We are Diamond Plus on RC, and Elite on Celebrity. We like both but give the edge to Celebrity. We would go on more Celebrity cruises if they sailed from Bayonne, which is about sixty miles from home.
Royal has really cut their food quality and selection as well as their entertainment/musical performers are obviously downgraded.
Due to this we also are looking elsewhere. We tried Carnival for the first time in about ten years.
We just got off a nine night Carnival Venezia cruise and had the following comparisons to Royal/Celebrity.
Food was better in MDR on Carnival although not as good was the buffet in both quality and selection. Breakfast in MDR on Carnival was better in quality and selection. Carnival buffet breakfast was really subpar.
The free choices for food options on Carnival blew away both Celebrity and RC. They had Guy Fieri's Burgers, which were restaurant quality, a pizza stand that was far superior to Celebrity and RC, a Mexican operation that also served Italian type sandwiches and on sea days you can get Chinese dishes for lunch from the seafood stand.
They also had a comedy club on Carnival that was a big advantage to Celebrity/RC.
Another enormous advantage that goes to Carnival are their desserts. The baked goods in the buffet were bakery quality everyday! Their chocolate chip cookies were much more appetizing than Celebrity/RC.
The baked goods on Celebrity RC are a step down from grammar school cafeterias.
We kept saying that we couldn't understand why Celebrity/RC couldn't do a better job. It can't be the money, it isn't that much of a difference in the end. Do Celebrity/RC food operation planners go on competitor ships and taste what is served elsewhere? All they know is to serve the same gelatenous deserts, feh!
Sailing from NYC is more difficult than Bayonne so that is a big advantage for RC/Celebrity.
The Carnival Venezia was a very poorly designed ship. Without a question the advantage goes to Celebrity/RC, it isn't close.
If Celebrity and Royal could do something about their food operations it would be a big improvement.
These are our opinions after 88 cruises.