Carnival Cruiser Trying Royal

[cherbear4000]

My parents treat the whole family to a yearly cruise, so I have been on many cruises. Mostly with Carnival, but I have also cruised NCL, Celebrity, and Costa. Due to scheduling conflicts, we have no choice but to go with Royal this year since they are the only cruise line leaving out of Florida on 7/5. We are looking at Independence OTS. I have been trying to find the answers to my questions on Royal's website, but thought I would come here too. Please answers any of my questions that you can.

 

1) On Carnival, you can get price drops up until final payment. So if the price of your cruise drops, you can call Carnival and they will lower your price to match the new lower price. Is Royal the same way?

 

2) I tend to book an inside on Carnival and then a few weeks prior to sailing, upgrade to a balcony if available. It is much cheaper than booking a balcony to begin with. Can I upgrade my cabin with Royal at any time?

 

3) What beverages are included?

 

4) One thing we like about Carnival is the relaxed dress code in the MDR. I read no shorts or T-shirts, but I assume jeans are allowed. Do people wear jeans?

 

5) Is soda allowed to be brought on board? If so, is there a limit?

 

6) We are a group of 19 people ages 76 to less than a year at the time of sailing. If there are any differences in Carnival vs Royal you feel would be helpful for us to know, please tell me.

[ryano]

Answers below in red :)

 

My parents treat the whole family to a yearly cruise, so I have been on many cruises. Mostly with Carnival, but I have also cruised NCL, Celebrity, and Costa. Due to scheduling conflicts, we have no choice but to go with Royal this year since they are the only cruise line leaving out of Florida on 7/5. We are looking at Independence OTS. I have been trying to find the answers to my questions on Royal's website, but thought I would come here too. Please answers any of my questions that you can.

 

1) On Carnival, you can get price drops up until final payment. So if the price of your cruise drops, you can call Carnival and they will lower your price to match the new lower price. Is Royal the same way? Yes, it works the same way. :)

 

2) I tend to book an inside on Carnival and then a few weeks prior to sailing, upgrade to a balcony if available. It is much cheaper than booking a balcony to begin with. Can I upgrade my cabin with Royal at any time? Yes, even after final payment you can upgrade if you are comfortable with the price.

 

3) What beverages are included? Tea, lemonade, coffee mostly and water of course. Some ships have flavored water in the Windjammer. Sodas cost extra.

 

4) One thing we like about Carnival is the relaxed dress code in the MDR. I read no shorts or T-shirts, but I assume jeans are allowed. Do people wear jeans? Sure, there will be people in jeans!

 

5) Is soda allowed to be brought on board? If so, is there a limit? The official policy is no but its hardly ever enforced. No limit that I know of.

 

6) We are a group of 19 people ages 76 to less than a year at the time of sailing. If there are any differences in Carnival vs Royal you feel would be helpful for us to know, please tell me. I have only been on one Carnival ship and it was old and is no longer in service. Im sure someone else can help here though! Personally from seeing pics of most all Carnival ships, Royal ships are MUCH better and more pleasant as far decor goes

 

Edited February 3, 2015 by ryano

[griffy116]

1. Yes, you can get a price adjustment up until the time of final payment.

2. Upgrading to a balcony is possible but you are going during prime season and all balconies may be sold out, so keep in mind that a balcony may not be available.

3. Tea, Lemonade, milk, coffee and some juice is available. Fresh squeezed oj is available at breakfast, but is an additional charge. The concentrated juice is available at no additional charge. You can also get tomato juice and grapefruit juice at breakfast in the Main Dining Room.

4. Jeans are allowed in the Main Dining Room but you might not be allowed to wear jeans on Formal nights. Very few people will be wearing jeans at dinner.

5. Depending on the ship, babies who aren't potty trained are restricted to specific areas of the ship's pool/water areas. The rules are strictly enforced. There is a Solarium area that is adults only (no one under 16, I believe) and it is strictly enforced also. You can usually carry a few soft drinks in your carry on, even though the rules say you can't. The amount is limited to a 12-pack of soda or water. We put ours in a rolling duffle bag and carry it on the ship with us, which means we have to hand onto it until our cabin is available (usually no earlier than 1 pm). You have to ask the steward to keep your ice bucket filled and to bring you one. It's not automatically in your room. You can carry two bottles of wine (no liquor) per cabin on board, in your carry on. You can make reservations to some of the shows on-line prior to cruising. No tank tops are allowed in the Main Dining Room at any time (by the men). Johnny Rockets is an upcharge except at breakfast. You can get breakfast there at no charge. The soft-serve ice creams by the pool are no charge. Ben & Jerry's is an additional charge. You can find a list of what is no charge and what is an upcharge for your particular ship. I haven't sailed on Independece. Try your roll call (Meet & Mingle) for specifics about your ship.

[cherbear4000]

My sister just asked me to ask about the kid's program. Are you allowed to keep your kids on the ship in the kid's programs while the parents are at port? What about the babies? We know there is a fee for under 3, but can they stay on the ship at port? Sometimes my sister likes to take the older kids on an active excursion that the younger ones can't do.

Edited February 3, 2015 by cherbear4000

[jsm1225]

Having been on 4 Carnival Cruises and 4 RCI cruises with a second on Oasis coming up May 2 and 1 HAL, if you enjoy Carnival, you will enjoy RCI. Overall, I have found Carnival has better pizza, better burgers, better free ice cream and treats. The crew has been equally good in all my experiences. MDR food is pretty comparable. WJ - not so much on RCI. I have better memories of buffets on Carnival. The first time we sailed RCI was pretty bad. The food was terrible, and I left lunch every day grouchy and hungry. Pretty much decided to stick to Carnival, but decided to give RCI one more chance- chose Liberty of the Seas and it was awesome! RCI was redeemed. Loved Oasis of the Seas and will be returning. The one reason we have chosen RCI over Carnival of late is entertainment. Not that the quality is better, (probably not really) but that it is more family friendly consistently. I'm sure your group will find RCI lovely. it probably is a tad more formal, but only a tad.