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Carnival vs Royal Caribbean


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8 hours ago, brilliantseas said:

 

Carnival does not have ice skating or flowrider. Their "exclusive" activities - primarily the skyride on Vista and Horizon, had similar lines of between 45 and 60 minutes. Ropes course was much shorter, and the IMAX and THRILL theaters never sold out. I also never had an issue finding a seat for any of the shows, except perhaps the comedy shows, but that isn't an issue so long as you arrive at least 20 minutes prior to show time, and also varies by sailing and the size of the ship. 

His point was that Carnival does not have them.  If the comparison is number of add ons, then Royal would win that discussion.  For us as frequent Carnival cruisers, amusement type add ons dilute the product not enhance it. The truth is that Carnival needed to add on these things to compete in the new ship race.   That said, merry go rounds, bumper cars, ejector pods, rock climbing walls, flow riders,  zip lines, sky diving and even roller coasters are not things we do.  Nor are so called better entertainment of 2nd rate off broadway shows.  But at the end of the day, to each their own.

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40 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

His point was that Carnival does not have them.  If the comparison is number of add ons, then Royal would win that discussion.  For us as frequent Carnival cruisers, amusement type add ons dilute the product not enhance it. The truth is that Carnival needed to add on these things to compete in the new ship race.   That said, merry go rounds, bumper cars, ejector pods, rock climbing walls, flow riders,  zip lines, sky diving and even roller coasters are not things we do.  Nor are so called better entertainment of 2nd rate off broadway shows.  But at the end of the day, to each their own.

 

The point was that in a Carnival vs Royal comparison, it's kind of silly to complain about lines for things that the other company doesn't even have.  It would be like complaining about the lines for Skyride as well, and saying Royal is better because if it.

 

And by the way, the shows on Royal are full production Broadway with a live band, not off Broadway.  But then again, accuracy isn't your strong suit.  Anything to bash Royal and cheerlead Carnival I guess.

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17 minutes ago, BNBR said:

 

The point was that in a Carnival vs Royal comparison, it's kind of silly to complain about lines for things that the other company doesn't even have.  It would be like complaining about the lines for Skyride as well, and saying Royal is better because if it.

 

And by the way, the shows on Royal are full production Broadway with a live band, not off Broadway.  But then again, accuracy isn't your strong suit.  Anything to bash Royal and cheerlead Carnival I guess.

I thought you were ignoring my posts, speaking of accuracy.  Carnival production shows are unique production with a live band.  Could not help but to get in the cheerleader comment though...we can discuss further if you are not going to go off and pout again.  The comment about the shows was in regard to the talent level.  There is no comparison between Broadway and reheat royal does other then the material, certainly not the talent.  The way to see a Broadway show is go to Broadway, its in New York in case you were uncertain.  Always with the bashing..... so sad.

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42 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I thought you were ignoring my posts, speaking of accuracy.  Carnival production shows are unique production with a live band.  Could not help but to get in the cheerleader comment though...we can discuss further if you are not going to go off and pout again.  The comment about the shows was in regard to the talent level.  There is no comparison between Broadway and reheat royal does other then the material, certainly not the talent.  The way to see a Broadway show is go to Broadway, its in New York in case you were uncertain.  Always with the bashing..... so sad.

 

The fact that you don't understand Broadway and Off-Broadway is kind of amusing, especially as you masquerade as an expert.

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I think the shows on Royal are very good.  We really liked the shows in the theater and the ice shows.  We have been on two Royal cruises and had a wonderful time.  In fact, when people who have never cruised before ask about cruise lines I always recommend Royal because it has something for everyone in all age groups.

For my husband and myself, we prefer Carnival because it has the things we like best.  Number one being the comedy shows.  There are more comedians and more shows than any other line we have sailed.  I like theater shows, but my husband doesn't. I can appreciate a great show and Royal definitely has some wonderful shows.  But the comedy shows allow us to relax, laugh, and really de-stress.

There are a few other things about Carnival that tip the scales for us - self service laundry so we can pack lighter, Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana are perfect for lunch, the fun Vibe that is really energizing, and we enjoyed the Faster to the Fun Perks.

With Royal, we were bothered while eating by crew members trying to sell dining plans. It wasn't a big deal and didn't impact the enjoyment of our cruise, but I thought it was tacky.

I think Royal and Carnival both provide very good options for people.  Just because one person prefers Carnival options over Royal's or Royal's options over Carnival's doesn't make either one of them wrong.

 

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11 minutes ago, BNBR said:

 

The fact that you don't understand Broadway and Off-Broadway is kind of amusing, especially as you masquerade as an expert.

I can explain it further for you to clarify my comments, Broadway is the real thing, great shows with great talent.  Cruise lines shows (with one potential exception) is significantly less entertaining, both production wise and talent wise, and from my perspective (yours may vary, but there is hope we can agree on something) not worth my time on a cruise, regardless of the time and effort and waiting, all of which make it much more DIsney like (both in prep, planning and the on ship experience) than I would like or want to do. I assume we can both agree that the real thing is significantly better than a knock off.  This is one more try to se if you can respond with a bashing comment.

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8 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

I think the shows on Royal are very good.  We really liked the shows in the theater and the ice shows.  We have been on two Royal cruises and had a wonderful time.  In fact, when people who have never cruised before ask about cruise lines I always recommend Royal because it has something for everyone in all age groups.

For my husband and myself, we prefer Carnival because it has the things we like best.  Number one being the comedy shows.  There are more comedians and more shows than any other line we have sailed.  I like theater shows, but my husband doesn't. I can appreciate a great show and Royal definitely has some wonderful shows.  But the comedy shows allow us to relax, laugh, and really de-stress.

There are a few other things about Carnival that tip the scales for us - self service laundry so we can pack lighter, Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana are perfect for lunch, the fun Vibe that is really energizing, and we enjoyed the Faster to the Fun Perks.

With Royal, we were bothered while eating by crew members trying to sell dining plans. It wasn't a big deal and didn't impact the enjoyment of our cruise, but I thought it was tacky.

I think Royal and Carnival both provide very good options for people.  Just because one person prefers Carnival options over Royal's or Royal's options over Carnival's doesn't make either one of them wrong.

 

Well said, options and cruisers desires and wants, can all be different.  There is no one thing that is right.  That said, I would neve go over to the Royal thread and bash people who like the royal product, but that is me. 

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5 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I can explain it further for you to clarify my comments, Broadway is the real thing, great shows with great talent.  Cruise lines shows (with one potential exception) is significantly less entertaining, both production wise and talent wise, and from my perspective (yours may vary, but there is hope we can agree on something) not worth my time on a cruise, regardless of the time and effort and waiting, all of which make it much more DIsney like (both in prep, planning and the on ship experience) than I would like or want to do. I assume we can both agree that the real thing is significantly better than a knock off.  This is one more try to se if you can respond with a bashing comment.

 

I'm not sure you have seen the latest performances.  They are hardly the low budget knockoffs that you are suggesting.  Extremely talented performers (including the aqua and ice shows). They are full productions with extensive set designs and in very well equipped theaters, which substantially exceed the quality of off Broadway.

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2 minutes ago, BNBR said:

 

I'm not sure you have seen the latest performances.  They are hardly the low budget knockoffs that you are suggesting.  Extremely talented performers (including the aqua and ice shows). They are full productions with extensive set designs and in very well equipped theaters, which substantially exceed the quality of off Broadway.

I saw hairspray on Oasis, from my perspective it was just ok, the crowd enjoyed it, but it rang hollow to me.  The other show type things were more of the same, felt the ice show was imitation ice capades, I did like the Aqua show.  But again, they diluted our cruise experience, not enhanced it.  My son in law who is Diamond plus on royal went through hoops in the planning and our on board experience, we certainly appreciated that, but again it was so much more like a Disney trip than a cruise for us.  I was actually disappointed in our Oasis cruise, the ship is a marvel, but it went down hill from there.  Look I get you like the royal product, and that is fine.  My point was that there are people who do not think it the optimal cruise experience.  

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11 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Well said, options and cruisers desires and wants, can all be different.  There is no one thing that is right.  That said, I would neve go over to the Royal thread and bash people who like the royal product, but that is me. 


Yeah, I don't get that.  If I disliked a cruise line and was never going to sail on it again, I would not go over to that section just to post negative comments.  I can understand giving an honest review and it's helpful to people who have never sailed on that line.  But to continuously post negative comments just seems useless.  I've seen a couple of people who have said they will never sail on Carnival again, but continue to make posts bashing the line.  It seems more productive to post in their line of choice because constant bashing isn't helpful.

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2 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:


Yeah, I don't get that.  If I disliked a cruise line and was never going to sail on it again, I would not go over to that section just to post negative comments.  I can understand giving an honest review and it's helpful to people who have never sailed on that line.  But to continuously post negative comments just seems useless.  I've seen a couple of people who have said they will never sail on Carnival again, but continue to make posts bashing the line.  It seems more productive to post in their line of choice because constant bashing isn't helpful.

People feel strongly about the product they like and usually negatively against the main competition.  It does come worth the turf here.  I used to get into it with much more enthusiasm (been here a while.....) but have a lighter view now.  There are some here with whom I now would love to cruise with (on any line) which a couple of years ago I would not do it for free.....  I have learned from both friend and foe here.  It is all good.  

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On 11/28/2019 at 9:47 PM, Illbcruzn4life said:

 

does nobody who cruises Carnival like large ships?

 

I for one, certainly welcome the mega ships coming to Carnival's fleet. There are lots of things on an Oasis class that I have no use for, but does that detract from the experience? I don't believe so, unless I want to go to some port they are too large for. If you say "why not choose the Oasis," I would like a large ship with the Carnival vibe. That is certainly something new and refreshing!

 

The variety cruising offers is one of the best parts of cruising. More variety IS what the public wants. Regardless of the few opinions you read from cruising veterans, the mega ships have been a huge success. The worst part of a vacation, to me, is when you are looking for something to do, and can't find anything. Maybe the flowrider gives something to do for a kid who would otherwise be bored. Maybe a guy wants to go to the sports bar with a buddy. Maybe someone just wants to eat in a different restaurant every night. Maybe Central park is soothing.

 

As always, with variety, having the rest of the fleet around is good too. If they replaced all of their fleet with Mardi Gras type ships, that variety goes away.

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1 hour ago, TNcruising02 said:


Yeah, I don't get that.  If I disliked a cruise line and was never going to sail on it again, I would not go over to that section just to post negative comments.  I can understand giving an honest review and it's helpful to people who have never sailed on that line.  But to continuously post negative comments just seems useless.  I've seen a couple of people who have said they will never sail on Carnival again, but continue to make posts bashing the line.  It seems more productive to post in their line of choice because constant bashing isn't helpful.

 

I sure hope you aren't referring to me.  I have not been bashing Carnival at all, and just recently sailed Carnival.  This is a comparison "vs" thread and it's perfectly sensible to expect lots of disagreements and discussions about the differences.

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4 minutes ago, BNBR said:

 

I sure hope you aren't referring to me.  I have not been bashing Carnival at all, and just recently sailed Carnival.  This is a comparison "vs" thread and it's perfectly sensible to expect lots of disagreements and discussions about the differences.


No, I am definitely not referring to you.  There is someone who posts paragraph after paragraph about the miserable time she had on a Carnival cruise and how she will never cruise on the line again.  It's not just on one thread, but she comes back time after time.  I just think it's not productive.  I was not referring to you.  I appreciated your review of the Magic cruise.  I was on the same cruise and enjoyed it, but I understood that your expectations and experiences were different.  At least, I think it was you who sailed on the Magic earlier this year.

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I just sailed on RCI for the first time in 10 years, and while my preferred cruise line is Carnival, I loved my experience. Anthem of the Seas was a wonderful ship, but I did realize that some of the added attractions were not what I look for in a cruise. I'm booked on Harmony of the Seas in May, so we'll see how I like the Oasis class. I totally understand brand loyalty , but also realize that sometimes it's nice to try something new once in a while. All that being said, I can't wait for my two upcoming Carnival sailings!

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1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

I saw hairspray on Oasis, from my perspective it was just ok, the crowd enjoyed it, but it rang hollow to me.  The other show type things were more of the same, felt the ice show was imitation ice capades, I did like the Aqua show.  But again, they diluted our cruise experience, not enhanced it.  My son in law who is Diamond plus on royal went through hoops in the planning and our on board experience, we certainly appreciated that, but again it was so much more like a Disney trip than a cruise for us.  I was actually disappointed in our Oasis cruise, the ship is a marvel, but it went down hill from there.  Look I get you like the royal product, and that is fine.  My point was that there are people who do not think it the optimal cruise experience.  

 

So your experience was the first run of shows, what, a decade ago?  Hairspray hasn't been on Oasis since 2013 or so.  These are fully licensed Broadway shows and a far cry from a high school production.  I'm not sure why you feel the need to bash it so much.   I have no issue with your preferences.  Preferring Carnival/smaller ships is one thing.  But mocking performers and misrepresenting a product is different than simply having a preference.  Royal puts a substantial investment in to these shows and they are far, far superior to anything that Carnival has in their theater.  While at the same time, we would probably all agree Carnival puts more investment in to their comedy and that's obvious when you sail both.  It's just a matter of being fair and accurate.

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9 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:


No, I am definitely not referring to you.  There is someone who posts paragraph after paragraph about the miserable time she had on a Carnival cruise and how she will never cruise on the line again.  It's not just on one thread, but she comes back time after time.  I just think it's not productive.  I was not referring to you.  I appreciated your review of the Magic cruise.  I was on the same cruise and enjoyed it, but I understood that your expectations and experiences were different.  At least, I think it was you who sailed on the Magic earlier this year.

 

Yup, that was me.  I can't hardly remember my Magic review, lol.  I hope it wasn't too negative.  We ultimately had a very nice time and it was a good experience for the money.  Carnival usually is a very good value.  Their product isn't as good, overall, but it's priced accordingly.  Just like I would pay more for a Four Seasons room, but it doesn't mean the Marriott is terrible, either.

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52 minutes ago, fyree39 said:

I understand what you're saying. I mentioned on another post that I've been on other lines. I've see production show talent on Carnival, Royal, Princess and HAL. They're all pretty equal with regard to they type of dancing and quality of singing, which stands squarely in the circle of high school production. I also saw the production show on Crystal. Let's just say Crystal puts money into their shows with the hiring of some pretty amazing dancers and singers. I can't even describe it. However, you get what you pay for and we won't be paying for Crystal very often (though I promise we'll be back). It's going to be hard watching the production shows on mass market lines after what Crystal had to offer.

 

 

Again, this is just totally inaccurate.  Royal literally pulls in the best performers from all over the world.  Several of the leads from Mama Mia ON BROADWAY were/are performing on the Royal ships production.  Even the stages and theaters are larger and more advanced than on Broadway.  To equate that to some sort of high school production is ridiculous.  Many of the performers from Broadway, West End, etc... are working on these ships.  It's very competitive, with tens of thousands of the best auditioning for the roles.  Again, to call it some sort of high school equivalent is simply false.  Crystal most definitely is not spending the money that Royal does, and Carnival isn't even close.

 

https://apnews.com/2fb7d7dcad4d42cb815a95ef7c7612dd

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8 minutes ago, BNBR said:

 

Again, this is just totally inaccurate.  Royal literally pulls in the best performers from all over the world.  Several of the leads from Mama Mia ON BROADWAY were/are performing on the Royal ships production.  Even the stages and theaters are larger and more advanced than on Broadway.  To equate that to some sort of high school production is ridiculous.  Many of the performers from Broadway, West End, etc... are working on these ships.  It's very competitive, with tens of thousands of the best auditioning for the roles.  Again, to call it some sort of high school equivalent is simply false.  Crystal most definitely is not spending the money that Royal does, and Carnival isn't even close.

 

https://apnews.com/2fb7d7dcad4d42cb815a95ef7c7612dd

Totally agree. When we did the Harmony the cast that cruise changed and the original cast for Greece just came from a stay at Disney.  What a performance. The show Columbus was just amazing. The props were the very best I have eve seen even on shore. Oasis class ships definitely out due all the others. The ice shows were fantastic also.

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8 minutes ago, twodaywonder said:

Totally agree. When we did the Harmony the cast that cruise changed and the original cast for Greece just came from a stay at Disney.  What a performance. The show Columbus was just amazing. The props were the very best I have eve seen even on shore. Oasis class ships definitely out due all the others. The ice shows were fantastic also.

 

Thanks. We loved the Harmony productions as well.  We got lucky last week on Symphony as a new ice crew was being worked in.  They did a phenomenal extra show with the 2nd crew.

 

And this isn't to say Carnival doesn't invest in things.  They obviously put money in to their counter service concepts like Guys burgers and BBQ.  Their comedy is best at sea.  Roller coaster, sky rides, IMAX, etc.  Just need to be fair in our comparisons as readers here do make very real decisions after reading comments.

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4 minutes ago, ronbe65 said:

I like mega ships too.... on condition they are mega cruise ships, not just floating mega blocks of flats.

The original Oasis/Allure concept was fantastic. It's sad to see what they have done to these ships now...

 

You are sad that a water slide was added to a cruise ship?

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1 hour ago, BNBR said:

 

So your experience was the first run of shows, what, a decade ago?  Hairspray hasn't been on Oasis since 2013 or so.  These are fully licensed Broadway shows and a far cry from a high school production.  I'm not sure why you feel the need to bash it so much.   I have no issue with your preferences.  Preferring Carnival/smaller ships is one thing.  But mocking performers and misrepresenting a product is different than simply having a preference.  Royal puts a substantial investment in to these shows and they are far, far superior to anything that Carnival has in their theater.  While at the same time, we would probably all agree Carnival puts more investment in to their comedy and that's obvious when you sail both.  It's just a matter of being fair and accurate.

I do not believe I called it a high school production, I do not think I misrepresented anything either.  What I said was it was certainly not Broadway, and that is a fact, if you disagree so be it.  I do not believe I bashed anything either.  I was least impressed with the ice show, it really was just ok.  The comedy show was half based on bashing Carnival and Carnival cruisers, which I felt was lacking in class as well.  Not sure how you compare the two as a product, but if you think it is better so be it.  I really do not think Is as being unfair to the product or the ship.  It really was a disappointment to us, from paying for Johnny Rockets, and popcorn, to having to align our schedule so much during the cruise to go these shows, just was not impressive, frankly I expected more. Having to find a place to eat breakfast because they were “at capacity” was not a highlight either.  Now the ship, the embarkation and debarkation process, the neighborhoods were all a plus.  

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11 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I do not believe I called it a high school production, I do not think I misrepresented anything either.  What I said was it was certainly not Broadway, and that is a fact, if you disagree so be it.  I do not believe I bashed anything either.  I was least impressed with the ice show, it really was just ok.  The comedy show was half based on bashing Carnival and Carnival cruisers, which I felt was lacking in class as well.  Not sure how you compare the two as a product, but if you think it is better so be it.  I really do not think Is as being unfair to the product or the ship.  It really was a disappointment to us, from paying for Johnny Rockets, and popcorn, to having to align our schedule so much during the cruise to go these shows, just was not impressive, frankly I expected more. Having to find a place to eat breakfast because they were “at capacity” was not a highlight either.  Now the ship, the embarkation and debarkation process, the neighborhoods were all a plus.  

 

Carnival has upcharge restaurants as well.  Why does it upset you that Royal has them, also?  I did meet a guy the other day that seemed quite upset about the $2.50 for popcorn at the aquatheater.  So I do know there are people who can have their cruise ruined by such a thing.  Nice guy, but was really caught up on that popcorn.  Of course, popcorn may be free on Carnival, but the two times we tried to get chairs for the deck movie they were "at capacity" as you might say.  As was the comedy show on Magic, every time.

 

Does Carnival not schedule their shows for specific times that you have to align your schedule with?

 

I've seen far bigger lines and been unable to find a space to eat in a buffet only on Carnival.  Oasis has 8+ different venues spread all over the ship that offer breakfast with plenty of seating.  And near the elevators, the screens even  show you how busy the restaurants are.  So you don't have to wander around looking!

 

Carnival has 2 spots.  And the buffet is jam packed.  We enjoyed breakfast at El Loco Fresh the other day on Symphony at 9am.  Only six other guests there.  At capacity isn't much of a thing anymore.

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I have been on 3 RCL totaling 34 days and don’t think that I saw 1 bad show.  However, if I planned another RCL, I would figure in the price if specialty dining.  I have been on 1 Carnival, 7 nights, and thought the MDR food was superior to what I had on RCL.  I did think their shows were inferior to RCL.  I have been to dozens of Vegas shows.  Carnival shows could not even be downtown.  I have booked a 7 night for Xmas 2020 and asked my grandchildren if their priority was shows or food.  I booked Carnival.

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