Carnival Cruiser "considering" a RC Cruise . . .

[justusfour2014]

Merry Christmas Day After to everyone! I hope this post finds everyone happy and jolly after yesterday's festivities.

 

My family went on two cruises this year both on Carnival. I feel extremely fortunate that we were able to cruise twice in one year. I'm not looking for any "bashing" of Carnival as we enjoyed both cruises and made lifetime memories. I'm actually looking to cruise again with the family in March but cannot find an itinerary with Carnival that I'm overjoyed with. I looked at RC and found an itinerary that I love!

 

My daughter and I really want to see Key West, and my husband and son want to return to Cozumel. RC has a cruise out of Tampa going to both -- win, win!! So if you have gone on both cruise lines, could you please tell me some differences. I already know that interior cabins on Carnival are much larger than on RC. I know that on Carnival if you want a coke, you can purchase a soda package that is not included in your cruise package. Is it the same on RC? I've heard horror stories as to each cruise line, and some people who have cruised RC before told me they felt "nickeled and dimed" every time they turned around. Do you feel this way too? Do think they were crazy!?lol

 

I know what to expect when I book with Carnival, but am looking for insight if I choose to book RC this time around. Thank you in advance for your views and replies -- Happy Holidays!

[Langley Cruisers]

Hi Z family,

 

If you use the "Search this forum" function back on the main page, you will find some threads to start your research. Use the Advanced search and type in Carnival vs Royal (or RCI) I just did this and many threads came up, as this has been discussed before. Just a suggestion. :)

 

.

[justusfour2014]

Hi Z family,

 

If you use the "Search this forum" function back on the main page, you will find some threads to start your research. Use the Advanced search and type in Carnival vs Royal (or RCI) I just did this and many threads came up, as this has been discussed before. Just a suggestion. :)

 

.

 

Excellent suggestion -- and I was actually doing that as I got your reply! Thank you so much!

[matj2000]

Go read the member review section on this website.

 

Read reviews of the ship you are interested in.

 

This works better than asking people to "tell you everything"...

[cb at sea]

RCI has many different drink packages...from soda to major alcohol! The "break even" for soda is the equivalent of 3+ cans of soda pp per day....for alcohol, the "break even" is about 7 drinks pp, per day.....

 

Just like on Carnival, ice water, coffee, tea, milk and juice at breakfast is included....and there is lemonade or flavored waters included, too.

 

If you didn't feel "nickel and dimed" on Carnival, you won't feel it on RCI....They really are more similar than different. Yes...Carnival's standard cabins are a bit larger than RCI's, but RCI's ships have a much better layout....easy to get around!!

 

Go! Enjoy!...You won't know if you like it until you try it!!

Edited December 26, 2014 by cb at sea

[kidsnurse]

My family and I have been on both carnival and RCL, as well as NCL. We founds things that we loved about all three lines. I do think that they are very similar in what you would expect while cruising. My personal opinion is to find what is the most important thing that you want to have while cruising and choose accordingly. If the Itinerary is important to you, then that's what you should focus on. We are going on Allure in Feb, because they had the best itinerary around our dates, and we are super excited to be going back on RCL, and to experience the Allure. Last year we went on NCL Epic, and loved all the different restaurants and the shows were awesome, but did miss the promenade on RCL Freedom of the Seas from the year before.

 

You can't go wrong on a Cruise, that's my opinion anyway:D

[GTO-Girl]

Merry Christmas Day After to everyone! I hope this post finds everyone happy and jolly after yesterday's festivities.

 

My family went on two cruises this year both on Carnival. I feel extremely fortunate that we were able to cruise twice in one year. I'm not looking for any "bashing" of Carnival as we enjoyed both cruises and made lifetime memories. I'm actually looking to cruise again with the family in March but cannot find an itinerary with Carnival that I'm overjoyed with. I looked at RC and found an itinerary that I love!

 

My daughter and I really want to see Key West, and my husband and son want to return to Cozumel. RC has a cruise out of Tampa going to both -- win, win!! So if you have gone on both cruise lines, could you please tell me some differences. I already know that interior cabins on Carnival are much larger than on RC. I know that on Carnival if you want a coke, you can purchase a soda package that is not included in your cruise package. Is it the same on RC? I've heard horror stories as to each cruise line, and some people who have cruised RC before told me they felt "nickeled and dimed" every time they turned around. Do you feel this way too? Do think they were crazy!?lol

 

I know what to expect when I book with Carnival, but am looking for insight if I choose to book RC this time around. Thank you in advance for your views and replies -- Happy Holidays!

 

This is exactly why we booked the Brilliance for April......so we could get back to Key West and best of all NO Nassau!!!

 

And since we found Nachi Cocom in Cozumel we are now happy campers!!

 

Have a great cruise!!

[Mjoellnir]

First of all, I have not done either of the lines. But as we are planning our honeymoon I have done quite some research on several cruiselines :)

 

Regarding the drinkpackages.. It seems to me on carnival, if you buy a drink that is more expensive than the limit, you have to pay for the drink minus 20% (25%?), while on RCL you only pay the difference..

 

so if the limit is $10 and a drink cost $15, it would on RCL be $5 extra, while on Carnival it would be $ 12 extra.

 

If i did not misunderstand :)

[justusfour2014]

This is exactly why we booked the Brilliance for April......so we could get back to Key West and best of all NO Nassau!!!

 

And since we found Nachi Cocom in Cozumel we are now happy campers!!

 

Have a great cruise!!

 

This is so funny - after extensive research for our past October cruise to Cozumel, I booked Nachi and we had a blast. That is all my 15 year son talks about now - if we're going back to Cozumel, we're going back to Nachi so I can have as many smoothies as I want!

 

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