Tried Royal Caribbean and was disappointed but RC said Carnival cut back too? True?

[Grits53]

I usually get a fresh baked cookie, I love RCL's oatmeal raisen, so get those more often than the pizza to be honest ... Didn't Carnival used to have soft baked cookies instead of the hard kind they now put out? (or maybe that was Princess I remember). Anyway, I love RCLs cookies but wouldnt touch the ones Carnival puts out, Im picky.

 

I loved my last Triumph cruise ... but what made it special was Grits and another lady whom I like were on the same cruise.

 

Awww!!! That's sweet of you, Fire. I enjoyed cruising with you & your sister, too! :)

Those RCCL cookies sound great! I think it might not be a good thing for fresh baked oatmeal raisin cookies to be available to me on a cruise. I think I would love them just a little TOO much! LOL!

[firefly333]

Awww!!! That's sweet of you, Fire. I enjoyed cruising with you & your sister, too! :)

 

Those RCCL cookies sound great! I think it might not be a good thing for fresh baked oatmeal raisin cookies to be available to me on a cruise. I think I would love them just a little TOO much! LOL!

 

Me too, I love them. They have chocolate chip and some other soft cookies, but I like oatmeal raisen so much I dont eat the rest. They also have biscotti in the case on the bottom if you like those. Of course there will always be people like my Dad who hates them, calls them hard sticks, cant figure why anyone would like them .. food is so individual.

 

My favorite cruises are because of the people I meet, a great roll call like yours ....so yes, I went home from Triumph smiling because to me that is what makes a great cruise, not if I got mints on my pillow.

[SeeJennyCruise]

Feb 2010 was our last cruise and it was on the ancient Ecstasy. We were in a suite and we had family in four balcony cabins.

 

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. Buffet food is buffet food to me. My RCL cruise was years back and on an older ship. Can't compare but I would not have anything special to say about the buffet on Carnival either.

 

2) towel animals for only one night

 

All of our cabins (different stewards) on Carnival had towel animals every night. That's true for all four of the Carnival cruises I've been on.

 

3) no Andes' mint on the bed at night

 

Little Carnival mints, every night, each cabin, each cruise.

 

4) no chocolate midnight buffet

My first Carnival cruise and my only RCL cruise had a chocolate midnight buffet. The last three Carnival cruises have the chocolate buffet after lunch on the last sea day.

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 all hours I checked and my young nephew checked often.

 

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.)

I've not had that much pizza on the ships, but it was available.

7) no slide into the pool

 

One of my surprises on my first cruise was how small the pools are. I'm surprised there are pools deep enough to have slide.

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).

 

I think several who have posted are correct that not only is this subjective, but this can be different between ships in the same cruise line and even different dates on the same ship. Overall, we have been pleased with our experiences in the main dining rooms.

[serene56]

Sort of nasty, don't you think?

 

Over 36,000 post.

 

Figures.:(

 

Curious only please.

 

what does a post count have to do with anything?

[yoster1957]

... 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.

My husband and I cruised the Legend in early May - our first Carnival experience, and Splendor of the Seas last year to Alaska - Food wise - Carnival was much better overall (we did not enjoy RC nearly as well as we had hoped)- although the buffet arrangement on the Legend felt awkward

 

2) towel animals for only one night We got towel animals every night

3) no Andes' mint on the bed at night we got chocolate not Andes

4) no chocolate midnight buffet cannot comment - missed it if there was

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. oh yea - lots of self serve - both frozen yogurt and ice-cream - to my delight and my waist's despair - I discovered the self-serve 3-4 days into the cruise - was our first Carnival cruise - ice-cream is my weakness - no will power to resist-

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.) Yup - plenty of pizza

7) no slide into the pool nope - not on the legend

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). I have to tell you I did not have high expectations on the food - given the price we paid, but both my husband and I were so pleasantly surprised we really enjoyed every meal in the dining room - plus we both loved the anytime dining - we ended up asking for the same waiter every night

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 agree with the other person that all the ships are cutting back - its likely that Carnival has been more efficient. Also - since you commented that you took a 4 day cruise, it may be that's the issue - I find on short cruises, the staffs seem less service oriented. We took a 12 day cruise to Alaska from San Francisco last year - I did not feel as warmly appreciated as a guest on RC as I did on Carnival (again - I did not have a lot of expectations!) We have also cruised Princess, NCL and Holland America, and we will definitely continue to sail Princess and Carnival

 

Yo

[love to read]

My wife and I sailed on Liberty of the Seas two years ago. We were very disappointed in just the things you mentioned. We sailed on the Pride out of Baltimore this past May 2010 and it just felt right. We were able to have pizza, ice cream or a salad 24/7, and the deli (grilled rueben) was great.

[pbxtech]

Iam glad to hear that Carnival has Chocolate Buffet during the day. We have made the midnite buffet just once.

[LRene]

OP - I was pretty much like you after my first (and only) RCCL cruise, also on the Grandeur. I said I'd never sail RCCL again. Now, several years later with 26 cruises down on four different lines, I feel differently. I think I've adapted to knowing I won't like everything about every line or about every ship.

 

For example...hate the hairy chest contest and most of the activities on Carnival, love the Culinary Arts activities on HAL, avoid the buffets on all lines EXCEPT HAL where it's served with no lines, no trays, love the price and convenience of Carnival, love the itinerary of NCL....etc. etc.

 

I'm pretty sure we'll try RCCL again one day on a larger ship. After some time, you might feel the same way. I'm old enough and wise enough now to know I won't write off an entire cruise line due to one ship or one sailing. We'll sail on the ship that has the right price at the right time going to the right ports. :)

[aqualady]

I have cruised Royal Caribbean twice (Adventure of the Seas and believe it or not the ancient and now out of commission Empress) and Carnival 4 times. I can say, without equivocation, that I was sorely disappointed with the quality of the main dining room food on Royal Caribbean. Yes, this is entirely subjective, but to me it was very clear. I had such great hopes for the food on Royal Caribbean, figuring it would be fabulous because their ships were so impressive well at least Adventure is. I do want to go on Oasis or a sister ship for one of my next cruises, but now I am leery of their food because I love wonderful main dining room food. I never realized how good Carnival's food is, until I had the basis for comparison with Royal Caribbean. I will go on Royal Caribbean again but I will hope that they have upgraded their food.

[GlendaleCruiser]

1. I don't think the buffets on Carnival have declined.

2. Carnival has towel animals every night.

3. Carnival puts mints on the bed every night.

4. The have a chocolate buffet on the last day of the cruise during lunch.

5. Carnival has soft serve ice cream machines that are open 24 hours and they are self serve.

6. Carnival's pizza is 24 hours and they have about 8-10 varieties of pizza. Also if they have the ingredients they will make any pizza you want.

7. All Carnival ships have at least one slide. Some ships have 3-4 slides.

8. I have found the food in Carnival's dining rooms very good.

Dittos.

Carnival good was excellent last October.2 slides on Dream. Towel animal every night. chocolate on the pillow. Soft serve open all the time unless empty and awaiting refill.

[GlendaleCruiser]

To be fair, both Carnival and Royal Caribbean had the Midnight Gala Buffets at one time. Both were very extravagant and wasteful. They were great photo ops! Lots of food....hot and cold foods, salads, shrimps, desserts etc etc. The nicest part was how they decorated the tables with fruit and vegetable carvings and the ice sculptures were in color. Don't know who stopped doing them first but it was a good idea.

 

 

 

 

I didn't even realize that they purposely stopped putting the pens in the cabins. I just thought that my cabin steward forgot to replace one in my cabin ( sometimes passengers take one home as a souvenir:rolleyes: ). Didn't ask the room steward about it as I had my own pens. However, I did end up with a Carnival one to take home. I needed to write something when I was near the guest services' desk and did not have pen and paper with me. They gave me a new pen still wrapped in plastic and when I finished with it and went to return it, she told me to just keep it. I noticed when she opened her drawer to give it to me, she had all new ones so I guess you can always get one from the guest services desk, just like the playing cards.:):)

 

We got a Carnival logo pen last October on the Dream...........

[dan40]

RCL's cutbacks are more and more noticeable than Carnival's. The OP might have had a better cruise on one of RCL's newer ships. I have found the steam table offerings in the buffet a TINY bit better than the same on Carnival. But the numerous made to order stations in Carnival's buffet dwarf RCL choices. MDR Carnival is a little better across the board. Steakhouse is no comparison. RCL has nothing to compete. Chops is like a bad burger joint in comparison.

But the English Pub on the Royal Promenade can make up for many ills elsewhere!!:D:D:D

[LPLRN]

For us it's all about $$$$$$$, we have friends who only sail RCCL but I can't justify spending that much more money to sail with these friends. Believe me I would love to cruise with them and maybe one day we will.

[norwane]

I agree with the person that posted this thread originally. We went on a RC cruise (Navigator of the Seas) this past February. It was my first, but my husbands 3rd (he had been on Carnival in the past.) According to my DH, he thought the food and service on Carnival was much better. Honestly, with it being my first cruise, just from what I had heard about cruises, I guess I expected better service. It was okay, I just never felt like anyone was willing to bend over backwards (without being promised a very large tip in return!)

 

I have no idea if my expectations were too high or what, but I was rather disappointed. My DH has some health issues and diet restrictions, so I had sent a health form ahead of time. Once we got on the ship, no one ever asked him what he needed for his diet. Yes, I recognize it was our responsibility to ensure his diet needs were met, but why have us send in the form, if they don't do anything about it? :confused:

 

I only saw one midnight buffet during our cruise. :(

 

Right now, my DH is awaiting a kidney transplant, so we are hoping to go on a cruise when he is healthy with new body parts! ;) I am thinking that DH is going to want Carnival for that next cruise. :rolleyes:

[NorthTXRanchers]

Thanks much for all of your feedback. Very illuminating. It sounds like one's experience depends a great deal on the ship and duration of trip, as opposed to cruise lines. The food aspect is, indeed, subjective. We may never have observed barely warm food (if it was there, as it was on RC) on Carnival because the first 15 feet of the buffet line were filled with everything one could ever want on a fresh salad and fresh fruit plate (meaning, we didn't end up consuming as much "prepared" food). I think the poster who suggested that what one gets used to really impacts our impression of 'new' ships or lines is right on. We got spoiled with little (if unimportant) treats like the 24 hour ice cream/yogurt and the made to order 24 hour pizza. That's why we were disappointed when we headed straight to the pizza station on RC's ship immediately following the adult comedy hour, and were surprised it was the only location on the ship that one could find food and were more surprised when the closed it down when there was still a line, only 20 minutes after the comedy show ended. They even came to remove the bowls of cookies even though people were standing in line to grab some ... kind of odd. Seemed like they were way more interested in getting "off work" than they were in serving the dozens and dozens of people who were standing in line and yet didn't get anything to eat (not that we were starving on a cruise ship!! LOL).

 

The gym on the RC ship was much nicer than on Carnival but also really crowded during all of the limited open hours. The other thing that seemed odd was the empty orchestra pit during the shows. All of the music and narration was recorded and sometimes they had to restart the recording three or four times to get the timing right. Kind of funky compared to the big "Vegas" shows on Carnival but I think that many of you are right -- the four day cruise just doesn't seem to get the staff there to connect with you as well as they do on the 7 plus day cruises.

 

We may try RC again if we can book ourselves on one of their newest biggest ships. Then we'll really know. Plus, that just gives us an excuse to book another cruise on Carnival's newest biggest ships too. I'll justify that as market research!! LOL Think my hubby will buy that theory??? :)

 

Thanks a ton folks for your feedback. You answered the questions that we all had about the differences. Thanks!!!!

[gr1634]

Have 14 cruises with Carnival. Got bit irritated at them after last cruise so tried RCL Oasis - found cruise experience to be about the same. Ship was different but not so to justify the difference in costs we find in most cruises. Rooms on Oasis were a little smaller and the shower was way smaller - service was about the same. Lots of resturant choices but hey we can eat 24/7 on Carnival if one wants to. Told dear wife we could have stayed in a mall for week and it would have been very similar ha ha. Of course mall doesn't go to different ports but you know what I mean. Think we will get over our irritation and go back to Carnival - still looks to be the best value out there.

[firefly333]

I too have found that RCL closes down food venues too early in the evening, thats why I was glad about the promenade cafe ...other ships I wanted to eat and it wasnt there ...but then on Carnival I have gotten out of the 8:45 pm show and wanted to look over the buffet desserts on Carnival and found it closed down to.

 

Iv found, even on Carnival, you need to hit the buffet line before the show, because after the show its closed.

 

I do agree about RCL closing down the rest of the food venues too early.

[NavarreCruiser]

and to be fair-- you really cant compare a 4 day cruise to a longer 7 day cruise.

Price to be a factor-- you will probably find carnival to be cheaper

We always get mints. Been on three cruises this year with Canival. John Heald says they are not stopping mints.

All Carival ships have slides, most empty into their own shoot.

Ice cream is always 24/7 on all Carnival ships. Lynda

[cruisecrazyk]

I just sailed with them for the 1st time also. I love Carnival and NCL but was unimpressed with RCI. Food was not great and room size was small and dated. I was on one of the oldest boats however, Enchantment of the Seas,and I think that makes a difference. Most of the homeported RCI boats are looking tired and not much on them to do. This boat just came out of drydock and I would have never known that by the condition of the room. Granted it was an inside room, but an expensive one compared to NCL and Carnival. Blond old furniture and an uncomfortable bed and a very tiny room. I just don't know if I will give it another try or not. Depends on how much they charge on the bigger boats. I know one thing, I will never go on one of the older ones again.:eek:

[mclinns04]

We went on Celebrity Infinity last fall. They don't do the towel animals and I really missed them. It's silly, but I was glad to see them on Ecstasy recently. If there was a chocolate buffet on the last day, I never saw it.

[JRock59]

I usually get a fresh baked cookie, I love RCL's oatmeal raisen, so get those more often than the pizza to be honest ... Didn't Carnival used to have soft baked cookies instead of the hard kind they now put out? (or maybe that was Princess I remember). Anyway, I love RCLs cookies but wouldnt touch the ones Carnival puts out, Im picky.

 

I'm with zqvol, I go by price and if I get a good price, Ill go with that cruise, especially if its out of a local port. Right now Carnival is winning, because there are more choices out of ports I can drive to, year round. Other than one bad Carnival cruise, ever other cruise Iv had, Iv enjoyed, no matter which line it was on. I don't let one little annoyance stop me from cruising on whichever line has a good deal....or friends, or a good roll call. I loved my last Triumph cruise ... but what made it special was Grits and another lady whom I like were on the same cruise.

 

 

Princess goes around in the evening during the MUTS showing with warm cookies and milk they follow up with pizza. One of my FAVORITE things about Princes wish they would return to Galveston or at least somewhere along the Gulf Coast. :D

[Cindy]

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.

 

We enjoy both Carnival and RCCL, but based on the things that are important to you, Carnival is probably a better choice for you at this point in time. I think you would have a different, more positive experience on one of the bigger, newer RCCL ships. If I based my cruise line choice on ship beauty and layout, there's no question in my mind that I would pick RCCL every time. Since that's not the only thing we care about, we're sticking with Carnival for now.

I agree with you about the food. For our tastes, the food on Carnival is an enormous step up in quality and taste from RCCL, especially in the MDR. We thought breakfasts were about the same, MDR lunches are better on Carnival (where the menu changes instead of being the same for a week), and at dinner there was no comparison. We spent our entire first Carnival cruise looking at each other in astonishment because we couldn't believe how good the food was!

I also prefer the Lido on Carnival to the Windjammer on RCCL. I don't eat much off the true buffet, but my DH and I love all the specialty stations such as burritos, deli, pizza, fresh grilled burgers, rotisserie chicken, Mongolian, etc.

[Cindy]

Princess goes around in the evening during the MUTS showing with warm cookies and milk they follow up with pizza. One of my FAVORITE things about Princes wish they would return to Galveston or at least somewhere along the Gulf Coast. :D

 

Absolutely!

[Quigley10]

Just to throw in our two cents...we just got off the Freedom of the Seas yesterday. It was a very different experience from yours. I wonder if the luck of the draw, you had bad luck with your cruise? Bummer. :(

 

On the Freedom, we had nightly towel animals but no mints. The pizza restaurant is open from 1P -3A (Great antipasti!), and the ice cream machine was open every afternoon. Cafe Promenade was open 24h per day for sandwiches, cookies and pastries...their cookies were popular, especially mudslide.

 

Having traveled on both Carnival and RCI previously, we were really impressed with the Freedom and have rebooked on it already. No waterslide, but the H2O Zone and Flowrider are pretty awesome. :). They've exchanged the midnight buffet for the noon mini midnight buffet: the Freedom Fest. All in all, we didn't notice much in the way of cost cutting between earlier RCI cruises and the Freedom. You might really enjoy the Freedom class. Good luck with whatever you decide!!

[firefly333]

Just to throw in our two cents...we just got off the Freedom of the Seas yesterday. It was a very different experience from yours. I wonder if the luck of the draw, you had bad luck with your cruise? Bummer. :(

 

On the Freedom, we had nightly towel animals but no mints. The pizza restaurant is open from 1P -3A (Great antipasti!), and the ice cream machine was open every afternoon. Cafe Promenade was open 24h per day for sandwiches, cookies and pastries...their cookies were popular, especially mudslide.

 

I dont remember a cookie called mudslides, but then I only got the oatmeal raisin cookies, so maybe I just missed it ... sounds good. What is it? Having that stuff open until 3 am is late enough for me ...perfect. My only complaint was there is no ice for the iced tea in the cafe...?? thats wierd to me. each to his own. I need ice. I have Mariner and Oasis booked, only big ships on RCL ... for Carnival I like big and little ships.