Loyal Royal cruiser ,just off Carnival Magic(Aug 19th-26th)

[PH8]

Not doing an in depth review........just a few comparisons and observations. Which cruiseline "wins" in different categories......at least IN MY OPINION! I am Pinnacle with RCCL and this was only my 3rd Carnival cruise. Trust me,status DOES not matter to us...Just filling you in.

 

We booked this cruise just a few weeks ago........got assigned a 12:30 check in to the terminal time.....With RCCL,they only suggest times and you can show up whenever you want........Not with Carnival.....they won't let you into the terminal before your time. So we got to the port around 11am..........dropped our luggage off and went to Fishlips for lunch. Got back to the ship at our time and still had to battle LONG lines thru security and check in.

RCCL wins this round(don't have to be at the mercy of the clock)

 

On board,we didn't have too much time to go before our cabins opened up at 1:30.......RCCL basically has the same policy.

 

Upon entering our cabin(# 8211),we could see right away Carnival definitely offers more storage!! BUT the balconies are way smaller....No room for a lounger.......just room for two chairs and a table and no walking past each other.. So both lines win and lose in this.

 

Met our cabin steward.....handed up a piece of paper,we had to fill out right then and there........check off if you want your cabin cleaned morning,night OR BOTH.......and if we wanted bathrobes,more towels or pillows....... We told him he could do just morning but at night,just check to see if we needed fresh towels........and we also wanted ice..... His name is Denis and he did a fantastic job.Our mini bar was nice and cold and chilled our white wine perfectly.

 

Now food is subjective.....For the most part,Carnival has the better food. LOVED the deli....my favorite place....also good was Guys Burgers and the pizza......couldn't get near the Mongolian Wok so can't tell you have that was. Tried Guys BBQ....it was just ok......here where I live we have a fantastic BBQ place so perhaps I am spoiled..

 

We ate dinner in the dining room 2x.....all the appetizers,soups,salads were great..........not so much for the entrees...seems they all came with a sauce on them,even when we requested none....The last straw was when I had prime rib and they went to add gravy.........It "plopped" off the spoon........like it was congealed ....We left right after that and never went back............except for breakfast......which was FANTASTIC.

 

Tried the Cucina one night and again left before we even ordered dessert........steak with gravy? Jeez.....

 

So as far as food,I say Carnival RULES with the buffets and places to grab a bite whenever you want and RCCL rules in the main dining room and specialty restaurants.

 

Carnival has RCCL beat with the live music all over the ship,just about all day,every day.......from jazz to pop to reggae to country......and we enjoyed all the different kinds of trivia and games.........of course like every cruise,you have the same people who cruise a lot and know all the answers,even the obscure ones.......doesn't make it fun for others..

 

Some really nice places to go sit and have drink....except wish they had a wine bar type of place....

 

Other observations.......too many announcements...........even at night.......You can hear them in your cabin and it is kinda annoying. Not there is a speaker in your cabin. You can hear them from the hallway.

 

The pools are a JOKE......such a big ship to have TWO small pools....one on the main deck and one aft..neither one was big so it did not take long to fill up.......Kids in the hot tubs diving in and horse playing with each other.....Kid in a diaper in a hot tub with his father.Trust me,I am telling the truth...It was like Romper Room....When the kids took over the pools and hot tubs,no adult would dare go in.

 

LOTS of rude people on this cruise,esp the kids. Even the crew made a comment about it...Why do parents think it is ok to let the kids have a free for all once on board......I witnessed several groups walking and saying how they were on the way to beat up someone who was talking smack about their sister/brother/whoever.....and another group using the F bomb as many times as they could......Heck ,even as I played the slot tournament,one observer was standing behind the participants......the one lady playing told her to get the"F" away because she didn't know her and didn't want her nearby....I guess some of the kids learned from their parents.One lady nearly started a fight with another one morning in the buffet over eggs......

 

On line at guest services,the lady behind us was yelled at by the lady behind her because she moved her head and her hair must had touched her.............UNBELIEVABLE attitudes...

 

While waiting on line for pizza one day, a teen girl walked up and said to the pizza guy "YO,I want some pizza".......I had to look at her and ask "YO,,really???" Can't really blame this on Carnival...could happen on any ship....but this was the rudest bunch we ever saw and heard.

 

All in all,we enjoyed our Carnival cruise and the ports...... Amber Cove,St Thomas,San Juan and Grand Turk....I would cruise with them again,as I will with RCCL and other lines.

[joepeka]

Thank you again! :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=53908084#post53908084

[Clarea]

Interesting comparison review, thanks Kathy.

[Big_G]

Thanks for the review.

[PH8]

Thanks all and congrats on the "promotion",Bob!

[Clarea]

Thanks all and congrats on the "promotion",Bob!

Thanks Kathy. Really sorry I missed you and Marci on MJ.

[PH8]

Thanks Kathy. Really sorry I missed you and Marci on MJ.

We didn't go..went on this one instead.

[mizLORInj]

HI!

Haven't been on Magic but on many other Carnival ships. LOVE Mongolian Grill! Best venue for food on Carnival IMO. Well, Guy's burgers are good too.

 

We have fun cruises on various cruise lines too.

 

Oh, we like Fishlips at Port Canaveral too! Love the webcam there too! :cool:

[LMaxwell]

Great review! Carnival has been on my spit list for over 5 years after a run of 3 bad cruises in a row when I jumped ship to RCI. But now that I approach D+ and should hit it next year at some point, that loyalty runs dry because there's cheaper fares to be had and supposedly better food available.

 

My only issue is that I'm not a party guy at all, so Carnival's marketing doesn't speak to me. And the majority of issues I had on the 3 bad Carnival cruises were all due to "party" people who took it a lot too far -- but it may have been the ship, may have been the class of ship, who knows.

 

I definitely am going to give Carnival at least 2 more tries in 2018 or 2019 and see if they can impress me. Hearing reviews like this is helpful!

 

If you are a Diamond now you will get reciprocity on Celebrity and MSC will make you their highest tier.

 

My last Carnival cruise had some of the types of people OP mentioned. Im going on Carnival again in a month because of itinerary, food, and good price. We will see how the guests are; a few weeks after that I'm on Royal. I did cancel my end of year Carnival cruise (different cruise mate for that) mostly due to the crowd CCL attracts and switched lines. Yep, 3 cruises in 3 months on 3 different lines

[molly361]

Thanks for the comparison Kathy!!!

[jamesr3939]

Great review and pretty much mirrors my thoughts on MJ and Dream to various RCCL ships. Only would add the burrito bar on Carnival is outstanding and we had a great meal at Cucina, but did Italian. We also enjoy the Chef's Table in the galley on Carnival. But CT on Oasis was outstanding also, just a totally different venue.

[PH8]

I'm not burrito fan,but it did look good. My husband had a taco salad and he enjoyed it.

 

 

Another plus to Carnival. They use Directv and have regular channels out of Florida

[A&L_Ont]

YO Kathy, thanks for the great comparison.

 

Andrew

[BillOh]

.... Amber Cove,St Thomas,San Juan and Grand Turk....I would cruise with them again,as I will with RCCL and other lines.

 

 

Amber cove is their private island type of place? How is it?

[easyboy]

Thank you for your comparison.

[vacationlover_mn]

Great review! Thanks!

[PH8]

YO Kathy, thanks for the great comparison.

 

Andrew

;p;p;p

 

Amber cove is their private island type of place? How is it?

We really liked it....much better than Grand Turk.........maybe because it didn't seem as crowded an area as GT...

[Moltar]

Thank you for reconfirming my suspicions and thoughts on Carnival

[BecciBoo]

Hi Kathy, good review.

 

You mentioned the 2 things that have kept us from cruising CCL again...and no amount of good food will lure us back.

 

The other problem is with cleanliness. Never again.

 

We are branching out though, love Celebrity and just booked NCL Bliss...maybe I'll post a comparison review with that one.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise though. Sad about the attitudes on board, but as you said this has become pretty common place these days...a sign of the times. Manners are not being passed down anymore:loudcry:

[PH8]

Hi Kathy, good review.

 

You mentioned the 2 things that have kept us from cruising CCL again...and no amount of good food will lure us back.

 

The other problem is with cleanliness. Never again.

 

We are branching out though, love Celebrity and just booked NCL Bliss...maybe I'll post a comparison review with that one.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise though. Sad about the attitudes on board, but as you said this has become pretty common place these days...a sign of the times. Manners are not being passed down anymore:loudcry:

We did Celebrity in June......my 3rd.........Love them and Princess.......

[CAC104]

The Mongolian Grill is really very good and always has a long line.

I think the clientel on Carnival is different depending on the length of the cruise and the destinations. I was on the Carnival Liberty for 14 days through the Mediterranean and did not have the problems you posted. I also was on the Dream for a 10 day cruise where you had to fly to Puerto Rico and then it ended up in New Orleans. I think the added expenses make a difference on who is on the ship.

[baileybrad]

Thank you for an informative and balanced review. Man I really do not care for rude, crass behavior. I know I can't say that it is necessarily confined to one cruise line but your examples sure were eye openers. Almost without exception, the teenagers that our 3 sons have met and hung out with on 6 RCI cruises have been very polite and well mannered. Our kids just will not hang out with rude kids and blab about what they hear and see to us. We have even selected particular ships and stops when they found out some group of kids were going to be sailing at that time. So just because of that we will stick with RCI for now.

[PH8]

The Mongolian Grill is really very good and always has a long line.

 

I think the clientel on Carnival is different depending on the length of the cruise and the destinations. I was on the Carnival Liberty for 14 days through the Mediterranean and did not have the problems you posted. I also was on the Dream for a 10 day cruise where you had to fly to Puerto Rico and then it ended up in New Orleans. I think the added expenses make a difference on who is on the ship.

I think you have a valid point. I mean,I would cruise Carnival again.......just not a week long one out of FL to the Caribbean...