Any Cunarders sail Royal Caribbean?

[Underwatr]

We're fairly used to Cunard, although we've also cruised on HAL a couple of times in the past year or so. We sailed once on Carnival and that was enough. A group on another (non-cruise) forum has been enjoying an annual cruise and for 2019 they're sailing to the ABCs out of San Juan on RCI's Freedom of the Seas. We've put down a deposit on an ocean-view balcony cabin for the trip.

 

As one who enjoys all things Cunard (and especially QM2), what am I in for?

Edited October 24, 2018 by Underwatr

[DWhit]

We have sailed on QM2 once, and Freedom OTS once as well.  We enjoyed both, but then I have yet to take a voyage I did not enjoy.

 

The QM2 voyage was a crossing, so that in itself was a big difference from the typical Freedom voyage.  The two ships are pretty close in size, I believe, but more passengers on Freedom.  

 

I think Freedom would typically have more families with children, but that would depend on when you are going and how long.  

 

Freedom will obviously be more casual than the QM2 in the evening.   Freedom has like a Central Avenue down the middle with shops, restaurants, bars and such, and they have some nightly events and parades there.  They have an ice skating rink, and of course you will want to be sure to attend the Quest game, if you have never seen it before.  It is a hoot!  

 

I do do not think the food in the main dining room on Freedom was as good as you would get in QM2 dining room, but they have specialty restaurants available that are good.

 

If you did not like Carnival, you may not like Freedom as much as Cunard, but if you are prepared ahead of time, there is no reason you could not have a very nice trip

[hihilo]

I am a CUNARD ' addict".  But I have sailed on Serenade of the Seas, and also Radiance of the Seas. 

They both have the 13 ? /  14 story tall atrium in the center.  Its lovely to look at.  However..…. with the casino doors open constantly as people come + go, and smoking is allowed in the casino,  the " wonderful " atrium acts as a chimney and the smoke goes everywhere.  This was a  HUGE negative for me, on both ships. If you don't mind 2nd hand smoke, it won't be a problem. All other aspects of both ships were fine. (Neither are anywhere near as elegant and fabulous as any of the "Q" ships, but you already know that. )

[babs135]

We've sailed on Rhapsody of the Seas and thoroughly enjoyed it, but then we were on a holiday, on a cruise, visiting Australia and New Zealand so we may have been a little biased!!

 

Seriously though we personally found no fault at all with the ship although friends who were on the starboard side in a balcony (can't remember which deck it was a long time ago) suffered terribly from vibrations which literally bounced their pillows from one end of the bed to the other.  The vibration seemed to go through the whole of the 'block of affected cabins' downwards.  They were moved.

 

Waiters in the MDR were excellent and the food was perfectly fine.  We would happily sail Royal Caribbean again.

[Host Hattie]

Roscoe wrote a blog about his experience earlier this year

 

 

[Underwatr]

The ship seems similar in size to QM2 (slightly shorter, narrower and with lower air draft, but edging it out in tonnage), although with 40% more passengers. I'm looking forward the the Royal Promenade, but photos of the Interior show a lot of the purplish neon lighting that ship decorators seem to be fond of.

[peteukmcr]

Having sailed exclusively RCI for 11 years (until we tried their sister line Celebrity and others including Cunard, Carnival, NCL, MSC) and sailed the Freedom class ships on numerous occasions, the main differences with this line over Cunard will be the casual nature of the fellow passengers as there is no strict dress code, as it is a 'suggested' code.

 

There are more casual dining options (Cafe Promenade, Sorrentos on the Royal Promenade - The Windjammer Marketplace being the main buffet). There are numerous 'speciality' restaurants available for a supplement (steak house - Chops Grille, Mexican - Sabor, Italian - Giovanni's Table, Johnny Rocket's 50's style diner).

 

There are more sporting options, Ice Skating, Mini Golf, Surf Simulator, Rock Climbing etc.

 

Various themed bars such as the 'British pub', Wine Bar, Piano Bar, show lounge.

 

A huge casino in comparison to Cunard and many activities and opportunities to part with your money over and above your cruise fare!

 

[canoncruiser]

I took a 7 day cruise with friends on Anthem-I will not do it again. It was during Spring Break, quell horreur!!!!!-Noise, singing, constant announcements, mobs of people responding to “special offers”. Then some young guy took a header off of Deck 14-we recovered a life-preserver, not him. And there were only 3 Immigration desks open for 5000+ people. A real downer.  Never again! 

[Lady Hudson]

My favorite ship is QM2 but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy myself on other ships/lines.  I think you need to go on your trip knowing that it will be different.  Keep an open mind and I think you will have a good time.  As an officer once said to me, “On QM2 we offer the age of elegance for those who missed it the first time around.”  I don’t think any officer on Royal would say the same thing.  Katherine 

[BklynBoy8]

15 hours ago, Lady Hudson said:

My favorite ship is QM2 but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy myself on other ships/lines.  I think you need to go on your trip knowing that it will be different.  Keep an open mind and I think you will have a good time.  As an officer once said to me, “On QM2 we offer the age of elegance for those who missed it the first time around.”  I don’t think any officer on Royal would say the same thing.  Katherine 

Hello Katherine,

It was so great to have met you on the 2017 July Cruise on the Mary at the M&G in the Commodore Club. It was great we too had Capt. Wells join us.

 

We do also agree that the QM2 is Our Favorite ship. We are not or have been attracted to the Mega Ship of today. We favor the traditional style sailing like we did since the QE2. Yes we did try the HAL Rotterdam twice with old style cruising but was disappointed with the Noordam. That cruise was 50-50. So parts were great/interesting and so not. We happen to sail the year they introduced As You Eat in the Dining Room. The top floor was set table arrangements and the bottom was As You Eat - walk in. Also don't know why the food quality was not great except for one day.

 

Again, so nice to have met you! 

[Lady Hudson]

1 hour ago, BklynBoy8 said:

Hello Katherine,

It was so great to have met you on the 2017 July Cruise on the Mary at the M&G in the Commodore Club. It was great we too had Capt. Wells join us.

 

We do also agree that the QM2 is Our Favorite ship. We are not or have been attracted to the Mega Ship of today. We favor the traditional style sailing like we did since the QE2. Yes we did try the HAL Rotterdam twice with old style cruising but was disappointed with the Noordam. That cruise was 50-50. So parts were great/interesting and so not. We happen to sail the year they introduced As You Eat in the Dining Room. The top floor was set table arrangements and the bottom was As You Eat - walk in. Also don't know why the food quality was not great except for one day.

 

Again, so nice to have met you! 

So nice to have met you as well.  That Meet and Mingle was great.  Captain Wells is the best!

 

I am looking to book another QM2 TA.  Fiftieth wedding anniversary coming up this summer so that seems like a good reason to book a voyage.  

 

Hope we we meet up again one day.  🚢  Katherine 

[davidhurt]

On 10/24/2018 at 11:59 PM, DWhit said:

If you did not like Carnival, you may not like Freedom.  

Agreed.  I have cruised multiple times on Carnival Pride and RCI's Grandeur of the Seas.  I see no major differences in them.  

[Underwatr]

35 minutes ago, davidhurt said:

Agreed.  I have cruised multiple times on Carnival Pride and RCI's Grandeur of the Seas.  I see no major differences in them.  

So I should opt for the drinks package, then? 

 

So far 28 people have signed up. The group's 2018 cruise (out of Fort Lauderdale, where this will be San Juan) had around 50 passengers in the group so it will be a very different dynamic than were accustomed to, no matter what the ship brings.

Edited October 27, 2018 by Underwatr

[Fairgarth]

Well, let me turn this around if I may and you can work backwards.  If a Royal Caribbeaner was looking forward to their first trip on QM2, what would they expect?  The ship is elegant and celebrates Cunard's long history and tradition and Britishness.  (Although they seem to overlook the fact that Samuel Cunard was Canadian.  But I digress...) The central atrium is only two decks high, unlike the gorgeous 7-deck atrium on some RCI ships.  Your stateroom will have a frig, kettle, fluffy bathrobes, flip-flop slippers and lots of hangers.  The shower is bigger than a phone booth.  Formal means formal.  The menu for dinner in Britannia every night will offer you a choice of eight starters, eight mains and eight desserts plus cheese and biscuits.  You will have a sommelier and the wine list is by far the longest you will have seen at sea.  As is the beer selection.  Food will be better, hot and presented on Wedgewood china.  The waiter will put down your plate with the Cunard crest at 12 o'clock every time.  There will be several guest lecturers, all of whom are very interesting.  There is live music all over the ship.  Afternoon tea with white glove service is available every day should you feel starved.  The dance floor is the biggest at sea and well used.  And just for reference, we have cruised on the following lines, at least twice on each:  Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, Azamara, Seabourn and Royal Caribbean (where we are Diamond).  We have enjoyed all the cruises we have taken.  It is all to do with expectations.  If I'm on Royal Caribbean, I don't expect Seabourn.  Royal Caribbean does Royal Caribbean very nicely.

[ddgarner1]

Having just returned from the most recent QM2 crossing eastward, I can only compare one TA Cunard crossing with 15 dissimilar RCCL cruises.  RCCL focuses their attention on destination ports during the cruise while Cunard focuses on pleasing the passengers during their waking hours aboard ship.  Cunard probably does a better job of catering to their luxury grills pax than RCCL does to their equivalent, but we've been in either the Royal Suite or Owner's Suite on 6 RCCL cruises and can't possibly imagine how we could have been treated better.  

Here's how I score the things that we found important:

Food  equal, with "volume" going to RCCL

Lounges  5 to 3, Cunard

Liquor selection, 5 to 4 RCCL

Entertainment equal

Informative lectures, 5 to 2, Cunard

Spa/gym, 5 to 3 RCCL (Canyon Ranch's prices are absurd)

Crew friendliness, 5 to 4 Cunard

Destinations, 5 to 4 RCCL

TA, 5 to 2, Cunard

Suite comfort, equal

 

 

 

[Underwatr]

Thankfully, only a ship like the one to the right (or smaller) can sail into Baltimore, which would be the easiest embarkation port if I cared to take a second Royal Caribbean cruise.

 

As mentioned, Freedom of the Seas is essentially the same size as QM2 (lower, shorter and narrower, but slightly higher gross tonnage) with a passenger/ton ratio close to 50% higher, though.

[SPacificbound]

We have done four crossings on Queen Mary 2 and have one booked for 2020. It is such a better way to cross the Atlantic.

 

We have done cruises on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, and have Oceania booked in 2020 also. 

 

Each is different and we enjoy them all.

[AAAAmerican]

If you do choose to cruise on Royal Ships, make sure you buy shares on the NYSE to provide that Shareholder benefit. RCL :NYSE

 

 

Edited November 10, 2018 by AAAAmerican
Trading Symbol

[rafinmd]

FWIW, I'm boarding the Grandeur of the Seas in Baltimore today.  Here's my thread:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2602560-grandeur-of-the-seas-voyage-of-the-saints-november-10-22-2018/

 

Roy

[Host Hattie]

Thanks Roy,

I look forward to reading your reports

[Underwatr]

I now see that Grandeur will be doing a 12-night itinerary at Christmas that's very similar to QM2's. 

 

• Depart on 22 December
• 3 Sea days Dec 23-25
• 5 Caribbean ports Dec 26-30
• 3 Sea days returning
• Back on 3 January

But only in 2018.