Thinking of trying Royal Caribbean

[andy.capitan]

By all means try the rest and then come back to the best (Carnival).

[Tapi]

It's a little different on QOTS Tapi, according to reports from the TA anyway. They now have individual pricing on items and counter service (that was my good nature'd little dig on my previous post to you.):)

 

 

Lordy, I can't keep up. All these changes are confusing! :o

 

I'll just steer clear of Johnny Rockets altogether! I shouldn't be wasting my time eating hamburgers on a cruise ship anyway!

 

 

 

 

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[jimbo5544]

Lordy, I can't keep up. All these changes are confusing! :o

 

I'll just steer clear of Johnny Rockets altogether! I shouldn't be wasting my time eating hamburgers on a cruise ship anyway!

 

 

 

 

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Made me laugh out loud, and truly not a bad idea.... but I am too weak....:o

[S.S.Oceanlover]

It's my understanding that it's a cover charge at Johnny Rockets except for the milkshakes which are extra. At least that's how it was on our last Royal cruise, and that's what's online as well. The only thing that I noticed is that the cover charge has been increased from $4.95 to $5.95.

 

 

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I should have been more specific in my earlier post. I was referring to Johnny Rockets on the Quantum. I would imagine that if they don't get much push back they will probably implement it fleetwide.

 

Might turn out to be cheaper for us. We spent $16 there on our last cruise with the cover and shakes, etc.

 

Johnny Rockets menu with ala carte prices on the Quantum.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2122602&highlight=rockets#10

 

Bill

Edited November 11, 2014 by S.S.Oceanlover

[Orison]

Lordy, I can't keep up. All these changes are confusing! :o

 

I'll just steer clear of Johnny Rockets altogether! I shouldn't be wasting my time eating hamburgers on a cruise ship anyway!

 

 

 

 

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The only time i used to eat a burger was at embarkation, cause back in the day that's basically all they had. Once they started serving real food, the burgers and even the dogs are but a distant memory.

[andy.capitan]

Johnny Rockets menu with ala carte prices on the Quantum.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2122602&highlight=rockets#10

 

Bill

 

At first I thought that was a Carnival thread with people griping about changes and cutbacks and such. :D

 

But seriously, I wonder how JR is going to play in China?

[jimbo5544]

I should have been more specific in my earlier post. I was referring to Johnny Rockets on the Quantum. I would imagine that if they don't get much push back they will probably implement it fleetwide.

 

Might turn out to be cheaper for us. We spent $16 there on our last cruise with the cover and shakes, etc.

 

Johnny Rockets menu with ala carte prices on the Quantum.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2122602&highlight=rockets#10

 

Bill

 

I saw it as well in one of the TA threads. To be honest, caught me by surprise. Does make one wonder why they would take a different approach.

[jimbo5544]

At first I thought that was a Carnival thread with people griping about changes and cutbacks and such. :D

 

But seriously, I wonder how JR is going to play in China?

 

Probably have a quick change over in mind to P.F. Chang's?:confused:

[Cool_Tropical_Breeze]

OP: By all means I would try RCCL. I am Diamond on CCL but have grown a bit tired of the CCL product. CCL offers a good cruise experience for the $$ but we have branched out to other lines and lately really enjoy NCL.

 

We have been on the Serenade at it is a beautiful ship. Given the cheaper cost go for it as for us an equally priced RCL cruise as compared to a CCL cruises is a no brainer.

 

You can always come back to CCL at a later time.

[joeyancho]

I have sailed both lines over a dozen times. IMHO, Royal is the superior line, hands down. The rooms are a bit smaller but better appointed. The ships are tastefully decorated. There are less woohoo people. my wife is an air traffic controller and royal offers us the same discount. However royal no longer sails from the west coast so we are trying princess. We are just burned out on Carnival. Try royal, you will like it. The fact that cruisers on the Carnival page recommend royal should tell you all you need to know.

[fridaythe13th]

Does the Serenade still have the self-leveling pool tables? :eek:

[Topo Gigio]

I have sailed both lines over a dozen times. IMHO, Royal is the superior line, hands down. The rooms are a bit smaller but better appointed. The ships are tastefully decorated. There are less woohoo people. my wife is an air traffic controller and royal offers us the same discount. However royal no longer sails from the west coast so we are trying princess. We are just burned out on Carnival. Try royal, you will like it. The fact that cruisers on the Carnival page recommend royal should tell you all you need to know.

 

I have always said that. Royal Caribbean is the superior one!

[sgttami]

I'm Diamond plus on RCL and always loved the experience on their ships.

 

However, their prices don't come close to Carnival. Since my husband passed away and I now sail solo, I can't pass up Carnival, especially on the cruises I've gotten this year with NO single supplement.

 

I like the fact that I can sail from NY/NJ with no flying but since Quantum is the only RCL leaving from NJ, I'll wait till Splendor comes back to NY. There's no way I'm going on a ship that big and RCL never offers deals on solo sailings.

 

Food, service, entertainment etc. were exceptional on RCL back in the 90s but in trying Carnival this year, I'm equally satisfied.

 

P.S. I had more fun on Carnival

[andy.capitan]

We have sailed with carnival 4 times, and always love it. We are thinking of cruising in January, and found two cruises, both the same week, and both to key west and the Bahamas. One is with carnival, and one is with Royal. The Royal Caribbean cruise is about $300 cheaper. Have any of you ever sailed only with carnival and then switched to Royal? What did you think? We want to save money, but are afraid to make the switch. It'll be just the two of us sailing. Thanks!

 

 

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Personally I might try it if still available.

 

There are reasons why it is $300 cheaper, but none that should concern the casual cruiser.

[ivanrocko]

Royal is better than Carnival, try the Radiance Class, Voyager Class, Freedom Class,

 

 

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[ivanrocko]

Oasis Class, and Quantum Class. You will get WOW with RC.

Only Carnival when is a money decision, and go on Dream Class or wait for Vista Class...

 

 

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[S.S.Oceanlover]

Oasis Class, and Quantum Class. You will get WOW with RC.

Only Carnival when is a money decision, and go on Dream Class or wait for Vista Class...

 

 

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I like them both but the entertainment has totally gone downhill.

 

Much more space on RCI. I read on CruiseCritic the other day that the space ratios are better on RCI because they have higher ceilings.:confused:

 

Bill

[pe4all]

Food is definitely much better on Royal. Cabins are smaller, well depends which class of ships you are talking about!

I wouldn't go out of my way to cruise Royal again. We splurged on a GS (beautiful cabin, btw) and we didn't really get the wow factor we thought we would get trying a new line. Yes, the entertainment was better than CCL, but that could be because we had seen all the Carnival entertainment so many times. We didn't use the rock wall, flow rider or ice skating. We paid double what we would have paid on Carnival for the same time period. We found the dining room food terrible - left every meal 1/2 eaten- and we are very easy to please! We loved the royal promenade. Loved the Concierge lounge with free drinks and munchies each evening. That said, I would try them again if the itinerary was good. We found we prefer NCL over Royal. Don't tie yourself down to one line. If Royal is cheaper, I would try them.

[Tapi]

Much more space on RCI.

 

Bill

 

 

One of the things that I've always noticed when we've sailed on Royal is the sense of spaciousness. One could attribute this to their space to passenger ratio, but in addition to that, their ship layouts are airy and well thought out, with lots of glass, unobstructed views, good passenger flow, and no "can't get from here to there" issues .

 

And it begins from the moment you arrive at the cruise terminal for check-in. Their crowd control methods are very effective. Same for disembarkation. Our last two Royal cruises were on the smaller, 80,000 ton, Enchantment from Port Canaveral and the enormous, 225,000 ton, Allure from Ft. Lauderdale. Both provided the same type of seamless embarkation and disembarkation. I was most impressed with how well Royal accommodated 6,000 passengers on the Allure. At times, it felt as if we had the ship all to ourselves, and embarkation and disembarkation were some of the fastest we've ever experienced.

 

 

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[frenchcanrican]

Back to the original Question.

 

I am two sailings short of Diamond on RCI. I am a married 38 year old woman. No kids, a little serious and prefer a relaxing vacation with like minded adults.

 

My first cruise was on Carnival in 1998. I have since traveled on Carnival 3 times.

 

I prefer RCI. The food, the service, decor, ships and overall experience.

 

I would go on Carnival again, but would look for a RCI ship first.

My DH and I have had this discussion several times and it comes down to several factors.

RCI has a slightly older more mature crowd this also equates to a lot of past guests.

On the itineraries we prefer there is a low percentage of underage guests.

We also like the entertainment which Is geared toward adults.

 

In the end it is a personal preference. If you don't try it then you will never know. Either way it's a vacation and you will have fun.

 

 

 

 

"Half of a DINK and proud of it!."😜

[fridaythe13th]

one of the things that i've always noticed when we've sailed on royal is the sense of spaciousness. One could attribute this to their space to passenger ratio, but in addition to that, their ship layouts are airy and well thought out, with lots of glass, unobstructed views, good passenger flow, and no "can't get from here to there" issues .

 

And it begins from the moment you arrive at the cruise terminal for check-in. Their crowd control methods are very effective. Same for disembarkation. Our last two royal cruises were on the smaller, 80,000 ton, enchantment from port canaveral and the enormous, 225,000 ton, allure from ft. Lauderdale. Both provided the same type of seamless embarkation and disembarkation. I was most impressed with how well royal accommodated 6,000 passengers on the allure. At times, it felt as if we had the ship all to ourselves, and embarkation and disembarkation were some of the fastest we've ever experienced.

 

 

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110% agree!!!

[mouche]

After 10 cruises with Carnival we are planning on sailing Allure of the Seas in 2016. I can't wait:)

[dmdiver]

For me, the ideal cruise line would be a combination of the two. I think RC ships are prettier, with much nicer pool areas. The cabins are larger on CCL, but that being said, we didn't have any issues with storage in our RC cabin. RCCL doesn't provide robes in all cabins. I like the fact that CCL has some sort of complimentary food available 24/7 (pizza/salad/ice cream). We found ourselves wanting a snack between 9-10pm on one of our RCCL cruises & everything was shut down that was complimentary. We couldn't wait until 10pm, since we were going to a show at that time. Only happened the one time & we obviously didn't die of starvation. I don't know what your particular RC ship has on it as far as activities, but I thoroughly enjoyed the rock climbing wall on Enchantment. I also love Carnival's water slides. Entertainment - maybe a slight edge to Royal. Food - a tossup for me. Each line had certain items that I loves & some that I wasn't that impressed with. I thought alcoholic beverages were about the same on both lines, but I don't have all of my past onboard account lists anymore, so I can't be exact on that. Staff - I've encountered great staff & not so great staff, but in my life I have pretty much found that the way you treat staff will affect how they treat you. I will give you a little advice if you ever choose RC's mega ships - if you want to see the shows, make reservations. We were unable to get into the majority of shows on Oasis. We didn't make reservations since we had no idea what we would be doing day to day.

 

Bottom line, though - if the better deal is RC, go for it. I think you'll like it a lot.

[FlaGrl4Evr]

I've seen this term used a few times recently. What exactly is "woohoo people"?

 

 

 

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It means " Holy Crap Ethel, did you just see THAT ! "

 

 

 

.

[katiel53]

If there weren't such a difference in price for us, I would sail Royal Caribbean every time. The decor of the ships is so much nicer and for us on most ships, the balcony cabin/verandah space is larger than on Carnival ships.

 

I love the food stations for the buffet and I think the food is of higher quality and much better than the "comfort food" of fried chicken and meatloaf Carnival serves. The crew is perhaps not as laid back as on Carnival in that I feel they are more professional acting, not that Carnival isn't professional. I think Royal takes more pride in how their employees act and it shows all over the ship.

 

The biggest drawback, to me, is the price difference. For example, we wanted to go from Pt Canaveral on Feb 1 and were deciding between Carnival Liberty and Freedom of the Seas. A balcony on Freedom was well over $3k for two people while Liberty was about $1800. I do realize that Freedom would have just come out of dry-dock, but that still doesn't warrant that big a difference to us.

 

Even though I feel Carnival is glitzy and not as nice aesthetically, we still sail Carnival because of the price. We have had a good time on our Carnival cruises, but I think we feel we enjoy Royal Caribbean more, but not everyone feels as we do.

 

It's a good chance to find out for yourself if you like a different line. We have tried many and now feel we pick the different lines for different reasons.