Questions about RC compaired to CCL

[KPGirl]

I have only been on 2 cruises, both with Carnival and now some friends are trying to sway me ( even though they haven't been on either). I am wondering what is included in the cost and what is extra ??

[PORT ROYAL]

I have only been on 2 cruises, both with Carnival and now some friends are trying to sway me ( even though they haven't been on either). I am wondering what is included in the cost and what is extra ??

 

My experience of CCL and RCL I am able to give you a short resume.

With CCL out of San Juan you get guests having a "spitting contest" from their balcony and with RCCL you do not.

[bondgirl007]

KPgirl, they are similar in what is included and what you have to pay extra for. I have enjoyed my 3 Carnival cruises but my first cruise was on Radiance of the Seas and it is still my favorite. We are going on Independence of the Seas in October and can not wait! While a lot is the same between the cruise lines, I believe Royal Caribbean gives a "nicer" experience. Where they definitely excell is in customer service. Not that Carnival was bad. They just aren't quite as good. I think you should give in :D

[KPGirl]

My experience of CCL and RCL I am able to give you a short resume.

With CCL out of San Juan you get guests having a "spitting contest" from their balcony and with RCCL you do not.

 

 

Well I didn't see any spitting contests on my last 2 cruises, I was wondering more about shows and dining, if they are extra $$$.

[paige-ryan]

My experience of CCL and RCL I am able to give you a short resume.

With CCL out of San Juan you get guests having a "spitting contest" from their balcony and with RCCL you do not.

 

OMG....this just made me laugh out loud!!!!

 

:eek:

[julee407]

Love Carnival and RCI but RCI is definitely my favorite.

[stewpapa]

We have been on I think 8 Carnival cruises and 7 Royal Caribbean, most out of Galveston. We feel that we get a lot more for a little more money on RC. You do not have to pay for anything that you do not pay for on Carnival. All of our cruises have been great, but Royal is always the best.

[corky4man]

Things are pretty much the same as far as what is included in your cruise fare, buut after 2 Carnival cruises it's back to RCCL for our family. Its all about the atmosphere.

[Jimnbigd]

Here is my opinion.

Food: About the same, some better on CCL, some better on RCI

Live music: Much better on RCI -- more talented and more selection

Shows: Better on RCI, but I do like the every-night comedy shows on CCL

Cabins: Bigger on CCL, and bigger showers on the CCL's I've been on. But somehow RCI has more storage space.

Public areas: Better on RCI -- not as crowded. Compare passenger load with ship's tonnage.

Crew: Cabin attendants and dining staff about the same for me

Ship appearance: Much better on RCI, especially with the voyager class and higher (138,000 tons and higher). I always say CCL has neon lights, while RCI has chandeliers.

 

The extra costs on RCI are about the same as Carnival. Included in the price is tea, coffee, lemonade, flavored punch, milk, orange juice in the morning (fresh squeezed is extra), soft serve ice cream (unlike Carnival this is available on during certain hours), main dining room, buffet, other eateries like Cafe Promenade and Sorrentos (on selected ships), room service (but there is a flat gratuity charge from midnight to around 5am or so). Extras would be specialty dining such as Johnny Rockets and Chops Steak House, alcoholic and carbonated drinks (just like Carnival, and about the same pricing including the automatic 15% tip), specialty coffees, and Ben and Jerry's ice cream (the dining room has free scooped ice cream just like Carnival).

 

Give RCI a try and see for yourself. What ship are you considering? Also you might post this same question on the Carnival forum and see if you get different responses.

[Cruzinbabe06]

RCCL has some specialty dining options. Depends what ship you're going on. All the cruise lines offer this.

 

I haven't eaten in any Specialty restaurants on RCCL, so cannot comment on the experience. However, we always reserve a spot for the Steakhouse on our Carnival cruises. It's like a tradition.

 

The majority of my cruises have been on Carnival, only, because I get more bang for my buck. RCCL prices can be a little higher, sometimes, but not all the time.:rolleyes:

 

The shows on RCCL are very nice, especially if you go on an RCCL ship with the ice rink. Those ice skating shows at sea are something else.

 

I say give RCCL a try.;)

 

I'm very excited about my upcoming Freedom of the Seas cruise, mainly because of; ports of call Labadee & Falmouth, the ice show, Johnny Rockets, the adults solarium, the promenade parades, the new menus on RCCL.:D

 

I'm not one to rock climb and surf on a ship, but it will be fun to watch.

 

I have no allegiance to any cruise line and in my opinion, people are people.

 

On our Explorer of the Seas cruise at dinner time, a woman from our table was about to fight with a woman from the next table. They were loud and cursing at each other and both stood up as if to fight. The staff came over to see what was going on. My husband and I couldn't believe it. :confused:

 

One year on my Carnival Imagination spring break cruise, we smelled marijuana in the hallways. A lot of college kids.:eek: Won't make that mistake again.

 

Variety is the spice of life. :p

[PattyG12]

We've been on a bunch of Royal Caribbean and one Carnival. The service on Royal is SOOOOOO much better. We'll not go on another Carnival.

[twospoiled]

Here is my opinion.

Food: About the same, some better on CCL, some better on RCI

Live music: Much better on RCI -- more talented and more selection

Shows: Better on RCI, but I do like the every-night comedy shows on CCL

Cabins: Bigger on CCL, and bigger showers on the CCL's I've been on. But somehow RCI has more storage space.

Public areas: Better on RCI -- not as crowded. Compare passenger load with ship's tonnage.

Crew: Cabin attendants and dining staff about the same for me

Ship appearance: Much better on RCI, especially with the voyager class and higher (138,000 tons and higher). I always say CCL has neon lights, while RCI has chandeliers.

 

I totally agree with this with the exception of the showers. On RCCI the Freedom Class (and maybe others) have shower doors with give you much more room and no floods in the bathroom. I LOVED my last cruise on the Freedom of the Seas and can't wait to book my cruise on the Freedom for next fall. Fabulous ship!

[BeachChik]

My experience of CCL and RCL I am able to give you a short resume.

With CCL out of San Juan you get guests having a "spitting contest" from their balcony and with RCCL you do not.

 

These types I comments try to imply that a lower class of people sail carnival when it simply isn't true. Norwegian, carnival and royal all target the same demographic.

 

Overall our experience was not that different from carnival to royal. Same daily activities, same free options. There were more pay items available on the royal ship we were on but the only extra we did was Johnny rockets. There were things we liked better in royal and things we liked better on carnival.

[KPGirl]

Here is my opinion.

Food: About the same, some better on CCL, some better on RCI

Live music: Much better on RCI -- more talented and more selection

Shows: Better on RCI, but I do like the every-night comedy shows on CCL

Cabins: Bigger on CCL, and bigger showers on the CCL's I've been on. But somehow RCI has more storage space.

Public areas: Better on RCI -- not as crowded. Compare passenger load with ship's tonnage.

Crew: Cabin attendants and dining staff about the same for me

Ship appearance: Much better on RCI, especially with the voyager class and higher (138,000 tons and higher). I always say CCL has neon lights, while RCI has chandeliers.

 

The extra costs on RCI are about the same as Carnival. Included in the price is tea, coffee, lemonade, flavored punch, milk, orange juice in the morning (fresh squeezed is extra), soft serve ice cream (unlike Carnival this is available on during certain hours), main dining room, buffet, other eateries like Cafe Promenade and Sorrentos (on selected ships), room service (but there is a flat gratuity charge from midnight to around 5am or so). Extras would be specialty dining such as Johnny Rockets and Chops Steak House, alcoholic and carbonated drinks (just like Carnival, and about the same pricing including the automatic 15% tip), specialty coffees, and Ben and Jerry's ice cream (the dining room has free scooped ice cream just like Carnival).

 

Give RCI a try and see for yourself. What ship are you considering? Also you might post this same question on the Carnival forum and see if you get different responses.

 

 

Thanks you have answered all my questions, not sure which way to go it is $400 more per couple, we are looking at the one out of San Juan. One other question, on Carnival if you booke early saver you get money back for any price drops does Royal do the same kind of thing ?

[PattyG12]

Royal will give you the lower price until final payment, just like carnival does.

[lleydens]

With RCI, if there is a price drop you can call in and they will adjust your price as long as it is before final payment and is not part of a "new bookings" only sale, which usually occurs on Tuesdays.

[printingchick]

I have only been on 2 cruises, both with Carnival and now some friends are trying to sway me ( even though they haven't been on either). I am wondering what is included in the cost and what is extra ??

 

You'll see from my signature that I've cruised nearly an equal number of times on both lines (actually more times on Carnival, but it's been a while.)

 

It depends somewhat on the ship you choose. The larger the ship, the more pay-extra venues are typically included. I think this is probably true of Carnival as well. A very small ship may have room for only ONE specialty restaurant, where a larger ship will offer TWO - just an example.

 

I'm a budget traveler, so I tend not to spend anything extra on the ship beyond alcoholic beverages and photos. You don't HAVE to eat in the specialty restaurants, there are typically a variety of INCLUDED options. You don't HAVE to buy Ben & Jerry's ice cream. You can eat the FREE ice cream. Shows on board are free, just like on Carnival. Beverages also follow the same rules - you'll pay extra for coke, but not for iced tea. You'll pay extra for esspresso, but not for coffee.

 

Regarding other comparisons, Jimnbigd did a good job. Here's my input:

 

Food: Royal just began a new menu, so hard to compare MDR food until I cruise again in 2014. In the past, Carnival did desserts better. Other MDR food was comparable. I prefer the Windjammer Buffet because it incorporates food stations, which eliminates the one LONG line.

Live music/Shows: Comparable. Royal tends to always include one NAME entertainer (and that name is usually one that USED to be big), so perhaps that gives them a little bit of an advantage in terms of entertainer recognition. Once you get to the large ships, you end up with some really big entertainment options, like "Chicago". I agree about the every-night comedy shows on CCL.

Cabins: Bigger on CCL, but better laid on on RCL.

 

Something rarely mentioned - and I'm not mentioning here in terms of mechanical issues, but cosmetic - Royal does a better job maintaining their fleet. The ships seem newer and cleaner - even their older ships. I took a short cruise once on Carnival where my Sail & Sign card was SEPARATE from my room key. The "greens" on the mini-golf course were totally torn up. Sewage smells on the lower decks were common. The bathroom flooded EVERY time you took a shower. This was just ONE older ship, which was running the shorter cruises. Still...I've never encountered that level of disrepair on a Royal ship.

[Jimnbigd]

Thanks you have answered all my questions, not sure which way to go it is $400 more per couple, we are looking at the one out of San Juan. One other question, on Carnival if you booke early saver you get money back for any price drops does Royal do the same kind of thing ?

With cruises from San Juan being having lots of port-of-call, I'm not sure I'd spend the money for a nicer ship. For me, the ship is the vacation, but from San Juan the ports are probably the vacation and the ship is just a place to eat and sleep. But if you do a cruise with several sea days then I think RCI is worth the extra money.

[kg4pit]

DH and I have been on several RC cruises. Just in the last 4yrs, we have gone on Carnival...only because it was a learning cruise...I'm a certified medical coder that is required to get continuing education credits...My sister's company has sponsored a "coding cruise" every year for the past 4 yrs. We go to class 4hrs on the sea days. DH and I are ready to come back to RC! Carnival is good, but there is a noticable difference in my opinion. The staff for instance. Most don't seem as friendly as on RC. On our RC cruises, the room steward and any staff we passed in the hall were very nice and most called us by name. On this last cruise, we didn't even meet our room steward. It has been about 5 years since we cruised with RC, but from what everyone is saying on here, it is still like it was the last time we cruised. What I really didn't like about Carnival this time was that they restructured their reward program. Last year we were invited to the past guest party because we had cruised the previous 2 years. This year, we weren't invited because you had to have 24 days sailed. So, my opinion was that they actually were saying "you were good enough to come to the party last year, but now we decided you can't come!" I understand rewarding people for returning to them, but what is that saying to the people that are starting out and have 2 or 3 cruises under their belt?? Oh and the other thing I didn't like was that there were no "live bands" on deck..they were dj's. Of course there were people singing the different clubs....etc. I'm not saying I won't cruise Carnival again, but I'm ready for RC again!!

[Jenbo57]

My experience of CCL and RCL I am able to give you a short resume.

With CCL out of San Juan you get guests having a "spitting contest" from their balcony and with RCCL you do not.

 

Perhaps not, but we got mooned by about five people on a corner aft balcony on the Explorer of the Seas as they were pulling out of San Juan ahead of us (we were on the Carnival Liberty) in November.

 

Juvenile behavior can be found on any cruise line...

[pcur]

OMG....this just made me laugh out loud!!!!

 

:eek:

 

My husband and I are BOTH laughing out loud!!! :D

[imlulu]

I found both comparable. I thought the RCI ship was much nicer cosmetically. Food options in MDR was better on Carnival IMHO. Apart from that, I found them comparable and catering to the same demographics.

 

Enjoy which ever you choose.

[time4u2go]

Perhaps not, but we got mooned by about five people on a corner aft balcony on the Explorer of the Seas as they were pulling out of San Juan ahead of us (we were on the Carnival Liberty) in November.

 

Juvenile behavior can be found on any cruise line...

 

Wow, nice.

[AprilRoses]

We just did a RC cruise over February vacation. My husband and I had not been on Royal for about 15 years. We have done a bunch of Carnival cruises with the kids over the past 15 years. Here's what I think:

 

Service and Staff: MUCH better on RC. Staff seems to truly care if you are having a good time and if they are providing great service. We were always called by name by our cabin steward and everyone we passed in the halls was friendly.

 

Food: The buffet and pay restaurants were great on RC. We were on the Oasis of the Seas and the way the Windjammer buffet is set up is SO much better than Carnival. Carnival has these ridiculously long lines for each type of food. RC has a bunch of small circular buffets that never seemed to get crowded and clogged up the way that Carnival does. The dinner food in the main restaurant was much better on Carnival than RC. I never could find much to get excited about on the RC menu at night. Most nights what I tried was okay but nothing to write home about. Desserts are much better on Carnival.

 

Shows: Hands down much better on RC. Again, it was Oasis, so we had the ice show, the aqua show and Hairspray just to name a few. Very hard for Carnival to compete with that.

 

Cabins: I liked the balcony better on RC but the cabin, itself, was better on Carnival. The shower is tiny on RC and I didn't like the way that storage was laid out on RC.

 

Atmosphere: I found a huge difference in how much alcohol is pushed on Carnival compared to RC. Yes, on RC there are bar staff walking around and asking if you want to buy drinks - but not in the same repetitive way that Carnival does it. Carnival has tons and tons of pre made drink trays being passed over and over again. RC is less intrusive and less in your face with it. Of course there is always a drink available on RC when you want one :)

 

Condition of Ship: Probably not a fair comparison because the Oasis is just such a tremendous ship. I've been on some older Carnival ships that are definitely showing their age.

 

RC definitely cost us more but it was well worth it. I don't see myself going back to Carnival anytime soon. You should try it at least once and see what you think.

[VABeach]

I've been on both Carnival and RCI more than a few times. Carnival is cheaper and has a younger crowd 20-30's with younger children. RCI has slightly older crowd 40-50's with teenage children.

 

Carnival is cheaper, and is the "Fun Ship" - more activites by the pool, bands playing all day, more dancing and contests....

 

RCI is more expensive, and has a more reserved crowd. RCI has more things to do on the ships, Ice Skating Rinks, Rock Wall, Putt Putt....

 

Food is comperable with RCI slightly better.

 

Shows are comperable with Carnival slightly better.

 

Service is the same.

 

I enjoy both! :D