Carnival regular tries RCCL - my comparison.

[AandBmom]

This comparison is limited to my experience on Carnival (Legend, Imagination, Sensation and Breeze) and Royal Caribbean (Freedom of the Seas).

 

Cabins: as a general rule they’re bigger on Carnival and I noticed that I missed the space a bit but it wasn’t that big of a deal. Both lines have adequate storage and cabin layout. I missed my Carnival robe though on RCCL. It’s a nice touch that Carnival gives everyone a robe, not just elite members. Also RCCL don’t give pens or paper or toiletries or anything like Carnival does. The shower however was awesome compared to Carnival as it had closing doors and great water pressure but I heard from a friend this is ship dependant, not across the line. I also liked that Carnival gives you pool towels in your cabin and they change them for you whenever you need them to. This was nice on Port days as I found it a slight bit easier to just pack up in our room than having to send someone up on deck to get 6 towels for our family whenever we needed them. Not a big deal, but something I enjoyed on Carnival a little more.

 

Ship layout: this depends on the ship, not the line IMO. I thought the layout was fine on every ship I’ve been on, but I did like how RCCL has the interactive maps everywhere and their signage is better to find your way around. Elevators seemed less cramped on our RCCL ship than previous Carnival ones. Décor seems to be hit or miss on either line. We loved the promenade though which Carnival ships don’t really have. It was bright, open, inviting and fun.

 

Food: I found the dining rooms to be equivalent, menus equivalent and food equal for the most part. I however prefer Carnival for lunch and breakfast. They have much much more variety. I got bored of the windjammer after day 3. The food just repeats in every line. Carnival however has lots of different themed areas all around the ship which I preferred. We defaulted to the dining room for lunch and breakfast whereas on carnival we never found a need to. I like how Carnival makes it easier to eat around the pool. They serve food and drinks on the pool deck, on RCCL you have to walk further and get fully dressed and go into the buffet area to get food. Carnival has buffet food out there, pizza out there and sometimes a hotdog stand. I kind of like being able to eat in my lounge chair in my bathing suit on vacation and I missed this on RCCL. I also found it hard to get a cold drink other than water on the pool deck on RCCL. Whereas on Carnival you could walk over to a drink station really close by. Lastly, there is only 1 little ice cream machine on RCCL and it’s on the pool deck. Carnival seems to have a few more spread out so they’re easier to access. Pizza however is way better on RCCL. Sorrentos is delicious and it’s nice that they have Italian desserts, fruit cups and biscotti there.

 

Staff: amazing on both

 

Kid’s camp: My children actually preferred Carnival. Carnival has more toys in the camp for kids to play with and the children liked the free play time more on Carnival. They also liked the Carnival scheduled activities more. I found they watched more movies on RCCL which wasn’t as exciting for them.

Entertainment: The skating show is a nice touch but it’s a tradeoff for Carnival’s comedy show. You can really only see the skating show once but Carnival has a different comedian almost every night. I missed that. The production numbers were way better on RCCL in my opinion. Also the little extras like parades, entertainment on the promenade, etc were awesome. We also loved the rock climbing and flow rider but on Carnival loved the ropes course and the 5D movie theatre.

 

Pools: hot tubs were hotter on RCCL which was nice. Pools were bigger too which was nice. Splash area for kids though was better on Carnival b/c of the slides. But, it was nice that they had hot tubs for adults in the splash area so adults could sit in there while kids played. I don’t remember that on Carnival.

Crowd: We met nice people on both lines and observed rudeness on both lines.

 

Cost: Everything seemed a little more on RCCL. From the price of the cruise, to the price of drinks, to the daily tipping amount. There also seemed to be more things in general that weren’t included on RCCL. For example Johnny Rockets charges $5 a person whereas Guys Burgers doesn’t charge any fee. Room service has a charge at certain hours, Carnival does not. Fresh squeezed juice there was a charge on RCCL but you could get it at least in some places on Carnival included.

 

Embarkation/Debarkation: same on both

 

Overall we really loved both. I would sail either again in a heartbeat. I will make my book my next cruise based on price, ship reviews and itinerary as I don’t find the differences to be enough to sway me towards one or another.

[rick&james]

I enjoyed RCL Liberty Of The Seas the in room breakfast was really nice I found Dinner Carnival Better and Buffet RCL better and i liked the room on RCL smaller but i liked the walk in closet and the shower was nice :0)

[jgr8fulbear]

Great fair review, thank you

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Forums mobile app

[mere08]

I've never been on RCCL so I don't have a basis of comparison, but this review seems really fair and objective. Thanks so much! We'll have to keep RCCL in our horizon for our next cruise.

[Kfoot]

Doing my first Royal in May. I did hear that the bathrooms are smaller on Royal. But if they have a door instead of shower curtains, that's awesome.

I'll be on Visions OTS. This ship got refurbished last October I think. It will be an interesting comparison with Carnival.

[AandBmom]

Oh that reminds me, I found it kind of annoying that the door didn't open all the way in the bathroom on the Freedom of the Seas. On my Carnival ships I could open it 180 degrees and I think it even stuck open on a magnet. On Royal it didn't stay open which was annoying at night when I wanted the door open for kids and to reduce door opening/closing noises but didn't want it swinging when the ship moved.

[Sarah@Sea]

The pool towel only on deck annoyed me because we also had to return them there and we typically would have them wrapped around us to walk back to cabin. And I'll admit it, I'm fat and our cabin was way aft so no I didn't like to have to walk the towels back up, or try to remember to do so before dinner, carry wet towels when I was now dry. The last night Mom who had a scooter took them back up to the pool deck, the stand wasn't open but she found a crew member to take them and they swiped her card...but nope still was billed for them on our card the next morning so I had to go down to Guest Services and explain they WERE returned the night before, etc...the housekeeper staff there just removed it. But again annoying...also would have been nice to have the towels in room since there were only 2 bath towels in our cabin on RCL, and I need one for my hair. Loved that Carnival left the towels in the room, and room steward exchanged them and tracked the inventory.

[AandBmom]

The pool towel only on deck annoyed me because we also had to return them there and we typically would have them wrapped around us to walk back to cabin. And I'll admit it, I'm fat and our cabin was way aft so no I didn't like to have to walk the towels back up, or try to remember to do so before dinner, carry wet towels when I was now dry. The last night Mom who had a scooter took them back up to the pool deck, the stand wasn't open but she found a crew member to take them and they swiped her card...but nope still was billed for them on our card the next morning so I had to go down to Guest Services and explain they WERE returned the night before, etc...the housekeeper staff there just removed it. But again annoying...also would have been nice to have the towels in room since there were only 2 bath towels in our cabin on RCL, and I need one for my hair. Loved that Carnival left the towels in the room, and room steward exchanged them and tracked the inventory.

 

Totally agreed! I felt petty complaining about it, but it was kind of annoying.

[Sarah@Sea]

Totally agreed! I felt petty complaining about it, but it was kind of annoying.

 

Right, just annoying not like "I'll never sail RCL again"...but when you experience another cruise line managing it a different way then it really makes you aware of the better alternative Carnival has in place.

[woody73]

 

The pool towel only on deck annoyed me because we also had to return them there . . .

As of Jan 2014, RCI no longer requires a ship's card to get pool towels.

 

Woody

[PROCRUISE]

Thanks for your refreshing, objective, non-bashing review. Haven't cruised with RCCL, and maybe never will, but really liked your review. Thanks again! :)

[Sarah@Sea]

As of Jan 2014, RCI no longer requires a ship's card to get pool towels.

 

Woody

 

Are they in the rooms like at Carnival? It really doesn't matter if I have to swipe my card it was the having to go up to the pool deck to retrieve them and to turn them back in esp on port days when taking them off the ship...no need to have to go up to the pool before going down to gangway.

[petesweet]

I enjoyed the Seaday Brunch on Carnival, as well as the lovely afternoon tea.

On RCCL, the sea day lunch was a favorite with the tutti salad bar in the main dining room.

Have only been on small ships with Carnival, but LOVE the large RCCL ships.

Happy sails.:)

Kathy

[yogimax]

How do you compare shows and entertainment?

[Fla Mike]

Thanks for the review, we sail both lines and I agree with most of what you observed.

 

We like smaller ships, so the Freedom Class RCCL ships are too big.

A whole deck laid out like a mall is just too much.

Much prefer the CCL Fantasy Class and RCCL Vision Class.

 

Agreed, the shower door is an awesome feature but, for kfoot, the Vision Class ships do not have a door, just the old fashion curtain, and it does "stick".

 

Again, great and fair review.

[Sarah@Sea]

Thanks for the review, we sail both lines and I agree with most of what you observed.

 

We like smaller ships, so the Freedom Class RCCL ships are too big.

A whole deck laid out like a mall is just too much.

Much prefer the CCL Fantasy Class and RCCL Vision Class.

 

Agreed, the shower door is an awesome feature but, for kfoot, the Vision Class ships do not have a door, just the old fashion curtain, and it does "stick".

 

Again, great and fair review.

 

I did the opening booking on RCL, so have another cruise to do with them and was considering one on Vision of the Seas.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

One thing (probably petty) we missed on CCL were the self-service stations for ice cream, iced tea, lemonade, etc. It was nice to get these at any time, add as much or as little ice as you want, and use it to take a stroll around the ship.

 

On the Navigator self-serve ice cream was only available during buffet hours. You had to go to the Promenade Cafe for Tea or Water, in smaller disposable cups, no ice.

[cjknox]

Thank you for this very well written and honest review of your experiences; greatly appreciated.

[golfadj]

We are seriously ocnsidering doing one on RCCL for first time in many years and thanks for review.

 

Could you give us comparison of entertainment?

 

BTW no fresh squeezed juice on Carnival. Just terrible tasting concentrate for OJ.

[Georgiagolfer]

Good review. Obviously each line is similar in certain ways, but different in others. DW and I have more cruises on CCL than RCCL, but that is mainly due to proximity to Ports of embarkation as much as price.

[Qchell]

Thank you for the comparison! Having only sailed on Carnival, the little differences (i.e. robes, towels, access to drinks, etc.) would have been a surprise. Don't know if we will ever sail another cruise line - no reason to fix what isn't broken - but knowing about the subtle differences ahead of time if we were to book is immensely helpful.

[pe4all]

We definitely enjoyed the shows more on RCCL FOS than we did on CCL - but that may be because they were "new" to us. (especially the ice show) We also thought the food in the dr was better on CCL, but the buffet was better on Royal. Service on both ships was the same. Loved the coke machines on FOS where you could pick and mix your own flavors. Carrying the cup around was a pain, but we got used to it very quickly. Price on Royal for one cabin (GS) was double what we would have paid on CCL for 2 balconies, but we splurged to get the full experience. Would we cruise Royal again - yes, if the price and itinerary was right.

Edited March 9, 2014 by pe4all

[Aplmac]

Have only been on small ships with Carnival, but LOVE the large RCCL ships.

You'll find that larger,newer ships (all cruise lines)

are usually "better" than older smaller ships

because design improvement and refinement goes into every new design!

 

 

Many thanks to the OP for an objective realistic assessment.

This confirms why I'll be staying with Carnival. :)

 

.

Edited March 9, 2014 by Aplmac

[lucigo]

Aside from the kids camps, did your kids like the other areas of either line better? Pools, water park areas, golf, etc? Did one seem more kid friendly than the other?

[Crazy4Cruisin225]

Thanks for the comparison. I found it to be very fair and open-minded. I am also sailing on FOS this year and it is my first cruise on Royal. I'm actually more excited for this cruise because lately I've been finding myself "Carnivaled Out." Don't get me wrong...I LOVE Carnival, but I want to experience something different. Something as small as different jokes, or different activities. All the Carnival cruises I've been on the last few years are just starting to mesh together and I can't even tell one from the other anymore. I will say I did love the Breeze though.