Back from first RCI cruise...thoughts...

[amc80]

I just returned from my first RCI cruise. It was the Western Caribbean FOAS, 11/27 sail date. There were a group of 21 of us in 11 cabins. My husband and I got married on 11/27 (not through RCI) and most of our wedding guests joined us on our cruise. Overall we had a blast and I am pretty bummed to be back at work...especially when the thermometer read 20 degrees (F) this morning. I don't have pictures but I do have several thoughts about RCI versus Carnival. I've been on 3 Carnival cruises (all Spirit class ships) and 1 NCL cruise.

 

1) The ship- hands down, RCI wins. Freedom is beautiful. It's much more elegant than the Carnival ships I've been on. Tons to do, lots of bars (I loved the Bull and Bear).

 

2) Food- Split. Dining room food goes to Carnival. I never had a bad or even a "blah" mean on Carnival. I had a few "just okay" meals on RCI. Buffet goes to RCI. Carnival's buffet just isn't good. Plus it's so tacky, I always felt like I was at a Sizzler or something. RCI's Windjammer was really nice, tasteful, and the food was great. Specialty restuarants on both the Freedom (Chops) and Carnival Spirit were equal- delicious.

 

3) Activities- Carnvial wins. While the Freedom had more things to do (ice skating, FlowRider, rock wall, etc.), Carnival had more planned events. Games, trivia, bingo, etc. I remember on the Spirit always having to decided between all of the things going on. On FOAS, we often found ourselves looking at the Compass and saying "well, we can do this activity now, but there's nothing else until late afternoon." Maybe the increased ammenities means fewer scheduled activities?

 

4) Pool- FOAS wins. Tons of chairs, tons of space, so many pools. Tons of hot tubs. Carnival was always cramped. I think chair hogs are worse on FOAS, though, but I had no problem taking care of that.

 

5) Shows- I thought they were pretty equal, except the Spirit had way more comedy shows, which I liked. Oh and the magic show put on by the America's Got Talent guy? Way too dramatic and not enough actual magic.

 

6) Gym- FOAS, hands down. Amazing gym. I went every other day and my DH went every day. The Spirit stupidly has a hot tub in the middle of the gym area. Not cool (literally).

 

7) Service- Both FOAS and Spirit had friendly, helpful staff. We never had a problem with either. But, there is something about Carnival's staff that's just more...fun? Not sure what the right word is. They do their job just as well but are slightly more relaxed.

 

8) Cabins- I have a good basis for comparison because we were in aft balcony 1402, and on the Spirit we also had an aft balcony. Spirit's room was wider, FOAS's was longer. FOAS's closet was bigger but the shelves on Spirit's were better. I loved the glass door on FOAS, mainly because I hate shower curtains (It also kept the entire bathroom from getting wet, as it did on the Spirit). Balcony was GIANT, much bigger than Spirit's. Spirit's beds and bedding was much more comfortable.

 

So, there you have it. I would go on either RCI or Carnival again in a heartbeat, it would probably come down to price. I do really want to go on an Oasis class ship, but otherwise would be more than happy to try Carnival Dream/Magic. Feel free to ask any questions you might have.

[jebuell]

Good read! I'm going on my first RCI in a few months after several on Carnival and have been wondering how different they really are.

 

As for your point #3- this is actually what appeals me to RCI over Carnival! On my Carnival cruises I always felt like "Well, we could go to trivia... again. Or sit by the pool... again. OK, I'm bored". I love that there are more physical activities on RCI (even though our ship won't have the Flo Rider). I'd much rather go rock climbing or ice skating then sit through ANOTHER lame trivia show. Although, I will say that a good trivia show from time to time is fun, too, but on Carnival they always seemed so hokey to me (except Battle of the Sexes).

[mark290]

I enjoyed your review and comparison. I actually think your cabin was not a good basis for comparison. On both ships you had a unique cabin. Even on the specific ship the aft cabins will mostly be all different. Comparing a standard shaped cabin, of which there are hundreds in every class , would be more telling for comparison purposes. As an aft fan I did enjoy your perspective.

[amc80]

I enjoyed your review and comparison. I actually think your cabin was not a good basis for comparison. On both ships you had a unique cabin. Even on the specific ship the aft cabins will mostly be all different. Comparing a standard shaped cabin, of which there are hundreds in every class , would be more telling for comparison purposes. As an aft fan I did enjoy your perspective.

 

Fair enough. I did also see a promenade cabin and it was tiny. Seemed smalled than the o/v on the Spirit, but who knows.

[deanswife1990]

I enjoyed your comparison. DH and I felt exactly the same as you when we compared our FOS trip to our previous Carnival sailings. The magic show hasn't to be the lamest show I have ever seen. I couldn't wait for it to be over. :p

[jebuell]

Fair enough. I did also see a promenade cabin and it was tiny. Seemed smalled than the o/v on the Spirit, but who knows.

 

Oh yeah, if we're comparing interior rooms than Carnival is better by far. They are way more spacious.

[Tyler80]

I enjoyed your comparison. DH and I felt exactly the same as you when we compared our FOS trip to our previous Carnival sailings. The magic show hasn't to be the lamest show I have ever seen. I couldn't wait for it to be over. :p

 

I thought the "Now you see it" magic show was awesome! I guess I'm really lame? I've been to David Copperfield's magic shows before and they all have an element of drama, suspense and surprise.

[amc80]

I thought the "Now you see it" magic show was awesome! I guess I'm really lame? I've been to David Copperfield's magic shows before and they all have an element of drama, suspense and surprise.

 

I think the main difference is that David Copperfield can pull it off. This guy (Drew something?) really....can't. I had to refrain from laughing during the end part with the snow globe. Too much story, not enough magic. I will say that his magic was amazing, though.

[will773]

Great comparison! That was interesting to read. Thanks for posting.

[LBumb]

congrats on marriage

[Mack2]

I think this was a good comparison.

Definitely, with point #3, the more amenities, the fewer planned activities.

 

Having sailed with RCCL (pre-RCI) and looking back at some old VCR videos that my parents took of us when we sailed the Song of America in 1987, there were lots more organized activities on the cruise ships than now... I think it was because the Song of America was a small ship (compared to today's giants).

 

We recently came off the Oasis of the Seas in the beginning of November '11. Tons of things to do onboard because of the different "neighborhoods", but nothing like what we experienced on the Carnival Legend (our previous cruise)

 

Sure, the Legend would have bean-bag tosses and trivial pursuit... fun, interactive things to do that the Oasis didn't offer continuously, but there's just a ton of things to do that are NOT organized on the super-ship.

 

A trade-off.

 

I did feel the service and crew were a bit better on RCI, but that's all subjective...

 

I DO miss getting the old RCCL "Ship-Shape" dollars for t-shirt redemption at the end of the cruise. Back in the day, you could shoot clay pigeons with a shotgun on the back of the ship... Fun for a kid growing up in the NY/NJ tri-state area... before there was X-Box (I had an Atari)

[amc80]

I think this was a good comparison.

Definitely, with point #3, the more amenities, the fewer planned activities.

 

...

Sure, the Legend would have bean-bag tosses and trivial pursuit... fun, interactive things to do that the Oasis didn't offer continuously, but there's just a ton of things to do that are NOT organized on the super-ship.

 

A trade-off.

 

Exactly. We had really high winds every day at sea (and the day we missed Grand Cayman), so a lot of the poolside stuff was canceled...which meant even fewer planned activites. I also noticed that the few trivia type activities they had were always packed, which wasn't the case on Carnival.