Is RC right for our next cruise? Previous carnival cruisers!

[aimcat]

my husband and I are desperate for a getaway for late march or early April. It has been 7 years since our last cruise with carnival. We have previously taken 3 other carnival cruises. We are mid 30s, no kids. My husband likes less crowds and more privacy. We both enjoy nicer things but not too pretentious. We would prefer a cruise with 4-6 days out of Florida. We have never cruised with RC before and have considered them, carnival, celebrity, Norwegian. We want some help with this since we are a little out of the loop. Would RC be a good fit and if so which ship? We prefer something more updated, less kids, less wild parties, relaxation and casual. (Fine with formal night) just don't want anything too stuffy feeling. We love food and shows. We have been to Nassau, Freeport, st marten, and st Thomas. Please help!

[Clarea]

Freedom and Independence (same class) out of Ft. Lauderdale have 4, 5, and 6 day cruises. Brilliance is smaller and has 4 and 5 day cruises out of Tampa. Give one a try, only you can determine if a cruise is a "good fit". These ships leave for Europe in April, so there should be a few dats to choose from within your time frame.

[divaofdisney]

Like you we too cruised Carnival but it was quite some time ago. We do prefer Royal above the others having cruised with them 4x with 2 more coming up this year. We like the decor and layout of their ships so much better also and its very easy to navigate and find your way around. I think the food in general is very good and their specialty restaurants are excellent. As for ships, I think the Freedom class and above may be to your liking. However the radiance class is also very nice too but smaller. It just depends where and when you all want to travel in the Caribbean. Keep in mind the summer months and over spring break do tend to have more kids. Since you want to go end of March early April- I think you all should be fine. I know my college daughter's spring break is 2nd week of March. Only you will know what you like and the only way is to give RCCL a try and I do recommend them. They have always been so wonderful to us and we have never had a bad time. Best of luck. :)

[johnjen]

my husband and I are desperate for a getaway for late march or early April. It has been 7 years since our last cruise with carnival. We have previously taken 3 other carnival cruises. We are mid 30s, no kids. My husband likes less crowds and more privacy. We both enjoy nicer things but not too pretentious. We would prefer a cruise with 4-6 days out of Florida. We have never cruised with RC before and have considered them, carnival, celebrity, Norwegian. We want some help with this since we are a little out of the loop. Would RC be a good fit and if so which ship? We prefer something more updated, less kids, less wild parties, relaxation and casual. (Fine with formal night) just don't want anything too stuffy feeling. We love food and shows. We have been to Nassau, Freeport, st marten, and st Thomas. Please help!

 

 

Take one look at our cruise history. You will see one Carnival cruise, there's many reasons for that:rolleyes:

[ppeckham]

I am leaving on Monday for my first Royal cruise. I've cruised a number of times with Carnival, Princess and Norwegian. My last cruise with Carnival was probably 2010 and, as another poster had stated, "for good reason". There's only so many hairy chest contests that I can stomach! I'm not in the party mode any longer.

 

We loved Princess. Norwegian was so-so as we were on a short cruise on an older ship with new staff. From what I have read and heard from friends, I am going to love Royal.

 

My advice is book with Royal and enjoy the vacation!

[cello56]

Probably try to avoid Holy Week if you want fewer kids on board.

[Bratface1005]

So this was many years ago (almost 15) but when we went on our honeymoon cruise there was a "convention" of ship doctors, they all said the same thing. RC was the best. They said for what you pay for RC was best for everyone. They said if you like party animals and a bunch of kids do Carnival, older crowd likes Norwegian, and Princess was nice but expensive. They all told us to stay with RC. My parents have cruised on Carnival and said never again. Hope you book a RC cruise and love your experience.

[aimcat]

Thanks for the advice so far! What is Holy Week? Spring Break?

[mizLORInj]

OP: It's best to try them out for yourself and form your own opinion. We have tried out the various lines for ourselves and I'm glad we did. Haven't had a bad cruise yet.

If you do choose Celebrity, I would recommend one of their newer (Solstice class) ships over their older ships. Much nicer IMO.

Enjoy! (whichever one you choose!)

[Grandma Dazzles]

Thanks for the advice so far! What is Holy Week? Spring Break?

 

 

Holy Week - Easter week. This year Palm Sunday is April 9, Good Friday is April 14 and Easter Sunday is April 16. A lot of school kids can be out of school for Easter/Spring break between April 9 and April 21.

 

College spring break is pretty much March/April. Really varies from school to school; probably peaks mid-March.

 

You mentioned 4-6 days - would really recommend trying to squeeze it to a 7-day cruise. Some of the 4 day cruises are more of a party cruise. I think the entertainment is better on a 7-day. You could try Oasis class - the big ones! Something for everyone!

[BNBR]

my husband and I are desperate for a getaway for late march or early April. It has been 7 years since our last cruise with carnival. We have previously taken 3 other carnival cruises. We are mid 30s, no kids. My husband likes less crowds and more privacy. We both enjoy nicer things but not too pretentious. We would prefer a cruise with 4-6 days out of Florida. We have never cruised with RC before and have considered them, carnival, celebrity, Norwegian. We want some help with this since we are a little out of the loop. Would RC be a good fit and if so which ship? We prefer something more updated, less kids, less wild parties, relaxation and casual. (Fine with formal night) just don't want anything too stuffy feeling. We love food and shows. We have been to Nassau, Freeport, st marten, and st Thomas. Please help!

 

If you can muster up a 7 day cruise instead of 6, do Oasis class. Your intuition would tell you that it's the biggest ship with so many people on it, thus it must be crowded, but as we all know here - it's the exact opposite. The ship rarely feels crowded at all. There is a ton of areas, bars, and places to sit and relax with no crowds at all, listen to music, grab a drink, etc. The large solarium has lots of space to relax in a very chill area, plus many other spots. You can hang out in central park in the evening, visit one of the nice restaurants, then one of the many great shows they have. Ice shows, aquatheater, comedy, headlining acts, etc.

 

For what you are asking, it just seems like a really spot on ship for you.

[birdylady]

Holy week would be referring (usually to Good Friday/Easter week). Lots of schools and colleges have the week leading up to or after as their spring break.

 

As we have only sailed RCI, obviously we are biased. I would suggest you skip Majesty. She is a beautiful ship, but the weekend cruises tend toward a party atmosphere (I've seen lots of groups with matching t-shirts saying Booze Cruise on them). And during the week may be a bit more sedated. The folks that have suggested the Freedom class ships probably have you right on target (haven't sailed Radiance class, yet...). I think you'll love the pool area if you like music and activities. But if you just want to hang out in a nice quite area, you always have the solarium (another downside to Majesty as she doesn't have one). This is an adults only pool and jacuzzi area that tends to be very quiet and relaxing.

 

I say, pick an itinerary and port that works for you and enjoy. Please do report back and let us know what you think.

 

Erika

[teesmc]

I have cruised RC 3 times and Carnival once in the last 4 years. I think Carnival caters more to families and/or a party crowd. I think you would really enjoy the Solarium on RC ships. My parents only cruise Celebrity, but I think those ships might be more "stuffy" like you mentioned.

 

Brilliance out of Tampa is a good one to get your feet wet on. But you are going to have lots of kids if you travel end of March/April. Might be better to go to an adults only resort in you want to avoid kids.

[Guest Nellsmom58]

I agree with Erika. We have the same interests as you state, and enjoy RCI most of the time. We've sailed several lines but never Carnival for the reasons many have stated. Holy Week this year does not necessarily coincide with spring break for schools, so may be less impacted than when in March like it was less year, but still will have more kids than usual. Also consider your departure port and itinerary. Leaving from Galveston would be a mistake during Holy Week, for example, as would Port Canaveral due to its proximity to DisneyWorld. We've done both during Holy Week and said never again during that time, but have thoroughly enjoyed other times of the year at those same ports. Oasis class ships and Radiance class would be a better choice than smaller class ships during busy spring break time because, as someone else said, they seem less crowded and you can escape the madness...except on elevators when the kiddies like to play on them, lol!

 

 

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[dwayneb236]

Have only ever cruised Carnival before. We just got off the Harmony and now my wife is a Royal convert. I personally just love cruising but I did enjoy the Harmony very much. Having said that, I've not myself ever had a bad cruise with Carnival. I would go with them again. As for the Hairy Chest contests on Carnival, we watched a belly flop contest on the Harmony that would rival them. So just because some feel they are a lower class at Carnival, there is still alcohol served on Royal, and we all know what alcohol does. I will say we didn't see quite the level of intoxication on our cruise that we've seen on other cruises. But we've also never seen any problem drunks either, just very happy people. Aside from the main pool I've never seen any "rowdiness".

 

I don't feel I'm a lower class person just because I like Carnival. I am pretty basic though. Don't need a lot to make me happy.

 

We're booked on another Royal ship, the Liberty in January. Booked it while on the Harmony. If my wife wants to cruise more because of Royal them I'm all for Royal. God love them for getting my wife more interested in cruising.

 

I have one complaint about Harmony. They have a ridiculous amount of lounge chairs on the upper decks above the pools. They are arm rest to arm rest up there with no breaks to stand at the rail. And I'm not the most mobile guy anymore so it's not easy to crawl up the chair to get in it instead of just standing beside it and plopping down. Still a great ship and had a blast.

Edited February 22, 2017 by dwayneb236

[matj2000]

Take one look at our cruise history. You will see one Carnival cruise, there's many reasons for that:rolleyes:

 

 

 

You have done only 5 cruises.

Most look like 3-4 day trips.

 

What sort of statement are you trying to indicate from that?

[aimcat]

Holy Week of course! Yes as a Christian I should have realized that is what you guys meant! I thought maybe you were discussing some type of slang for spring break - LOL! Sorry.

 

I appreciate all the continued advice. I can only seem to find 2 RC cruises that would fit in our schedule - One is Independence of the Seas or Freedom of the Seas.

I saw that Carnival has a new ship the Vista which is intriguing - the Havana rooms look nice! But I don't want to be tempted by that and reviews seem hit and miss!

[OCruisers]

Try to at least do 6 days (7 would be better) so it's likely to have less children and Spring Breakers. ;)

[KG1924]

I would also avoid the first week of April if you can....we are going on the Liberty that week because my nieces are on spring break so that could be more of a family week as well (on top of the prices being higher for everything!)

 

That being said, I agree with trying to get in 7 days if possible. I've never done shorter but I always feel like day 6 is when I finally "relax" and I need that day to just lounge before heading back to real life. If you can do 7, I would vote for the Oasis class....you can do a million things or nothing at all. Plus, entertainment on that class is top notch.

 

If you can't do 7, I would then suggest the Freedom class. It's my second favorite to the Oasis class, but for my husband the Freedom class is the best. Not too big but still plenty to do with space to spare.

 

We've done about 50/50 carnival and Royal cruises. We would almost always choose Royal between the two, but we have had fun on our Carnival cruises. The one's I've been on had no more/less partying then the Royal ones we've been on, but all have been 7 days (one 8 day) and on somewhat off times as far as school breaks. I honestly like the layouts of Royals larger ships better than Carnival and as sad as it sounds, we like their drink packages much more. I married an Irish man...Carnival's 15 drink limit becomes very limiting for him :p

 

I've never done the other lines that you mentioned and have been interested in trying both NCL and Celebrity. My only hesitations are based on things I hear sometimes (ie-NCL ships are crowded and Celebrity caters to a calm, older crowd) all of which may or may not even be true. We plan on experiencing it ourselves at some point to see what we like and don't like.

[melski]

If you want less kids, March and April is not the time for a cruise. Spring break (not college but elementary to high school) goes from 3rd week of March to about the 3rd week of April with Easter being so late this year. We go on 7 day cruises and it is prime time for large families to cruise. Its not a wild party atmosphere but there will be A LOT of kids running around. If you want to avoid this, then don't cruise during this time and pick a nice couples only all inclusive resort.

[the mistral wind]

I love carnival and Royal Caribbean. The food venues have become more and more appealing on carnival. Royal Carribbean has the promanade which is a real nice place to hang out and have your coffee. If you choose a ship with the ice skating rink you will enjoy the ice show. Basically the same entertainment line up on both. The service is good on both ships. The dinning room is usually very good on rccl. They have late night pizza place with a couple of choices of pizza which is surprisingly good pizza on Rccl. Comparatively speaking they are the same. You won't be disappointed. I haven't been on the oasis style ship yet, but i have been on the freedom class and have never had a bad time. hope you enjoy your vacation.:D