The difference between royal caribbean and carnival

[bugsy777]

This is the first time that I am writing a review but I feel compelled to do so.

 

We sailed the Caribbean with Carnival Glory in 2010. The Grand Med on the Magic in 2011. Northern Europe and Norway on the Legend in 2013 and now 17th Sept 14 on RC Serenade of the Seas, the Adriatic.

 

We were obviously spoiled by Carnival as our latest cruise did not meet our expectations at all.

For the first two days we had no idea what was happening on-board as there were no announcements in the room and somehow the daily "Compass" had not been delivered! Our first thought was, did the cruise director jump ship?

(John Heald-we missed you!) Upon enquiring we were told that they stopped making announcements in the rooms as there had been too many complaints...surely the choice should be left to the guest to opt to have the system on or off. So that was a very bad start.

 

The ship SERENADE OF THE SEAS: Do not expect the grandeur of Carnival's ships. The bars on Serenade are tastefully decorated. The theatre is nothing to write home about and there is only one. The cinema is terrible. There is only has 1 main dining room for its 2100 passengers. The Windjammer is definitely much better in appearance than the Lido but that is where it stops.

There is no serenity, the deck chairs are plain plastic without any cushions, so they are uncomfortable and are crammed so close together that it is difficult to sit down on one as you have to climb onto them...difficult for seniors! They do however have the Solarium which is covered and too hot on a Med cruise. There are only (guestimate) 50 to 80 chairs which are nicely padded with cushions but this is FAR too few for a 2100 passenger ship!

The two pools are very much over salted and hurt your eyes.

 

The staterooms are much smaller than Carnivals and the bathroom is minute, there is only one wardrobe to be shared (on Carnival you have his and hers) and in it are the worst shelves that I have ever encountered they were hopelessly inadequate in depth therefore whatever you packed on them fell off.

 

The food: RC must be on a big saving spree, to same food seems to be dished up day after day not much to choose from and is typically canteen type food.

Admittedly Carnival's food was not much better but there was FAR MORE variety to pick from. One thing is to be said, the deserts at the Windjammer were very good. Now and then the Windjammer had something special on offer at 6pm but invariably when we decided to eat there after 7pm these dishes were not replaced and we had to ask the chef why, he then very kindly brought us a big plate of the missing item to our table.

The lunch time menu was disgusting and so was the room service. The room service coffee was undrinkable.

BTW do not expect a "gala" welcoming lunch on embarkation day, you will just get the same slop as any other day!

Oh and I forgot to mention that the best kept secret is when they will serve the shrimps, that day the electronic display of the menu outside the dining room, was mysteriously out of order!!! Gone are the days when they served you lobster!

 

The entertainment: mediocre to say the least; some shows were not repeated to accommodate both dinner sittings, which was no great loss as they were luke warm. Do not expect illusionists, comedians, acrobats and Las Vegas style dancing. There was one decent show but it lasted only 10min in the sentrum, all this on a 12 night cruise!

 

Ports of call: These were great, but unless you are going on the ship's excursion do not expect any information to help you find your way in and out of the port, this should be the cruise directors field but no…sort yourself out before the cruise or pay through your neck for the excursions! They also did not stay in port for as long as possible thereby not leaving us enough time to do all we wanted to do.

 

Customer services: Poorly managed. On embarkation day in Civitavecchia we were told that all Italian passports were to be kept by them but no explanation was given. You would at least expect to receive a copy of an official letter by the Italian authorities informing you of this rule to be applied and the reason why. The second incidence was on the last evening, we received a note saying that we were on a cash basis and had to pay our account. We had given our credit card details TWICE but they did not have it on record! So we had to stand in a queue for 40min to sort this out as they only had 2 consultants to help at such a peak time...most upsetting!

 

The staff: They were great, well trained and very helpful, no complaints there.

 

Lastly another annoyance was that they kept on changing the meal times so you could never count on e.g. breakfast to be served until a certain time, they said it all depended on the time we docked in the port.

 

Yep, we were definitely spoiled by Carnival, unfortunately they are no longer operating in Europe.

[gerif]

As I noted in response to your identical post previously, one Carnival cruise was more than enough for me. Have sailed several other lines since and all were better. Absolutely hated the constant announcements that could not be turned off in the cabin.

 

Cruise compasses are easily located at guest services or, novel idea, just ask your room steward. Food is subjective so I won't comment. The pool water comes out of the ocean - they do not salt it. Breakfast times might vary on port days so people can make early excursions. Also unfair to compare one of RCI's older ships with one of Carnival's new ones.

 

I think your issue with guest services colored your whole trip. But, happy to hear you are going back to your favorite line.

[klfrodo]

After 11 cruises on Carnival, we just got off of an RCCL Freedom of the Seas cruise.

First, my comparison is that Carnival and Royal are more alike than different.

Both have ships, cabins, food, entertainment, etc. Some great with both lines, some good with both lines, and some??? can be improved upon,,, both lines.

I was informed by hundreds of people that I just didn't understand the WOW factor that I was missing by not sailing on Royal. Well,,,, there is no WOW factor difference between the two cruiselines. Food was comparible. Service was comparible. Cabins were comparible.

 

However,,, I would have to agree. Trying to compare Carnivals Glory or Magic with Royals Serenade of the Seas would be like trying to compare Royals Allure with Carnivals Holiday,,, there is no comparison.

[bamelin]

I've been on Explorer or the Seas and Carnival Magic and my opinions are the opposite.

 

I enjoyed my RCCI cruise far more (although if you were to ask me I'd say go on neither, go on a Princess or Celebrity cruise instead).

 

My general impression of Carnival is that they truly are bottom of the barrel. With that said there were a (very) few things I liked about Carnival. The cabin was big and clean. This was great because we hated the ship so much we were in our cabin on the balcony most of the trip. The MDR food is decent too. The buffet was terrible and crowded to the point of claustrophobia. Royal Caribbean in comparison had great service in both the buffet and MDR.

 

I liked the layout of the Explorer greatly. The "mall/main street USA" in the middle of the ship was nice and in general the layout of Explorer made FAR more sense than Carnival Magic.

 

Honestly though I'm not a fan of either cruiseline. I will say though I might go on RCCL again if the price was right, but NOTHING can ever get me on a Carnival ship again -- even if it was free.

Edited October 10, 2014 by bamelin

[taglovestocruise]

Even though you are comparing one of RCL'S older ships to the newer CCL ships, if you scroll to the top of the page and use the cc cruise review you will find that Serenade of the Seas scores 15 - 20 points above all three Carnival ships you are comparing it to. We have sailed both lines and much prefer RCCL..

[blueteam]

In my opinion:

 

Royal Caribbean has better ships.

Carnival has more fun and costs less.

[wichitastatecruiser]

I agree that the OP needs to sail similar class ships. I have sailed the Carnival Freedom and the RCCL Oasis ship. There is no way I would say that RCCL was better by comparing those two ships. There was obviously more to do on the Oasis class ship.

 

I enjoyed both ships and will be sailing NCL soon. However here is what I enjoyed about RCCL Oasis that Carnival and NCL don't have: Multiple mid-size pools; lots of hot-tubs; said hot tubs stay open 24 hours.

 

If Carnival and NCL would address those issues I'm pretty sure I would see them all as pretty much equal.

[JimAOk1945]

We have cruised on both Carnival and RCI. On RCI, we always kept up with events and activities through the daily Cruise Compass received each evening at "turn down," as well as being visible 24/7 on one of the channels on the TV in our room.

 

Shore excursions options were also shown on a select TV channel as well as an insert with the each day's Cruise Compass.

 

Having sailed on both, I can give an honest opinion on our experiences. While we enjoyed each of our four Carnival cruises, I feel we have received an overall better experience on RCI.

 

One thing that keeps us going back is the loyalty program with its array of perks. Also, since we enjoy cruising in GS and OS, there is nothing comparable with the same perks on Carnival.

 

That said, it's nice to have a variety of cruise lines and itineraries to choose from. We also enjoy Princess and have plans to try HAL and Celebrity soon.

 

Cruising is a fantastic way to explore. Happy cruising everyone!

Edited October 10, 2014 by JimAOk1945

[MCC retired]

We enjoy both .

More similar than different with the exception of the big Oasis class and RCI suites.

CCL suites , priced lower than RCI , just don't have the amenities that other CL's have for suites.

 

 

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[swsfrail]

For the first two days we had no idea what was happening on-board as there were no announcements in the room ......

 

That is major reason why I consider almost every other cruise line superior to Carnival. It is impossible to lay down and take a nap in the middle of the day with those ^$#%&*@* announcements blaring from the room speaker every few minutes on Carnival's ships. I cannot imagine why anyone in their right mind would consider peace and quiet in one's OWN ROOM to be a negative. :confused::confused::confused:

Edited October 10, 2014 by swsfrail

[A2Mich]

This is the first time that I am writing a review but I feel compelled to do so.

 

We sailed the Caribbean with Carnival Glory in 2010. The Grand Med on the Magic in 2011. Northern Europe and Norway on the Legend in 2013 and now 17th Sept 14 on RC Serenade of the Seas, the Adriatic.

 

We were obviously spoiled by Carnival as our latest cruise did not meet our expectations at all.

For the first two days we had no idea what was happening on-board as there were no announcements in the room and somehow the daily "Compass" had not been delivered! Our first thought was, did the cruise director jump ship?

(John Heald-we missed you!) Upon enquiring we were told that they stopped making announcements in the rooms as there had been too many complaints...surely the choice should be left to the guest to opt to have the system on or off. So that was a very bad start. As ststed elsewhere, you can always get an extra copy from Guest Services or your room steward, as well. I also don't want to hear about shopping talks or bingo while I'm relaxing in my cabin - this part is purely subjective.

 

The ship SERENADE OF THE SEAS: Do not expect the grandeur of Carnival's ships. I've never founnd Carnival's ships to be anything of grandeur. Nice, yes, but certainly no grandeur. The bars on Serenade are tastefully decorated. The theatre is nothing to write home about and there is only one. As do most cruise ships of this size. The cinema is terrible. There is only has 1 main dining room for its 2100 passengers.Carnival Legend also only has one main dining room. The Windjammer is definitely much better in appearance than the Lido but that is where it stops.

There is no serenity, as RCI calls their adult only area the Solarium, besides, Serenity is a newer concept for Carnival ships.the deck chairs are plain plastic without any cushions, so they are uncomfortable and are crammed so close together that it is difficult to sit down on one as you have to climb onto them...difficult for seniors! I can certainly see this being an issue, but also remember the days of Carnival ships not having padded loungers either. They do however have the Solarium which is covered and too hot on a Med cruise. There are only (guestimate) 50 to 80 chairs which are nicely padded with cushions but this is FAR too few for a 2100 passenger ship! And Carnival's Serenity area probably is not much larger than this, either. You may very well have been on a cruise with less families and more seniors than other cruises. But you are correct, that this does seem small for that number of passengers.

The two pools are very much over salted and hurt your eyes. This is not RCI's fault - to lower the salinity would require adding fresh water to the sea water used in the pools - this may not even be possible.

 

The staterooms are much smaller than Carnivals and the bathroom is minute, there is only one wardrobe to be shared (on Carnival you have his and hers) and in it are the worst shelves that I have ever encountered they were hopelessly inadequate in depth therefore whatever you packed on them fell off.RCI's and many other cruise lines do have smaller cabins. Carnival tends to have the largest standard cabins of mainstream cruise lines - this should not be a surprise, as this information is easy to find.

 

The food: RC must be on a big saving spree, to same food seems to be dished up day after day not much to choose from and is typically canteen type food.

Admittedly Carnival's food was not much better but there was FAR MORE variety to pick from.I don't doubt this one bit. One thing is to be said, the deserts at the Windjammer were very good. Now and then the Windjammer had something special on offer at 6pm but invariably when we decided to eat there after 7pm these dishes were not replaced and we had to ask the chef why, he then very kindly brought us a big plate of the missing item to our table. The cruise line is probably trying to reduce waste - once the food leaves the kitchen area, it is in the point of no return and cannot be saved for later or another meal.

The lunch time menu was disgusting and so was the room service.This is purely subjective. The room service coffee was undrinkable. Neither is Carnival's or Princess'.

BTW do not expect a "gala" welcoming lunch on embarkation day, you will just get the same slop as any other day! Never had a gala lunch on ANY cruise

Oh and I forgot to mention that the best kept secret is when they will serve the shrimps, that day the electronic display of the menu outside the dining room, was mysteriously out of order!!!SOmetimes things simply don't work as with any technology. Ever lose signal on a cell phone? Gone are the days when they served you lobster!Caribbean cruises still serve lobster on cruises of 5 days or longer.

 

The entertainment: mediocre to say the least; some shows were not repeated to accommodate both dinner sittings, which was no great loss as they were luke warm. Do not expect illusionists, comedians, acrobats and Las Vegas style dancing. There was one decent show but it lasted only 10min in the sentrum, all this on a 12 night cruise!Again - subjective. Never been thrilled with Carnival's sad excuses for entertainment, either. Princess was not as glitzy as Carnival, but was a bit more wholesome, IMHO, if not skewed a bit British.

 

Ports of call: These were great, but unless you are going on the ship's excursion do not expect any information to help you find your way in and out of the port, this should be the cruise directors field but no…sort yourself out before the cruise or pay through your neck for the excursions! No different than what I've experienced on Carnival They also did not stay in port for as long as possible thereby not leaving us enough time to do all we wanted to do. ONce again, no different than Carnival - when a ship is docked, they are being charged for the time they are there. With the ship's shops and casinos closed, they are losing two large sources of added revenue, not to mention burning fuel.

 

Customer services: Poorly managed. On embarkation day in Civitavecchia we were told that all Italian passports were to be kept by them but no explanation was given. You would at least expect to receive a copy of an official letter by the Italian authorities informing you of this rule to be applied and the reason why. I would also be questioning this. The second incidence was on the last evening, we received a note saying that we were on a cash basis and had to pay our account. We had given our credit card details TWICE but they did not have it on record! So we had to stand in a queue for 40min to sort this out as they only had 2 consultants to help at such a peak time...most upsetting!Typical experience at Guest Services on the last night of the cruise for any cruise ship/line

 

The staff: They were great, well trained and very helpful, no complaints there.

 

Lastly another annoyance was that they kept on changing the meal times so you could never count on e.g. breakfast to be served until a certain time, they said it all depended on the time we docked in the port. Again, sometimes schedules have to be adjusted for shore tours, etc.

 

Yep, we were definitely spoiled by Carnival, unfortunately they are no longer operating in Europe.

 

 

I've added my .02 in red writing, FWIW. I think that some of the criticisms are rightfully justified. I think that some are no different than other cruise experiences. Others still, are purely subjective, especially if meals do not fit your particular tastes. There were a few that I feel are completely unwarranted/borderline ridiculous and not worth getting into a huff over (particularly not getting the Compass, and the in-cabin announcements. The one about cabin size is nobody'e fault other than the OP's. Not saying that the cabin size is your fault, but not knowing the difference in cabin size is. A small amount on online research would have answered that question and you could have re-evaluated your expectations. Regardless, it's still good to hear a comparative analysis, though I think that some things were judged a bit harshly. The part of having only one dining room? That would be evident by looking at the deck plans on the cruise lines' website or in a printed brochure. As I also had mentioned, the Carnival Legend has the same layout with a two story dining room. If wanting several dining rooms on a 2100 pax ship, NCL can meet that desire, though may not offer cruises in the area you're wanting to vacation in.

[barante]

We returned to Carnival last year, doing the Arctic trans-Atlantic on the Legend plus Hawaii and Mexico on the Miracle. We may not be supposed to say it (because so many people want to be negative) but we really liked Carnival. Good value, particularly since we had a 4K on each leg. (4K is an obstructed OV cabin with openeable french doors that is sold at inside prices because it is classified as such).

 

In a few months, we'll return to RCL. Years ago we did a wonderful trip on the Grandeur out of Baltimore. Ditto this time. Hope the magic continues. Then in March, the Pride, another 4K, on a 14-day repo from Tampa to Baltimore.

 

We have never had a bad cruise. Our least impressive so far was a month spent in Asia in an inside on the Costa Victoria.

 

Variety is the spice of cruising, IMO.

[boogs]

We have never had a bad cruise.

 

I wish I could say the same. Only one cruise stands out as being one I wish I had never taken, and that was our first cruise, and it was on Carnival Legend in 2003. It's one week and several hundred dollars lost forever that I will never see again. The ports were fine and enjoyable, but the ship and the majority of the passengers were not. From constant noise in the hallways at all hours, to drunks nearly everywhere from noon on, to rudeness and disrespect, I think I saw the worst of people on that cruise. The food was on a par with Denny's, the decor was like might have been found in a cheap Las Vegas whore house, and the condition of the ship was certainly not what should be expected for a ship only one year old.

 

That was my one and only Carnival cruise. My money AND my vacation time off are much too limited to waste on another mistake like that cruise.

 

It took my wife an enormous effort to get me to try another cruise. Fortunately, that second cruise was on Disney Magic, and that was a mighty fine way to cruise. We've been on a cruise every 18 to 24 months ever since. ;)

 

Variety is the spice of cruising, IMO.

 

Only if the variety is done well. Otherwise, variety could be a horrible disappointment.

Edited October 11, 2014 by boogs

[SadieN]

I must be sailing on the wrong Carnival ships.

Only announcements I've ever heard (after 28 cruises) inside the cabin have been for muster. All other announcements sound like the adults in a Peanuts cartoon thru the closed cabin door.

[barante]

Boogs -- I'm sorry to hear about your Legend experience. But that was eleven years ago.

 

We had a terrific cruise from London to Iceland, Greenland, New York a year ago. So good we then spent three weeks on the Miracle (Hawaii, Mexico); we had already booked that before our last-minute TA.

 

One of the minuses of these Cruise Critics forums is that we have no idea how recent a given poster's experiences are, or whether that poster ever sailed, or is just a wannabe poser. Cruise lines evolve constantly. We cruise often but I find it difficult to keep up with all the changes. The Carnival brands are being finetuned and recalibrated and seem to be doing much better.

 

As to our Greenland and Hawaii cruises on two ships, here is the bottom line. There was little partying going on and the ships were quiet. But then again the demographics on those long cruises was pretty much what we would encounter on HAL as well.

 

 

 

On to a pre-Christmas sailing on the RCL Grandeur of the Seas. Someone has to suffer . .

Edited October 11, 2014 by barante

[boogs]

Boogs -- I'm sorry to hear about your Legend experience. But that was eleven years ago.

 

We had a terrific cruise from London to Iceland, Greenland, New York a year ago. So good we then spent three weeks on the Miracle (Hawaii, Mexico); we had already booked that before our last-minute TA.

 

One of the minuses of these Cruise Critics forums is that we have no idea how recent a given poster's experiences are, or whether that poster ever sailed, or is just a wannabe poser. Cruise lines evolve constantly. We cruise often but I find it difficult to keep up with all the changes. The Carnival brands are being finetuned and recalibrated and seem to be doing much better.

 

As to our Greenland and Hawaii cruises on two ships, here is the bottom line. There was little partying going on and the ships were quiet. But then again the demographics on those long cruises was pretty much what we would encounter on HAL as well.

 

Thanks for the advice. But, with so many other cruise lines out there that I know will deliver a product I will like, why take the chance on one that has severely disappointed me in the past. From what I have read recently, many of the problems I described are still being complained about by people.

 

Nope. Not worth taking the chance when there are more dependable options out there.

 

Fool me once, shame on Carnival. Fool me twice, shame on me.

[bugsy777]

That is major reason why I consider almost every other cruise line superior to Carnival. It is impossible to lay down and take a nap in the middle of the day with those ^$#%&*@* announcements blaring from the room speaker every few minutes on Carnival's ships. I cannot imagine why anyone in their right mind would consider peace and quiet in one's OWN ROOM to be a negative. :confused::confused::confused:

 

I agree that one would prefer peace and quiet but the CHOICE should be yours to have the sound on or off. In my case, I was upset by a small thing like not having had the compass delivered for 2 days but which made a big difference as it left me "completely in the dark" On my carnival cruises I must have been lucky as they were not blaring the sound must have been on minimum.

I finally had to go complain at customer services to get some information...not a good start, considering all the other inconveniences. Oh and did I mention that for half the cruise the interactive TV did not work and on day 2 the toilet could not flush.....put it altogether did not make me a "happy cruiser" :cool:

[John&LaLa]

I agree that one would prefer peace and quiet but the CHOICE should be yours to have the sound on or off. In my case, I was upset by a small thing like not having had the compass delivered for 2 days but which made a big difference as it left me "completely in the dark" On my carnival cruises I must have been lucky as they were not blaring the sound must have been on minimum.

I finally had to go complain at customer services to get some information...not a good start, considering all the other inconveniences. Oh and did I mention that for half the cruise the interactive TV did not work and on day 2 the toilet could not flush.....put it altogether did not make me a "happy cruiser" :cool:

 

They are more the same than different. I do recall a joke from a few years back that I will paraphrase. You can get a 3 star hotel at a 1 star price, but you end up sharing it with a lot of 1 star people. :o

 

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[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info ..

[MCC retired]

They are more the same than different. I do recall a joke from a few years back that I will paraphrase. You can get a 3 star hotel at a 1 star price, but you end up sharing it with a lot of 1 star people. :o

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Forums mobile app

 

That is the truth unfortunately .

[MrsPete]

If you felt "spoiled" by Carnival, more power to you.

I'll not be competing with you to get the best cabins.

[swsfrail]

In my case, I was upset by a small thing like not having had the compass delivered for 2 days but which made a big difference as it left me "completely in the dark"

 

These daily sheets have always been available at the customer service desk on every cruise line I have ever cruise on - I usually get a second copy to mark up while keeping a fresh copy for a souvenir. If this happens again, there is no need to get upset and be "completely in the dark." If it isn't delivered, get off your butt and go get one, and while there, mention that you are having problems with delivery.

 

As in much of life, a person can chose to be a victim or chose not to be.

Edited October 12, 2014 by swsfrail

[SantaFeFan]

If you felt "spoiled" by Carnival, more power to you.

I'll not be competing with you to get the best cabins.

 

I guess some people set the bar awfully low! This is like getting spoiled by the quality of food at Denny's. :D

[John&LaLa]

I guess some people set the bar awfully low! This is like getting spoiled by the quality of food at Denny's. :D

 

Well you definitely won't get spoiled on quality of food in WJ. :o

 

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[sloopsailor]

...Oh and did I mention that for half the cruise the interactive TV did not work.... did not make me a "happy cruiser" :cool:

 

I do hope you asked for a complete refund. How can anyone survive for even one hour without the interactive TV working. :eek::eek::eek:

 

The horror of your predicament is hard for me to fully appreciate. :(

Edited October 12, 2014 by sloopsailor