Carnival regular tries RCCL - my comparison.

[AandBmom]

Oh my, the Cheerleaders have gone a bit overboard!

 

You have to admit it was a bit funny.

[yogimax]

You have to admit it was a bit funny.

 

Just a bit!:)

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

you can take food anywhere you want. Besides hamburgers there is nothing by the pools on Carnival

 

That's not true on the Breeze the Tandoori bar & the Mexican bar are near the pool.

[sunkey1]

Carnival After Hours:

 

 

 

RCCL After Hours:

 

 

 

If you're an old crumudgen or just a sour puss, RCCL is for you :D

 

OMG - I LOVE IT!!!!! Definitely going to show this to my daughter!

[NavarreCruiser]

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.

 

The door opening is different on almost every class of ship. The Sunshine the doors open into the bathroom, really bad. On many classes of ship the doors open out but not all the way. On the Fantasy class, they do have the magnets. This is my favorite. None of the RCI ships open all the way.

[NavarreCruiser]

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.

 

Fresh squeezed OJ on RCI, but you have to pay extra for it.

[NavarreCruiser]

you can take food anywhere you want. Besides hamburgers there is nothing by the pools on Carnival

 

Wrong. On the smaller ships there is a carving station in the middle and the Wok on one end and burgers, hot dogs and nachos on the other. The ships with the 2.0 have Guy's on one side and burritos and tacos on the other side.

[hlb76]

The door opening is different on almost every class of ship. The Sunshine the doors open into the bathroom, really bad. On many classes of ship the doors open out but not all the way. On the Fantasy class, they do have the magnets. This is my favorite. None of the RCI ships open all the way.

 

We had a aft inside on deck 7 this Jan. I do not recall doors opening in. But I very well could be wrong. All the cabins I have stayed in blend together but I feel it would of struck me as something I might recall?

[NavarreCruiser]

We had a aft inside on deck 7 this Jan. I do not recall doors opening in. But I very well could be wrong. All the cabins I have stayed in blend together but I feel it would of struck me as something I might recall?

 

Some of the aft cabins on the Sunshine are new. Maybe they figured out their mistake. We've been on all but 4 of the fleet and the Sunshine is the only one that the bathroom doors opened in.

[huntm]

Thank you for an honest comparison!

 

 

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[Lsmith52]

We had a wonderful cruise on RCL to the Mediterranean, but the OP is right. They have a tendency to nickle and dime you to death. The cost saving issues can get a bit ridiculous. But all in all we had a great time. We had a much better time on the Pride last summer, so much so that we are going on her again in May!

[cruisinfanatic]

We had a wonderful cruise on RCL to the Mediterranean, but the OP is right. They have a tendency to nickle and dime you to death. The cost saving issues can get a bit ridiculous. But all in all we had a great time. We had a much better time on the Pride last summer, so much so that we are going on her again in May!

I don't see any more nickle and diming on RCL than Carnival

[WetToes]

We had a wonderful cruise on RCL to the Mediterranean, but the OP is right. They have a tendency to nickle and dime you to death. The cost saving issues can get a bit ridiculous. But all in all we had a great time. We had a much better time on the Pride last summer, so much so that we are going on her again in May!

 

I agree about the nickel and diming on Royal. I noticed this on the GOS last year. It seemed every other thing in the daily paper was a pay, or for fee item.

[wdwcoltsfan]

I am curious about the nickel and diming because we are trying to decide between the Breeze and Oasis.

 

I have been reading copies of the Cruise Compass from an early February cruise and the pay items seemed to be: certain fitness classes, bingo, wine tastings and food pairings and anything casino related. I think there was also a cupcake decorating class that had a fee. I'm sure there are some others throughout the week like the cupcake class, but I can't remember them.

 

If this is the case, I can deal with it because CCL also charges for these activities. If it is different than this, I would be interested in hearing about it. It stinks when activities that seem like they should be free have a "nominal" fee attached to them.

[BeachChik]

I am curious about the nickel and diming because we are trying to decide between the Breeze and Oasis.

 

I have been reading copies of the Cruise Compass from an early February cruise and the pay items seemed to be: certain fitness classes, bingo, wine tastings and food pairings and anything casino related. I think there was also a cupcake decorating class that had a fee. I'm sure there are some others throughout the week like the cupcake class, but I can't remember them.

 

If this is the case, I can deal with it because CCL also charges for these activities. If it is different than this, I would be interested in hearing about it. It stinks when activities that seem like they should be free have a "nominal" fee attached to them.

 

In my limited experience, royal has more pay options/activities BUT has the same free stuff that carnival has. I'm not sure why people say royal nickel and dimes you. They don't do it any more than any other cruise line.

 

I think people read things here and just repeat them without knowing if they are actually true. Like the room sizes. People say over and over that carnival rooms are bigger yet I didn't see a difference in room size from the legend to the freedom.

Edited March 11, 2014 by BeachChik

[WetToes]

I've never noticed AS MANY, 'for pay', type listings in a Carnival paper.

They do have them, just haven't noticed them to the extent that I have on Royal.

[BeachChik]

I've never noticed AS MANY, 'for pay', type listings in a Carnival paper.

They do have them, just haven't noticed them to the extent that I have on Royal.

 

Yes but they offer the same free things. Royal just offers additional for fee things. More choices is not a bad thing.

[AandBmom]

I've never noticed AS MANY, 'for pay', type listings in a Carnival paper.

They do have them, just haven't noticed them to the extent that I have on Royal.

 

Last week on the Freedom it just felt like everyone was always trying to upsell us. Someone came to our dinner table to try to convince us to try the pay for dining, in our cabin all the time there were flyers to buy stuff. Even the things that cost on both seemed slightly more expensive. On the dinner menu there were add ons listed that were paying items. It just seemed like a pressure to buy more all the time.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

We had a wonderful cruise on RCL to the Mediterranean, but the OP is right. They have a tendency to nickle and dime you to death. The cost saving issues can get a bit ridiculous. But all in all we had a great time. We had a much better time on the Pride last summer, so much so that we are going on her again in May!

 

 

What did they nickel and dime you on RCI that was free on CCL?

 

Bill

 

 

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[1kaper]

Last week on the Freedom it just felt like everyone was always trying to upsell us. Someone came to our dinner table to try to convince us to try the pay for dining, in our cabin all the time there were flyers to buy stuff. Even the things that cost on both seemed slightly more expensive. On the dinner menu there were add ons listed that were paying items. It just seemed like a pressure to buy more all the time.

 

I kind of felt that way on my recent Carnival cruise (never been on another line). They offered to sell us bottled water (only on the first dining room night), shots w/ shot glasses every night, etc. I don't know if I just noticed it more this cruise but it seemed every announcement was about booking the steak house or the spa. I mean I know they sell stuff, it just seemed like a lot more this time.

 

I avoid the spa like the plague. Our last cruise was our honeymoon and we splurged on a couples massage. She spent at least a half hour trying to sell me stuff. She was extremely pushy and it was really uncomfortable saying no. It ruined the whole experience. I will never go to the spa again.

[AandBmom]

I kind of felt that way on my recent Carnival cruise (never been on another line). They offered to sell us bottled water (only on the first dining room night), shots w/ shot glasses every night, etc. I don't know if I just noticed it more this cruise but it seemed every announcement was about booking the steak house or the spa. I mean I know they sell stuff, it just seemed like a lot more this time.

 

I avoid the spa like the plague. Our last cruise was our honeymoon and we splurged on a couples massage. She spent at least a half hour trying to sell me stuff. She was extremely pushy and it was really uncomfortable saying no. It ruined the whole experience. I will never go to the spa again.

 

One of the staff on RCCL told me that these days the price we pay for the cabin pretty much only covers the gas for the ship and the basics. They really rely on getting those ship board accounts up there to make their money. Perhaps all of the cruise lines are moving towards that "sell sell sell" mentality. I'm not really their ideal customer as I'm sailing with a family of 6 and we are totally happy with the food that's included, the drinks that are included and the included activities. We tend to hire locals for excursions. We spend a little on drinks here and there and spent some money on the RCCL island for activities but that's really it.

[1kaper]

One of the staff on RCCL told me that these days the price we pay for the cabin pretty much only covers the gas for the ship and the basics. They really rely on getting those ship board accounts up there to make their money. Perhaps all of the cruise lines are moving towards that "sell sell sell" mentality. I'm not really their ideal customer as I'm sailing with a family of 6 and we are totally happy with the food that's included, the drinks that are included and the included activities. We tend to hire locals for excursions. We spend a little on drinks here and there and spent some money on the RCCL island for activities but that's really it.

 

I can understand that and there is no doubt some truth to it.

I do spend some money on the ship. I like having the option of paying for things I want and keeping the fare lower.

[wdwcoltsfan]

Yes but they offer the same free things. Royal just offers additional for fee things. More choices is not a bad thing.

 

Ok, I can deal with that. I was surprised by the number of things there are to do on a daily basis on the Oasis. I do think it makes it seem like RCCL has more pay items, but all of the things that are free on CCL are free on RCCL. That is my main concern.

[megnut78]

Loved your comparison. I could have even written that, as I agree completely. We went on Enchantment of the Seas two years and have been on the Glory, the Pride and Splendor and we will be on the Sunshine in August.

 

 

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[sunnydaygirl]

I have done Royal Caribbean several times. Oasis with my 2 yr old DGD. A wonderful ship. Great places for walks and along the way places for food without going all the way up to lido. All without cost. We did the cupcake decorating, yes it costs, but walked out with a work of art made with two cupcakes. Their for cost cupcakes are to die for. We did wine tastings. Worth it, have also done on Carnival. I've also bought carrot cake at Carnivals coffee shop. I personally like the for cost items on menu in MDR. The only one I saw was a steak. It was offered every night for $15, much less than specialty restaurant. I splurged one night and best ever on a cruise ship!! I like not having to make a reservation at another place.

 

In my opinion,, it depends on budget, ports, timing, specials, and personal preference. My favorite oddly, is Carnival Freedom(can't wait for upgrades) and Freedom of the Seas. I wouldn't go back on Oasis or Allure unless I had children with me. Enjoy cruise'n, the open seas, the sun, the ports, a way of life we are lucky enough to experience!

 

 

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