Is Carnival nicer than RC or are we comparing apples to oranges?

[NorthTXRanchers]

Just left a Royal Caribbean cruise this morning and boy, were we disappointed. I want your feedback on why that might be. We have cruised three times previously on Carnival and had wonderful service and great food. My kids were used to certain things that were missing and I'm wondering if these things were discontinued on Carnival too or whether RC just doesn't do them. Here are the girls' list of disappointments:

1) food in the Windjammer Cafe was really bad (nor warm, and equivalent to a poor buffet). The Carnival ships' buffet areas were much better and also had desserts and just a better selection of fresh fruits and salads, etc.

2) towel animals for only one night

3) no Andes' mint on the bed at night

4) no chocolate midnight buffet

5) soft serve ice cream machine was only open for 60 minutes a day and the RC folks served up a TINY portion (probably a shot glass) into a TINY kids sized cone. Then they closed it up and no more until the next day.

6) no 24 hour pizza but only frozen type of cheese or pepperoni pizza that was lukewarm at best and available only for limited hours. They loved the "we'll make you whatever kind you want" pizza 24 hours a day on Carnival and the varieties (e.g., margarita pizza, etc.)

7) no slide into the pool

8) the dining room (nice ones) food was really not very good. Didn't even compare to the food on Carnival ... and the servers, while nice, were not at all engaged or spirited. They did get better on the last day (when they were ready to get their tips).

Are these things still there on Carnival cruises or have they disappeared industry wide. We want to book another cruise and right now, no body in our family wants to do a RC cruise "ever again". Did we get a dud ship (Grandeur of the Seas, 4 day cruise) or is that the RC way? ANd if it is, is that also the Carnival way now?

Thanks a ton for your feedback!! I really appreciate it.

:)

[cruzeluver]

Couple of things.....

 

You have posted this on the "Whatever Happened To...???" board, you may want to post it on the Carnival and Royal Caribbean boards in order to get more feedback.

 

Having said that, based on your likes/dislikes it sounds like Carnival may be the better option for you. Personally, I am done with Carnival. Overall food taste is (in my opinion) the ONLY area where they appeal to me. But what I look for in a cruise line is quite different from you.

[essence2010]

I have not cruised RCLL but I will not cruise Carvinal again unless it is FREE!!! Lousy entertainment, food so so, poor design of the buffett. Cramped public spaces, go cheap get cheap.

[Sunnystone]

Oranges (RCL) and sour apples....

[j&tcruiser]

As you can see from my past cruise list below, I have been on RCI and Carnival numerous times. Everytime I get off Carnival I swear my next cruise with be on RCI. I have yet to find a cruise line I like better than RCI. However, I have not been on RCI in about 5 years. I sure hope they are not going the route of the other lines!!

[Texaspepper]

CCL Conquest was refurbished about year ago. Added more balcony staterooms and a huge TV screen on the Lido deck. Show movies at night and other things in the day. We have sailed Conquest 3 or 4 times

 

The decor bright and done in the French Monet impressionist style where as RCL VOTS is softer style

State rooms are about 10 sq feet or so larger on Conquest.

 

Balcony is through a glass door with a large window to the side vs a complete sliding glass door on the VOTS

Conquest bath room has a shower curtain vs a double sliding shower door on VOTS. We sailed RCL VOTS trans/Atlantic 15 Day Barcelona to Galveston in 2008 and had no complaints.

 

Conquest Casino is larger and easier to move around with a good side bar and nice sitting are with large windows if you want to watch players Moving from stern to the aft of the ship requires going from one deck to another in some decks of the ship.

 

Dinning room is the aft part of the ship and you'll have to go down in mid ship to get to dinning. Not a problem, but takes a bit of getting used to as compared to the VOTS walk to deck 5 Promenade and go down one large staircase.

 

There is NO Promenade style deck on Conquest. A large open area on deck 3, I think that goes up from Guest services to deck 5 with shops, photo area.

 

Service is as good as you treat the servers on either ship. Smile a lot and talk with the staff. . makes their job time more fun.

 

Food is good. Never had a bad meal . .although I would say I prefer VOTS meals a bit over Conquest –preparation and presentation Don’t miss the Chocolate Melting Cake dessert on Conquest. Yum

 

Lido deck (pool) deck has a great fresh hamburger, nachos, cheese, taco bar. Now that is a PLUS over VOTS precooked and sitting in a pan at Windjammer. Conquest often has breakfast or lunch buffets on the starboard side of the Lido also. Conquest has a great deli and Asian area..made fresh most times

 

Conquest has a great fried fish bar called Sur Mar for lunch variation –don’t miss it VOTS had the deli area also, but not the Asian Specialty Bar of fish.

Depending on which date you cruise –Western or Eastern Caribbean, you’ll enjoy the ports.

 

Shows. . did not attend to many on either the Conquest of Voyager.

 

Here is a deciding factor. . .CCL Conquest is less $$$ than RCL VOTS.

 

Linda and I drove to New Orleans July 4th, 2009 to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Looking at CCL, found the CCL Fantasy departs N.O. Monday, July 6th at 4pm. Well, we said, why not just sail Fantasy for 5 days. Through our travel club, Great Escapes, we booked an Ocean View Stateroom for $417.74 PP. Now if RCL was in the same port, it would be higher.

 

Hope this gives you some comparison to help your decision. Bottom line. .If you what to cruise in May to late Nov from Galveston, CCL Conquest is your ship for now. Starting in Nov 2011 the CCL New Magic will port year round in Galveston and the RCL Mariner of the Seas will port late Nov 2011 - late April 2012 and every year there after.

 

Bottom line. . .I like sailing RCL. . .we are platinum and our next CCL cruise will make #10 and make us platinum. . .VIP check/Disembarkation, robes, laundry service. There are not a whole lot of perks on either RCL or CCL anymore. They are all cutting cost where they can.

[NJ Fred]

In my book, Carnival (and all else that Mickey Arison touches) is like the New York City subway.

 

Royal Carib is more like a limo by comparison.

[tropical.dreams]

I've never been on RCCL, but I think I'd be like you and your family. I've looked at RCCL ships online, but feel like I'd be "missing" things. I think when we're used to a "fun" atmosphere, changing to an RCCL (more sophisticated) atmosphere is jarring. I'm an ice-cream-aholic, and love my pizza at 3am!

[travel girl23]

1) food in the Windjammer Cafe was really bad (nor warm, and equivalent to a poor buffet). The Carnival ships' buffet areas were much better and also had desserts and just a better selection of fresh fruits and salads, etc.

2) towel animals for only one night

3) no Andes' mint on the bed at night

4) no chocolate midnight buffet

5) soft serve ice cream machine was only open for 60 minutes a day and the RC folks served up a TINY portion (probably a shot glass) into a TINY kids sized cone. Then they closed it up and no more until the next day.

6) no 24 hour pizza but only frozen type of cheese or pepperoni pizza that was lukewarm at best and available only for limited hours. They loved the "we'll make you whatever kind you want" pizza 24 hours a day on Carnival and the varieties (e.g., margarita pizza, etc.)

7) no slide into the pool

8) the dining room (nice ones) food was really not very good. Didn't even compare to the food on Carnival ... and the servers, while nice, were not at all engaged or spirited. They did get better on the last day (when they were ready to get their tips).

Are these things still there on Carnival cruises or have they disappeared industry wide.

:)

 

We have cruised Carnival 13 times and have never had a bad cruise. To answer some of your questions - the food on the Lido deck has always been good. On some ships, there is a Mongolian BBQ station (yum!) and always the 24 hour pizza and 24 hour ice cream. That's in addition to the deli, grill, Asian food, and on some ships fish and chips. The latest are burrito bars on some of the ships. All of the Fantasy class ships are being dry docked to add a new waterworks area for adults and kids. It is similar to a waterpark. The newer ships have them. Really cool with great slides. Go to Carnival dot com to see pictures of the waterworks. The food in the dining room is excellent and we love it. We like to eat in the dining room not only for dinner but for breakfast and lunch. At the end of the week there is a chocolate buffet. An entire buffet of chocolate. :D We get a towel animal and a chocolate every night on our bed. And, if you are a past guest, you will receive a ship pin along with your invitation to the past guest party. The pins can also be purchased in the fun shops.

I have never sailed RCI so cannot comment but we love Carnival. Hope this helps.

Joan

[Texaspepper]

I've never been on RCCL, but I think I'd be like you and your family. I've looked at RCCL ships online, but feel like I'd be "missing" things. I think when we're used to a "fun" atmosphere, changing to an RCCL (more sophisticated) atmosphere is jarring. I'm an ice-cream-aholic, and love my pizza at 3am!

 

Tropical . . .believe you can have all that. Pizza at 3AM and have had in on Royal Caribbean and Carnival. . .ice cream maybe not at 3AM but you can always have room service.

 

You have to find the folks that fit your life style. We sailed RCL Voyager of the Seas from Barcelona to Galveston on the 15 day T/A on one of our RCL cruises and we never lacked for fun. . .there is always some folks up late at night and dancing and drinking somewhere. Trust me when you have the section of the cruise where you are at sea for 6 full days and nights. . .people are there and we always found fun people day or night. As you can see from our cruise history we have cruised Carnival 9 times and next cruise we will be platinum VIP. Carnival sort of gets in your face that "we are the fun ship" and has stuff going on. . .that we were not interested in and did not see all of it as fun d(still cant' handle the "Hairy Chest Contest." If you are a self starter, you can have fun in a hospital or on a cruise ship.

 

Bottom line. . .I think it best not to buy in to any cruise lines "Commercial Image" but set my own image of what is "Fun" or what is "Sophisticated" or if I were to sail Disney would I enjoy Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck. . .you bet I would . . .I grew up in a few miles from the first Disneyland in So. Calif. . ."Carpe diem, a Latin phrase meaning "seize the day." Have fun. . .you are paying for the ride! My two cents worth.:)

[Texaspepper]

We have cruised Carnival 13 times and have never had a bad cruise. To answer some of your questions - the food on the Lido deck has always been good. On some ships, there is a Mongolian BBQ station (yum!) and always the 24 hour pizza and 24 hour ice cream. That's in addition to the deli, grill, Asian food, and on some ships fish and chips. The latest are burrito bars on some of the ships. All of the Fantasy class ships are being dry docked to add a new waterworks area for adults and kids. It is similar to a waterpark. The newer ships have them. Really cool with great slides. Go to Carnival dot com to see pictures of the waterworks. The food in the dining room is excellent and we love it. We like to eat in the dining room not only for dinner but for breakfast and lunch. At the end of the week there is a chocolate buffet. An entire buffet of chocolate. :D We get a towel animal and a chocolate every night on our bed. And, if you are a past guest, you will receive a ship pin along with your invitation to the past guest party. The pins can also be purchased in the fun shops.

I have never sailed RCI so cannot comment but we love Carnival. Hope this helps.

Joan

 

1) food in the Windjammer Cafe was really bad (nor warm, and equivalent to a poor buffet). The Carnival ships' buffet areas were much better and also had desserts and just a better selection of fresh fruits and salads, etc.

 

Response to #1

We have sailed CCL 9 times and RCL 5 times. My humble option is that Buffets are Buffets and it all depends on the day and time you dine. Food used to be the deciding factor for cruise ships 10 years ago. . .but now it is a level playing field. Take for instance the comparison of breakfast or lunch in the MDR on either ships. RCL has a massive open salad bar where you can pick and chose your items. The staff will toss your choice and hand you an large plate with the choice and the dressing of your choice. The lunch menu offers a wide selection from pulled pork BBQ Sandwich to grilled what ever. Did not find that on CCL Conquest, Ecstasy or Fantasy.

 

When it comes to breakfast on the two ships. . .it is about the same on the buffet. Eggs, potatoes, breakfast meats, smoked salmon, cereal, "cold pancakes on both cruise lines", grits (if you cruise out of Galveston, TX. . .Texan's love their grits in the morning, breads of all good quality on both cruise lines. Fruits and such were about the same. We were on the RCL Voyager of the Seas 15 Day Trans/Atlantic and at sea for 6 full days and nights and the Windjammer fruit, meats, pasta, deserts never fell below our expectations.

 

Lunch and dinner vary. On RCL we found that what was being served in the MDR some of the items were on the nightly buffet.

 

Granted, on CCL the Lido Burger Bar is better than RCL Burgers. But we could get Pizza and such any time of day or night.

 

2) towel animals for only one night

 

My response to #2

While towel animals are not a "highlight" of our cruise experience, I can testify to the truth. . .never had a night we did not have a cute towel on our bed or hanging over head on ANY RCL cruise.

 

3) no Andes' mint on the bed at night

 

My response to #3

 

Still have some mints on my desk from RCL cruise in 01/10/10 Not a biggie for me to have mints on my pillow but just to set the record right. . .we got them.

 

4) no chocolate midnight buffet

 

My response to #4

 

No cruise ship, CCL, RCL or what ever you care to name does Midnight Buffets or Chocolate Buffets or what ever. Other folks reading this. . .correct me if I am wrong.

 

5) soft serve ice cream machine was only open for 60 minutes a day and the RC folks served up a TINY portion (probably a shot glass) into a TINY kids sized cone. Then they closed it up and no more until the next day.

 

My response to #5

 

HUH? What plant are you on? EVERY RCL cruise had Ice Creams Machines going. . . did you check at the Starboard side of the Windjammer? There is one there at the end on the Buffet line. Not the back Windjammer Buffet, but the Starboard side. Did you check on the Lido deck on the Port Side at the very back next to the coffee and tea? Always there

6) no 24 hour pizza but only frozen type of cheese or pepperoni pizza that was lukewarm at best and available only for limited hours. They loved the "we'll make you whatever kind you want" pizza 24 hours a day on Carnival and the varieties (e.g., margarita pizza, etc.)

 

7) no slide into the pool

 

My response to #7

 

You might be correct on that one. But RCL has rock climbing, surf riding, and more hot tubs.

 

 

8) the dining room (nice ones) food was really not very good. Didn't even compare to the food on Carnival ... and the servers, while nice, were not at all engaged or spirited. They did get better on the last day (when they were ready to get their tips).

 

My response to #8

 

Well let start by saying, I had Carnival Prime Rib 3 times on on Conquest, Ecstasy and Fantasy. . .it was more like Prime Chuck Roast. . . .I sent it back all 3 times and ordered a steak. Every time I ordered Prime Rib on any RCL ship it was Prime Rib and cooked just the way I would have cooked it at home. Rare. . .lot of juice and so very tender. I have learned not to order Prime Rib on CCL ships. Again, I refer to the RCL 15 Day Cruise with the same waiter for 15 Days. . .meeting and exceeding our expectations . . .always remembering our personal likes and dislikes. . .our names and fulfilling any request we had. . .more of this . . .more of this. . .FYI when we returned to the RCL Voyager of the Seas 3 times after he remembered our names. . .first and last and called us by name any where we met on the ship. . .in the MDR, buffet or at the Promenade Cafe on deck 5 for Breakfast coffee, late day snacks or when ever.

 

Cruise ship wait staff work 6-8 months at a time. Away from family, children, friends and their culture. We seek to give them respect even through they are our "servants" so to speak. Get to know them. Ask them about their life, their families, their children. Get to know them and develop a relation ship. They will not forget you on your next cruise experience.

 

Allow me if I may, to share a personal experience.

 

Why I am loyal to Royal. I have read some comments that others have posted on different boards telling their personal bad experiences and how they felt it was handled.

 

One of my personal experiences on Voyager Of The Seas, was our 15 Day Trans/Atlantic -Barcelona to Galveston. Once on board in Barcelona and settled in our stateroom for the night, we were aware of a clunking noise coming from the aft side of the room. It was persistent and often the bed would shake. Next morning I was at the Guest Services Desk asking for another stateroom and was told the they would see what was available. Next contact came by phone to our stateroom stating there was a room. We went up to the desk and said we were ready to move. The girl look at the PC screen and said, "Sorry there is no rooms available." My wife's expressions and the quickness of picking up her Set Sail Card must have caught the eye of another GS Agent by the name of Anita. With a smile on her face she called us to her place at the counter and asked if she could help. After about 2 min of listening to my wife story, Anita asked if we would wait a moment. She then walked the first GS Agent to the back room. In about 3 min Anita returned and said, "I am so sorry for the confusion you have encountered, and if it is OK with you, I'll have a porter come and move you hanging clothes, bags and what ever you have to a new room, on deck 6 stateroom 6606 Balcony." An upgrade extraordinaire!!! On the starboard side for 14 days of cruising.

 

My wife was so thrilled at this "Over the top" guest services as I was also, we stopped by the shops and picked up a pair of earrings and a card and give it to her. Anita was so surprised and said "No one has ever done this before and thank you so much."

 

We have cruised Voyager of the Seas twice since this above experience and each time we were greeted by Anita and other staff around the ship by name saying "Welcome Back." Twice there was a phone message on our phone saying "Welcome Back" and a bottle of wine placed in the room by Anita Fejes, Guest Services. . .at her expense mind you. Now that is what I call ROYAL LOYALTY!

 

My personal experiences in traveling in over 30 countries of plant earth in every conceivable mode of transportation and lodging I can't say that I can recall a time when a problem with transportation, accommodations was not resolved with a smile and persistence on my part. One event comes to mind in Cabo San Lucas, BC when arriving at our hotel only to find we were given a room up the slopped hill from the newest part of the hotel and pools. I went to the front desk and the girl could do nothing. I asked to speak to the manager. Man in his mid 30's and told him our plight. He said "sorry, we have nothing." I began to tell him the reason for our stay at this hotel. It was our honeymoon (which was true) and we were so looking so forward to being right at the beach and hearing the surf each night with door open and the ocean breeze. He said to me, "Senior, you are a romantic. I have a beach front suite for you." We enjoyed 7 night in a beach front suite.

Thank you. Thankyouverymuch!!

 

Hope this will help in your comparison of cruise ships.

[tropical.dreams]

Was this a 3 or 4 night cruise? Because I noticed a huge difference in the standards on my last 4 night cruise from what I thought I'd get, based on my 7 night cruises.

[travel girl23]

I will clarify the chocolate buffet. It is not at midnight. It is usually right after lunch in the Lido restaurant on the last sea day. It is every kind of chocolate from cakes, cookies, pies, and even milkshakes. The grand gala buffets are no more. They discontinued them a while back. However, they usually have a Mexican buffet at 11:30 one night but the Gala Buffets are gone forever.

[Cuizer2]

Just left a Royal Caribbean cruise this morning and boy, were we disappointed. I want your feedback on why that might be. We have cruised three times previously on Carnival and had wonderful service and great food. My kids were used to certain things that were missing and I'm wondering if these things were discontinued on Carnival too or whether RC just doesn't do them. Here are the girls' list of disappointments:

1) food in the Windjammer Cafe was really bad (nor warm, and equivalent to a poor buffet). The Carnival ships' buffet areas were much better and also had desserts and just a better selection of fresh fruits and salads, etc.

2) towel animals for only one night

3) no Andes' mint on the bed at night

4) no chocolate midnight buffet

5) soft serve ice cream machine was only open for 60 minutes a day and the RC folks served up a TINY portion (probably a shot glass) into a TINY kids sized cone. Then they closed it up and no more until the next day.

6) no 24 hour pizza but only frozen type of cheese or pepperoni pizza that was lukewarm at best and available only for limited hours. They loved the "we'll make you whatever kind you want" pizza 24 hours a day on Carnival and the varieties (e.g., margarita pizza, etc.)

7) no slide into the pool

8) the dining room (nice ones) food was really not very good. Didn't even compare to the food on Carnival ... and the servers, while nice, were not at all engaged or spirited. They did get better on the last day (when they were ready to get their tips).

Are these things still there on Carnival cruises or have they disappeared industry wide. We want to book another cruise and right now, no body in our family wants to do a RC cruise "ever again". Did we get a dud ship (Grandeur of the Seas, 4 day cruise) or is that the RC way? ANd if it is, is that also the Carnival way now?

Thanks a ton for your feedback!! I really appreciate it.

:)

 

I've been on five Carnival cruises (last was August 2008). The next will be November 2010. I've been on six Royal Caribbean cruises (last June 2009 - none currently booked).

 

1) I haven't had this problem.

2) This is dependent on your cabin steward.

3) Neither cruise line is offering pillow mints at night.

4) Neither cruise line is offering a chocolate midnight buffet.

5) I don't recall any restrictions like this on either cruise line.

6) Carnival does have 24 hour pizza, and in my opinion it is better than the pizza offered by Royal Caribbean.

7) No Royal Caribbean ship has a water slide an adult (or a child over the age of nine) would be happy to use. All of the Carnival ships have a water slide suitable for an adult.

8) The food on Carnival, in my opinion, is a little better than the food on Royal Caribbean. That said, how engaging the wait staff is, is dependent on the people serving you. I have had good ones on Carnival and Royal Caribbean and I have had average ones on Carnival and Royal Caribbean.

[travel girl23]

3) Neither cruise line is offering pillow mints at night.

Carnival does not put mints on your bed at night but they still put the chocolates on the bed. At least they did on our cruise over the 4th of July.

[Texaspepper]

Carnival does not put mints on your bed at night but they still put the chocolates on the bed. At least they did on our cruise over the 4th of July.

 

True Travel Girl. . .we had them on our last CCL cruise. No CCL Pins. . .that stopped in Sept 2008 cruise. Have not seen them since. No matter, have a few in my desk drawer.

Question. Did you like the Conquest Fish Mar on the deck above the buffet or did you get a chance to try it? We lunched on the Conquest two or three times a 7 day cruise. Very good.

 

One of our favorite things to do is go the the aft deck of Lido about 11:30PM and have have fresh made burgers and fries. It is a perk that I did not find on Royal Caribbean. CCL has that over RCL for sure.

[travel girl23]

True Travel Girl. . .we had them on our last CCL cruise. No CCL Pins. . .that stopped in Sept 2008 cruise. Have not seen them since. No matter, have a few in my desk drawer.

Question. Did you like the Conquest Fish Mar on the deck above the buffet or did you get a chance to try it? We lunched on the Conquest two or three times a 7 day cruise. Very good.

 

One of our favorite things to do is go the the aft deck of Lido about 11:30PM and have have fresh made burgers and fries. It is a perk that I did not find on Royal Caribbean. CCL has that over RCL for sure.

We still do get the ship pins as we are Platinum but they are also for sale in the fun shops.

Yes, I love the fish and chips. We were on the Ecstasy over the 4th of July (cruise to nowhere) and they don't have the fish and chips. :( I love the hamburgers, too. Can hardly wait for the Magic which has a burrito bar, BBQ, etc.

[Texaspepper]

We still do get the ship pins as we are Platinum but they are also for sale in the fun shops.

Yes, I love the fish and chips. We were on the Ecstasy over the 4th of July (cruise to nowhere) and they don't have the fish and chips. :( I love the hamburgers, too. Can hardly wait for the Magic which has a burrito bar, BBQ, etc.

 

We will be Platinum on our next CCL cruise. We are hoping to sail the Magic 16 Day T/A Barcelona to Galveston 10/28/11 if we can work out some family date conflicts.

 

BTW, I see you sailed CCL out of Houston Bayport in 10/08. We sailed Conquest out of HB 09/28 - 10/05/08. All I can say is . . ."we did it once and hope not to sail out of Houston Bayport again." What a mess. Computers went down first thing when we arrived at 10:30AM. BTW #2. . .we must be neighbors. .we live just 2 miles east of 820 following Trinity to Precinct Line

Remember this view?

 

[travel girl23]

Texaspepper, if you do book the TA from Barcelona to Galveston, come on over to our roll call. We have a busy roll call going. We're almost up to 1000 posts!!

Yes, we did sail out of Houston but it was like a couple of weeks before they moved back to Galveston so they had all the problems under control. We loved the Bayport terminal, especially being able to park right across the street. We had no trouble getting on or off.

We certainly are neighbors. There are two other couples from NRH going on the TA with us and a couple from Bedford. We're all meeting for dinner at the end of October to talk cruising - LOL. We live just off Rufe Snow south of 820.

You will love being Platinum. Lots of perks but we love the VIP boarding and debarkation as well as the free laundry service, free gifts, etc.

Hope you book the TA but you'd better do it soon as the price has already gone up once for an inside and they will continue to go up. We booked a cove balcony. If and when you do, come on over to the roll call.

Joan

Yes, I did recognize your picture - like this one - LOL.

[shelec]

I have only cruised on Royal Caribbean, but here was my experience (on the Grandeur & Enchantment).

 

Here are the girls' list of disappointments:

1) food in the Windjammer Cafe was really bad (nor warm, and equivalent to a poor buffet). The Carnival ships' buffet areas were much better and also had desserts and just a better selection of fresh fruits and salads, etc.

I find most buffet food to be just ok. By the end of each trip, I find myself eating breakfast & lunch in MDR.

 

2) towel animals for only one night

I mentioned to my room steward on the first day that I love towel animals. I got them every night. I do not think they are required to do them every night, but if they know you like them, you are more likely to get them.

 

3) no Andes' mint on the bed at night

I did not get mints on the bed each night.

 

4) no chocolate midnight buffet

Did not get this on shorter cruise (4 night), but did have a buffet with chocolate & nicer heavy appetizers on a 5 night cruise.

 

5) soft serve ice cream machine was only open for 60 minutes a day and the RC folks served up a TINY portion (probably a shot glass) into a TINY kids sized cone. Then they closed it up and no more until the next day.

Soft Serve ice cream was open (near Windjammer) almost all day and into the night. Everytime my bf went missing, I could find him near the soft serve. It was self-service, so you could get as much as you wanted (and more than you needed).

 

6) no 24 hour pizza but only frozen type of cheese or pepperoni pizza that was lukewarm at best and available only for limited hours. They loved the "we'll make you whatever kind you want" pizza 24 hours a day on Carnival and the varieties (e.g., margarita pizza, etc.)

Pizza was not available 24 hour. It was available from mid-morning until late at night at the Solarium. There were limited kinds available.

 

7) no slide into the pool

There were no slides on either ship.

 

8) the dining room (nice ones) food was really not very good. Didn't even compare to the food on Carnival ... and the servers, while nice, were not at all engaged or spirited. They did get better on the last day (when they were ready to get their tips).

Can not compare as I have only been on RCCL. However, our food in MDR was good, not great. The specialty restaurant (Chops) was GREAT. The servers were great the entire time. One server seemed a little more reserved and she seemed to open up more as she got to know us. Otherwise, I did not notice a change in anyone's service as tip time came around. Except the maitre d, who didn't come to meet us until the night before tips.

 

Hope this helps.

[Texaspepper]

Texaspepper, if you do book the TA from Barcelona to Galveston, come on over to our roll call. We have a busy roll call going. We're almost up to 1000 posts!!

Yes, we did sail out of Houston but it was like a couple of weeks before they moved back to Galveston so they had all the problems under control. We loved the Bayport terminal, especially being able to park right across the street. We had no trouble getting on or off.

We certainly are neighbors. There are two other couples from NRH going on the TA with us and a couple from Bedford. We're all meeting for dinner at the end of October to talk cruising - LOL. We live just off Rufe Snow south of 820.

You will love being Platinum. Lots of perks but we love the VIP boarding and debarkation as well as the free laundry service, free gifts, etc.

Hope you book the TA but you'd better do it soon as the price has already gone up once for an inside and they will continue to go up. We booked a cove balcony. If and when you do, come on over to the roll call.

Joan

Yes, I did recognize your picture - like this one - LOL.

 

Yes, I am on that thread. . .just reading once and a while. With family situations it difficult to book. . .I am looking at the Travel Insurance and reading the fine print for reasons of cancellation by passenger. On our last T/A had insurance . . but did not have to use it.

 

Without calling our Great Escapes Travel Club for a price, the best price I am seeing for a Cove Balcony for two is $2711. It would be 10-20 % less with our club. . .we get a good price and then earn advantage dollars to use on next trip as part of the % off. Anyhow, I'll come back over the the Magic T/A thread.

[travel girl23]

I hope you get it worked out. I have a PVP (personal vacation planner) with Carnival who is wonderful and gives us the best price. Hope it all works out where you all can join the rest of us on the Magic. I usually get my insurance from insuremytrip dot com but I may stay with Carnival this time. I like that website because you can compare the different policies at one time.

Best of luck booking the cruise.

Joan

[Multi-Cruiser]

I have sailed on both and had a great time on both. Royal is significantly more expensive than Carnival and I don't think it is worth the extra money. I'll stay with Carnival, unless Ed McMahon's replacement comes to my house with one of those big checks. ;)

[Shonna]

The food is very similar on both cruise lines. In my opinion, there are more activities throughout the day on Carnival where as, RCI has a better room service menu. There are pros and cons for both cruise lines but the bottom line is...I love cruising and have returned to both cruise lines several times. :)

[BruceMuzz]

I am not a Carnival Fan, have never set foot on a Carnival ship, and never plan to.

 

However......for the past 15 consecutive years Carnival Cruise Line has scored the highest

Passenger and Travel Agent Satisfaction ratings in the mass market cruise industry.

 

They are not "The Best", but - unlike their competitors - they do not claim to be the best. They only claim to be "Fun" and not too expensive.

 

For the past 15 consecutive years, Carnival has also scored the highest ratings - with Passengers and Travel Agents - for "Best Value for the Money".

 

Carnival is not for everybody, but it seems that a very large segment of the American cruising population is pretty happy with them.