susieQ_2010

We were on the Jubilee this past Spring Break and had extended balcony cabin 11483 and it had 2 chairs, a table and 1 lounge chair already on the balcony. We did not ask for an additional lounge chair as we didn't need it.

I am platinum on Carnival and we just got back from a 7-day RCL cruise on the Allure of the Seas. It was my 2nd RCL cruise and this was a "let's see if they are any better this time from last time" cruise. I think there is too much pomp and circumstance on RCL. I don't cruise for all of the 'stuff' so it didn't impress me. My 9yo son did partake in the RCL kids club and felt Carnival's was more fun. He did like the Flow Rider and the Zip line. The kids club didn't have a way for parent communication like Carnival does. Carnival updates the app when your child signs themselves in or out with location or destination information. RCL couldn't or wouldn't do that. Food was hit or miss. We ate mostly in the Windjammer for lunch and the Dining Room for dinners. We did try the Italian restaurant, which was pretty good, but nothing to write home about for $100 meal. I feel like Carnival always has some food options available all of the time. On RCL, there were times when I felt nothing was available. Their pizza was just ok. Carnival wins that one. Room service was pretty good on RCL. RCL wins on production shows. There were multiple production type shows available during the week. We saw 3 different theatrical shows that were very well done. Their Aqua Show was incredible. Carnival wins on Daily activities. I felt like nothing was going on during sea days on RCL. It was weird. Bingo was in the early mornings. Trivia was at odd times too. It was just difficult to make it to any of them. Casino is a draw. I feel RCL had a larger footprint with more of a selection of table games and slot machines. Carnival has a better nonsmoking casino. Carnival's players club has better offers. I had to ask to have my table play reviewed on RCL and that still didn't happen. On Carnival, table play was reviewed immediately. All in all, RCL just offers a different product and there are some that are drawn to it. We are not so we will stick with Carnival. We already have 4 other Carnival cruises booked between now and next August. We might consider trying NCL, MSC and Celebrity at some point, but we are happy with Carnival as of now.

We have collapsible sand buckets and have a variety of small shovels that we put into a mesh bag. You can find the collapsible sand buckets on Amazon.