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Carnival vs Royal Carribean


robindina
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Just now, xDisconnections said:

Have you asked this question on the Royal Caribbean board? The answers will be the opposite.

 

I've been on both lines (and others too) and don't need to ask on the Royal board. I read a lot there but post little.

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24 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

Which ships have you sailed on Royal Caribbean? How did they compare to your experience on the Fantasy, Dream and Triumph?

On royal I've sailed the Mariner, Freedom, Liberty and Oasis. On carnival I've been on the Fantasy, Breeze and Magic. We tend to sail on the same ships multiple times. Recently we've been sailing carnival because of the price, but generally Royals product is Better. The big thing that Carnival has over royal is the great included food items like Guy's, Blue Iguana, Pizza.

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2 hours ago, Palmetto Pilot said:

The big thing that Carnival has over royal is the great included food items like Guy's, Blue Iguana, Pizza.

 

I didn't want to be cliche, but Guy's was something that we did miss being on the RCI ship.  And I missed Blue Iguana because mexican and tex-mex is my favorite food group!

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I've been on about 6 Carnival cruises and just went on Allure of the Seas June 2. I loved it! But now I'm going on an other Carnival. The only thing I thought Carnival did better than Allure was the choices for casual dining - but that is huge. We really missed Guys Burgers, Blue Iguana, and the Deli for grilled sandwiches. They did a great job of crowd control at port stops also. I was afraid with that many people it would be a nightmare getting on and off but they open up 3 different gangways and they really move you well. We didn't wait once to disembark in 3 port stops. And it's a gorgeous ship that's a destination in itself. But I'm anxious to see the Carnival Horizon in February! Much cheaper. 

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6 minutes ago, RhinoMomIL said:

I've been on about 6 Carnival cruises and just went on Allure of the Seas June 2. I loved it! But now I'm going on an other Carnival. The only thing I thought Carnival did better than Allure was the choices for casual dining - but that is huge. We really missed Guys Burgers, Blue Iguana, and the Deli for grilled sandwiches. They did a great job of crowd control at port stops also. I was afraid with that many people it would be a nightmare getting on and off but they open up 3 different gangways and they really move you well. We didn't wait once to disembark in 3 port stops. And it's a gorgeous ship that's a destination in itself. But I'm anxious to see the Carnival Horizon in February! Much cheaper. 

 

That’s what we found on our RC cruises. Now, we have not been on any of the mega ships yet; however, we also missed the causal dining choices while on RC. We also thought the main dining room food wasn’t as good on RC. Our kids had more fun on our Carnival cruises, so when we asked them which line they wanted to go on for our cruise this summer- it was unanimous, Carnival! 

 

I would still till like to try one of RC mega ships. I think you are correct in saying they are a destination in itself. 

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1 minute ago, 3smithboys said:

 

That’s what we found on our RC cruises. Now, we have not been on any of the mega ships yet; however, we also missed the causal dining choices while on RC. We also thought the main dining room food wasn’t as good on RC. Our kids had more fun on our Carnival cruises, so when we asked them which line they wanted to go on for our cruise this summer- it was unanimous, Carnival! 

 

I would still till like to try one of RC mega ships. I think you are correct in saying they are a destination in itself. 

The Allure didn't even have a waterslide which surprised us. We sort of assumed. They are getting that mega slide on the Boardwalk when they go into dry dock but it's not a waterslide - more of a coaster slide. But definitely a great ship!

 

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They are each good (or not so good) in their own way.

 

Carnival has better included food venues / options with many "made for you" items, better room layout / beds / bedding, no-fee beverages are available 24 hours a day (lemonade, iced tea, coffee, tea), better juice available in the morning (have you tried that guava-orange-passionfruit juice - it's like liquid crack), better coffee from the buffet, more trivia and non-active activities, and imho, more engaging cruise staff (CD, fun squad, room attendants, cleaners - basically everyone).

 

Royal Caribbean has better adult pool areas (and their pools have stairs!), café promenade is a nice central food/hot beverage location open 24 hours, they have more indoor parties (so not impacted by weather), a better non-alcoholic drink package, free style soda machines (on some ships), and more active activities like rock climbing, ice skating, etc. 

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So many ships from both cruise lines are different and offer so many different choices. As for children. They will have a ton of fun of both cruise lines. As for food. About the same. Our findings on the Steak house. Carnival is the best hands down.

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On 6/15/2019 at 11:27 PM, kyboymom said:

We have had 4 carnival cruises and I wad thinking about considering RC for our next cruise... Do you feel like RC has as many inclusive amenities/food as Carnival..we don't drink or do dining thats not inclusive..so those not included upgrades dont really appeal to us.

 

Absolutely not. Just took RC Oasis class in May and the free food options left a lot to be desired. They close the Buffet it felt like all the time. Almost every time the 4 year old wanted a snack the buffet was closed and the other options are mostly more grown up tastes so that left pizza essentially and after a few days she was over that

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7 minutes ago, CarnivalCruiser32 said:

 

Absolutely not. Just took RC Oasis class in May and the free food options left a lot to be desired. They close the Buffet it felt like all the time. Almost every time the 4 year old wanted a snack the buffet was closed and the other options are mostly more grown up tastes so that left pizza essentially and after a few days she was over that

 

adding to say like we had to go essentially across the entire ship to go from the buffet that was closed at the back of the ship to the promenade area closer to the front of the ship to even get a glass of water...like...we really thought that was...a joke

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On 6/15/2019 at 8:33 PM, robindina said:

The hubby and I have been on two cruises Ncl and Carnival! We loved both those cruises so now we are looking at Royal Caribbean.  Who has been on Carnival and Royal Caribbean ?   What are the differences?   My favorite things on Carnival was tea time and the cooking demonstration.  Anything like that on Royal Caribbean?  

 

Just went on Royal Caribbean in May on the Oasis of the Seas because they had the best price for the itinerary but we will never sail Royal again. Once was...enough. There are SO many differences between Royal and Carnival.

 

The food in Carnival's MDR is 5000% better than RC. The first night on RC I got my meal and it was...not good. The waiter felt so bad that I didn't like it like it was his fault and I felt so bad for making him feel bad because he didn't cook it it wasn't his problem. Then another night the menu just did not have anything appetizing on it so we didn't go to the MDR. That has never ever happened on Carnival - they always have tasty menus and the food has always been superb. 

 

Also, RC closes their buffet quite often? We didn't get it and neither did the 50 or so other passengers trying to get in. Everyone we ran into trying to get in and finding out it was closed were like "??? i paid this much money and I can't even grab a snack?!" honestly 100% went up there too often and every time it was closed except for actual dinner time. 

 

Every cooking class or demonstration is paid for on RC. We really wanted to do the Guac class but decided not to at the last minute which was probably a good choice. 

 

RC very much felt like a cash grab all the time and we've never felt that way on Carnival. A lot of stuff was extra all the time constantly

 

Oasis of the Seas was a beautiful ship and seemed well maintained but it was...too big for us. It took too long to walk where you needed to go. Everything seemed really far away from each other and while it wasn't hard to navigate (or get lost - impossible) it did seem like things were inconveniently placed from each other. Like the Kids Cub is way forward at the top of the ship but everything else is basically at the back of the ship just as an example. But we never had to wait too long for an elevator except for when coming back from Port so that was great. 

 

Shows on Royal were pretty great I'll also give them that

 

I know this is controversial but: a lot (not ALL) of the other cruisers on Royal were...terrible. sorry not sorry. Like just a very entitled feeling and a lot of folks looking their nose down at you but like...I don't know you? We've never met? We're on this same cruise together? how are you somehow thinking you're better than me, a stranger you've never met on the same ship doing nothing except breathing the same air as you? It was just wild. and we've been to Disney World at Christmas so we know what wild is. Also, we saw a few grown adults be rude to children at activities and we were like yeah...NO THANKS. If those are the kinds of people cruising Royal we'll stay on Carnival where we've never seen an adult lowkey push a kid out of the way to get on line for something or purposely take the seat a child was saying they wanted just to be mean? spiteful? and that one was directed at the kid I was with (regarding the carousel which itself was really awesome) so I'm a bit extra bitter about that in particular. we don't really know why folks would act out in that way but we've never seen it on carnival so...

 

I just realized this sounded like a Royal bashing and I didn't mean to - we had a good time. However, there was a lot left to be desired and while the ship itself was great and the itinerary and dates worked best for us we can't say we'd go again. Lots of people declare their undying love for Royal but based on our trip we just can't see why

 

Edited to add: There was nothing to watch on TV on RC. I'm pretty sure there was no movie channel and if you wanted to rent one it was $12. We didn't do Room Service on RC because you have to pay for it to be delivered but we have a certain affection for late night room service sandwiches and chips and cookies from Carnival which is...you guessed it - free. ALSO IT WAS REALLY HARD TO FIND THE ICE CREAM MACHINE ON RC????? One of our fav memories of cruising is getting Ice Cream whenever the heck we wanted on Carnival. On RC we found there were two by the two pools (one near each pool) but they were only open sometimes and also they generally did not have ice cream even when they were open which was just ??? how?? On the last day we found another ice cream machine by the flow riders which was open and actually worked so we wished we had known that earlier

 

Edited again to add: Staff for the most part on RC were really great and friendly and nice. Also, it felt like there were always cleaning carts in the hallways? Which we don't remember seeing much (if at all?) on Carnival. It's not a big thing and we literally do not care about the carts in the hallway as everything was very clean all the time but it was just an interesting observation for us. Also, the Casino was...small? and like weirdly shaped? and the Dining room...dont get me started on the dining room...it was three levels but we were only allowed on one level and the chairs were awful. you could barely pull yourself into the table. and it was all the way on deck 3 forward and you could really really feel the rocking of the ship there

 

 

Edited by CarnivalCruiser32
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On 6/17/2019 at 11:00 AM, DramaQueen22 said:

 

 

Carnival is more of a party ship.  That's not a bad thing. 

 

I describe Carnival as a fun ship.  When people hear "Party" they think of drunks staggering around and getting into fights.

 

We tried Royal once and didn't like it.  The crew seemed like they were put out because they had to work.  On Carnival, every crew member you  meet will speak to you and go out of their way to make your cruise enjoyable.  Our cabin steward was a grouch.  

 

Fellow passengers on Carnival seem more friendly.  Didn't find that on RCI.  

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On ‎6‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 5:41 PM, CarnivalCruiser32 said:

 

Edited to add: There was nothing to watch on TV on RC. I'm pretty sure there was no movie channel and if you wanted to rent one it was $12. We didn't do Room Service on RC because you have to pay for it to be delivered but we have a certain affection for late night room service sandwiches and chips and cookies from Carnival which is...you guessed it - free.

 

 

 

Yes, the PPV movies on Carnival were reasonably priced, not so on RCL or Celebrity, they are quite expensive (and there is practically nothing on their TV - and people say Carnival is bad - Royal has like 3 shows on TV and they repeat them ad neausium).

 

You pay a flat rate for room service on Royal - but it is some of the best food on the ship (at least in imho). We paid the $8 fee and enjoyed a fabulous lunch for 3 people after finding a huge vein in the lamb stew and dried out burgers the day before in the buffet .

Edited by meatloafsfan
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