Opinions on differences between Carnival and RC

[dwayneb236]

Room service is not free on the newest ships at this point in time (Anthem, Harmony), but I think it is safe to say that this will be rolled out across the line if it is considered a "success".

Room service was free for us on the Harmony. Just a poor free selection. What they had was good though.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G928A using Forums mobile app

[racerxspeedy]

Correct - They do have a few items- sandwich wrap, coffee, tea, toast...that are no cost, but the majority of the menu has a surcharge which is unlike Carnival. I was watching a video posted from Harmony and the OP shows the free Harmony wrap and made the comment "I think we will be going back to Carnival". Not a big issue for me, but some seem to care.

[CaribbeanH2OLover]

We ventured out to try the Carnival Breeze so this is our opinion:

 

Carnival - great ship but service was lacking. We never received a drink at dinner...it was 8 nights....servers were just overwhelmed and too busy. We had one waiter and 2 Asst waiters and they were serving 40 table tops...too many. We missed the shows almost every night because dinner took too long. More then 2 hours. The crew would walk past trash on the pool deck and not pick it up. They did have better quick lunch selections and more drink stations for water, tea etc...we are early risers and breakfast opened too late. With a little one....we could only find cereal or oatmeal. Carnival has more entertainment in the MDR...dancing on tables etc...they also have a chocolate dessert that is amazing. We had 2 different stewards cleaning our cabin and I could not tell you their names. They were not friendly just talked to each other.

 

RCI - we are loyal to Royal.....the ships are well built, which makes us feel safe. The flow of the ships are better. You can walk from one end to the other on one deck....on Carnival you have to go up and down and over which was confusing. The food is a tad better then Carnival but very similar. Service is outstanding. You ask for a drink at dinner the first night and they automatically bring one each night. Wait staff and cabin stewards on RCI know your name and will go out of their way to give 110%. For us it's all about enjoying ourselves, service and not having to lift a finger. Other then that, the ships and amenities are similar.

 

For us it's all about service

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Rogueperson]

They are more similar that different.

 

Food. I believe Royal Caribbean edges out only slightly here. The last couple Royal Caribbean cruises offer escargot every night (here's hoping they still do on the grandeur tomorrow), which seals the deal for me. They both offer similar fare in both MDR and for fee, though Wonderland on Anthem (not sure which other ships have it) was a unique experience. However, even though Royal Caribbean edges out, it is not a factor of me choosing between the two as they are very very close in quality.

 

Service. This is a see-saw issue here. Carnival, I have found is more consistently good across the board. I get the same quality of service from bartenders, servers, and room stewards. However, they don't truly stand out "above and beyond", but that's not to say they aren't wonderful. Just consistent. Royal Caribbean, as someone else said, they're just there. However, I have seen that they seem to get more independent leeway in some aspects. As a result, I have had stellar above and beyond services from some crew, but at the same time, abysmal service from another. They are good more often than they are bad, but I've seen more "bad" from Royal Caribbean than Carnival.

 

Entertainment. Royal Caribbean edges out more here. Their shows are of slightly higher quality, but Carnival makes up for it with their dedicated stand up comedy.

 

If you take in all the gadgets and innovation, than Royal Caribbean would win, however, those innovations, I have found, are novelties, that in my opinion, fizzle out as the cruise continues. For example, Ifly. Awesome experience, but given the high demand and slow turnover rate, I would not use that as a reason to cruise. Once you do it, your cruise experience reverts back to the classic cruise experience. Carnival makes up for this in being more engaging. More energetic. Their cruise directors do a better job in general (in my opinion) trying to engage the passengers than Royal Caribbean. This is why, in my opinion, Carnival holds itself out as a "party cruise".

 

My personal preference is really dependent on what i want to do on my cruise. For my wedding, I chose Carnival because I wanted my wedding to be upbeat, energetic and fun. Carnival gave me exactly what I wanted. However, when i want to relax, I choose Royal Caribbean. The pace on their ship is a little slower and I don't feel the need to run from activity to activity just to do everything. Carnival has a habit of doing that to me.

[BNBR]

Carnival - great ship but service was lacking. We never received a drink at dinner...it was 8 nights....servers were just overwhelmed and too busy.

 

 

I'm convinced service issues like this are cruise to cruise and can change on a whim. Last year, on Oasis, our waiter was great, nice, but everything was slow - especially getting drinks. Painfully. We also did Carnival Glory last year and the waiters were anything but overwhelmed, the service was honestly nearly spectacular. The bar person was a rock star and our drinks were nearly instantaneous. Of course, you now had the opposite experience. Would be nice if the lines could be more consistent.

[jticarruthers]

I'm convinced service issues like this are cruise to cruise and can change on a whim. Last year, on Oasis, our waiter was great, nice, but everything was slow - especially getting drinks. Painfully. We also did Carnival Glory last year and the waiters were anything but overwhelmed, the service was honestly nearly spectacular. The bar person was a rock star and our drinks were nearly instantaneous. Of course, you now had the opposite experience. Would be nice if the lines could be more consistent.

 

 

Its definitely hit and miss, just wish I could figure out why.

 

Havent had anything close to good drink service in the MDR on my last 3 RCI cruises. Most recent cruise we didn't even see a drink server until the last night, meanwhile an acquaintance who was on the other side of the room was posting that it was the best drink service he has experienced in MDR in a long time.

[finzup-kt]

Interested in this topic as well! I've done several carnival cruises (freedom, glory, conquest, breeze, vista) and have recently booked my first RC on the Oasis.

 

For those interested in Vista, we loved loved loved the family harbor section (of course we did not have one of the problematic rooms under the potwasher). The FH lounge was an amazing thing to have so close by with kids. I'm obsessed with Ji Ji Asian kitchen, it was so good. Problems on vista are the crazy small and oddly laid out show lounge and the lack of drink servers everywhere on the boat. I wonder if Carnival has scaled back it's staff and that's why people are complaining/noticing it now, but had good service in the past? It was very difficult to get a drink on the Vista.. never had this problem on the glory/conquest/breeze, etc (all of which were 2015 or earlier). Still, for me, the Breeze or the glory/conquest were my favorite ships. I love the outside promenade deck on the breeze and I loved the service on the glory/conquest. (We had done the freedom pre 2.0 upgrades)

 

So while I haven't taken the RC cruise, I've been noting the differences between Carnival and RC in my head. Here's what I've come up with:

 

RC you book shows in advance, Carnival you don't.

RC they ask you to make reservations in advance for "my time dining".. Carnival you do not have to do this (nor is there a way to do it)

RC has a lot more hours available for babysitting ($) for the under 3 crowd.. Carnival has only the night owls (10pm-1am) or very limited babysitting while in ports only.

RC has in room babysitting ($)

RC is consistently more expensive when I price out cruises (although I got an amazing deal for my Jan 2018 Oasis cruise, I check the price every so often and it's always $1000 more than what I paid. )

RC seems to have more pool space

RC both members of the room don't have to buy the drink package. Carnival, all in room have to purchase drink package.

Edited February 24, 2017 by finzup-kt

[A2Mich]

Pricing has many variables. Our last cruise, RCI came out about $800 more for the 5 of us....BUT, we ended up being booked in a Family Promenade cabin, whereas on Carnival, we could have gotten a standard OV. However, the extra space , as well as having enough beds without a rollaway and potentially tripping over one another, was well worth the $800 (and having a bath tub was a bonus too, as was the walk in closet). Our next cruise on Navigator, which is nine days, is, on paper, $900.00 than the most comparable Carnival itinerary (8 days). But, our current invoice pricing also includes prepaid gratuities and $250 OBC, and for similar balcony cabins. That said, pricing can change up or down at any time. Book at what you feel is fair and acceptable to you.