Thinking of a change..convince me why RCCL over Carnival

[kentuckyluckyguy]

I have cruised with Carnival five times and have not been disappointed. I am taking my daughters on a Celebration cruise this summer to the Bahamas and know to go with no expectations.

 

Now I am looking for a fall cruise with my fiance' and am really considering going with RCCL and would like to know what to expect in relation to what I've experienced on Carnival. I know that RCCL costs a couple hundred dollars more on most 7 day cruises compared to Carnival. I'd appreciate honest opinions and observations from those who have cruised both lines and can tell me distinct differences in everything from food, to service, to entertainment, to cabins, to ships themselves.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Clarea]

No one's opinion is better than your own. Try it and see for yourself.

[Karma5]

No one's opinion is better than your own. Try it and see for yourself.

I agree with the above..............................:)

[Eriksgarden]

I have never sailed Carnival, so not sure how to convince you. But I haven't seen many loyal to RCCL think about changing lines. Maybe there is your answer?

[Zigggypup]

If you are happy with Carnival and have not been disappointed, I would say stick with them. Enjoy your cruise.

[ryano]

No one's opinion is better than your own. Try it and see for yourself.

 

I agree.

[jarz85]

Royal's ships will get you back to the port on time and won't break down

 

Sorry, I just had to :D

[Zigggypup]

Royal's ships will get you back to the port on time and won't break down

 

Sorry, I just had to :D

 

They just had a string of bad luck. They will be fine once they get their generator issues resolved.

[narrow56]

If you are happy with Carnival and have not been disappointed, I would say stick with them. Enjoy your cruise.

 

I agree with this, though it doesn't hurt to branch out. My first cruise was Carnival and I thought I'd never want to try another line. I tried Royal for our honeymoon and now I definitely prefer it over Carnival. The entertainment is so much better on Royal. Other than that though, it's pretty comparable.

[ryano]

They just had a string of bad luck. They will be fine once they get their generator issues resolved.

 

And will likely be the SAFEST and most seaworthy ships at sea once heads roll over all this.

[Ladysilver]

Royal's ships will get you back to the port on time and won't break down

 

Sorry, I just had to :D

 

You're right!! :D

[susanNjay]

Have cruised on both (and others) and RCCL is our favorite. It's a little more conservative...or you might say grown up. The service is a notch above. I think I feel a bit more "pampered" on RCCL. I would suggest you try it... You may like it a lot!:)

 

--Susan

[WhenIsLobsterNight]

If you enjoy fires on your ship, or being towed by tugboats, I would certainly suggest staying with Carnival. :D OK, I had to get the little jab in for fun. I have enjoyed several cruise lines over the years and I am not faithful to any particular line. Here are my serious opinions to your question:

 

What Carnival does better:

 

1. The rooms tend to be larger. I am sure their are exceptions, but the average balcony room is quite a few more square feet larger on Carnival.

2. Carnival throws a better party - If you are a late night bar/dance club person, Carnival is definitely the better option. They call themselves the Fun Ships and try to cater to that crowd.

3. Price - Carnival is cheaper no matter how you look at it.

 

What both lines do equally:

 

1. I think the food quality is pretty similar in the MDR on both ships. The buffet on RCCL is better though.

 

What RCCL does better:

 

1. The entertainment is much better on RCCL. Carnival has really cut back here. As I am sure you are aware, they no longer even have a steel drum band on their ships. The steel drum band is alive and well on RCCL. I personally think the quality of all the shows are better on RCCL.

2. Staff - Carnivals staff never seems to be very friendly, and often appear understaffed to me. I guess this opinion is more subjective in nature.

3. Maintenance - I joked about it above, but Carnival has clearly cut back on their maintenance to their ships and are having problems. Now they have increased their budget for this in 2013 from 200 million to almost 800 million, but it is going to take awhile to get those ships up to par again. I have no intention of sailing Carnival again for at least a year until their ships are fixed back up.

4. Atmosphere - Another subjective one here. I think RCCL is more family friendly, and the ships tend to be less crowded. It seems like I run into a wall of people wherever I am on a Carnival cruise, but RCCL always has quiet empty spots when I want to find one.

5. Decor - RCCL is much better. You will not have to see blinding neon for 7 days wherever you go.

 

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I am sure other people have different opinions. Good luck with your choice.

[Zigggypup]

And will likely be the SAFEST and most seaworthy ships at sea once heads roll over all this.

 

You are probably right about that. I'm sure that they have 12 teams working on double checking everything that the prior 11 teams did. They can't afford another incident at this point.

[dplusd]

We sailed Carnival once. Had low expectations and had a better time that we thought we would. We enjoyed our dinners in the MDR as much, or a little more, than on RCI. Wearing shorts to dinner in the MDR was also a nice treat!

 

In our opinion, Royal has a nicer ship design and layout. We found Carnival a little glitzy, in a cheap way.

 

The biggest difference, and the reason we won't go back to Carnival is the atmosphere. It was SO loud everywhere. We never did find a relaxing place to sit for pre-dinner drinks...someplace that didn't have the THUMP, THUMP, THUMP of a live band in your face.

 

Were we younger and more into loud band music and partying, we would probably prefer Carnival. I think they offer a nice product for the right customer.

[Zigggypup]

Have cruised on both (and others) and RCCL is our favorite. It's a little more conservative...or you might say grown up. The service is a notch above. I think I feel a bit more "pampered" on RCCL. I would suggest you try it... You may like it a lot!:)

 

--Susan

 

No, don't suggest it !!!

 

Loyal Royal Caribbean cruisers don't need to be infected by Carnival cruisers. That would be the beginning of the end of Royal Caribbean as we know it today.

 

Before you know it, Royal Caribbean will be offering triple points to Carnival cruisers just to try out the cruise line.

 

Say it ain't so............lol. :D:D:D

[Cruising89143]

No one's opinion is better than your own. Try it and see for yourself.

 

I agree with the above..............................:)

 

I agree 100%. Try it for yourself as that is the only way to know if it is the right fit for you. All it took was one cruise on RCI and I never looked back to Carnival.

[LS1030]

I agree with all the above...everyone knows their own dislikes and likes better than anyone else.

 

For us personally, we have sailed Carnival once and Royal Caribbean once. Our Carnival cruise was on an older ship and my husband was often bored and we almost decided to never cruise again...but we went on a Royal Caribbean cruise (on a new ship - Freedom of the Seas) and we were never bored...so for us it was the amount of things to do on the ship was our selling point.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

One reason I prefer Royal Caribbean to Carnival is the decor and art on Royal ships are more pleasing to me personally. Also I feel Royal ships are laid out better, more logically. They are easier to get around.

 

The one Carnival ship I have sailed, Carnival Liberty, made me feel claustrophobic. I think the ceilings are a bit lower, and the corridors are a bit narrower. It may have been the color scheme whch can play tricks with perception.

 

Decor may not be important to many passengers. They may feel a "good time" is of much greater importance and Carnival ships have a reputation as giving their passengers a good time. That said, Oasis and Allure certainly provide a good time.

 

I'm trying to phrase all this so as not offend dedicated Carnival fans because Carnival does have thousands of deeply dedicated and loyal passengers, so they are very satisfied with their experience.

 

But after my one cruise on Carnival Liberty I had no desire to ever repeat the experience and just feel much more comfortable on Celebrity and Royal Carribean.

 

One caveat: Without knowing what ship on Royal Caribbean you plan to sail, it is hard to give you advice. If you compare one of Carnival's newest ships, Breeze, for example, against one of Royal's oldest and smallest ships, Majesty of the Seas, for example, you will not be getting a clear picture for your decision making.

[bmac1]

I have been a loyal Royal cruiser out of Baltimore in fact I have my 5th booked for November on the Grandeur but must say the price difference between the Carnival Pride and the Grandeur for cruises out of Baltimore makes it tempting to try Carnival. The Pride suites are larger and considerably cheaper to the tune of around $500 per person out of Baltimore on most of their cruises.

[kristinp36]

We have cruised both and really don't see a huge difference in food or fun.....our last cruise on the Allure of the Seas was a little disappointing on the custmer service side which has now leaned my husband back towards Carnival.

 

I agree that the decor on Carnival ships is not good....usually bad color choices conbined with weird design.

 

We choose our cruise based on the ship, the itenerary and the price.

[ikirumata]

3. Price - Carnival is cheaper no matter how you look at it.

 

Im not sure that this is the case everywhere these days. Looking at sailings out of Galveston 7 days for Royal are on par with 7 days with Carnival. In fact some sailings are actually cheaper on Royal, like on March 30, 2014 (had to find a date that they both were leaving port).

[Luv06012012]

I have been a loyal Royal cruiser out of Baltimore in fact I have my 5th booked for November on the Grandeur but must say the price difference between the Carnival Pride and the Grandeur for cruises out of Baltimore makes it tempting to try Carnival. The Pride suites are larger and considerably cheaper to the tune of around $500 per person out of Baltimore on most of their cruises.

 

Maybe if Carnival bumped up their prices they could afford to pay their maintenance people better and solve all their woes. ;)

[akcruz]

One caveat: Without knowing what ship on Royal Caribbean you plan to sail, it is hard to give you advice. If you compare one of Carnival's newest ships, Breeze, for example, against one of Royal's oldest and smallest ships, Majesty of the Seas, for example, you will not be getting a clear picture for your decision making.

 

This is what I was going to mention. If you compare a brand new Carnival ship to an older Royal ship you will get a different impression than vice versa. You really need to compare equivalent ships and itineraries.

 

Now from my personal experience, we had sailed mainly on Carnival, but ended up sticking with Royal because of our teens. They liked the activities offered on Royal better than Carnival. Will we go back to Carnival, if we find a ship, itinerary and price we like sure we would try it again, but will probably hit other lines first. From the price perspective, don't always expect Carnival to be less. We have done checked a few times and paid close to or in one case less than an equivalent Carnival cruise. Are some itineraries and ship more, absolutely, but not all.

 

As for the differences we saw, the main difference was the ship itself and the crowding. Carnival packs a lot more people onto their ships. We always felt like we were standing in line for something. On Royal the newer ships are truly the destination. They are nicely decorated and well laid out so the passenger flow is much better with lines only at the times you would expect.

 

Overall, the cabins on Carnival are usually larger and we found that the ice cream and pizza were also better. From an entertainment perspective we enjoy Royal better as well.

 

Bottom line though is I won't try to convince you to change (it may only drive my prices higher if more Carnival cruisers come to Royal :D), until you try it yourself you will not know, but that's a decision you need to make. If you decide to try Royal, just pick ships wisely and compare apples to apples.

[kentuckyluckyguy]

First off, let me say thank you to those who have responded. Although I've sailed five times with Carnival and am sailing the Celebration Cruise Line "cheapo" cruise this summer, I'm by no means brand loyal. It's just always worked out that way that it's been Carnival.

 

Secondly, I'm 48 and the first two Carnival cruises were fun because I was in my 20's...last time fiance' and I went on the Elation there were a lot of kids and we spent most of our time on the adults only Serenity deck.

 

Obviously during Fall Break for schools there will be more kids on any line.

 

I am not a "typical" Carnival cruiser as referred to. I'm actually wanting to know and have learned from several responses that each line does one or the other thing better. But, I do tend to think we want to be more "pampered" and have a bit more laid back cruise rather than the party type atmosphere and perhaps a more age appropriate crowd as well.

 

Looking at the Freedom of the Seas out of Port Canaveral. I've found it for only $100 more than the Carnival Dream out of the same port. THinking will give it a try, but I am going to see if my Carnival PVP can get me a better deal first.....but something about RCCL just is very appealing.