MrSnarkyPants

Carnival Vista has it’s own small brewery on board —Red Frog Pub. Some of the high tops even had serve yourself draft beer.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

That's pretty cool. The Red Frog beer that was contract-brewed for the Magic was pretty good. The menu in the Red Frog interested me more than Michael's Pub did when I was on the Anthem, too. As was pointed out upthread, wings > pub faire.

On recommendation of the college student who led our cocktail walking tour we had dinner at Princesa Gastrobar. It's all outdoors under huge trees and is very pretty. We had a great meal there. Entrees ranged from $15-30; the menu is heavy on seafood. It didn't feel like a tourist trap.

That was a nice way of saying.......:D

I once watered my lawn during a drought by opening up a case of Miller Lite and pouring it out.

Is there any cruise line that offers decent craft beer onboard? Or is it just not practical for them to work with small breweries?

I totally agree. Been on 3 Anthem sailings. The only times I've ever seen more than 5 people in Michael's Pub was when there was football games on their 2 TVs. Of course, that was the only venue outside of your cabin to watch them on board (along with the big screen on lido). With the apparent TV-list restructuring, a specialized sports-bar would be a $$$ maker for the line.

Michael's was hopping most nights on our cruise once the entertainer got started. We never could get a seat, so we didn't try it.

I want to drink Coors and Michelob and eat Buffalo wings watching basketball on a cruise rather than drink Newcastle Brown Ale and eating a pork pie in an English pub. I can get that at the end of my road :D

 

My American friends here might naturally have a different view.

You know that Coors and Michelob is just bottled water, right? :P

I agree with most of your points. Thank you for your review.

 

I do think Anthem can get pretty overcrowded. We sailed on her twice. Both times it was sold out. Our last cruise was during Thanksgiving.

We found Royal Esplanade to be narrow and overcrowded most of the time. We also thought that Schooners bar where nice music is usually played to have a bad location right near Music Hall with very loud music.

 

We are sailing on her again on Thanksgiving 2018 as overall we liked experience.

I didn't notice a problem with the Music Hall entertainment drowning out the Schooner Bar. Schooner Bar's problem is no matter which pianist is playing, he plays the same 8 songs in the same order every night. It's 8:15, time for The Eagles with "Love Will Keep Us Alive." I think I heard that song more during the 12 nights I was on board than I heard that song when it was new. Also, it's hard to sing along at the piano bar when the pianist doesn't follow the melody and adds unnatural pauses to the lyrics.

The music in the Music Hall was generally O-L-D. We had a Beatles tribute half the cruise and the Royal Swedes playing classic rock for the rest. The ship was pretty dead by the time the DJ would come out to play something recent. I found myself wishing I had been on one of the cruises with the Journey tribute band, because while those songs are still old, they're at least of my generation and not my parents (or older).

The Royal iQ app connects for free to Royal wi fi, and you are limited to the shipboard functions of that app. If you want access to the internet, you need to purchase Voom.

I found the Royal IQ app to be buggy. It often threw errors displaying my calendar or during the dining reservation process. There was at least one day during my voyage where Royal IQ just wouldn't work. Other days I could read the cruise compass but not make or view reservations.

But as others have pointed out, if you don't buy Voom, iMessage, push notifications, and the Apple News app will still work.

Royal IQ is a nice idea, but it's still half-baked.

We enjoyed the solarium on RCCL more than on Carnival due the large hot tubs that were actually hot. We also found the decor on RCCL more subdued. We especially liked the promenade..

Really, when I compare my experiences on the two lines, they're more alike than different. But the one place I spend the most time in is the adults only pool area, and the Solarium beats the Serenity deck. Carnival tends to put its Serenity deck up top on the front of the ship and it's a tough place to be when it's windy. While not every Solarium is enclosed, there are enough windows on the ships I've been on to make it more pleasant on a windy day. Factor in the better hot tub experience, and we'll end up hitting Platinum on RCCL after our next cruise. I might return to the Carnival Magic for the right ports and price, but right now, other than the Royal cruises we've booked, the only others I'm interested in trying are NCL, Princess, and maybe X.

I've done a little research and we would be sailing on the Grandeur of the Seas which is one of the older ships and doesn't have all the bells and whistles that the larger ships do. I tend to prefer the smaller ships as I have found over the years that the service seems to be better and they are not as crowded.

 

There have been some great comparisons shared so far. Is there anything else we should be aware of difference wise between the two so we aren't surprised (pleasantly or unfortunately)?

• I haven't encountered singing waiters on Royal in the dining room. This is a good thing for me.
  
• I haven't encountered the cruise director getting on the PA system hawking bingo games on a Royal cruise.
  
• There seem to be more deck parties on board Carnival than Royal. That's not to say you can't find drinking and dancing opportunities, they're just in different venues.
  
• I haven't run into a chocolate buffet, midnight buffet or afternoon tea on Royal.
  

Really? I thought this was state law and nothing any of the cruise lines could control, like Texas charging a duty for all alcohol imported into the state or charging taxes while still in State waters like NY and MD.

Generally, they pour well drinks only with Texas tax stamped bottles and the good stuff comes out after they hit international waters.

If I recall correctly, they're supposed to pay tax on every drink and that's a hassle to keep track of, which is why Carnival just waits until day 2.

Don't forget that you're supposed to stop by the TABC table and pay your tax upon return for the alcohol and cigarettes you purchase abroad, plus a $3 fee. Because we don't raise taxes in Texas. We just call them fees.

Short story is we began cruising just as we reached our late 40's. We have been on 4 Carnival cruises in the past 5 years. Looking to try something new now, we chose RCCL, and will be leaving out of Galveston on March 5th to Cozumel.

 

What are the main differences between the two? I am definitely not looking to bash anything. We just wonder what we will find, and what to should we be expecting with RCCL? In brief terms, how do the two lines compare? I understand RCCL is a bit quieter than Carnival, for example. Do RCCL cruisers dress a bit more better than whats typically seen on Carnival? Anything else to know? Thanks.

Here's my thoughts, having done both lines out of Galveston.

1. Generally, the more you pay for the cruise, the nicer people tend to dress. There's a real People of Walmart feel to the ship when you take a cheap 4 day cruise to Cozumel. I found the passengers a but more upscale on the 7 day cruises I've taken out of Galveston, two on Carnival and one on RCCL. So I'm not ready to say it's the cruise line that's the difference but the cost of entry. I've seen boorish behavior on both lines.

2. Food... the last Carnival cruise I took was after they removed the tablecloths and turned the main dining room into something that reminded me of Chili's or Applebees. Fun fact: when the ship starts rocking and you don't have tablecloths on the tables, the drink glasses tend to slide. RCCL main dining rooms aren't quite up to "fine dining" but more on par with a nice banquet hall. The food is good, but there's a noticeable step up when you move from the dining room to one of the specialty restaurants. I prefer both the main dining room and specialty restaurants on RCCL.

What I miss about Carnival when I sail on RCCL are the complementary casual offerings on Carnival. Guy Fieri may be annoying on TV, but the burgers with his name on them on Carnival are really good and a step above any burger you'll find on a Royal ship, including the ones you pay for at Johnny Rockets. I also found myself missing Blue Iguana on sea days on Royal.

The buffets are equal in my eyes.

3. Activities - this is about a wash. Both lines feature the ripoff art auctions and the infomercials masquerading as seminars. There's more live music on RCCL, there's more comedy shows on Carnival. Both do Love & Marriage, belly flops, hairy chest contests, etc. Out of Galveston both lines will make an effort to play country music; you won't see this out of other ports.

4. Decor isn't as garish on RCCL than most Carnival ships.

5. If you spend a lot of time in the hot tub, you will find that RCCL actually heats theirs. I've yet to get into one on any Carnival ship that is even lukewarm.

Interested in your experience at Beach Limerz. I did the ship's beach excursion (Antigua Beach Extravaganza) and it was super crowded. Since we're going back to Antigua next year we want to try something else.

No peanuts handed out in any bars??!! I like a salty snack now and again and have got them on other ships? I did ask and was was given a puzzled blank look?

I noticed that on Liberty last year. I would probably drink more on board if I could get some kind of a snack. It's why every dive bar has a bowl of peanuts or pretzels or something.

So Carnival has Guy's burgers as an included venue, and RCI charges 9.95 for Johnny Rockets?

 

 

Something doesn't seem right here.

Yeah. I was expecting to hate Guy's Burger Joint (there's a lot not to like about his restaurant in Vegas and his place in Times Square recently shuttered) but truth be told, the burgers with his name on them on Carnival are really good and have no upcharge.

I liked going to Johnny Rockets on my last cruise, but if it's going to cost $10/person, we'll find someplace else to eat. I wouldn't go out of my way to eat at one on land, and I am not really missing anything at sea.

They rotate each cruise. I did a B2B on Anthem in December. First cruise was Journey Tribute, second was Led Zeppelin Tribute. Some folks doing a B2B on this cruise told me it was Journey last week. Next cruise? Who knows...

According to someone on our Roll Call, next week will be a Beatles tribute act.

Are you referring to the BOGO first 2 nights for $40 per person? We've done that for our last 3 cruises. It's a great deal.

 

 

You purchase the BOGO in your cruise planner and choose the time you want to eat When you board you will find a letter in your cabin with the restaurant assignments for the two night. If you're not happy with the restaurants that RCI chooses for you, you can go to any specialty restaurant and change the restaurants.

 

 

Only the first night will show up on your cruise planner as purchased. The second night will be blank.

I suppose I should go to one of the dining rooms when I get on board and make sure things are straightened out... I booked BOGO on night one. Then I decided to add on the 5 night package, which in the Cruise Planner you have to select either night one or night 2. So my first night for the 5 night package is night 2. We're on the 12 night cruise departing Saturday, so ultimately we want 7 of those nights in a specialty of some sort. (plus we have a Chef's Table night, too)

I'm assuming that once we get on board we can just arrange our dinners without much hassle. Correct?

On a side note, some phone carriers offer international packages that include data, texting and phone. It does not include while on the ship! However, it is cheaper than the ship package, so on a 12 day trip, I get it for $60.00 (way less than the ship) but you need to remember to turn data on and off when needed. So I get to check up on elderly family, and get to text and get updates on the news, and use my phone for the all important navigation maps!.

I have a plan like that. It depends upon the country. When I was in Taiwan, I paid a flat daily fee and my calls and data counted towards my normal plan allowances. But when I connected in Tokyo, Japan wasn't part of that, and I paid per mb of data while I was connected there - so I paid more to check email during the layover than I did the entire time I was in Taipei!

With some family members back home in poor health, we want people at home to be able to reach us, but we don't want to spend a huge chunk of change on internet access while on vacation. (Usually we leave our phones in the safe the entire trip; the cruise is like a social media detox...)

Looking at Verizon's web site, it appears that if we keep our phones turned on but switch off the data, we could receive a call (at $2.99/minute) while on board but otherwise if we never use the phone we wouldn't pay any extra fees. That seems like a good balance of peace of mind that we can be reached if necessary without having to pay $14/day to use iMessage via Voom. We're going to be on the Anthem for 12 nights and that's $$.

Anyone with experience with Cellular At Sea? Do I have this right or am I setting myself up for a big surprise when the bill comes?

Who knew that crock pots were that much of a thing at Port Canaveral?

As for "medicinal purposes," those who use CPAP machines need distilled water. If you contact the special needs desk before departure they'll have it waiting for you in the room along with an extension cord.

Not in Texas!

Indeed.

Brisket is a specific cut from the lower chest of the cow. A "roast" can be one of many cuts.

If you oversteam a brisket, it tastes like a pot roast. Somehow I don't think they have a smoker on board the ship. :)

If you want to get into the science of BBQ, Camp Brisket is pretty awesome. https://bbq.tamu.edu/camp-brisket/

I honestly love both itineraries. We did a beach day and cave tubing in Belize/Roatan and Nachi in Cozumel. Jamaica was a good beach day and we did a private Stingray City boat tour in the Caymans (and Nachi in Cozumel) on the other itinerary. Trying to choose between the two is like deciding on which kid you love more.

So for us, we made our choices based on price and dates. We know we'll have a good time on either.

But this year we're going Southern Caribbean out of Port Liberty for 12 nights just so we can see new ports. I'm going to miss being able to drive to port, but a night out in NYC for our anniversary will not suck. :)

Enjoy whichever cruise you choose. (And go to Nachi Cocom in Cozumel.) :)

What an underwhelming "Black Friday" in the Cruise Planner. I didn't see any discounts on anything offered for our cruise that weren't in place three weeks before.

I'm close enough to drive to the port, so I don't have firsthand experience with the shuttles. Galveston Limo has been around forever and people trust them. Hobby is much closer to port. IAH is on the opposite side of the earth.

Uber and Lyft are now available in Galveston. When you Google that you will find news articles from 2015 saying they left. As of May of this year both services are back.

I didn't even think about this because I don't usually fly - but it is so true! Every cruise I go on I try to pack less so multiple outfits within a day is not something I'm eager to pack and carry. Esp. if it would cost me more as well.

Yes, we usually drive to the port. On our next 12 night we'll be flying Southwest and we'll be using our two free bags. :)

There is a practical limit of how much you can pack either way, though, because there's only so much room for you, your clothes, and your suitcases in the cabin. Pick too big of a suitcase and you won't get it under the bed!