Comparison of Carnival Glory to Royal Caribbean Mariner....stay away from Carnival

[Ericknow32]

Carnival two vegas shows are outstanding, the comdicans are much better the rccl, Al ernest, happy cole etc are the best in the game. Also the dancers and singers put on a special show one night called glory days was great midnight in the back lounge. Cccl offer several midnight shows during the week R rated for adults, that is non existing on a rccl, rccl night life does not exist the ship goes to sleep around 11pm. I also love the piano bar on a carnival ship and the deck parties are alway great.

 

i think all cruise lines at times do a over kill on annoument during the day it is not only carnival. They try to promote all activities etc.

 

Carnival wins my vote as being number 1. Because they are more fun, more activities, more night life and the people seems to have more fun and are more upbeat during the week/cruise. They also have the best cruise director by far, john heald leads the pack.

 

I would advise anyone to try a fun ship in a heart beat. One thing that

rccl does have over carnival is the voyager class ships, i have said this many times it is a shame you cant take the voyager ship and give it to carnival to run etc.

I looked over your list and I see you have taken very few Rccl cruises in the past few years. I don't get how you can make claims about certain things that you cant possibly know about.

 

1) Shows How can you claim that Carnival has better shows if you haven't had a good poll of all the shows.

 

2) Nightlife How do you know what the nightlife is like on all Rccl ships. You cant. Plus nightlife depends on the passengers onboard that current sailing not the cruise line.

 

3) Comedians Have you seen all the comedians on all the ships. No, so I don’t think you can make that claim. Plus Rccl does have a late night comedy show.

 

4) Voyager of the Seas Obviously Rccl has the creative input to build a one of a kind cruise ship that is like nothing else on earth. Can’t say the same about other cruise lines.

 

I am not making any claims that Carnival is less than Rccl because I do not have enough experience with carnival. I just wanted to clear some things up regarding Rccl.

[Runner Girl]

Sorry you didn't enjoy yourself. Honestly, I've never had a bad cruise. My least favorite was an RCI but it had nothing to do with RCI, it had everything to do with the other passengers that happened to sail that week. The ship was full of the crabbiest, rudest, most ungrateful people I've ever seen. Actually, my hubbie and I sort of made entertainment out of it. People's behavior was so outrageous it was funny! Can't fault RCI on that one! That was just the roll of the dice. But then, we cruised Hawaii, and we made it our goal to get to places where fellow passengers would not go! ;)

[rpsinnj]

Guess you didnt look over my list there were 6 rccl ships included in that list, so yes i can compare and i was being honest.The vegas shows have won several awards over the past few years on the newer ccl ship. I gave rccl credit for design of voyager class ships they are great. I didnt want to get into this part but the people on a carnival ship seem to be more fun easy going, fun type, let it roll type of people, looking to have a great time, better words would be more lay back. I was giving Carnival credit in the areas they are outstanding in, i was not trying to be negative. I perfer a Carnival ship over a rccl because i have more fun and laugh more during the week. Take a walk on a carnival ship around midnight during the mid part of the week and compare what you see on a Rccl, action will speak louder then words. I dont recall many midnight show on rccl or I dont recall any late night after 11pm deck parties. Also two of Carnival best comedian are rated the best in there field, both have been on major tv shows, drew carey showtime etc. One is touring the country with a comedy search type show, show like star search type.

 

Carnival also has large cabins, more space in bathroom, when i take a shower on a rccl ship i get attack by the shower curtain, that dont happen on a carnival ship. You think with the design of the Voyager class ship rccl would have made the bathroom and shower area bigger.

[GoinCruisin]

Ericknow, I don't think anyone said anything to the OP about her opinion.... nobody flamed the OP about saying anything "bad" about the ship... I think it was the "stay away from Carnival" that people may have thought should be left off... a little misleading to newbies is all. I think this thread has remained civil and has given different opinions on the different lines.

[Starlake666]

I have sailed the Carnival Glory and RC Mariner. I enjoyed both cruises. I think the Mariner was a beautiful ship, but I'd have to give the edge to Carnival in food, service and entertainment. The Mariner was DEAD by 11pm each night, unless you were in the disco witht the 18 yr. olds. No late night shows...nothing.

 

I can not imagine ANY 17 yr. old sitting in the room reading on ANY cruise, Carnival or otherwise. My daughter's been cruising since age 15 and has never failed to meet up with others her age and having a ball hanging out. She's never needed the rock climbing wall to have a good time!!!

[halos]

It's always sad to hear someone has a bad cruise, and I am sorry that yours did not meet your expectations. :(

You never mentioned if when you sailed RCCL that it was this time of year...around spring breaks. That, in itself can make a HUGE difference in your experience.

I've heard both good and bad about RCCL as well as Carnival. Sometimes, unfortuantely, it's the luck of the draw...the week you choose. There is no guarantee that the seas will be calm. Stabilizers can't make the ship seem immobile if the swells are very large...not on ANY ship...I'm sorry your kids were bored (?) It seems that on a ship that full during spring break, they should have found other kids to be bored with...at least they could have had some company....Oh well...it's a shame that this turned you off enough not to sail Carnival again..but I understand. If I had a bad 1st cruise on any particular line, I probably would hesitate to attempt it again as well...can't blame you there at all.

[GoHeels]

One of my biggest concerns about choosing a cruise for this summer was "Will my teenagers enjoy it?" We sailed on Explorer of the Seas two years ago, and while they liked the rock climbing, mini golf, roller blading, etc., the teen club was very small and not fun. My son loved the arcade, however. I chose Carnival's Glory for this summer, wanting a newer ship and looking at the teen facilities, it appears to have a larger teen area despite not having the better sports alternatives. I really wanted to know why your 17-year-old hated the Glory cruise so much. Can you elaborate?

[prekteacher904]

We went on the Carnival Glory on March 19. I've got to say that this cruise was definitely not worth the money. We didn't have a bad time, it was better than being at work, but I wish we hadn't gone with Carnival. We have always had a great time on RCCL, but hubby wanted to try a new ship and kids heard Carnival was so much fun.

Well our 2 teens weren't too happy with the "teen area". Nothing for them to do. On Royal Caribbean they never wanted to get off, there is a whole area where parents aren't allowed and the kids hang out there all the time and have a blast. They think of ways to stow away! This time, they were ready to go home. My 17 year old actually read his book in the cabin all day and went out at night. I can't get him to crack a book at home unless it's at gunpoint! lol

Entertainment was OK. Carlo kind of got on my nerves....he woke me up at 10:00 a.m. on a sea day with announcements, but wasn't really very visible around the ship.

With 3400 people on the ship, there isn't enough open space. It's kind of like a trailer park cruise compared to a luxury cruise (please don't flame me, no offense meant, just a comparison) I felt like a sardine! No chairs at the pool, the employees seemed ragged out TIRED!!! Our cabin steward (Tamara) was awesome and we thanked her by tipping her an extra $20. The captain should learn how to use the stabalizers.....very rocky ship; which didn't bother us, but I'd hate to be a waiter! We took our bonine each night and we were fine.

We don't really cruise for the food. We normally don't go to the diniing room every night and prefer to eat when we want to, which means if we miss our seating, we just go to the buffet. Food in the dining room was good (not great) but the service was pretty slow. The 1st night that we decided to go to the buffet, I thought we took a wrong turn and ended up at the school cafeteria line. There was nothing appetizing to eat....hardly any food at all actually. Not much of a choice and just blah looking. Breakfast was pretty bad both in the dining room and the cafeteria. Room service is continental breakfast or sandwich (which BLT was good). The grill by the pool was really great! Best chili dog I've ever eaten.....but they werren't open after 6:00. Pizza was also good, open 24 hours. Except for when we got off the ship, we had lunch instead of breakfast.

 

Again, to compare to Royal Caribbean, I wish I would have spent the extra money and gone with them. In hindsight, it wasn't that much more, but would have been well worth it! (about $1000 more for the 4 of us -- 2 rooms) Live and learn.

 

I read this whole post, I have been on Carnival Cruises before, had a great time. I unfortunately was on the illfated trip of Feb. 19-26 on the Glory. I have to say kudo's to much of your post. I was on the trip with 17 year olds, luckily for them there were 6 in our group of 40, so they had each other during the day. During the day it was a problem with chairs on the pool deck. I was not crazy about the buffet either and I found dining room service slow also. I often went to breakfast and lunch in the dining room because everything seemed fresher. We also knew what would be for lunch the next day at the buffet, it would be leftovers from dinner the previous evening.

I have come to the conclusion bigger is not better. I too have done RC.

I to have my opinions of who I will sail with next time.

Many think that Carnival can do not wrong, but right now, many of us are in a dispute with them over the trip in Feb. and not because of the itinerary change it is everything that happened after that and the treatment we received. You write a letter to them,Carnival, whoever you write the letter to has someone else respond. My letters to them have now been passed down four times. Letters going today to state and federal agencies suggested by the

Florida Attorney General .

[prekteacher904]

Been on many cruises with different cruise lines.

 

There is no such thing as a bad cruise.

 

Linda

 

You evidently did not sail on the Glory Feb. 19-26. I use to have the same idea, no such thing as a bad cruise. Mmmmm............really rethinking that one/

[lnm]

I just wrote up a very eloquent reply, and lost it somehow!

Just as a reply...I did try to take off the stay away from Carnival Title, but wasn't able to.

I didn't say my kids hated the cruise. We didn't hate it. It was better than being at work. From my perspective, it was a waste of money. We made the most of it, our kids know we spent alot of money on it. They didn't whine and complain, they just stated the fact that they liked RCCL alot better.

My kids are not shy. They are confident and friendly. They went to the teen meeting the first night. My 14 year old son didn't meet any kids that were his type. The 3rd night he finally met some kids that he hung out with. My 17 year old met some kids he hung out with in the evenings. There was nothing for them to do during the day. We live in Florida, so laying by the pool is not their thing....they're boys, not concerned with getting tan. They get tan doing things, not laying around. My kids said most of the kids that were on the ship were drinking, smoking, and doing alot of cursing. The type of kids we prefer that they not hang out with.

More later....I gotta go.

[island777girl]

We went on Glory last June and our kids had a blast. The deck parties were jumping, our teens 14, 17 and 20 joined in all the deck parties, congo line etc. I have cruised Carnival seven times and RCI twice. I have found the age group on RCI to be much older and the pax to be more sedate. Also the kids found the curfew for teens on RCI to be a damper...on Carnival they partied till the wee hours in the clubs and on deck. The Glory was absolutely awesome, the food great. I hope first time cruisers reading that post won't be put-off. The only people who would not enjoy Carnival are very picky people, picky eaters who are possibly elderly, don't like fun and noise and don't know how to let loose and enjoy themselves. People in those groups should stick to RCaribbean, Princess and those other lines. Carnival is definitely the "fun ship" and the food is twice as appetizing as Royal. Just my two cents, don't bash.

[Magnifique1908]

We went on Glory last June and our kids had a blast. The deck parties were jumping, our teens 14, 17 and 20 joined in all the deck parties, congo line etc. I have cruised Carnival seven times and RCI twice. I have found the age group on RCI to be much older and the pax to be more sedate. Also the kids found the curfew for teens on RCI to be a damper...on Carnival they partied till the wee hours in the clubs and on deck. The Glory was absolutely awesome, the food great. I hope first time cruisers reading that post won't be put-off. The only people who would not enjoy Carnival are very picky people, picky eaters who are possibly elderly, don't like fun and noise and don't know how to let loose and enjoy themselves. People in those groups should stick to RCaribbean, Princess and those other lines. Carnival is definitely the "fun ship" and the food is twice as appetizing as Royal. Just my two cents, don't bash.

 

Thanks for this review!!!

[reggierail]

Ok......I've done Glory and Mariner...RCI STILL failed to my worst Carnival cruise. Now I'm not totally dismissing RCI....I said they failed to my worst Carnival cruise......but my worst Carnival Cruise was a b+.....lol......I actually am giving RCI another shot on Rhapsody this summer as I heard it's the best with food and service so we'll see......but I'm TOTALLY sold on Carnival hands down at their worst....make sense?:D

 

It sure does. I hope you enjoy the Rhapsody, I did, it was probably one of my better RCCL cruises. I've been on 12 RCCL cruises and have had one cruise on the Monarch that was pretty bad. It was the second revenue cruise after a major refurb and they were still working on finishing up. I will say that if that was my first RCCL cruise, it might have been my last.

 

Having sailed on RCCL, Celebrity and NCL, my favorite is Celebrity. I sailed on the NCL Sea and was very disappointed with many facets of that cruise although there were several things that I found to be better than on any other cruise such as all the different food stations and alternative dining venues. The poolside BarBq's were awesome, but the buffet's were terrible. I've found there is good and bad on all cruises and try to focus on the good and sidestep the bad.

 

I did a ship inspection on the Pride and Paradise last October and was very impressed with many things I saw and experienced. Lunch in the dining room was excellent on the Pride but I was a little disappointed in the buffet on the Paradise. There wasn't really enough time to experience the ships as I would have liked to. I am booked on a 7 night cruise on the Triumph and a 4 night cruise on the Paradise. I'm really looking forward to both of these cruises and will, at last, have something on Carnival to compare to my other cruises.

 

Randy, I sailed on the Rhapsody last October and had a very nice cruise. The passengers, mostly Texans, were the nicest people I had ever sailed with. The food and service was some of the best I've had on RCCL, although my Voyager cruise in 2000 was by far the best in those categories.

It will be good to hear your review of the Rhapsody and I will definitely let everyone know how my 2 Carnival cruises go.

 

Reggie:D

[big_duck]

You evidently did not sail on the Glory Feb. 19-26. I use to have the same idea, no such thing as a bad cruise. Mmmmm............really rethinking that one/

 

I was! It was people like you who tried to make it miserable for everyone!!

[yogimax]

You say there was "hardly any food at all." Somehow, that statement is hard to believe

[GoinCruisin]

 

There is no such thing as a bad cruise.

 

Linda

 

I'm with ya on this one Linda!!!! With all the problems that have gone on lately... I keep wishing they would PICK ME to go on one of these cruises... end up with onboard credit, credit towards yet ANOTHER cruise! LOL!!!! I'd happily sit on the lido deck with my foofoo drink, and stay away from mayhem... I'd be in my HAPPY SEAT! :D

[halos]

I was! It was people like you who tried to make it miserable for everyone!!

 

you totally rock, duck!! :D

[lilsonicfan]

Many think that Carnival can do not wrong, but right now, many of us are in a dispute with them over the trip in Feb. and not because of the itinerary change it is everything that happened after that and the treatment we received. You write a letter to them,Carnival, whoever you write the letter to has someone else respond. My letters to them have now been passed down four times. Letters going today to state and federal agencies suggested by the

Florida Attorney General .

 

Not to be incredibly rude, but I am sooooo sick of hearing about this "terrible" and "illfated" cruise you were on. Other people managed to have a good time and keep their complaints to a minimum. You are of course entitled to your opinion, but gah..... it's bugging me!

 

I've never even sailed before, and I still think Carnival did an alright job given the circumstances. What is it you want to happen? obviously you want some sort of compensation, but why do you think you deserve it? Things happen, cruises sometimes have to change itineraries.

[slynnr]

I was also on the Carnival Glory 3/19. I have 2 kids age 6 & 3. I have been on Disney before this, my parents who were with us have been on 2 Princess and 2 RC cruises. Here is my take:

Problems:

This was a FULLY packed ship. Embarking was a nightmare (ship was late to port) thousands of people standing around. We arrived at port at 11:30am didn't board until 1:30.

Muster drill was VERY long. So many people to herd to a few places.

Disembarking and embarking at ports was a nightmare. We were the only ship docked to have a line (very long 1 hr) to reboard. Arrived in St. Thomas 10:00am, didn't get off the ship until 1:00 pm and all this waited was in line to get off the ship. Port days were towel hog heaven. No chairs at all on any deck. People left one shoe, a book etc. to save chairs. We had to walk around the ship 2 times to finally find a empty chair. Lots of kids playing with the elevators the first 2 nights. No parents found. Long lines to get into dinner in dining room. Waited like cattle til they opened the doors.

 

Good things :

 

Ship was very clean, food was good, staff was friendly. Kids loved the kids club. Spa treatments were expensive but great.

 

I would cruise Carnival again, just not during a spring break time.

 

My parents liked Carnival better than Princess, but not as much as RCCL.

[caviargal]

Been on many cruises with different cruise lines.

 

There is no such thing as a bad cruise.

 

Linda

 

I respectfully disagree. I have sailed on a few cruises that were awful (the Vercruz comes to mind) and some that I sincerely regretted spending my time and money on. Those two were Carnival. I would prefer to stay home.

[ladycaveat]

I've never been on a Carnival cruise, though I am looking forward to being on the Triumph the end of this month. Because this will be my first Carnival cruise, I'm rather curious about something . . . why is it when anyone posts something about Carnival that isn't full of glowing praise . . . they are pounced upon as if they had just stomped on the American flag? It's as if those that post good things are responded to with warm fuzzies but Heaven help those that, for whatever reason, didn't particularly care for Carnival are practically called liars and treated like a piranha. Just because someone didn't enjoy their cruise and tells others to stay away from Carnival . . . does it really justify all the less than friendly replies?

[glrounds]

... and some that I sincerely regretted spending my time and money on. Those two were Carnival. I would prefer to stay home.

 

GAWD ! ! A collision with a subsequent sinking would be better for me than "staying at home". (always wondered if the seawater would, indeed, trip that little light switch on the life vest). :D

[halos]

I've never been on a Carnival cruise, though I am looking forward to being on the Triumph the end of this month. Because this will be my first Carnival cruise, I'm rather curious about something . . . why is it when anyone posts something about Carnival that isn't full of glowing praise . . . they are pounced upon as if they had just stomped on the American flag? It's as if those that post good things are responded to with warm fuzzies but Heaven help those that, for whatever reason, didn't particularly care for Carnival are practically called liars and treated like a piranha. Just because someone didn't enjoy their cruise and tells others to stay away from Carnival . . . does it really justify all the less than friendly replies?

 

the post 2 above yours by slynnr...is a good example of a good post.

The person didn't like their cruise all that much..listed the reasons why and then listed the things that at least met their expectations.

It is a fair review.

Not all cruises are perfect...and not all cruises can be total trash...unless you make it that way. When someone comes on and just spews negative remarks, it's kinda hard to take them seriously. It's just darn hard to believe that EVERYTHING can be bad on a cruise ship....those are the posts that people tend to flame.

[Girlsnightout]

I've sailed RCL and enjoyed it, I've also enjoyed Disney, Celebrity (very much in fact, my favorite), and didn't enjoy NCL. I have my first cruise on Carnival in 2 weeks on the Glory. There are almost 20 of us going, myself, girlfirends and our kids.

 

After reading recent reviews I'm not sure what to expect. I guess I'll hope for the best and expect the worse...

 

One thing's for sure, I'll come back with an accurate review, good or bad, and hope I don't get flamed for giving an honest opinion.:eek:

[Girlsnightout]

GAWD ! ! A collision with a subsequent sinking would be better for me than "staying at home". (always wondered if the seawater would, indeed, trip that little light switch on the life vest). :D

 

Now that's just crazy talk....no one wants to pay $ 5,000 for something that's only redeeming feature is to be better than staying home... Truly.:rolleyes: