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

[Cuizer2]

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.

 

That is the same as Southwest. Southwest only promises Motel 6 and delivers Motel 6. The others promise the Four Seasons and only deliver Holiday Inn. Now Holiday Inn might be better than Motel 6, but Southwest is delivering everything it promised while the others are falling well short. As a result Southwest gets the better scores.

 

The same with Carnival. It doesn't have the biggest ship afloat. It doesn't have ice skating rinks. It doesn't have rock climbing walls. It doesn't have a merry-go-round. But for the most part Carnival does deliver what it says it will deliver. For that reason, I would take a suite on Carnival over a suite on Royal Caribbean. I've been in both. I got what I expected from Carnival. Royal Caribbean fell well short.

[Multi-Cruiser]

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.

 

That is high praise from someone that is not a Carnival fan. Well put and I agree with you. Passengers who just debarked from the stricken Carnival Splendor give the crew very high marks, saying they did the very best they could for the passengers in a bad situation. I will continue to cruise with Carnival.

[Texaspepper]

Lido Deck Bars services in the pool area dies down about 5pm and when the crowd around the pool leaves the demand is down. Found this so on Fantasy, Ecstasy, Conquest, Elation, Holiday also.

 

Remember, those who have early dinning at 6:15 are in their rooms getting ready and now that it gets dark at 5:45pm the Lido Deck dies except for the smokers who sit on Lido port side to smoke.

 

Here is a photo of the Lido Deck on the Ecstasy taken about 6:45PM on Oct 26, 2010. This was formal night dinning and as you can see it is empty of people. All getting read for dinner or already at 6:15PM dinning

Been on Ecstasy twice in the last 12 months and have to say the it was the most friendly staff of any and all the Carnival cruises we have been on.

 

A cruise is what you make of it. Think about those just off the Splendor in San Diego, CA. I like to sing in the CCL Talent Shows and on the Conquest in the Legend shows. . .have fun and get to meet staff and guest. Meet people sitting on the Lido Deck. . .learn about their life. Get off in some of the ports and experience the culture and experience the food in the ports of call. Talk with the wait staff, room stewards and get to know their lives and family.

 

Buffet on any given ship is a chance call. We cruised RCCL five times and on the Voyager of the Seas 15 Day Barcelona to Galveston. It was good and then it was a miss. Been on 10 Carnival cruises. . .Conquest has the best Mongolian Grill and the Sea Food Bar up top of the Buffet. Great fried clams, oysters, fish and fries. Always fresh. Just returned from Carnival Ecstasy l10/30/10. OMG . . .the hamburger fresh cooked are to die for. RCCL only puts out the cooked burgers under a lamp and you get it when you get it in line.

 

I mentioned to them about the burgers under a heat lamp on the 15 Day T/A and on our last RCCL 01/10/10 Voyager of the Seas. The Windjammer Manger, Fati, whom I got go know pretty well, kind of said, they are pushing Johnny Rockets on the 12th deck where you pay $4.95 for the fresh cooked burgers. A couple of times on our cruise, we got coupon books with one free JR's burger for two. They are wonderful and the wait staff show is worth the price.

 

 

Have a look at the Ecstasy Burger Bar on the Lido Deck. Fresh, hot and juicy . . .OMG. . .I want a burger tonight.

 

 

Have to say, Carnival is doing a great job on Ecstasy to provide quality service and food. I was impressed. Some of the better food in the MDR I have enjoyed in some time on any cruise. Great service in dinning as well as the room steward. Can't say much for the Reggie Band at the pool on the Lido deck.

 

My lobster and tiger shrimp on Ecstasy 10/25/10. Served with a smile from our wait staff. Tender, hot and full of favor.

Our great room stewards. From left to right, George our steward from 08/09 Ecstasy, Irina (wife of Jose), Jose and Dewa our U81 stateroom stewards for 10/25/10 Cruise providing excellent service!

 

IMHO, a cruise is what you do to make it fun for you. Shows? Ya, see them but that is not the total cruise. When it comes right down to it, what do all of us remember about our time on the ship?

 

The service and the food. IMHO, that is the deciding factor that separates RCCL, CCL, HAL, NCL, Costa, Princess, and the rest. A stateroom is a stateroom. It may vary in size or amenities and layout, but like everyone that cruises. . .don't spend a whole lot of time in the stateroom. No matter what. . .we'll still keep on cruising. Key. . .treat others like you would like to be treated. Smile a lot and tip extra for over the top service personal and service when provided.

 

Since Galveston is our port of choice living in Texas, we have Carnival year around to cruise and Royal Caribbean Nov though mid April. In 2011 it will be CCL Magic and CCl Triumph. Then Mid Nov to mid April the RCCL Mariner of the Seas. Going to be a new choices for Galveston cruises. Still, a bad day on a cruise is better than a day at work at home. We'll cruise RCCL and CCL . . .each has their own merits and quality.

 

BTW. . .you can view all our Carnival Cruise and Royal Caribbean Photos at my web site Texaspepper's Cruise Photos And Reviews.

 

 

[bobmal99]

How do you get your pictures into this thread???

 

Can't figure it out without having to use a web site...

 

Thanks

 

Lido Deck Bars services in the pool area dies down about 5pm and when the crowd around the pool leaves the demand is down. Found this so on Fantasy, Ecstasy, Conquest, Elation, Holiday also.

 

Remember, those who have early dinning at 6:15 are in their rooms getting ready and now that it gets dark at 5:45pm the Lido Deck dies except for the smokers who sit on Lido port side to smoke.

 

Here is a photo of the Lido Deck on the Ecstasy taken about 6:45PM on Oct 26, 2010. This was formal night dinning and as you can see it is empty of people. All getting read for dinner or already at 6:15PM dinning

Been on Ecstasy twice in the last 12 months and have to say the it was the most friendly staff of any and all the Carnival cruises we have been on.

 

A cruise is what you make of it. Think about those just off the Splendor in San Diego, CA. I like to sing in the CCL Talent Shows and on the Conquest in the Legend shows. . .have fun and get to meet staff and guest. Meet people sitting on the Lido Deck. . .learn about their life. Get off in some of the ports and experience the culture and experience the food in the ports of call. Talk with the wait staff, room stewards and get to know their lives and family.

 

Buffet on any given ship is a chance call. We cruised RCCL five times and on the Voyager of the Seas 15 Day Barcelona to Galveston. It was good and then it was a miss. Been on 10 Carnival cruises. . .Conquest has the best Mongolian Grill and the Sea Food Bar up top of the Buffet. Great fried clams, oysters, fish and fries. Always fresh. Just returned from Carnival Ecstasy l10/30/10. OMG . . .the hamburger fresh cooked are to die for. RCCL only puts out the cooked burgers under a lamp and you get it when you get it in line.

 

I mentioned to them about the burgers under a heat lamp on the 15 Day T/A and on our last RCCL 01/10/10 Voyager of the Seas. The Windjammer Manger, Fati, whom I got go know pretty well, kind of said, they are pushing Johnny Rockets on the 12th deck where you pay $4.95 for the fresh cooked burgers. A couple of times on our cruise, we got coupon books with one free JR's burger for two. They are wonderful and the wait staff show is worth the price.

 

 

Have a look at the Ecstasy Burger Bar on the Lido Deck. Fresh, hot and juicy . . .OMG. . .I want a burger tonight.

 

 

Have to say, Carnival is doing a great job on Ecstasy to provide quality service and food. I was impressed. Some of the better food in the MDR I have enjoyed in some time on any cruise. Great service in dinning as well as the room steward. Can't say much for the Reggie Band at the pool on the Lido deck.

 

My lobster and tiger shrimp on Ecstasy 10/25/10. Served with a smile from our wait staff. Tender, hot and full of favor.

Our great room stewards. From left to right, George our steward from 08/09 Ecstasy, Irina (wife of Jose), Jose and Dewa our U81 stateroom stewards for 10/25/10 Cruise providing excellent service!

 

IMHO, a cruise is what you do to make it fun for you. Shows? Ya, see them but that is not the total cruise. When it comes right down to it, what do all of us remember about our time on the ship?

 

The service and the food. IMHO, that is the deciding factor that separates RCCL, CCL, HAL, NCL, Costa, Princess, and the rest. A stateroom is a stateroom. It may vary in size or amenities and layout, but like everyone that cruises. . .don't spend a whole lot of time in the stateroom. No matter what. . .we'll still keep on cruising. Key. . .treat others like you would like to be treated. Smile a lot and tip extra for over the top service personal and service when provided.

 

Since Galveston is our port of choice living in Texas, we have Carnival year around to cruise and Royal Caribbean Nov though mid April. In 2011 it will be CCL Magic and CCl Triumph. Then Mid Nov to mid April the RCCL Mariner of the Seas. Going to be a new choices for Galveston cruises. Still, a bad day on a cruise is better than a day at work at home. We'll cruise RCCL and CCL . . .each has their own merits and quality.

 

BTW. . .you can view all our Carnival Cruise and Royal Caribbean Photos at my web site Texaspepper's Cruise Photos And Reviews.

 

 

[Texaspepper]

It appears that the only way to post photos on this site is to have them posted on a exterior website and add the link to the photo. All my photos are on my personal web site http://www.texaspepper.net and I link to them from there.

[bobmal99]

That is what I thought, thanks..

 

It appears that the only way to post photos on this site is to have them posted on a exterior website and add the link to the photo. All my photos are on my personal web site www.texaspepper.net and I link to them from there.

[Dizney]

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.:)

 

well stated!!

[fldude12345]

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.

 

 

 

but you have to pay for room service on RCCL after midnight i believe?

[NorthTXRanchers]

I appreciate all of your feedback. Here's what I've taken from it ... maybe it was because we were on a shorter four day cruise that things were so different. Maybe when the crew isn't going to have your family for as long of a period, they're not so engaged even when you work overtime to engage them. Or maybe we just got someone having a bad week -- in our cabin and unfortunately in the dining room.

 

The other little things may have been out of the ordinary for RC -- the covers on the ice cream machines for the entire cruise other than for short periods when it was served by an attendant (and when he left, he shut it off and covered it up). And maybe RC rolls up the sidewalks earlier than Carnival (thereby shutting all food sources down before midnight).

 

It sounds like all of the line have cut little things out like mints on the pillows, etc,, but that's the least of our concerns for sure! We were primarily trying to discover if our experience was out of the ordinary for RCC or whether all cruise lines are cutting back, making our comparison of several Carnival cruises to this most recent RC one. Not sure about that, which make it a little tougher to decide on which line to book for our next cruise. But we have a blast on any cruise we take -- how can you not!? :)

 

Thanks again for all of your feedback!

[Texaspepper]

I appreciate all of your feedback. Here's what I've taken from it ... maybe it was because we were on a shorter four day cruise that things were so different. Maybe when the crew isn't going to have your family for as long of a period, they're not so engaged even when you work overtime to engage them. Or maybe we just got someone having a bad week -- in our cabin and unfortunately in the dining room.

 

The other little things may have been out of the ordinary for RC -- the covers on the ice cream machines for the entire cruise other than for short periods when it was served by an attendant (and when he left, he shut it off and covered it up). And maybe RC rolls up the sidewalks earlier than Carnival (thereby shutting all food sources down before midnight).

 

It sounds like all of the line have cut little things out like mints on the pillows, etc,, but that's the least of our concerns for sure! We were primarily trying to discover if our experience was out of the ordinary for RCC or whether all cruise lines are cutting back, making our comparison of several Carnival cruises to this most recent RC one. Not sure about that, which make it a little tougher to decide on which line to book for our next cruise. But we have a blast on any cruise we take -- how can you not!? :)

 

Thanks again for all of your feedback!

 

Yes, cut backs are the name of the game in the cruise industry. Example. RCCL pulled their ships from the West Coast and a few other places a year or so back and moved them to the Mediterranean market to grab the market. I posted on CC, my blog, website and a few other cruise boards that it appeared that RCCL was abandoning the US market for the Euro Market and money. Well, RCCL stock has dropped almost $5.00 a share in the last few weeks and wall street is saying RCCL is in trouble in the Euro Med market due to all the unrest and turmoil in the Middle East. RCCL has been down graded from buy, to hold and now SELL. Look for RCCL to keep those ice cream machines covered up for sometime.

 

MHO is that RCCL for one is cutting costs where ever and raising prices little by little. Not to say Carnival is not doing the same. Hey you may not know this, but the owner of Carnival also own the Miami Heat NBA Team and he needs money to pay the MILLIONS of $$$$ per player. :D

 

We sail Carnival Conquest Oct 2, 2011. This is our 12th cruise on CCL and being VIP, we do look forward to perks before they cut some of them. We booked in March on Early Saver. The price has gone up about $60 per person as of this week.

[NorthTXRanchers]

Interesting. Thanks so much. And enjoy your cruise!!!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Both are very nice

[George C]

we have done Carnival once and RCCL 11 times

[bobmal99]

Have been on Norwegian & Carnival,

several times. Never had a bad cruise.

Going on my first RCCL 12/4/11.

 

Only then will I be able to make

any kind of comparision.

 

With all the various opinions

of all cruise lines, I am a bit

curious about RCCL.

 

Really don't know what to expect,

but I am going with an open mind!!!

 

 

 

That is the same as Southwest. Southwest only promises Motel 6 and delivers Motel 6. The others promise the Four Seasons and only deliver Holiday Inn. Now Holiday Inn might be better than Motel 6, but Southwest is delivering everything it promised while the others are falling well short. As a result Southwest gets the better scores.

 

The same with Carnival. It doesn't have the biggest ship afloat. It doesn't have ice skating rinks. It doesn't have rock climbing walls. It doesn't have a merry-go-round. But for the most part Carnival does deliver what it says it will deliver. For that reason, I would take a suite on Carnival over a suite on Royal Caribbean. I've been in both. I got what I expected from Carnival. Royal Caribbean fell well short.

[Cuizer2]

Have been on Norwegian & Carnival,

several times. Never had a bad cruise.

Going on my first RCCL 12/4/11.

 

Only then will I be able to make

any kind of comparision.

 

With all the various opinions

of all cruise lines, I am a bit

curious about RCCL.

 

Really don't know what to expect,

but I am going with an open mind!!!

 

Hello to you too.