Carnival vs Royal Caribbean cruise atmosphere

[BostonGrl626]

Sorry if this question has been asked before - after some searching I figured I would just ask myself!

 

We are looking for a Caribbean cruise for our honeymoon. I am trying to figure out the atmosphere of Royal Caribbean cruise versus Carnival cruise. I've never cruised before, so I'm very much in the dark on this topic. I've purchased some books - but books, although they do try, can't cover this type of question. We're in our mid/late 20's, and tend to be adventurous but low key at the same time. Have you traveled both? What are your opinions? I'd appreciate any thoughts you have on the subject! Thanks for your help!

[fann1sh]

I've cruised both lines. I've enjoyed both lines. However, I think you have to tell us which ships you're considering (and the length of the cruise) before people can be truly helpful.

 

Each line has ships of varying age and size. Amenities vary wildly in different size of ships. Would you take advantage of those amenities (skating rink, rock wall, etc.)? Or, are you honeymooners who will, umm....be spending more time in your cabin :o, and therefore shopping for a line with larger cabin size, better dining, and perhaps good room service?

[cb at sea]

Either/or--really. A cruise will be what you make of it. Just because some of the passengers may want to dance the night away, doesn't mean YOU have to! Just because there are some folks into shuffleboard, doesn't mean you have to do that, either!

Pick the size ship, and itinerary--unless cost is a big factor, then pick your trip by the numbers!

 

They are more alike, than different!

[BostonGrl626]

I've cruised both lines. I've enjoyed both lines. However, I think you have to tell us which ships you're considering (and the length of the cruise) before people can be truly helpful.

 

Each line has ships of varying age and size. Amenities vary wildly in different size of ships. Would you take advantage of those amenities (skating rink, rock wall, etc.)? Or, are you honeymooners who will, umm....be spending more time in your cabin :o, and therefore shopping for a line with larger cabin size, better dining, and perhaps good room service?

 

Good point! We really haven't nailed down an itinerary yet. The Western Caribbean is appealing because of the days at sea - but most go to Cozumel which I have already visited and we want to head to new areas! The Southern Caribbean is another option, but I'm afraid the itinerary would be too much. A new port each day seems like a lot, but again what do I know I've never gone!

 

As far as the ships go - we were looking at Carnival Legend (for the western itinerary) and Carnival Victory (for the southern itinerary). For Royal Caribbean the options were Freedom of the Seas (western itinerary) and Adventure of the Seas (southern). But we are certainly open to other options. The dates for our honeymoon haven't been released yet - although they will be soon (or so the PVP's say!). We'll be traveling late June 2010. We are definitely looking for a cruise that lasts at least 7 days - it also needs to have a Sunday - Wednesday departure day (we're getting married on a Saturday so waiting a full week to go on our vacation seems pretty long).

 

The room is important! But as graduate students, our budget is taken into consideration a little bit, so a suite is probably too much for us. I think we'll be spending much of our time exploring the ship and ports, so we're definitely looking for a room with a balcony, but beyond that, I'm not too worried about room service etc. Amenities are always fun! I think the rock climbing wall sounds like a blast! But if our ship doesn't have one, it wouldn't be the end of the world...

 

So, with all that, do you think one line be better suited for us?

[NCTribeFan]

I've been on Legend's sister ship, the Miracle, and have booked another on her. I'll sail Victory in May.

 

The Legend and that class of ship is very well liked by Carnival cruisers. They are sleeker and faster and the layout is much easier to navigate than some other classes (they have only 1 dining room, aft, so no galley that blocks the flow of traffic on multiple decks).

 

I had intended to book Legend but ended up doing the western itinerary on Glory instead. Glory was nice, but I still prefer the Spirit-class.

 

The Victory cruise may be a bit much for 1st timers. I'm even worried about it being too much, so I've planned to spend a couple of days post-cruise "recuperating" in San Juan.

 

AOS at least has one sea day.

 

Freedom is such a huge ship, I don't think I'd like it (just so many people), but I'm not into ship amenities as much as I am into the ports we visit. She looks like a lovely ship, though.

 

At that time of year, there will be a ton of kids on all cruises. I think Victory's OV cabins are larger than Legend's, but we've never had an issue with the 185 sq ft cabins. Plenty of space. My one RCI cruise was on an old ship that's now been sold off, and it was the tiniest inside cabin! The ships you're looking at have larger cabins, but I believe Carnival still has them beat by a few sq ft. AOS's inside cabins are smaller, though. It just depends on the category of cabin you can afford.

 

I think you'd be fine with any of the 4 choices. I don't have much experience with RCI. I'd like to sail them again, but the dates and itineraries I want just always seem to end up having better prices on Carnival. I mean, AOS for 6/7/09 is as much for a tiny, inside cabin as I'm paying for Miracle for an 8-day with an aft balcony! Of course, summer is "high" season and prices are considerably higher.

 

Anyway, both lines have plenty to do, if you choose to participate. But you can always find a quite place to sit and just watch the sea go by, or people watch.

[cruiserbryce]

I think the notion that one or the other is a party atmosphere is false...on any ship, these lines included, it is easy for pax to do as much or as little as they want. Your cruise is what you make it

[Hlitner]

We have been blessed to have spent nearly 2 years of our lives on cruise ships (as passengers) and managed to spread our cruising over 11 differerent cruise lines and more than 50 ships. Here is my take on the OP, which is a great question. The atmosphere on any cruise ship is mostly dependent on the passengers, not the crew. If you get a dull group, it will be a quiet dull cruise (many including me, like the quiet cruises). If you get a group of lively passengers, the ship can really rock. We have been on both RCI and Carnival cruises where the ship was dead by midnight, and we have been on both lines when the party continued until the wee hours. But, we do have a couple of "rules" which seem to apply to most ships. If you cruise during the time when kids are out of school, you will have lots of kids on both Carnival and RCI. If you cruise during spring break, you are nutz! The longer the cruise, the older the crowd (this is particularly true when you go beyond 12 day cruises). So, we would recommmend both Carnival and RCI for honeymooners and would probably also add Princess in the equation.

 

Hank

[BostonGrl626]

If you cruise during spring break, you are nutz!

 

Hahahaha - good point! And thank goodness our wedding does not coincide with spring break!

 

Thanks so much for all the advice! I'm taking it all in :) - seems like we really can't go wrong with either line, which ultimately takes a lot of weight off our shoulders since there is no "right" cruise! I'll discuss it all with my fiance and we'll go from there....now I'm even more excited about this trip!

[njdevil08]

Just wanted to let you know you're definitely steering yourself in the right direction by thinking you'll want some sea days. Port days, while loads of fun can be very overwhelming if there are no breaks.

 

By the way, in terms of ship, we're told nothing on any other line rivals freedom of the seas. It was absolutely stunning and its nice to float around knowing you're the biggest out there. It has a rock wall, flowrider, mini golf, a small waterpark, a promenade full of shops, and a few specialty restaurants. While I can't speak for Carnival, if amenities is indeed a factor, I'd pick Freedom of the Seas. (that's why we picked it and we definitely weren't disappointed.)

[ruready]

I think they are very similar and I have enjoyed myself tremendously on both lines. However, I do prefer RC as I felt that Carnival tried to "sell" things all the time... especially the wandering waiters with the foo foo drink of the day or the wandering photographers. I just do not see as much of that type of marketing ploys on RC. Just my 2 cents.