Carnival Dream "vs" Royal Explorer (and extreme forward cabin ??)

[xDisconnections]

17 minutes ago, Vacationdreamer<>< said:

 

IIRC they have four waterslides and a child-friendly water area.

 

We also like Guy's and Blue Iguana (I know - I know - I've said that a few times... 😂 )  

 

I posted on RCCL about things to do on Explorer.  I just had an alert to my first response.  I don't know if Explorer shows movies after dinner.  We aren't really into stage shows.  We've tried them on Carnival and NCL and didn't stay.  (DCL was another story and was a one-and-done-$$$ adventure.)

 

 

 

Oh yeah, they have a slightly larger water slide area on Dream compared to Valor. Royal generally has different slides on each ship so I don't know off hand the style on the Explorer but the one on its sister ship, Navigator, is certainly much more impressive. 

 

Guy's is easy... Explorer has Johnny Rockets. Small surcharge but worth it for waiter service and not having to stand in a line (which sometimes brings fist fights on Carnival). They also have complimentary burgers in the Windjammer Cafe. I don't think Explorer has El Loco Fresh yet but that is a much better alternative to Blue Iguana, in my opinion.

 

Royal has other types of shows including ice shows. On all of my recent Royal cruises, they showed movies under the stars so I'm sure they would on Explorer if possible (assuming they have the outdoor TV and a cruise director that will add it to the Cruise Compass). 

[Vacationdreamer<><]

21 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Sorry you didnt find it on valor?

 

OH - we found it!  It was not open all the time, though, whereas Guy's was.... It was delicious.  
It was also quieter back there.  I really liked the food on Valor.  

[Vacationdreamer<><]

19 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

Small surcharge

Ah - see - these are words from the pit of Hell to DH.  😉

 

20 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

ice shows

 

This would be cool.  
(See what I did there?)

 

Ok.  I need to dig into Explorer.  
They have some Ultra Spacious Ocean View rooms available, too!

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5 minutes ago, Vacationdreamer<>< said:

 

OH - we found it!  It was not open all the time, though, whereas Guy's was.... It was delicious.  
It was also quieter back there.  I really liked the food on Valor.  

Guy’s is pretty limited and closes at 6pm for the day. My favorite part about Princess, pre-Covid, were the hours of operation for everything onboard. It made a big difference, for me.

[Vacationdreamer<><]

3 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

Guy’s is pretty limited and closes at 6pm for the day. My favorite part about Princess, pre-Covid, were the hours of operation for everything onboard. It made a big difference, for me.

Gotcha.  Yeah - by 6 we had stopped eating so we'd be hungry for dinner.  I didn't notice what was closed on deck then.... I just know we went back for BBQ at times and found it wasn't open.  I never dug into why.

 

Sigh - post-Covid (mid-Covid?) cruising could be a whole other beast, huh?

[firefly333]

21 minutes ago, Vacationdreamer<>< said:

 

OH - we found it!  It was not open all the time, though, whereas Guy's was.... It was delicious.  
It was also quieter back there.  I really liked the food on Valor.  

Both guys burgers and bbq open for lunch but true, guys burgers closes later, at 6 pm. I think work and bbq closed at 2 pm. But all only open for lunch including guys burgers.

 

I just think the desserts on carnival have really gone downhill to the pt I barely touch them. Icing as I mentioned tastes like lard which they use a lot of. Cookies on ccl hard, I like soft cookies which rcl had. But then who knows what food will be like when cruising resumes. I cruise on both, mostly because carnival is cheaper is the only reason I would choose carnival over rcl tbh. If the price is within $100, I choose rcl, but usually rcl for solo is more than $100 more, hence my last cruise on vista. It was a price difference for the date my friend could cruise. 

 

Pools and solarium both better on rcl. Slides and extra like guys better on ccl. 

 

But I freely admit if the price is the same I'd always pick rcl. Carnivally usually cheaper, but right now with so many with extra obc, unusual that carnival is actually priced higher than rcl for solo cruise. It's because of the big obc offers to rebook carnival prices are higher than rcl right now imo. I prefer rcl. I have 5 rcl booked and 1 ccl, disclosure, 

Edited August 9, 2020 by firefly333

[Vacationdreamer<><]

I wanted to thank you all for your help!  I booked the Explorer OTS.  I'll be back to Carnival, I am sure; but the RCCL voyage fit better and you were all helpful in leading me to the decision!    

[Bgcruising]

On 8/8/2020 at 4:51 PM, Vacationdreamer<>< said:

Will these be loud and rocky?  

 

Yes they can be. Not so much to keep me from going though.