Just off the vista! Looking into other lines!

That’s as much a stereotype as the Walmart one for carnival. I’ve had a great vacation on both. I don’t think one line or their demographic is better. It’s just different, and up to personal preference.

But you had to throw that in there ,right :D

Sometimes bigger isn’t always better!

Then you'll want to avoid Royal. They have more mega-ships than any other line.

I've cruised all 3 lines and as others have said there are more similarities than differences in the basics. Service by the stewards is always outstanding, except the 1 time we had one that was on their last week of contract. MDR staff was exceptional on all 3. But the bar staffs varied greatly from venue to venue on any ship we've sailed. If late night deck parties are more your style NCl gets top marks for that, but if you don't dress to the theme you might find yourself ignored when the give away are done or they vett people for the after party in the nightclub. RCL has good quality production shows, but flyon acts generally are the same ones as Carnival uses (same talent agency used). Carnival has the greater choice of entertainment nightly but lacks the pizzazz of Royal's larger cast variety shows. On all the casino is smokey, and non-smoking machines and tables are directly next to smoking allowed ones. Also you need to pass through it to travel between the MDR and main theater, unless you're willing to change decks to bypass.

Food tastes differ but quality wise it's like saying which is better Applebee, TGIFridays, or Bonefish Grill. In my opinion, for included meal options, Carnival has the greater variety of service hours and menu choices , Royal the better quality but less variety and strict buffet and short MDR hours, and NCL is great if into seafood options, but does meats and sides as an afterthought, and very poor buffet hours and choices.

All 3 have problems with pools and hot tubs being too small for the amount of passengers on board. But Royal does have at their pools open on a rotational basis that one is always available. Royal's adult only pool and loungers (Solarium) allows children in them for the food options and because like the casino it is needed to pass through to other areas on the same deck. NCL charges for its adult only area and not all of their ships have a water feature there. Carnival is all over the place with its adult only pools and Serenity decks. Some ships have these together is a nice neat completely child free section while other ships of the line have the Serenity seating at opposite ends of the ship from the adult only pool or worst yet have both right underneath the sports deck or waterslide area.

On all the newer, larger ships have crowds everywhere because the smaller specialized venues to attract a variety of clients to fill the ship are crammed into the limited public spaces.

What good are 27 bars if only 36 passengers at a time can fit comfortably in them? Or those that prefer a variety of nightly entertainment, what good is a single 2 hour broadway quality show if that's the only thing shown in the main theater 5 nights out of a week? Or requiring reservations made prior to boarding for open seating dinner times? Or what the sense of having a high action activity if the line for it is 1-2 hours long on seadays?

It's not so much a question of which cruise line to choose next but to find the right ship and amenities for your tastes going to ports you are interested in at a price that is agreeable with your budget.

Except the Royal demographic would probably tell you they are better

Yes they do , not all but the majority will.

Regardless of which line you choose, my recommendation is to avoid the end of June, all of July and almost all of August (the last week might be okay).

 

Kids are out of school so many of the 3rd and 4th (even 5th) berths are filled putting the ships close to, or at, capacity. This leads to more people on the ship, and more crowded areas - especially areas like the buffet and early dining.

This is great advice IMO. Obviously there are more kids onboard during summer months when school is out, but the less obvious is what meatloafsfan stated. Higher occupancy cabins are much more likely to be full during summer resulting in ships being more crowded. That's a double whammy--more people AND more kids. And for serious football fans, football season has become off-limits since Carnival dropped ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX TV stations. It's becoming more difficult to cruise Carnival.

I think you need to decide on what line and what ship based on who is going with you and what you want from the cruise. Young children, teens, no kids, your age ect.

Then you'll want to avoid Royal. They have more mega-ships than any other line.

Royal Caribbean actually has quite a few ships under 100,000 GT!

I think no matter what company you choose, the ship will be full of people trying to make sure you have a great trip. If you’re looking for a short cruise out of Port Canaveral, then I think your choices are Carnival or Royal Caribbean. I think you’ll get Freeport and Nassau (usually) from Carnival and the Private Island and Nassau from RC. That may be a point to consider. I’ve been told that if you snorkel, Freeport has great snorkeling, but it doesn’t hold much attraction for us.

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We have been on all 3 and would sail all 3 again. We seem to return to Carnival more often then not for the value and whats important to us "dive in movies, comedians"

I will say this we mostly cruise for the ship not the cruise line. I think you will find more variances ship to ship then cruise line to cruise line.

We had a really hard decision when booking are upcoming Horizon cruise. Almost booked the Escape on NCL. But we would love to sail the bliss and try RCL new line of ships at some point.

Sure, Royal will have an older generation of folks aboard. NCL is the same as Carnival.

WHAT?? Have you been on RCI - exact same demographic as CCL....we've been on both. OP, we do agree with you about the Vista as it was our LEAST favorite ship to date. It was the one cruise we were not sad to leave....over crowded is an understatement...and everywhere!!

Sometimes bigger isn’t always better! We tried to avoid the buffet as just too many people! Loved the specialty restaurants and imax and thrill theater!

Guy was even on board!!

Tell me about Royal and NCL’

 

 

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We've done them all and notice biggest change in demographic among different departure ports than anything else. We cruise out of NYC and always know people are going to be a bit less friendly, pushier than cruising out of Charleston, SC. New Orleans seems like it has the most fun and Florida seems to get the most diversity because people seem to fly in from all over the country and world as opposed to being within driving distance. That's just my opinion. We haven't done Galveston, San Juan or any of the West Coast departures.