krehberg

And yet many people say that the mainstream lines are much more similar than they are different. The service that I've received on Carnival has been more than acceptable, as has the quality of the food and the included amenities. I do look forward to sailing on Royal someday but something tells me that I'll find what others have found- it's more like the others than it is different.

Correct - there is no real difference in the standard of service between Royal and Carnival. Though on balance, I do prefer food on Carnival, its not by much and mainly due Carnival's Steakhouse being superior to any specialty restaurant on Royal. No doubt Royal offers more impressive ships and more niche drink selections...but service differences? Not so much.

I've never been on a Carnival cruise, not a high end cruise (Regent, Silver Seas, etc.) but I have cruised on Princess and Celebrity. While, for the most part, Carnival cruisers seem like that are having a real fun time, and I certainly would consider a Carnival cruise, what keeps me away are the following:

1. We don't have kids. Carnival would be my first choice if we had kids. There seems to be so much for them to do. But, not having kids, we are not too inclined to spend a week or so on a ship that caters to them. Nothing against Carnival for this, in fact, I think it's a point in their favor, if you have kids.

2. While we are far from being considered non-drinkers the posts from people complaining at that 15 drinks a day is not enough scares me. We are not huge day drinkers but we can hit it pretty hard starting at happy hour on the balcony but there is no way we would function with 15 drinks in one day. I know, not everyone is consuming this amount but I don't really want to be around those that do. (I agree, that either makes me sound snobby or terribly prudish.)

3. I like more of a sedate cruise. I don't want to participate in conga lines, dancing waiters, hairy chest contests, dressing up as a dinosaur for the Super Bowl (still can't figure this one out) and that's not a knock on Carnival, but rather it is the atmosphere that Carnival is trying to create. I, for one, applaud them for knowing their customer base and creating a niche in the cruising market for those that want to participate.I've thumbed my nose at the high end cruise lines because they don't offer what I'm looking for in a cruise experience either. You just have to find the line that meets your needs and no need to put down another line just because it doesn't cater to your liking.

Nothing wrong with what you wrote, but I would point out some things on how I've managed to mitigate your concerns:

1) If you cruise at times when kids are likely to be in school, you'll find less kids on board (even on Carnival)

2) I'm like you...I can party a bit at night, but have never really liked "day drinking" and I actually think there are many like us. The concern of the 15 drink max is overblown and I've never really been bothered by overly drunk individuals..and the rare time one has created a stir, I've seen security deal with it quickly and escort them back to their room. Worst recent one was actually in port

3) Its easy to avoid all the main pool shenanigans by finding a spot in the Serenity area

Isn't the Vista all about bells and whistles? My issue is that they are putting so much into ships that aren't quite big enough. They need a big platform if they want to compete on that level. We did Glory last year and liked the ship a lot, especially for it's size. But there is no comparison between Conquest class and Oasis class, for us, we prefer the larger ship with a better flow/layout.

Having been on Conquest class (Conquest, Freedom, Liberty and Valor) as well as the Oasis of the Seas, to point you are correct. Oasis class is an amazing ship..though I'm not a rock climber or a flowrider..so some of the bells and whistles mean nothing to me. That said, its hard to argue overall the Oasis is an impressive ship and the Aqua show is really neat and its nice to have Broadway style shows on board...but since I'm a fan of Rock, I must say the Epic Rock, The Brits and other rock based Carnival playlist productions were also entertaining. On the Valor, the show even featured a live band (Nov 2016)

There are problems with the Oasis class though - 1) Limited ports of call. Yea, tender ports are rarely my favorite, but that ship can't call on a tender port. 2) Chops is inferior to the Carnival Steakhouse 3)While you can purchase the drink package for just 1 in a cabin, far too many of their drink options are priced above the limit...thus I end up paying extra for most of my drinks. 3) Need to plan and make reservations for shows to guarantee a spot. It just doesn't feel as much like a vacation when I have to plan my comedy show for Wednesday at 10pm far in advance since the comedy club fits about 100 people on a 6000 passenger ship. 4) MDR experience IMO is inferior to my Conquest class experience - its more difficult to feed 6000+ compared to 3000 as some dishes suffer with higher volume, while some don't, but my service on Oasis in the MDR was worse than most of my CCL experiences 5) Solarium is not 21+ 6) Piano bar was boring

However, at the same time, I did love having a Pub, wine bar and Champagne bar and so many options to choose from due to size. Central Park was nice to stroll through and although so many people were on the ship, I never felt crowded.

I do truly like thinks about both lines and both ship classes. Most of my experience is with CCL due to convenience and timing...I won't shy away from either.

I really prefer real Champagne to any domestic sparkling wine, Cava or Prosecco and yes, on board there are limited options. Probably best to bring the bubbly on board with you as it will probably be easier to buy a backup red bottle on board than Champagne. Plus, you'd at least get a 25% discount with the cheers package. Just buy it before you hit 15 drinks:). That said, I've never hit my limit with Cheers...so that's not much of a concern for me.

You are correct. Unlike other lines which charge you the price difference plus gratuity, Carnival has a hard 50.00 limit.

 

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True...but Carnival has very few options that exceed the $50. As a wine drinker, when I was on RCI, I was paying the differential on almost every drink...though they do have a much nicer selection, but every single glass of champagne exceeded the $12 limit..and most of the wines did too...so the drinking package on RCI was more of a down payment :D

I've been on the Legend 3 times...and the Paradise twice, which is even older and love them both.

If one sails a Spirit Class ship and has a bad time...it means that are a douche bag

I love, love that ship and wish it was back in Tamps. Glad Miracle will come back :)

I'm a happy camper this morning! Just applied 9 + a partial $100 gift cards to my Cheers order for our upcoming 8 night cruise on Conquest.

What if there are not any rooms left on the deck you are on to compare to? Can you compare to the deck above?

Its possible that cabins on different decks are in the same fare code, so the answer would be....it depends. As long as fare code is available...8A, 8B......8F, etc you can compare to other cabins (even on different decks) with the same class.

Luckily I did get one price drop before final payment on my April Conquest sailing....but I got lucky on that one since one 8F cabin came available, thus letting me request the adjustment. I should kick myself for picking an 8F....but I went with same on the Vista for next year...hehe

I've already bought one $100 AARP card and plan to buy 1 or 2 more. I have a question however... I plan to use them for expenses I'll be putting on my S&S card like steakhouse dinners and gift shop purchases, not items I plan to purchase in advance (like excursions or Cheers).

 

Can I add the gift cards to my S&S card before the cruise or am I stuck going to Guest Services onboard to have them added?

Must be done onboard, but you can also use the sign & sail kiosks

Wasnt there some talk about moving the terminal so they would not have to go under the bridge?

I think they'd discussed studying the issue, but that would entail moving the cruise port to another county, so I think Tampa will exhaust all options and probably lose most cruise business before any solution is reached. As long as Carnival keeps putting a Spirit class ship in port (either seasonally or maybe year round now)...I doubt they will move quickly on the issue.

I couldn't find a place to add the discount code of OHJOHN where did you do that?

OH sorry...I think that was good only till the end of January, but I was happy I was able to double dip.

Obviously they must have limits to each program, whether it be Verizon, AARP, Citi, etc since somebody is chipping in the 10% savings (probably some short of cost sharing) and they keep it so we all don't buy unlimited amounts. Just bought some cards from citi last night so I can get cheers on my April cruise and they limited me to $500. Luckily, my wife also has a citi card and was able to get the other $500 from hers..so I get to pay for cheers and enough for the Steakhouse once on board LOL. Already got some for some excursions along with the OHJOHN discount so in effect got some Carnival excursions for nearly 15% off.

As has been said, the Miracle will be coming to Tampa and of course RC does some seasonal cruising out of Tampa, but Tampa will never get the newer ships as most new ships are getting bigger and bigger and thus can't sail under the Sunshine Skyway bridge. I do love the miracle and the cat 7A balconies are a great value for the price sensitive cruiser. Last April I did sail the Paradise in one of the Jr. Suites and while no doubt its nice being able to go out on the balcony, those balconies are very tiny and lack the privacy you get on other ships. Not bad if you must limit to 5 nights or less, but I'd choose Miracle over Paradise any day (have sailed both + Miracle's sister Legend) even though I do like both ships.

A 7 day from Sat to Sat is actually Sat-Fri with debarkation on that following Sat. The day of debarkation does not count. IE: You have 67 sea days and sail a 7 day from Sat to Fri (Sat) you finish that sailing with 74 days, you would hit day #75 on your next sailing then.

That's why my next cruise is 8 nights, as I sitting right at 67 days and thus needed that 1 little extra day to make it 75 and my first Platinum cruise :D

Back in August on the Conquest that is exactly what we did. My DW doesn't drink very much, but since we had the kids onboard, the bookings were done with me and my son in one room and my DW and daughter in the other. I got cheers but my DW did not and all we did was get a duplicate key for both rooms. The booking remained the same, we just had the kids sleep in one room and us in the other.

Was on the Conquest last August and will be back on in less than 90 days. I love the aft pool being adult (or at least the hot tubs). It's not a serentoth area, but I'm not fond of the serenity location on Conquest class anyway

Your Mileage May Vary is all I can say. By the way, most wine carrying cases fit 2 bottles and since cruises are priced (typically) at double occupancy, I've never had security blink an eye at me carrying 2 bottles on board, even if my wife and I went through 2 different scanners.

That said, they certainly can and might strictly enforce the rules. With the cheers package, it actually makes me spend more $ to bring on wine, though I will always bring something special for the 1st Cruise Elegant night and for the Steakhouse.

Sorry, one more question.

 

If I carry one bottle of wine on the ship in San Juan, will that be confiscated or can I keep it in my room? What about corkage fee? Does that only apply to bottles brough to the main dining room?

I'm assuming San Juan is your embarkation port right? If so, yes you can bring 1 bottle of wine per person on board at embarkation. You can indeed bring it to your room. Corkage is only charged when you bring the bottle to the MDR or Steakhouse. When I first started cruising, the MDR usually "forgot" to charge it and waiter got better tip...but as of late, they have been quite consistent with charging corkage, at least over the last 3-4 years. You always have an option to bring a glass with you to dinner.

Yes, Onboard credit of the following amounts:

$50.00 per stateroom on a 3/4/5 day cruise

$75.00 per stateroom on a 6-day cruise

$100.00 per stateroom on a 7-9 day cruise

$200.00 per stateroom on 12 day or longer cruises

Is it possible that you would earn Plat. status during the upcoming cruise? For instance, I currently sit at 67 days, but as I'm taking an 8 night cruise in April, all my paper work says Platinum because I hit 75 days on the cruise (thanks to it being an 8 nighter). You do earn the next status if you earn it on the cruise,

Diversity of experiences is what makes vacations fun! I went on 2 RCCL cruises before doing 3 on Carnival last year. Each line has good things to offer and worthy of your business...but frankly, I really didn't miss anything about RCCL last year sailing Carnival.

Obviously, there are more similarities than differences and the differences no doubt have been discussed a lot in other threads. I think our preferences to which line is better depends on how important those differences are.

1) The passport book is all you'll need for identification.

2) For excursions, just tip an amount you find appropriate as a "pooled tip". they typically have a bucket and they share tips. As always, if one of the crew gave you outstanding service that you want to acknowledge, individually, do that, but I wouldn't worry about needing to tip each one individually.

See no reason to ever get the passport card unless you live near the Canadian or Mexican border and drive across frequently. If you go through the process, might as well get the passport book or just stick with the birth certificate.

Having sailed on both in the past few years, I can't really say one is better than the other as they both offer fun experiences. Having only been on 2 of RCCL's larger classes, I can't speak for the older ships on their fleet but I truly enjoyed experiences on both:

RCCL Pros:

1) Huge ships with tons of onboard activities

2) Niche bars (wine bar, champagne bar and pub, etc) allow for access to a huge variety of different options for adult beverages. Wine bar has a menu full of wines be the glass and pub has a great selection of craft and international beers. Downside is lack of consistency. My DW isn't a wine drinker and couldn't get a fruity cocktail at the wine bar...had to go somewhere else.

2) More dining options, though really disappointed in the Chops experience

Carnival Pros:

1) Serenity areas on many ships allow for plenty of R&R

2) Except for Alchemy Bar, consistency of every bar....yes it comes with fewer choices than RCCL as a result but my DW and I can sit down and both get something we like since they can make the entire menu at almost every bar

3) Alchemy Bar - my favorite bar concept on either line

4) Food - actually prefer Carnival MDR food (maybe due to actually serving less people due to smaller ships?...but I can say, I just love, love, love Carnival soups. Over the last 10 years, they've added more "Homestyle" good (i.e. downgrade) options on the menu, but still overall still prefer CCL

5) Steakhouse - Of either line, I prefer the CCL steakhouse to any other specialty restaurant option.

I've found the crew and staff of both to be hard working crews trying to make our vacation enjoyable. I will gladly sail either...though now that I'll be Carnival Platinum on my upcoming April cruise and due to more year round options in Florida, will probably always lean toward CCL