Royal Caribbean more expensive

[jckvpa0]

Can anyone tell me if just my husband & I want to go on a cruise to Greece & do not care about money what is the best cruse lines to check into. We have never cruised before. Our first cruise is 4/17/05 on the conquest, but are bringing teanagers on this one. Appreciate any info.

[lnm]

Wish we never took the cruise. I wouldn't recommend Carnival over RCCL to ANYONE!

[Senor Christo]

Greetings!

 

I'm sorry to hear of you had a disappointing experience with Carnival.

 

I'd be interested, however to learn more specifics of the similarities and differences that contributed to your opinion.

 

My wife and I have been on 5 crusies (all with Carnival) and are always looking for feedback and information on variations between different cruise lines.

[judyf]

Imn what CCL ship were you on? I love both lines and will cruise either one if the price itineray and pier location match my needs.

 

I would love to hear more on why you didn't like CCL over RCCL>

[lnm]

We were on the Carnival Glory. Eastern Caribbean during Spring Break.

Last year on the RCL Mariner of the Seas, also Eastern Caribbean, 1st week of June.

Here's my opinion:

 

Ship layout: Glory = D Mariner = A

Glory is too broken up, have to go up and down on certain floors.

Glory doesn't have the open space that the Mariner does.

Glory can't walk outside around the ship (except on 9th deck) Mariner had spots around the ship on other levels where you could sit on the deck and just enjoy being outside.

 

Cabins: Glory = B+ Mariner = A

We had a junior suite or mini suite on both. Kids had inside cabin on both.

SUITE, Glory more elegant but smaller--not an issue though. Mariner had a larger balcony. Mariner had a big walk in closet as well.

INSIDE, Both seemed about the same space wise. Maybe Mariner bigger, it seems I remember there was a small couch in the room...again, not an issue. Glory had a shower curtain and the shower flooded at times. Mariner had a rounded shower door with eliminated the curtain sticking to you. This room smelled like smoke .... bad! It was not the linen, we checked. We were told it was because of the Casino and the air circulating. We were on deck 7, Casino on deck 5. Go figure???

 

Entertainment: Glory = B Mariner = A

How do you compete with an ice show?

Both had pretty good pool bands, both singer/dancer shows were good. Comedians on both were good, maybe Glory wins the comedian category. Mariner had better "game show" type shows, but this might have more to do with the CD. We weren't crazy about Carlo. Piano bar was great on Glory, the guy who played piano on Mariner in one of the bars was also good. The Mariner had an awesome guitar player guy.

 

Teen Area: Glory = D Mariner = A

There is absolutely no comparison to Mariner on what they call the teen area on the Glory. The Mariner catered to the teens. Parents aren't allowed in the area. They had music and videos playing in the "living room" Just a great place for them to hang out. On the Glory, they didn't really have a place of their own. My kids were not impressed in the least on Glory. Saw alot of kids drinking, smoking....that isn't their thing.

 

Service: Glory = C Mariner = A

Our cabin steward, Tamara, on the Glory was AWESOME! both were great. She was about the only employee who went out of their way to be friendly. The others on the Glory just seemed ragged out TIRED! Dining room service was very slow. Some of the bars had employees that were talking to eachother and pretty much ignoring the guests. Really p'd some people off.

 

Food in general: Glory = C Mariner = B

Dining room: Both A

Buffet lines: Glory - F Mariner - A

Grill: Glory - A Mariner - (Johnny Rockets, had to pay extra) B

Pizza: Glory - A Mariner - B

Desserts: Glory - C Mariner - A (had an area where cookies & sweets were available 24 hours. (Cookies & Brownies from room service on Glory was a joke. Maybe chips ahoy and frozen brownie)

Room Service: Glory - C Mariner - A (you could order hot food, B-L-D, including steak, which my kids did more than once)

Let me add that we don't cruise for the food.

[Cruising89143]

RCI can charge more just because they can. Especially the Voyager class ships. They have no problem at all filling those ships. No other cruise line has anything like them at the moment and they are very popular. For me RCI is worth a little more. I still believe that you get what you pay for.

[mrsbooger]

I've been on Carnival, RCCL, HAL, and NCL. Let me say I have never been on a bad cruise. I like different things about different lines. My current favorite is NCL because of the Freestyle dining. I would rank the food best on Carnival, next NCL, HAL, and RCCL. I prefer a mid size ship so the bigger is better attitude of RCCL doesn't impress me like it does most of my friends. Tried Navigator last year. I'm glad we did, but I'm not ready to book again. I felt like a number on the Navigator and I was in a suite! The one thing that I do not like about Carnival is the cabins. When I cruise with my DH and 2 boys we splurge for suites to get the space. On NCL we'll be in a suite that has a separate kids bedroom and bath. The 12 suite on Carnival just doesn't cut it for us when comparing to some that we've been on. If I cruise with my family on Carnival we will opt for 2 connecting cabins since the suites don't offer many perks. On other lines if you get a suite there are often great perks like VIP tendering, concierge, or even butlers. That's the one area that I think Carnival could improve on a little. I haven't been on any of their newer ships though. I'll be on the Inspiration with another couple in June, can't wait. The price was double this year than I paid last year for the same cruise though. That just shows you how the prices continue to go up. With fuel being so expensive I tend to think it will continue to go up too. I do believe in trying new lines and experiencing new ships. If I stuck to one line and ship it would be pretty boring! When people ask me about RCCL they sound very surprised when I say it was ok and I wan't that impressed with the mega ship. I tell them to give it a whirl, I'm sure they'll love it. Friends are going in July and I'm sure they will. Me, I'll stick to bouncing all over with different lines. Keeps it interesting!