New to Royal

[robindina]

So my hubby and I were looking at dates for our Anniversary and Royal has a cruise during that time as well as carnival.  We have never been on Royal so I was wondering about how it compares to Carnival and Ncl.    The things my hubby and I love about cruising is the food , nightly shows  and relaxation.  We don’t gamble or drink much.   Coffee is a must so we will pay for the better coffee.    I loved the chef demo and tea time on carnival.  Loved the shows on Ncl.    I liked the food on both ships in the main dining room.   So really curious what you like best about Royal? 

[Clarea]

Some of the frequent Royal vs whatever threads:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2653390-royal-vs-carnival/?do=findComment&comment=57231494

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2622834-carnival-vs-rci-and-ncl/?do=findComment&comment=56535733

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2607724-rcl-vs-carnival/?do=findComment&comment=56210714

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2651593-royal-vs-ncl-head-to-head/?do=findComment&comment=57186685

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2641559-royal-vs-ncl/?do=findComment&comment=56944352

 

[Ourusualbeach]

36 minutes ago, robindina said:

So my hubby and I were looking at dates for our Anniversary and Royal has a cruise during that time as well as carnival.  We have never been on Royal so I was wondering about how it compares to Carnival and Ncl.    The things my hubby and I love about cruising is the food , nightly shows  and relaxation.  We don’t gamble or drink much.   Coffee is a must so we will pay for the better coffee.    I loved the chef demo and tea time on carnival.  Loved the shows on Ncl.    I liked the food on both ships in the main dining room.   So really curious what you like best about Royal? 

If you love food and shows then stick with an Oasis class ship and get the unlimited dining package as well as the refreshment package that will give you premium coffees.

 

Symphony is the newest but Harmony is almost identical.  You really can’t go wrong with any of them including Oasis and Allure. 

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/symphony-of-the-seas

Edited July 1, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[bonsai3s]

First, congratulations on your anniversary!

Many years ago, we tried just about all the cruise lines.  We love cruising but settled with both Celebrity and RCCL.

When we were younger, we became "loyal to roya"l because of all the activities available onboard....specially when cruising with family.  What we like the most about RCCL is they have everything for all the generations, young and old.  With your anniversary cruise, we are guessing perhaps you may be sailing as a couple...and not with family.

Not sure what ship you are considering, but bear in mind that you can find "quiet spaces" even on the biggest RCCL ships.  We prefer the smaller ships but you can't really go wrong...Happy Anniversary and happy sailing! ☺️

 

[GUEST71919]

It is hard to compare. We usually sail in the Haven on RCL but suites on RCL (the Royal version suite level is a “bit much” as my mother would say, somewhat over the top in terms of what we prefer). It is also so ship dependent. I would say that overall Rcl edges out NCL on entertainment and vice versa on food. We only sailed on Carnival once 8 years ago, but from what I can tell most of the other lines are less casual than CarnIval also – in a good way. As @Host Clarea suggested, It really pays to just search and read since there will be as many opinions as there are people. By looking at a lot of information perhaps you can come to a consensus for yourself. But in the end it’s just going to require you sailing to see for yourself! 😊

[Homelines1977]

We have sailed all three lines, we mostly return to Royal because it fits us better, the ships are in my opinion nicer and more airy because of the Promenades, Esplanades and Central parks. As for entertainment I thought NCL was better than Royal. Although subjective I found the food in the Main dining room in Carnival better than both Royal and NCL with NCL trailing. Pay venues are all much better than main dining rooms on a lines. Haven in NCL was excellent, more of a ship within a ship, I found the Breakfast and Lunch in the Haven to be better, although Coastal Kitchen is good, I am not much a fan of California and Mediterranean inspired Cuisine (Subjective). You will find all three lines more similar than not. And a day on a cruise beats a day at work no matter what ship!

[BLAMBKY]

Happy Anniversary! I would suggest looking on your cruise planner for specialty dining sales, if you would like to use it. Also, there is a coffee card that I enjoy using. 15 specialty coffees (mochas, lattes & ice coffees) for about $36. I have shared my card with my daughter, when she cruised with us, and I have also split my card usage over two cruises. 

But what I like BEST about Royal is their entertainment, their variety & professionalism is hard to beat! I like that I can be busy, flow rider/slides/pools or as sedentary as I want! 😉

Edited July 1, 2019 by BLAMBKY

[SuiteLady]

Sailed Carnival and Royal....I prefer Royal.  Service seems to be better, entertainment is FAR better, more to do onboard, less rowdy behavior, atmosphere just seems more enjoyable to me, and staff seems to be more on point!    Food is comparable, however I would give Royal an edge.....my kids, when given a choice, chose Royal over Carnival and they were late teens than.  With this being said, would I cruise on Carnival again- I would be hard pressed to, but to me any day on a cruise ship is a good day!!

[poncho1973]

I think what you'll find is that they are probably more alike than different.  There are plenty of differences between the ships, so I'd choose a ship that has stuff that interests you.

 

We recently went on a Celebrity cruise for the first time and it was remarkably similar to most cruises we've been on before on Royal, Disney, and Norwegian.  The difference in the age of the cruisers was strong on our particular cruise (the oldest skewing cruise we've ever been on) and the ship didn't have a lot of bells & whistles.  However, the cruise itself was very familiar.

 

The differences between Royal ships is massive.  Empress to Symphony?  That's night and day.  The newer the ship, the more food options you have on Royal.  The smaller the ship, the more intimate the experience for the most part.

 

You like to relax? Me too!  I like to spend a lot of time in the adults only solarium.  Compare the ships based on that and you'll see that there are much milder differences across the line.  Some have pools, some don't, but mostly they are nice places with more focus on relaxation.  The newer ships have much nicer balconies, too.  You can rest in relative privacy on your private balcony.

[TravelGirlinDallas]

I have cruised 4 lines total - the most having been on Carnival, and just went on my first Royal cruise a couple of weeks ago. Here are my opinions, based on a non-Oasis class ship (Liberty).

 

Food: Buffet was better on Royal, both in variety as well as the layout/crowd management. MDR was better on Carnival, both in variety of choices, presentation, and quality. I also found myself missing Carnival's Sea Day Brunch and their tea time while on Royal. Royal has REALLY great cookies, though!

 

Ship: Royal has more elegant decor and a better ship flow and layout. We loved the Promenade concept on Royal. I also appreciated that they have cargo elevators for the luggage and don't tie up the main guest elevators on embarkation day with luggage delivery (as was our experience on recent Carnival cruises).

 

Shows: Royal production shows were better than Carnival's by far. However, I missed the nightly "family-friendly" comedy shows that Carnival offers since we were cruising with our 9-year-old and he enjoys those. 

 

We have enjoyed them all and will continue to sail them all. 🙂

Edited July 1, 2019 by TravelGirlinDallas