Carnival compared to RC

[aaalynn1]

My dd is researching a RC cruise for her honeymoon. I only have had great experiences with Carnival, and never sailed with Royal C. Anyone with experience on both lines, can you tell me why you liked Carnival better?

[Cruisegirl6]

I can't say I prefer Carnival over RC its actually the other way around. RC for me, the food is better selection/variety/quality in the buffets....they don't have restrictions on the number of drinks you can get on their drink package and most importantly not everybody has to purchase the drink package and they offer many different types of drink packages to choose from. The pools are larger and fresh water and late night they offer so much other things to eat besides just the pizza that carnival offers you past midnight, you find cookies, sandwiches, salads, muffins, desserts, panini, sometimes cheese or fruit as well as pizza.

 

The bathrooms in the cabins have glass enclosed showers and the balconies are larger than Carnivals. The MDR menu offer you on a regular basis better quality meats such as NY Strip and sirloin where Carnival offers that flat iron type steak.

 

I do prefer the casino's on carnival as well as the fact Carnival offers you a live band playing rock songs in the evening and I happen to think the bartenders are much friendlier on Carnival.

[trishnmike]

We have cruised on two carnival ships ( triumph & conquest) and cruised on the RC navigator of the seas March of this year. I guess it depends on what you want. The food on RC was horrible. I ate the same thing for seven days. Better food at my local buffet. The deserts were the same. The ship on RC was beautiful. Only got one towel animal in my room once on the RC. Hubs said I was silly for looking for my animals. Carnival has coffee on their Lido deck, where RC doesn't. A deal breaker for him since he likes to drink coffee in the morning sitting on the deck. If you want coffee on RC you need to go to the coffee shop down stairs or wait for the restaurant to open. RC has great shows. Love the sushi class. Worth the price. We messed up cruising during spring break because the kids on the ship would jump in the elevators hit each button and jump off. I guess it depends on what you like. The hubs cruise for the food & to relax on the lido in the morning hours. I'm happy getting away.

[aaalynn1]

Thanks for the replys! Does anyone know if they offer the same price adjustments like Carnival if you book early? Or possible upgrades?

[Cruisegirl6]

These still look the same they are menu's on RC, remember everybody is different with food, as for me, we never eat in fast food establishments and we generally always dine 4/5 star restaurants on land based vacations. I like quality meats and seafood.

 

http://www.cruisewithgambee.com/2014-royal-caribbean-menus/

 

The towel animals the other person may be right you won't get them overnight but you do get some, as for me, I can't care less I seen them all over and over they do nothing for me and I can do without them.

 

All the RC cruises I been on you always can get coffee in the Windjammer even hot water and there is a tea selection as well as hot cocoa, iced tea, juices in the am and a punch in the daytime throughout the night.

 

I also failed to mention RC shows are so much better in quality and the ice skating show is never to be missed its excellent.

 

We also avoid going during times when kids are out of school, we generally love May, September, October and the first week of December are our favorites. No matter what cruise line you take if kids are on a break or out of school you find a lot of kids everywhere.

[N2Mischief]

Our second ever cruise was on RC, first on Carnival and 3-17 on Carnival. We did not like RC. Food was terrible. Staff not nearly as friendly. But funny enough, coffee was the deal breaker for us. Neither has terrific coffee, but on the RC ship it was kept in huge urns and was always luke warm. I like a lot of coffee, and I like it HOT. Now I have heard that RC no longer keeps it in the urns, but we are happy with Carnival.

[JLee1973]

Been so long since I did RC can't really comment other then I enjoy Carnival obviously more then I do RC since I keep coming back.

 

This thread proves food taste is subjective. I have a co worker who sails all lines. He just came back from a European RC cruise and he said the food was the worst of any line.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Cruisegirl6]

OP place your question on the RC boards...usually when you place a question on a certain board you get those on the board that are more loyal to one cruise line...as for me, I am not loyal in fact I prefer RC but cruise Carnival because it allows me to an extra cruise or two because of its low prices...I also go on land vacations but always generally go at least on two cruises a year. Ask on RC board and you see the answers there too.

[peachesncream4u]

FYI carnival is having promotions all month starting tomorrow.

[Jenhem31]

We prefer RC ships, but Carnival staff and atmosphere. Food is subjective but Allure of the Seas food blew me away.

[nednrom]

We have mostly cruised with Royal and just came back from the Conquest. I will write a comparison when I get home but the reason we chose Carnival over Royal this time was the itinerary--Royal only does southern Caribbean cruises from San Juan. We found the staff on Carnival Conquest to be friendlier and more readily available to please us from cabin stewards, to wait staff to bartenders. Conquest is version 2.0 ship so they were a lot more varied free food venues than some of Royal ships and the pizza is much better. We always have fun our cruises, it's what you make of it. I would have to say Allure of the Seas is a destination with entertainment and other venues incomparable to any other ship I've been on.

You'll have a blast either way!

[joeyancho]

RC has a much higher wow factor.

[nednrom]

Thanks for the replys! Does anyone know if they offer the same price adjustments like Carnival if you book early? Or possible upgrades?

 

Royal has promotions but no discounts for early booking. They do offer on board credit at times. We get discounts for booking certain category cabins due to our past guest status. I always book the cabin that I actually want so I can't respond to upgrades.

[fam2cruise]

I have only sailed RC once but I loved it! Their ships are way cooler than Carnival and their shows better. I don't recall the food being all that different, but I go to carnival for value. Don't get me wrong, we enjoy Carnival too! But RC is a special treat for us. We don't do drink packages so I can't speak to those differences or how that makes one a better value than the other. For something like a honeymoon though I'd choose RC.

[Palmetto Pilot]

We cruise Carnival because of the value and the itinerary options, but much prefer Royals newer ships (Freedom class and newer) and atmosphere. I've found food to be roughly comparable. Royal separates itself on the ships decor and the appointment of the rooms. There is just something about their ships that makes you want to go back. That being said, I'm about to take my long overdue honeymoon on the Carnival Breeze because of the price and itinerary.

[OCruisers]

Much depends on which RCCL ship to which Carnival ship.

It's hard to compare a Fantasy Class Carnival ship to an Oasis Class RCCL ship.

 

LuLu

[Cruisegirl6]

My opinion...any RC ship is better than any of the Carnival Conquest, Spirit, Destiny and Fantasy class ships. BUT Carnivals Dream class is better than RC Sovereign Class and Vision class and on par with the Radiance class. RC voyager and Freedom class offers more, better and a higher of variety of food choices and their entertainment blows Carnivals Dream class.

 

Carnivals Dream class can't even compare to the wonderful RC Oasis and Quantum class although I would think its very possible that Carnivals Vista Class may just indeed compare to RC voyager and freedom class, we shall see.

[waywyrd]

I can't say I dislike RC (didn't care for the food), but we cruise Carnival simply because of itinerary, port location and price. RC's balconies are much nicer, though.

 

Any cruise is a good cruise to me! :D

[jimbo5544]

RC has a much higher wow factor.

 

I guess that is why they used wow in their commercials...... Not sure what a wow factor is tho....

[Cruisegirl6]

RC wow has nothing to do with the cruise experience but an offer they are having which includes usually 50% off second guest (but to me the price is higher in the first place for the first person), 50% reduced deposit (so what you have to pay for it anyways sooner or later), some onboard credit usually $100 for a week sailing, sometimes free upgrades.

[tea4ular]

Thanks for the replys! Does anyone know if they offer the same price adjustments like Carnival if you book early? Or possible upgrades?

 

 

This is a really good question.

[LMaxwell]

Royal Caribbean ships; especially Voyager Class, Freedom Class, Oasis Class (have not been on Quantum class) blow away the competition. If you are going to jump to RC look at those classes of ships; not the smaller ones.

 

I think Carnival food is better and Carnival cabins (standard classes) are bigger than RC. Other than that, I think RC ships are way nicer and more entertainment.

 

For 2 people I don't think RC is any more expensive than other competitor lines; and sometimes Carnival is not the least expensive at all, so it is worth shopping around. If you are looking at Suites on oasis class, yeah, expensive, but if you are ok with interiors, no problem.

[LMaxwell]

Thanks for the replys! Does anyone know if they offer the same price adjustments like Carnival if you book early? Or possible upgrades?

 

Similar, but not the same as Carnival. They don't have a category that would lock you in to a low price and OBC, but has penalties. That's Carnivals Early Saver.

 

You can claim discounts up until final payment date with RC. This comes off the bill. You have 60 days from booking to transfer to a travel agent (unless you are within final payment period). RC travel agents tend to have a lot more perks they can offer than carnival does such as OBC, specialty dinners, spa treatment; etc. I always shop agents after I make a booking.

 

After final payment you can upgrade after a price drop (if there is anything to upgrade to, or if a price drop happens).

 

Some limited sales may not be eligible for re-pricing; like any cruise line.

[jimbo5544]

Similar, but not the same as Carnival. They don't have a category that would lock you in to a low price and OBC, but has penalties. That's Carnivals Early Saver.

 

You can claim discounts up until final payment date with RC. This comes off the bill. You have 60 days from booking to transfer to a travel agent (unless you are within final payment period). RC travel agents tend to have a lot more perks they can offer than carnival does such as OBC, specialty dinners, spa treatment; etc. I always shop agents after I make a booking.

 

After final payment you can upgrade after a price drop (if there is anything to upgrade to, or if a price drop happens).

 

Some limited sales may not be eligible for re-pricing; like any cruise line.

 

Good post and right on from a comparison perspective, I have never heard of anyone getting a better room after final payment on a popular ship (I am sure it has happened). Our room on Oasis dropped substantially after final pay but no upgrades were available, which is a little head scratching.....

[davy jones]

I sail both and have no great preference for one over the other.

 

I prefer Carnival over RCI before dinner. Carnival has better daytime activities (rock walls and bumper cars are not important to me) and more (and better) casual food options (deli, pizza, Indian, Wok, Pasta restaurant and free burgers). It also has a friendlier vibe.

 

I prefer RCI over Carnival after dinner. Their nighttime shows are far better than Carnival's.

 

MDR dinner for me is about the same on both.