Considering Royal Caribbean

[Houston Mom]

Hello everyone,

 

My family and I have had a handful cruises with Carnival. We are looking at Celebrity Cruise and Royal Caribbean for a change for our summer 2018 vacation.

 

Our children will be 15 and 11 next summer. So we want to be on a cruiseship that have some fun activities for them to do. We have looked at Harmony of the Sea and Allure of the Sea and are impressed with the entertainment/ activities on these ships.

 

The reason why we were looking at Celebrity cruiseline is because we read the 2017 people choice awards and noticed that Celebrity has the most ships that received the best dining category, but Celebrity seems to be more relax and less activities for teens.

 

At this point, we are leaning towards RC. However, we were really surprised that none of Royal Caribbean cruiseships made the best dining list. That left us wonder how's the dining experience on RC, especially the Oasis class. Is it better than Carnival or the same?

 

For this discussion, I would like to focus on the complementary dining only and not the specialty dining.

 

I would love to hear all of your inputs, any things you would like to share.

 

Thank you very much.

 

 

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[Ocean Dancer]

It's cruise food, you won't go hungry. About the same as Carnival, but Royal's pizza sucks.

 

I would certainly give Royal a try, especially one of their bigger ships as you mentioned. :)

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic and your very first post!!

[nator555]

I am also new to RC. We go on our first RC cruise in May. Welcome!

 

 

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[kwazi07]

On my first cruise on Royal I was disappointed with the food but in my most recent one it was very good! Carnival's entrees were on par with Royal and I thought the desserts were better on Royal. The buffet is also better on Royal, in my opinion.

 

I think you'll be impressed with Royal, especially the Oasis class. I find the entertainment to be better than on Carnival (and I haven't even seen those "Playlist Productions").

 

Also, the ships are just nicer looking and better laid out.

 

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[vacationlover_mn]

My DH and I actually like the pizza at Sorrentos :)

 

 

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[debshomespun]

The kids will love the Oasis class ships. There are so many things to do including the aqua theater show and the ice skating show. The kids can ice skate too, be sure to bring long pants for them to wear.

The Broadway shows are good, along with the Comedy club show. A nice variety of great entertainment.

There is also a big variety of free places to eat. The Park Cafe has delicious roast beef sandwiches on a Kimmel wreck bun, made to order salads and a variety of desserts. There is the Boardwalk Dog house, Sorrento's for pizza, and the Cafe Promenade, and the Wipe Out Cafe.

Also has the flow rider and zip line to try. There's the Central Park and Boardwalk with the merry go round. The kids should love it, and you too. We have gone twice on Oasis and once on Allure.

Celebrity does have better foods in the MDR, but the entertainment is lacking along with things to do on the ship for the kids. RC Oasis Class ships are a wonderful at sea.

[matj2000]

If you are seeking basic info on certain ships.

Try reading the "member reviews" of each of these ships.

There are hundreds & hundreds of them.

Almost every single one mentions food of some sort.

This is much more effective than started a new thread..

[andrew2346]

The food on RCCL is decent but it is not going to win any dining awards. If that is important to you I would look at a different line. Otherwise your family will love RCCL.

[TeeRick]

From your description of the situation it seems like it would be better to go with Royal and Oasis Class if you are focusing on entertainment and activities over somewhat better food on Celebrity. For kids at 15 and 11 it is questionable that they would want to go to organized kid's activities but instead would probably hang out in the video gaming area for example which Oasis Class wins. Celebrity has kids on board mainly on Caribbean itineraries or school vacation times but in general is an older crowd than Royal.

[George C]

RCCL entertainment is just so much better than Celebrity , loads of stuff for kids and I think food is about the same ( I prefer buffet and specialty restaurants on Celebrity , my wife loves the relaxing quite pool area)

[Bruin Steve]

Celebrity is easily my favorite line...best food, best service, least crowded ships, most relaxing and elegant experience...But, I'm an adult...

If I was taking teens with me, no question, hands down, it's Royal Caribbean...particularly one of the newer, larger ships. There is an incredible bunch of amenities to keep the kids very, very happy...look close ly at the Oasis class ships or the even newer Quantum class...Even the Freedom class and the Voyager class have amenities that blow away any Carnival ship. But, the newer the ship, the more stuff they've added. We've done the Allure twice--and they have an ice rink, two surfing pools, two rock climbing walls, a zip line and more. The new Quantum class has a sky dive simulator, bumper cars and a trapeze school...

 

And, IMHO, Royal Caribbean beats Carnival in almost every category. Sure, "food" can be largely subjective--Everyone has their own taste in food. But, service, to me, is an important part of the dining experience...and Carnival's service, IMO, is downright poor in comparison to the others. And, yes, I have taken four cruises with Carnival, including one back-to-back with a Royal Caribbean cruise, so the comparisons were blatant.

 

And, yes, I know, Carnival has its fans...and we all have different criteria, different standards, different expectations...So, of course, some folks like Carnival, are accustomed to how Carnival does things and have come to think of that as their idea as to what a cruise should be...But, for me, I've cruised on 8 different lines and have some specific standards that CAN be measured... Like space-per-passenger ratios, crew-per-passenger, number of seats in showroom and other entertainment venues per passenger, elevator capacity per passenger and number of passengers served per dining room wait staff member... Looking at all of the cruise lines I have sailed on, Celebrity easily comes in first in every category...and Carnival DEAD LAST.

 

Definitely take your kids on Royal Caribbean...

[tropiclvrs]

Agree, I'd go with Royal! My kids are 9 & 12 and they love all that the bigger ships have to offer. If your kids like to "get out there" and do stuff this is definitely going to be the better choice. This is where Royal beats everyone hands down.

 

As for dining, no the food isn't top notch but we aren't there for the food anyway. As long as I don't have to cook or clean up I'm a happy cruiser. I'd suggest booking some of the specialty restaurants for dinners that are 1-2 steps above the main dining room.

 

 

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[WendyVF]

I'd pick Royal over Celebrity if you enjoyed Carnival. You will find Royal very similar to Carnival in a lot of ways. We have cruised both and enjoy the different ship styles, activities and shows that each offers. When we sail royal, I miss Guy's burgers, the comedy club and the perks we get with being Platinum on Carnival but I love Royal's ship layouts. I think their lower public decks are more open and easier to navigate than Carnival's.

[39august]

Yes, RCI for your kids, for sure. And you have one of the large ships down the road from you in Galveston. Liberty is second only to the Oasis class ships in size. She is a pretty big girl! And Liberty has the water slides, 3 of them, as well as the usual ice rink, flow-rider, climbing wall, mini-golf, etc.

[m-of-connor]

Do the Royal with the kids! Save the Celebrity for you and spouse. We have been on both and the vibe is different.

My kids have been on several different lines and they like Royal "Liberty". We did a last minute cruise last year (6 days out) and my sons were happy to go on a cruise but on the drive down to Houston they were upset that we were not going on Carnival "Magic". Still not sure what they were thinking when we said Royal Caribbean but something along the lines of Holland America. They have been on 2 Holland cruises and loved them but that was Alaska so not all about running around in bathing suit.

 

We are planning a cruise for the summer and it is coming down to a Royal Caribbean cruise. I wanted to go on Oasis class ship. Harmony has it all but we decided we didn't want to fly, so back on the "Liberty".

 

As far as food goes we were very pleased with the quality of the food last year, I thought it was slightly better then Carnival but did miss a couple of things that Carnival does better on the food front. It has been a few years since we have been on Celebrity. We loved it but the kids would not have enjoyed that ship, if it is just hubby and I Celebrity would be at the top of our list.

[katiel53]

As much as I love Celebrity, I don't really think it's a fun time for teens. My family is going on Allure this summer and my granddaughter will be in the 12-14 age group and I think it will be a great time for her. Additionally, there are so many things to do on the Oasis class ships as compared to Celebrity.

 

I think the food on Allure is better than it is on Carnival. Of course food is subjective, but, to me, the food on Carnival is not anywhere near as sophisticated as the menus on Allure. Additionally, the specialty restaurants offer more choices than any Carnival ship I have been on.

 

There are a couple of things I like better on Carnival though. I like the 24 hour frozen yogurt and the pizza. I think the pizza on Allure was horrible.

[Cruisin'4Us]

Based on our experience (Celebrity experience is from years ago), Royal food is good, Celebrity food was great. More to do on Royal vs Celebrity. Entertainment was better on Celebrity. Based on what we have read, and the comments of friends & family sailing on Carnival, (unfortunately) Royal is getting more like Carnival every day (only Royal is more expensive.)

[Thecat3902]

We travel with our kids and love royal Caribbean. We too have cruised carnival and love them too. We did the allure last spring break and my kids had an amazing time. We have teens and little kids and they were always happy and enjoyed every second. The entertainment was excellent too. Truly it comes down to what you are looking for in a cruise. Is food super important or entertainment? Are kids activities a top priority? To me you are always going to find something edible on a cruise so food is typically my last priority. But for the kids they would definitely love the oasis class ship.

 

 

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[Houston Mom]

Thank you everyone very, very much for taking the time to respond to my post candidly with most helpful information. It's greatly appreciated.

 

After reading all your inputs and suggestions, I think the choice for our summer 2018 cruise is: Royal Caribbean.

 

However, we will fly out of Miami or Orlando instead of Galveston as we like the Eastern Caribbean itinerary this time. We have done Southern and Western (twice).

 

I am sure our kids would enjoy the activities on the Oasis ships. Can't wait to book this trip.

 

Thank you again and happy cruising.

 

 

 

 

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