Palmetto Pilot

11 minutes ago, Esilef said:

Sailing on ovation on feb 22 still no royalup....

Look around the 45th day, that's when I got my offer. 

3 hours ago, klfrodo said:

We began our cruising journey with 10 Carnival cruises before we ventured out to Royal.

 

Things you'll miss:

Sail away parties on Royal are nothing like Carnival. Much more low keyed. Oh, they try, but just can't compare. Especially on the Symphony due to the layout of the top decks.

The "FUN" atmosphere. I don't know how to explain it but the Carnival "Fun" ships have a more upbeat vibe than does Royal. Maybe it's due to the entertainment staff trying to get the customers more involved? Maybe the entertainment staff is more upbeat? Can't explain it. That's not to say that Royal is laid back and subdued. They are not by far. 

Guys Burgers for free. Playmakers on Symphony is the greatest afloat for bar food, but does cost extra.

Royal entertainment shows are much better.

You pay a much higher price for a suite on Royal, but the benefits are way better than on Carnival.

 

Other than that, Carnival and Royal are the same. Have a Carnival and a Royal cruise booked for 2021.

Royal's sail away options as so much better. They have something going on at the pool deck, on the bow of the ship (if you have access) and the Royal Promenade. There's so "Fun" vibe on Carnival it's just loud, it's just extra loud and in you face all the time....that's not fun.  

2 hours ago, crusnbee said:

Platinum on Carnival, just started cruising Royal.

 

Carnival wins for food. With the exception of the specialty restaurants. Love Guys Burgers and the Blue Iguana. Did like the Hot Dog place on Oasis.

 

The setup on the Oasis class ships wins. The whole promenade is much different and more fun than Carnival. Also more activities on Royal it seems, other than the normal pool events, trivia, bingo, etc. Smaller ships, there is not as much of a difference.

 

Did feel a bit too crowded on Oasis, so I am not sure that large of a ship is for me.

 

I could go on either. Really depends on price and itinerary.

Carnival does what it can with the quality of food they are given but it's not good...at all. The meat and produce on the Breeze last month was poor to say the least. MDR and buffet food and selection are good to very good on Royal. Guy's burgers has a cult following for a mediocre burger. It's ok but again not great and not enough to set it apart. Blue Iguana was the stand out, awesome selection for breakfast and lunch but now Royal has El Loco Fresh which is good as well. No ship has felt more crowded than the Dream class when people are trying to get into or out of the comedy club. 

My last two cruises have been on Carnival, we just got off the Breeze last month. The cutbacks on Carnival were glaring this last time and I think we're done with them for a while. Any of the new ships or the Royal Amped ships will be vastly superior to anything Carnival has, including the complementary food venues. Rooms are bigger, balconies are the same width but are deeper which is very nice. Overall I feel like service on RCCL blows Carnival out of the water.  

39 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

The denial e-mail usually comes around 6PM on the day before the sailing.

lol when do the success emails go out?

I get there as early as possible. I'd rather wait at the terminal than anywhere else. 

I just did this trip the first week of December. We put our luggage out the door the night before and were in the first groups called off of the ship. I think we were off by 8:00-8:30 got the uber and headed off. We were at the airport by 9:30 and through security after checking bags by 10:00. I had previously asked here on CC about flights and because of the info I got I booked a 2:00pm flight on SWA instead of a 12:00 flight on Delta. I absolutely could have made a 11-12 flight.

Just got a Royal Up offer on my Feb 2020 Navigator cruise. We'll see how it goes lol.

Giovannis is the best. The Ossobuco was fantastic! 

1 hour ago, steamboats said:

 

But that´s made with Island Oasis frozen mix - so no blender involved 😉 - same for the Pina Coladas. Nothing you can drink at all. A good Pina Colada is made of coconut water, fresh pineapple and coconut, some honey, some cinnamon and a good Cuban rum (yes, and some ice cubes).

 

steamboats

They blend the ice to make it a frozen drink. 

The Steakhouse bar has the highest end liquors. 

Book main cabin. 

FLL is so close to Port Everglades, you'll be fine!

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

Sometimes never, but it varies - you can check yourself directly at Royal Up - no need to wait for the e-mail.

I got a few more days to wait until the 30 day period on the royal up page. Thanks for the info!

We're going in February, I didn't even think about the water being cool. I just figured it was warm year round.  

If you're eligible for a bid when do the emails typically go out?

That's awesome you got to go to CoCo Cay twice!! We're going on the Navigator in Feb for our son's 5th birthday. We're really looking forward to it. 

6 hours ago, twangster said:

 

I'd rather sail with millennials any day.  Old people have a much greater act of entitlement on ships in my experience.  

So much truth.

Thanks for the review. Were on a Navigator 4 day in February with our 4 year old son. Really looking forward to it. 

54 minutes ago, grandmarnnurse said:

Magic looked rough? How so? It looked lovely from all the reviews I’ve read, and Im on the Magic in April for a B2B for our 50th Anniversary.

She looked completely rundown and neglected. Quite frankly, she looked like garbage. I have not been on the Magic in a little over a year but of 25 cruises, Magic by far was the worst ship I've ever been on. 

3 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Unfortunate for you guys coming in later and then the day being cut short by the rain.

Yea it rained pretty good for a while there. We got some decent beach time in and hit the shops when it rained. Wasn't a total loss but some more sun would have been nice. I got some great photos of the Magic departing, I'll post them later. 

I was on the Breeze! We saw you guys at Grand Turk.....Magic looked rough.

I flew my first trip as a passenger on southwest this last week. Not a fan but I know man people are. I'll take Delta any day over SWA. I was worried about not being able to check into my flight so I opted to purchase early bird on SWA which automatically checks you in 36 hours before the flight. Once we got off the Breeze I logged into the app and boom we had A34/35. 

Again here is another opinion. I've cruised NCL 3 times, Royal 12 and Carnival 7.  Royal is still my favorite, but we've been sailing more frequently on Carnival lately because of the price and itinerary. We like the mid to large size ships so for us we look at the Dream class on Carnival and Freedom/Mariner sub class on Royal.  We're in our early 30's with a 4 year old boy. 

We've typically had better and quicker service on Royal. Carnival seems to only have a few people making or serving drinks so we end up waiting forever for drinks on Carnival compared to Royal. 

Kids about the same on both lines. We try to cruise off season if we can since our little guy isn't in school yet.

Royals balconies are so much bigger and deeper, rooms are appointed a lot nicer as well. Also Royal's suite benefits outweigh the non-existent carnival ones. 

Food quality is about the same. The Royal AMPed ships have lots of new free casual dining finally catching up to Carnival. The buffet on Royal is nice and there are a variety of foods. Royal's specialty restaurants  is where their food stands out. I used to give a slight edge to Carnival for casual dining with the Mongolian wok, tandoori but with the tandoori gone not so much. Selection of drinks and variety of drinks at Royal's bars are outstanding. I feel like on Carnival every bar menu is the same. 

Production shows or Royal are awesome, Carnivals Comedy clubs are amazing. That's a tough one. 

Ship layout, Carnival has the external promenade that wraps around the ship. Royal has the Royal promenade which I really like, lined with bars and stuff. 

We're never had a bad vacation on any cruise we've taken and we've learned to diversify our cruising portfolio. We're looking forward to trying NCL again, and Holland America for the first time. 

6 days!

1 hour ago, boomhower said:

Straws are on a request only basis it appears. Not sure about frozen drinks.  When they are asked for its a regular straw and not sugar. 

That's good to know, we're on the Breeze in two weeks and my wife and I were trying to decide on bringing metal straws.