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

[Girlsnightout]

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?

 

I'd love to hear too, we have kids going from 22 months - 15 years, so I hope my 15 year old has fun!:confused:

[big_duck]

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

 

How about going with an open mind and a "not gonna let the little things get me down I'm on vacation" attitude.

[ladycaveat]

How about going with an open mind and a "not gonna let the little things get me down I'm on vacation" attitude.

 

Big Duck . . . I could swear that the last time I read your reply to Girlsnightout you said something like . . . "I feel this will be another negative reply" . . . did you edit your reply or am I just dreaming?

[GoinCruisin]

LOL Lady, nope... it's still in the title of his post :p

[ladycaveat]

LOL Lady, nope... it's still in the title of his post :p

 

Thanks GC . . . I really thought I was losing it . . . and I haven't even had my first glass of wine yet!

[GoinCruisin]

Thanks GC . . . I really thought I was losing it . . . and I haven't even had my first glass of wine yet!

 

GURL!!! It's FRIDAY!!! What are you waiting for!!! We'll keep your spot warm for ya, go fix a glass!!!! :D

[cruisercathy]

I have just finished reading this entire thread. I guess what it all comes down to what our expectations of our cruises are. Personally, as long as I am at sea, I have food to eat and foo foo drinks to drink I am happy.

 

I have been on several Carnival cruises.............and one RCCL. (on the Navigator). Someday I will sail on RCCL again...............but for now IMO Carnival has the fun, has the upbeat passengers, has the better food and better entertainment. My Navigator cruise (which took place during the summer).....was so quiet and sedate...........I am not a party person but I love to watch people having fun and they were hard to come by on the Navigator. My parents who are in their 70's feel the same way and so do my children. The only plus I saw on RCCL was the adult only pool with the stairs entrance.............my dad loved that and of course will miss on Carnival but he can;t wait to go on the Valor.

[Girlsnightout]

Excuse me. One should never commit a PUI....mea culpa....

[Girlsnightout]

How about going with an open mind and a "not gonna let the little things get me down I'm on vacation" attitude.

 

Ummmm, OK, but I take on average 5 vacations a year. and I'm not exactly young (although I look fabulous), so I've earned the right to be picky.

 

I believe in being a wise consumer, so if I like a vacation, you'll hear about it (fodors.com, charter member), you'll also hear about it if I don't. Why should anyone spend foolishly? especially when you can spend fabulously.....oh, and goin, I've had my wine...dh made dinner...and wine....and.....oh, you know;) ! 'puter was still on, can't resist...

 

 

mmmm. Dig duck. Rhymes with. Oh, nevermind.

[GoinCruisin]

oh, and goin, I've had my wine...dh made dinner...and wine....and.....oh, you know;) ! 'puter was still on, can't resist...

 

 

 

That is good to hear! I was actually responding to LadyC, but glad you had some wine too!

[Girlsnightout]

I know you were, but I respond to "girl". Go figure.:D

[MrPete]

I was reading this and thinking about when I was 17, which I thought was only a couple of years ago until I passed the mirror.

 

Every summer, we would be driven 700 miles to go to Grand Strand to the same motel. There were years that there were plenty of kids my age to interact with, with fond memories of 1973. So the following year, with anticpation of having just as great a summer, total disappointment, as the right people just weren't there.

 

I never held it against the motel.

 

I do one day wish to finally try RCL, but I keep on going back to Carnival.

 

And Pre-K, when you FINALLY have something NEW to post, please let us know. The current stuff was old the second time you posted it.

[TxStacey]

I am about to take my third Carnival cruise and having never sailed RCCI, I cannot make a comparsion, however, I do take offense to the "trailer park" comment by the OP. I know this is not an original view by some, but everytime I read references to WalMart and Carnival I am offended! I am going with a group of about 30 people on the Conquest in June and we are FAR from trailer park. All of the adults in our group have advanced degrees and are very successful in our own right. (My Dh, who is a doctor, agrees with me as well as the other adults in our group who are corporate executives, engineers, CPA's, RN's and stay at home moms.) We all have the means to sail any line we want but we choose Carnival!! We all sailed the Elation last June together and had a blast! Our kids, ages 6-20, had a blast and begged to go on another Carnival cruise this year. I am not trying to incite a riot here, just voicing my opinion. I am sure RCCI is a wonderful line and I would sail them in a heartbeat if I get the chance. We choose Carnival because we like the lively atmosphere and the "fun ship" experience. Perhaps when we get "blue haired" we will try another line...

[Knights on the Beach]

The thing that surprises me is when I read that kids can't find anything to do on the Glory. There were 13 of us on the Glory last May and 7 were kids & teens (ages 12 - 19). The kids LOVED the ship (plus we had a great itinerary, we did the Western Caribbean). During the day, they played basketball (a LOT) and ping pong, swam, went on the slide (and so did we!), etc. My 13 year old son (who is tall & skinny and looks like he never eats) just said to me, "You get to eat free pizza 24 hours a day, drink free soda and eat ice cream all day -- what more could you want?" (I know the soda's not free, but it was all the same to him; we bought him a coke card.) My kids have never had a hard time finding ways to have fun on a cruise, and the Glory was no exception.

 

To people who think anyone has been "flamed" on this thread, I disagree. We are all entitled to our own opinions, and just because we are stating them doesn't mean we are flaming the other posters or "pouncing" on them. I think the OP has done a very good job of responding back to posts!

[Are we there yet?]

The following is from another site and is a good way to look at some of the negative and positive posts on this board,(I think anyway). As always I take everything I read here with a pinch of salt.;)

 

 

It’s almost like scoring figure skating: Disregard the “top marks,” i.e., posted comments about a ship that are so glowing they could be directly from cruise line brochures. Next, toss out disregard the “bottom marks” – from cynics who have absolutely nothing positive to say about the ship. Those are often from someone who had a problem they couldn’t remedy, and who allowed that problem to ruin their cruise vacation; they use the Internet as a venue to vent their frustrations.

[lnm]

My trailer park remark wasn't meant to offend....just a way to compare that everyone could put a picture to.

I know that the people in the environment can change each experience. But the people on the ship don't change the facts of a crowded ship (not even just people wise, but clausterphopic-wise); tired crew; slow service; mediocre food on the buffet and adequate entertainment. If Carnival had been our first cruise, maybe we would have felt differently, maybe we wouldn't have gone on a second cruise. It's hard to say.

 

At this point, my DH says maybe next time we can go without him as he wanted to experience a different ship than the first 2 RCCL ships, but after Carnival felt like we threw away $5000. My kids want to go back to RCCL. Maybe we'll just stick to 2 weeks in Sanibel and do some land vacations for the next couple years! (son starts college in the Fall! lol)

 

This was just an opinion. Everyone has one, this was mine.

[halos]

Inm...I'm just curious as to whether your cruises with RCCL were also during peak vacation times, such as spring break??

I can't imagine that RCCL ships weren't as crowded as Carnival's during the month of March.

[glrounds]

The following is from another site and is a good way to look at some of the negative and positive posts on this board,(I think anyway). As always I take everything I read here with a pinch of salt.;)

 

 

It’s almost like scoring figure skating: Disregard the “top marks,” i.e., posted comments about a ship that are so glowing they could be directly from cruise line brochures. Next, toss out disregard the “bottom marks” – from cynics who have absolutely nothing positive to say about the ship. Those are often from someone who had a problem they couldn’t remedy, and who allowed that problem to ruin their cruise vacation; they use the Internet as a venue to vent their frustrations.

 

So, absolutely, positively, irrefutably TRUE. :cool:

[glrounds]

Every time I hear the "trailer park" reference, I can't help but think of the "trailer park" that juts out into the sea in Malibu, where the occupants pay more for space rent than most Americans do for their homes. Where when you leave this "park" you sell your RIGHT to RENT your space for Thousands of Dollars to the new "occupant". :D

[wwaggone]

Its always refreshing to hear honest, sometimes overly impassioned, opinions about your cruise, whether it was great, good, bad, or terrible. It is especially arrogant to think that one post will steer thousands of people away from an entire cruise line and hypocritical to tell somebody to remove or change their post. I have my first carnival cruise booked for november, and I'm sure I'll have a great time :D !

[lnm]

halos....last 2 cruises were right after school was out....1st week in June. Both ships at capacity, with loads of kids. The difference is in the ship. There isn't as much open space on the Glory. The ship is smaller, yet holds the same amount of people.

[princes511]

Recently off RCI's Voyager (3/19/05) and found myself comparing it to my first cruise on CCL's Triumph throughout the entire week. I absoloutely loved both cruises. I would give the edge to Carnival however. I'm in my mid twenties and found by the the time 11 p.m rolled around, the 3800 people that were on Voyager with me were nowhere to be found, except the 18 y/o in the club. I guess this must be usual for RCI because they even joked about it in their nightly shows. I never felt crowded while on either ship. RCI is coming out with an even bigger ship next year and while I would love to try it out I think next time I'm going to go Carnival. I guess it depends on what you're looking for.

[sgriff17]

Get her Goin' i saw I saw that other thread too. Talk about raining on someone's parade!

[halos]

halos....last 2 cruises were right after school was out....1st week in June. Both ships at capacity, with loads of kids. The difference is in the ship. There isn't as much open space on the Glory. The ship is smaller, yet holds the same amount of people.

 

Thanks Inm...it's good to know. The largest ship I've sailed has been the Spirit class...(which I loved) ....your review makes me think that's as large as I'd like to sail. I'd feel claustrophobic if too many people were packed into too small a space as well.