miserable room!

Summery- CCL has changed a bit since I sailed them two yeas ago. Some things qualify as cutbacks, others as minor improvements. They seem to try to tweek the formula. Overall, even though fuel is expensive and they are trying to kep up profits, we were still very impressed.

RCL- We liked the entertainment and ports. However, objectively, everything else was a few clicks below CCL. With the food, that is a RCL problem, not a problem specific to the size of the ship. I was on the sister ship, the Sovereign, when she was a few months old and wow, what food! But that was a different time, before made huge cutbacks.

We still place Princess as our favorite,but CCL had a few areas that surpassed them - we like them both.

Very subjective review that seems unbiased. I have cruised both lines and then some. Carnival has come a long way in their food. As for the rest I find the two lines very simular.......

Thanks for the review.....

PS: On the prvate Islands I have done them all except Disney.....Holland Americas Half moon Cay (Used by Carnival) is by far the nicest. Have been there 3 times......

Thanks for the review. I sailed RCL for the first time last year before that Princess for three years.I usually pick the itinerary first before the ship. I haven't sailed CCL since the Holiday was a new ship.:) Will be going on the Spirit to Hawaii in Sept 2009.:cool: I was not impressed with RCL either.:rolleyes: Liked Princess much better.

Delores

Were you able to compare room service menus???

I think you did a great good.

 

But, I really don't think compairing CCL Liberty and the RCL Majesty is a fair CCL vs. RCI. As, far as the food I find you to be right on.

 

I did a Granduer/Inspiration out of Tampa in Feb and a Radience/Liberty out of FLL in March. These are much closer in class/size and age. I found more difference from Tampa to MIA (and FLL) than I did from line to line.

I think you did a great good.

 

But, I really don't think compairing CCL Liberty and the RCL Majesty is a fair CCL vs. RCI. As, far as the food I find you to be right on.

 

 

I did my best. Hey, there's no way I could have afforded to do a 7 day ccl cruise, followed by a 7 day RCL cruise! For that matter. an inside quad on the Liberty of the Seas would have cost almost as much as both cruises that I went on, something to think about.

Room service menues- I only glanced at them. CCL was always sparse, but so was RCL. For breakfast, we joked that most of the breakfast items were different jams and spreads. Having an inside room, we had no desire to order room service, with the quad room on the RCL, it would be impossible for us to find room for the trays!So, I left at that area.

One other area was cocktail parties- we could only get the stuff on the tray with RCL, with CCl, we were able to get blended strawberry margaritas and kamikazis as well as the manhattens and whiskey sours. Honourable mention goes out to RCl for having a repeater party (my four day CCL cruise didn't have that). Also, all of the snacks at the CCL parties were nasty, most of the stuff on RCL was nasty (nasty meaning flavorless or really cold), however, toward the end of the repeater party on RCl, a guy came out with chocolate covered strawberries (ooh, yum!).They shouldn't keep those locked up!

I was looking at pictures and you could actually see the enormous amount of cesaer dressing poured all over the salad. Shame because we all preferred it to the CCL stuff (which has too much of an anchovy taste). I also wish both lines would weaken their lemonade. It tastes too much like syrup and we always watered it down. Making it weaker could also save them some $$, yes?

Oh, I have to post a big peeve on CCL- they had incredibly good, fresh chicken strips and good onion rings, but even before we left, they had NO ranch dressing on the ship, and we never saw any the whole trip! :eek:

The food issue wasn't as big a deal as I thought it would be because we ate our weight on CCL and frankly, were just tired of eating! Plus, we had a lot of port time. One reason why we weren't that impressed with the key lime pie on RCL was that it was served the day we were in Key West and while we were there, we ate a lot of key lime pie there (burp!). I also think it worth noting that of all the cheap four day cruises, the Majesty just might have the best ports. I know you shouldn't cruise and have your heart set on different ports (I heard that coco cay was scrubbed the week before), but it worked out for us.

Were you able to compare room service menus???

I was on the Sovereign of the Seas a week ago--my first on RCL--I found their room service menu to be quite limited. They did offer pizza and a few sandwiches, fruit plate, cheese plate, some pastries, etc. I can't remember it all but the menu didn't even take up a full page. While I found the crew to be fantastic, I was disappointed in the food in the dining room. Most of the time it arrived lukewarm or cold. Also, the rooms were smaller and, no goody basket in the bathroom.:eek: We had a nice time, after all, we were on a cruise, but we all wanted to jump over to the Fascination when we were docked side-by-side in Nassau. We'll be sticking with Carnival from now on but wanted to try RCL.

Great review!!! I've sailed the Liberty twice and agree it's an awesome ship. You'd have to compare her more with Voyager of the Seas. That ship had the best IS cabin IMO (with a small loveseat and table). :D

We did back to back on Majesty and Fascination in Dec. I have to agree with you on most your comments. It was fun to compare them one right after another. We have been on 11 carnival cruises and 7 rccl, but had never done one after another. They were the almost the same price, but one was 3 day vs 4 day. Fascination won hands down. The majesty was a much prettier ship, but that was the only thing that won out over fascination. The food was 10 times better on ccl. I have been planning another cruise for Dec and will choose Carnival just based on the that last comparison.

This is great. Thanks for taking the time to do the comparison. Can you give me an idea of how the activities on the ship differed? I'm guessing they both do bingo but what about the other classes/activities/games?

 

Thank you.

Really enjoyed your review - comparing side-by-side helps me decide if I want to try a new cruise line.