Carnival or Royal?

[waterbabies]

Replied about earlier on this thread when I stated after seven Royal cruises, we went on our first (AND LAST) Carnival cruise (on Conquest). Fishing Lady notes people should not complain about the little things, but when the food is so mediocre my wife and I skipped dinner because the entrees seemed so unappealing, and many Royal cruisers have agreed here (and even on the Conquest) that the ship's layout was atrocious, well, those aren't little things. Even our 22 year old daugher, who is a "party girl," told us before we went she prefers Royal. As they say in horse racing, different courses for different horses. Will stop with the commentary there...this is a Carnival thread, so I expect some grief. Of course, once some time is past I will not be visiting the Carnival thread any longer. :)

[Skinsfan1311]

We had a great time on both! Food was slightly better on RCI...I don't think you can go wrong with either.....

[prekteacher904]

Im not looking to bash on company over another. Im looking for honest pros and cons for each.

 

Im trying to plan my first cruise. Both Carnivals Ecstasy and Royals Splendour Of The Seas are available to us.

 

There will be 4 young couples total booking the cruise. No children.

 

My suggestion is to investigate. Recently Carnival has been plaqued with mechanical problems. Holiday, Glory, Ecstasy, and now the Imagination and under P&O their ship the Aurora. All propulsion problems. Do an interenet search, ask your travel agents or several different agents, check these boards. If you have mechanical problems that will force an itinerary change.

I am a repeat Carnival person, but was I was on the Glory of Feb. 19-26.

[gsb]

they got a load of bad diesel fuel!;)

[prekteacher904]

they got a load of bad diesel fuel!;)

Glory of Feb. 19-26 was more than bad fuel. Trust me on that one.

[Cruising89143]

I have cruised with Carnival more than RCI but give my nod to RCI. I found the food to be about the same with Carnival having much better pizza hands down. I also like the deli on the Carnival ships. Entertainment was about equal. Where I noticed the major difference was the level of service on RCI over Carnival along with friendly crew members. RCI ships are much cleaner also. They seem to take better care of their fleet and it shows. I really do not think that you can go wrong with either line but I would do some research and read reviews on the ships that you are interested in taking.