carnival to royal

[jimbo5544]

I kinda remember my first RCCL cruise, after having 10+ CCL cruises under my belt. I was gonna show those LOYALS a thing or two.

 

 

 

And quickly shrunk back into my shelf within 30 minutes of walking around that ship. I remember my jaw dropping as I ascended in the elevator past the Royal Promenade, looking nothing mall like as I had imagined. It was more like a Harry Potter fantasy alley.

 

 

 

Then walking into the Windjammer, and seeing station after station of food, and no lines, thinking the reason ship was still empty. And eventually finding that was wrong; they just had the right set up. Walked all around taking what looked good. Sitting down, I was shocked with the drink servers.

 

 

 

Then off the the pool and pool areas. OMG! Real pools. Full sized pools. And two of them. Oh, and a third one up here for adults only!

 

 

 

But then the thing that really jumped out was the service. Mature service that imitated Disney, but not as great as Disneys, but people constantly there and ready.

 

 

 

And while I was arming myself for the crowds, they never materialized. The ships was so diverse, offering so many things (including the often ridiculed wall climbing, skating and such, none of which I was interested) that it pulled those people that liked those other things leaving me in a non crowded area where I enjoyed to do my thing. And that oft scorned "mall"? You can easily skip it by avoiding deck 5, but I wondered why would you. I enjoyed sitting outside the English Pub listening to minstral music while the strollers passed me by.

 

 

 

The food was good as well, after hearing it wasn't as good as Carnivals. I ordered what I liked, as many as I liked, and they even had ample beverage service, as well as specialty after dinner drinks in souvenir flasks.

 

 

 

The only thing I didn't like was the late evening food offerings. We resorted to that pizza and finger sandwiches at the Promanade Cafe. Carnival evened that playing field when they got rid of their late night buffets.

 

 

 

In any case, after our RCCL cruise, thinking it was a 1 time thing, we came back knowing we had a whole new fleet of ships to choose from, with some new itineraries.

 

You are pretty funny, while the windjammer does have stations, not crowded? Never. Jammed packed more like it. No place to get cooked to order eggs or omelette. Take Carnivals lido every day of the week. They do a good nod with crowd control other than eating and elevators which were always a struggle for families with strollers.

 

Do they have more eating venues? Yes. Do you have to pay for the majority if them yes.

 

 

 

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Edited April 26, 2014 by jimbo5544

[TPFKAH]

You are pretty funny, while the windjammer does have stations, not crowded? Never. Jammed packed more like it. No place to get cooked to order eggs or omelette. Take Carnivals lido every day of the week. They do a good nod with crowd control other than eating and elevators which were always a struggle for families with strollers.

 

Do they have more eating venues? Yes. Do you have to pay for the majority if them yes.

 

 

 

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No need to discount my experience. Nope, not crowded. And had made to order omelettes every day. And give us this day our daily hash.

 

It also appears you are trying to compare the Oasis to something on Carnival. Carnival has nothing to compare to Oasis, so there's no need to compare.

Edited April 26, 2014 by TPFKAH

[jimbo5544]

No need to discount my experience. Nope, not crowded. And had made to order omelettes every day. And give us this day our daily hash.

 

It also appears you are trying to compare the Oasis to something on Carnival. Carnival has nothing to compare to Oasis, so there's no need to compare.

 

There were no made to cook eggs on the oasis at all. I was there I asked. I was pointed to the trough of over cooked eggs. Windjammer on the oasis was crowded soon after opening every time we were there. Every single time. That is my royal experience on buffet food. You have yours, I am giving mine

 

I am commenting on oasis. You are correct, Carnival has nothing like it. The ship is huge and impressive. The cruising experience on it for us was like a trip to Disney. We prefer cruising. We tried it, will not go back for a long while at the least. Much prefer Carnival cruising.

 

 

 

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[cruisinfanatic]

You are pretty funny, while the windjammer does have stations, not crowded? Never. Jammed packed more like it. No place to get cooked to order eggs or omelette. Take Carnivals lido every day of the week. They do a good nod with crowd control other than eating and elevators which were always a struggle for families with strollers.

 

Do they have more eating venues? Yes.

 

 

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Not true, You didn't try very hard

[cruisinfanatic]

There were no made to cook eggs on the oasis at all. I was there I asked. I was pointed to the trough of over cooked eggs. Windjammer on the oasis was crowded soon after opening every time we were there. Every single time. That is my royal experience on buffet food. You have yours, I am giving mine

 

I am commenting on oasis. You are correct, Carnival has nothing like it. The ship is huge and impressive. The cruising experience on it for us was like a trip to Disney. We prefer cruising. We tried it, will not go back for a long while at the least. Much prefer Carnival cruising.

 

 

 

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Windjammer is no more crowded than Lido on Carnival. Depends on the day and time on both. At least on Royal you don't have to stand in a cafeteria line to eat

[TPFKAH]

Not true, You didn't try very hard

 

Windjammer is no more crowded than Lido on Carnival. Depends on the day and time on both. At least on Royal you don't have to stand in a cafeteria line to eat

 

None of which is even applicable being the OP is not sailing on either the Oasis or the Allure.

[jimbo5544]

Not true, You didn't try very hard

 

 

It is true, believe it or not. Why should I have to try and find a restaurant for breakfast? We had plans to some people from our group at a certain time. Can't get in windjammer, can't find them. Just a hassle. Did not like it. You may experience different I am giving mine.

 

 

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[jimbo5544]

None of which is even applicable being the OP is not sailing on either the Oasis or the Allure.

 

 

Believe the thread title is Carnival to Royal. Did Royal sell Oasis? I know they just toyed with the Northeast with their newest ship the Quantum for four months and now sending her to China for good.

 

 

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Edited April 26, 2014 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

Windjammer is no more crowded than Lido on Carnival. Depends on the day and time on both. At least on Royal you don't have to stand in a cafeteria line to eat

 

 

Not only is it more crowded it is closed to new people, you are turned away. Have you sailed the Oasis?

 

 

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[pe4all]

Specifically, other than sports.....What activities do they have for the daytime?

 

the Freedom of the Seas is tempting me.......but I can't find a Daily.

 

thanks for the information

While I don't have the daily, there was tons of trivia held all day on the ships - seemed to be much more than CCL. Every time we passed the lounge near the casino, trivia was going on!

 

The chocolate chip scones from the Promenade Cafe were to die for!

 

And the Grand Suite perks on Royal are no comparisson to Carnival's. We spent time each evening in the Concierge Lounge, with free drinks, hor'dourves, and great service. We also go free baggage express upon debark, which was an absolute pleasure, along with free tour of ship. Nothing like that on CCL. (of course, we paid much more for Royal GS than CCL GS)

Edited April 26, 2014 by pe4all

[TPFKAH]

Believe the thread title is Carnival to Royal. Did Royal sell Oasis? I know they just toyed with the Northeast with their newest ship the Quantum for four months and now sending her to China for good.

 

 

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Nothing more than an Aunt Sally.

[cruisinfanatic]

Not only is it more crowded it is closed to new people, you are turned away. Have you sailed the Oasis?

 

 

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bother to ck signature? Never turned away there. Only once had a problem sitting with group because we didn't get together early enough on embarkation day

Edited April 26, 2014 by SeaUs

[jimbo5544]

Nothing more than an Aunt Sally.

 

 

I have always liked Aunt Sally. She was one of my favorites. Just giving my perspective for the op. I did a review of my sailing of the oasis and posted both here and on the royal main page. Got positive and being objective responses from both boards.

 

 

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[jimbo5544]

bother to ck signature?

 

 

On my I phone. They don't display here.

 

 

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[jimbo5544]

While I don't have the daily, there was tons of trivia held all day on the ships - seemed to be much more than CCL. Every time we passed the lounge near the casino, trivia was going on!

 

The chocolate chip scones from the Promenade Cafe were to die for!

 

And the Grand Suite perks on Royal are no comparisson to Carnival's. We spent time each evening in the Concierge Lounge, with free drinks, hor'dourves, and great service. We also go free baggage express upon debark, which was an absolute pleasure, along with free tour of ship. Nothing like that on CCL. (of course, we paid much more for Royal GS than CCL GS)

 

 

The concierge lounge (on ships where they have them) is a really nice feature.

 

 

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[kteachcruiser52]

i am almost platinum on carnival and have been very happy with their product. i guess i always go with proper expectations. my friends have a 5 day on royal planned and i am going along for the ride. can anyone who has frequented both tell me what to expect and how they compare??

 

I am not an expert on RC, but we just did a B2B - one on RC and the other on Carnival. We loved the Promanade and the Promanade room. The shows and the ice show were much better than Carnival. The food seemed about the same in quality, but the buffet on RC was laid out in such a way it did not seem as crowded. We had a 4J on Carnival so on both ships we had the top category of interior rooms and the price per day was higher on RC so carnival provides more value for the money. We enjoyed RC and will go on this line again, but our next 2 cruises are on Carnival.

You will have fun on either cruise line.

Edited April 26, 2014 by kteachcruiser52

[Big_G]

I get there are other options, bit I did not enjoy having to go look for them when we tried to go into the windjammer and was told to try and was told to try other places that had limited menus. Really? Not for me

 

 

 

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It's tough for newbies to the Oasis Class to figure out the best breakfast and lunch options. I never recommend the Windjammer especially on embarkation day. Unless you board early, it's mass confusion. We never eat breakfast in the Windjammer on Oasis or Allure. It's either Solarium Bistro, Park Cafe, or the MDR. We rarely eat lunch in the Windjammer either but if we do, we wait until the stampede is over. If you want cook to order eggs, the MDR is where to get them. Think of your first trip on a Allure as learning the ropes. :D

[jimbo5544]

It's tough for newbies to the Oasis Class to figure out the best breakfast and lunch options. I never recommend the Windjammer especially on embarkation day. Unless you board early, it's mass confusion. We never eat breakfast in the Windjammer on Oasis or Allure. It's either Solarium Bistro, Park Cafe, or the MDR. We rarely eat lunch in the Windjammer either but if we do, we wait until the stampede is over. If you want cook to order eggs, the MDR is where to get them. Think of your first trip on a Allure as learning the ropes. :D

 

 

We enjoyed the ship and the cruise. I was really surprised how small the windjammer was. The entertainment was top notch.

 

 

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[Big_G]

We enjoyed the ship and the cruise. I was really surprised how small the windjammer was. The entertainment was top notch.

 

 

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You aren't the first to comment on the size and won't be the last. I forgot to mention Johnny Rockets also has cooked to order eggs. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[jimbo5544]

You aren't the first to comment on the size and won't be the last. I forgot to mention Johnny Rockets also has cooked to order eggs. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

 

 

The last morning I found the kiosks with the occupancy capacity for restaurants near the aft elevators.

 

 

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[Tapi]

The last morning I found the kiosks with the occupancy capacity for restaurants near the aft elevators.

 

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You could also access that information right from your stateroom's interactive TV. I must say that initially I found the system to be a bit overwhelming to navigate as it's designed to do everything imaginable. But the restaurant occupancy tool was one of the most useful. Not only could we check occupancy in real time, but we could also read the menu for each restaurant. That's why we almost never made it to the Windjammer. We always knew where to go to avoid the crowds and what we were eating before leaving the stateroom.

 

 

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[jimbo5544]

You could also access that information right from your stateroom's interactive TV. I must say that initially I found the system to be a bit overwhelming to navigate as it's designed to do everything imaginable. But the restaurant occupancy tool was one of the most useful. Not only could we check occupancy in real time, but we could also read the menu for each restaurant. That's why we almost never made it to the Windjammer. We always knew where to go to avoid the crowds and what we were eating before leaving the stateroom.

 

 

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Did not know that either, thanks.

 

 

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