Considering Royal Caribbean

[kingoftheicedragons]

I am considering booking a cruise on Royal Caribbean for fall 2014 (Canadian cruise, assuming that they continue the itinerary that I want). So far, I have only sailed Carnival. What sorts of differences am I going to find between the two lines.

 

It may be a stupid question, but does Royal Caribbean do lobster in the MDR?

Are there more pay restaurants on RC on board compared to Carnival?

[Trekker954]

Royal does a fisherman's plate (includes a lobster tail and shrimp) on sailings more than six nights.

 

They have a few pay restaurants (lots on Oasis and Allure); you will have to look at which ship you are sailing to Canada. I think its the Brilliance and/or Explorer in 2014. So look them up. I just sailed Celebrity Reflection which seemed to have many more pay restaurants that RCI. I don't recall that many on any of the three Carnival ships I've sailed.

[Starry Eyes]

like Carnival, Royal Caribbean has multiple series of ships. Like carnival, different ships have different features and different styles. so to compare how many specialty restaurants, we'd have to compare a specific Royal Caribbean ship to one or more of the Carnival ships you have sailed.

 

Royal Caribbean does offer lobster tail in the MDR on most sailings on this side of the pond. not necessarily in Europe...I am not sure about short sailings, but Canada/NE would in all likelihood have lobster.

[kingoftheicedragons]

The ship I'm looking at would likely be Explorer of the Seas. I'm using the 2013 schedule as a guide, and its 11-day itinerary that goes to all four Canadian maritime provinces as well as two stops in Maine and ends in Quebec.

[rubrrick]

The ship I'm looking at would likely be Explorer of the Seas. I'm using the 2013 schedule as a guide, and its 11-day itinerary that goes to all four Canadian maritime provinces as well as two stops in Maine and ends in Quebec.

 

 

That is actually one that I would like to do as well. Is that a fall 2014 cruise for the colors of the leaves?? The 2014 guide should be out, parts of it are, and I'll look to see when RCL is going to put out that itinerary.

 

Since you mentioned lobster tails, the company is just now converting over from the 4 oz tail to a 6 oz tail. I had a couple on our last trip, and they were delicious.

 

One of the best things about Royal Caribbean ships is that they are so easy to get around, ie, very well laid out. And the staff seems to go out of their way to help passengers.

 

You can't go wrong with RCL. You just need to look at my signature to see which line I prefer.;)

 

Rick

[stevea36]

The ship I'm looking at would likely be Explorer of the Seas. I'm using the 2013 schedule as a guide, and its 11-day itinerary that goes to all four Canadian maritime provinces as well as two stops in Maine and ends in Quebec.

 

At the current time Explorer only has one pay restaurant (Portofino) and one pay "snack" place (Johnny Rockets), but I believe that the ship is due to be upgraded in 2014 which will most likely result in additional pay restaurants. Also, rumors abound that one of the new Sunshine ships may replace explorer out of Bayonne when it comes out. I believe that it is due late 2014 so that may affect the ship that sails this itinerary.

 

Steve

[TxKroozer]

As you can see we have cruised quite a bit. We started with Carnival, but switched to Royal and likely will never go back. We actually cruised on the SS Carnivale. We prefer Royal as opposed to the Fun Ships advertised by Carnival, would characterize Royal as class. Everyone will find friendly staff, but it seems those on Royal are genuine. There are so many offerings for food on all Royal ships, the issue of additional pay service is not an issue. We have cruised on the Explorer and enjoyed it immensely. We actually are not big on the additional pay service, but we went to Portofinos twice when last on e Explorer.

 

So as you can see, my vote goes to Royal.