Carnival or Royal Caribbean

[siki00]

Hello...I have decided to take a western caribbean cruise in April or May. My husband and I like travel during off-season while the kids are still in school. My next step is to choose a cruise line. I have narrowed it down to Carnival & Royal Caribbean. We are in our early 30s. Any suggestions or tips?

Thank you! :)

[Sheffie]

They are both good cruise lines, with Carnival having a basic reputation of being more of a party ship. There are still lots of fun things to do on RCI, though. I would check out the ports and the times in ports and let this help me make my decision.

[tinsel57]

Take the cruises you're considering and look at the Ship reviews on this board. See what's offered that would suite your tastes. Check the ports and Excursions.

 

Carnival does have a rep as being the party ship, the hot hot hot song plays, they say, till you feel like you've been brain washed! They're also known for their glitzy vegas type theme but that's not always true either.

 

You can't tell till you start looking at individual ships.

 

I personally like RCCL. I think for the average consumer they offer excellent value for the money and a wide variety of activities, regardless of your tastes. I think over all, there are less college age kids or mid twenties on RCC ships and for me, since I am not in my 20's, I like that! Been there and done that, more than ready to move on.

 

I am also speaking in regard to the caribbean sails. Since these are plentiful and comparetively inexpensive, ( i know it's all relative) they have a tendency in some cases to attract a lot of younger people so watch your dates and try to avoid spring break if you can, unless that's what you want.

[CoachTerry14]

Since I am a Diamond Member with RCI and a often Carnival Cruiser (9 so far), let's compare the my last two cruises: Mariner vs. Glory

 

1) RCL has a conceiges lounge

2) Carnival has a waterslide

3) RCL has mini golf, in-line skating, and a rock wall. (Cool if you use it!)

4) RCL had two speciality restaurants (or is it three with Johnny Rockets?), Carnival had one.

5) Glory had lots of places to eat outside, Marnier None.

6) Carnival had laundrettes, Marnier nothing.

7) Marniner had RANCH Steak, Carnival had Filet.

8) Mariner - Full size basketball, Carnival - Smaller than half court

9) Carnival - More self serve ice cream stations serving Ice Cream and Frozen Yogart. On the Mariner if you wanted Ice Cream you had to pay for it!

10) In my opinion, the food is a toss up. But Carnival has more free speciality stuff (Fish & Chips, Deli, etc.)

11) In my opinion, the activities and entertainment go to Carnival.

12) In price comparisons, CCL is generally less expensive. I guess this makes RCI more upscale.

13) Glory left on a Saturday and the Mariner left on a Sunday - Same embarkation port. Could make a difference to some people.

14) The Room service menu on RCI was much nicer than CCL - More Choices!

15) RCL treats repeat customers much better

16) Carnival has the Ocean Player Club, RCL had nothing like this at all!

 

Hope this helps.

[caviargal]

I am Diamond Plus (44 sailings) with RCI and have sailed Carnival twice. I imagine that makes my opinion pretty clear.

 

IMO, RCI ships are tastefully elegant in decor, with lots of glass and wood and natural light. CCL uses lots of plastic and neon and I feel very closed in on their ships. I do not care for the garish color schemes.

 

While I believe that the food quality has declined over the past 5 years on RCI, CCL was truly awful. When I ordered caviar at their wine and caviar bar one evening, they actually served it with melba toast. They were out of many of the bottles listed on their wine list. Overall, I found the food and service to be poor.

 

The passengers on CCL seem a much more casual bunch and I did not care for that. I dislike formal nights where people feel the need to ignore dress suggestions and come in jeans and flip flops. I enjoy elegance and refinement and, although RCI is not close to being stuffy, it offers a very nice experience, especially on their Radiance class ships.

 

If you like TGI Fridays and Ruby Tuesdays and the like, in terms of food, service and noise level and decor, you will like CCL. I do not dine at either of those chains, nor am I fan of chains in general. While the food on RCI is most definitely not 5 star, I have found most of their ships to offer good food, some better than others. And I always enjoy Chops and POrtofino.

 

I liken Carnival to the Walmart of the mass market cruise lines. It has something that pleases a lot of people apparently. But for me, it simply is not a positive experience.