What is the biggest difference between Carnival and RC?

[DeckCadet]

Food and funnels :)

[yuyi64]

e058874, what RCCL ship were you on that had open seating at dinner? I've never heard of any Carnival or Royal Caribbean ship having open seating for dinner in the formal dining room. Please elaborate on your open seating reference.

[Travelitis]

Rather than compare Carnival to RCCL, compare ships of all lines to each other. Look for the ship and itine that appeals to you. The mainstream lines are all so similar, after all. You can even go on the same ship twice and have totally different experiences. I've never limited myself to a specific line when shopping. We always look for the best value for our dollar, and we welcome trying new ships and lines. Decide what your priorities are, then look for those qualities and enjoy the process.

 

Our Priorities (in no particular order):

1) ship we haven't sailed - willing to repeat a ship but prefer to have a new adventure

2) cabin category - no less than an outside, but prefer balcony or suite - had our 1st and (hopefully) last inside on the Rhapsody

3) itin has to have days at sea (3 is better than 2 - no S. Carib for us)

4) best ship and cabin for the money (We'll pass up a deal on a suite on a ship we've sailed for a balcony on a ship we haven't, but we don't necessarily go for the lowest price we find, either.)

5) port of embarkation (drivable or good airfare available - Thanksgiving cruise had to be driving distance without pulling kids out of school.)

6) love the big ships and the rock climbing wall! (surprised to find it on the Rhapsody)

[cozumelcrash2002]

I agree it is more effective to compare ship to ship than cruise line to cruise line. We just returned from the Carnival Jubilee and found it to be less enjoyable than the cruises we had taken on the RCCL Sovereign of the Seas and the Grand Princess. The main differences we noticed were:

 

1. The lack of things to do on the Carnival Jubilee (other than when shows were going on). It did seem that the cruise staff worked hard to fill the time with games but during the "dead" time it was difficult to find anything to do...as well as difficult to find a chair on the sun decks.

 

2. The Carnival Jubilee, though smaller than the RCCL Sovereign of the Seas, was more difficult to manuever around specifically because there is no centrum. On the Jubilee many times you must go up or down a deck to go foreward and aft. The Jubilee was also lacking in the amount of outside decks for walking around the ship.

 

3. The Carnival Jubilee was not as clean as the RCCL Sovereign of the Seas. (Especially in the food court areas.) The floor in the Jubilee's Funnel Bar and Grill was always greasy feeling and we saw several people slip on it.

 

4. The Carnival Jubilee had a younger class of guests than RCCL Sovereign of the Seas. The children were not an issue but there were many obnoxious teens that were always trying to get attention by disrupting the shows and games.

 

5. The biggest difference was probably the fact that the Carnival cruise did not include a day on a private island where the RCCL cruise did. To us this is one of the most enjoyable days on the cruise.

 

The bottom line...we had a good time on both Carnival and Royal Carribean. The food, the service, the shows were all comparable. However, our experience with Royal Caribbean was much more enjoyable than with Carnival. If I do book with Carnival again it definitely will not be on their older / smaller ships.

[soakedbythesea]

I've been on two Carnival cruises, and I loved both. I'm just starting to look into my third, and I saw a few RC deals that seemed decent.

 

Have you cruised both lines? Were there any major differences between them as far as cabin space, food quality, etc.?

 

Specifically, what was better on Carnival? What was better on RC?

RCCL treated CC members to special parties, luncheons, etc. This was in addition to our scheduled Meet and Mingle party shown at the top of CC - While Carnival didn't offer anything, not even a meet and greet. Both now try to nickel and dime for all they are worth to make an extra buck or 2.

[torpeedo]

I dislike misinformation. There is no open dinner seating on the Radiance. They do have My Time Dining, an early & late seating in the main dining room and TWO specialty restaurants. Chops & Portofino.

[Disneycruisers]

I agree with just about everything "Host Terry" said. I have been on both lines and took an RC cruise in May. It was horrible! The service was terrible, food was bad and the extras like rock climbing, mini golf, etc we couldn't even use due to wind. My husband had 2 words for me- Never again! His first cruise was Carnival and has always said Carnival was it for him. The service has always been superior and the food wonderful! Free in room movies too!

 

I could have written this post, with the exception that our last (and I do mean LAST) cruise on RCCL was July 2007.

 

To each his own, but I think CCL is superior to RCCL. RCCL has beautiful ships, but that's about it (JMHO.) Good luck with your decision.:)

[zqvol]

The original post was 7 years ago!!!!!!!

 

Nothing posted before today is accurate, as things have changed dramatically in that time.

 

Ignore this whole mess!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad:

[katiel53]

To us both lines have a lot to offer. For beauty, I think RCCL beats Carnival by a mile. As to cabin size, I think it depends on the cabins booked, IE outside, inside, balconies etc. We book balconies on each and find that on the Voyager and Freedom classes, RCCL's cabins overall are bigger. I think, but not sure that Carnival has bigger OV and inside than RCCL.

 

The food in the MDR is better on Carnival, as well as choices for lunch, Carnival wins. I think the service on RCCL is more customer oriented than Carnival.

 

I don't like that RCCL won't sell liquor onboard, IE Bon Voyage on Carnival and won't allow us to bring wine onboard as Carnival does.

 

As we are older, with kids who have their own families, we don't take advantage of the rock wall, the surfing and the kids clubs. My choice would be RCCL for a cruise, but then again, the cost of the cruise determines which line we sail.

 

I think RCCL does far more for past guests than Carnival does. Carnival doesn't give balcony discounts whereas RCCL does. I know the OP isn't concerned with this as this would be the OP's first RCCL cruise.

 

 

I say all this being Platinum on Carnival and Diamond Plus on RCCL. As you can see from my sig, we do both. One other thing, we are non-smokers so love the policy about smoking in cabins of RCCL.

[Cruisin'Trooper]

I liked the ice cream parlor on the RC ships and the couple of extra shops in mall. But we like the food and bedding of the CCL ships over RC and Princess.

 

I think they are both very similar IMHO.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

Many people are mentioning mini golf on RCCL but all of my CCL ships I've been on have mini golf too so there is no difference there. The lines are more alike than different but I've only been on one RCCL cruise on the Mariner last year. It is really hard to compare accurately since I was only on RCCL once but this is my experience.

 

I've been on two cruises, RCCL and Carnival. They are very similar. The differences I remember? RCCL gives you a full silverware setting, Carnival gives you one set to last the full course. ????? I've always had full service silveware on Carnival and to me, no real difference in dining room. Menu's are even similar. I personally give the edge to CCL for taste.

 

On the Carnival Conquest, our knife and fork were picked up after we finished our salad and a new fork and knife (steak knife if the main course warranted) were brought out before our main course was served. Does this constitute a full silverware setting?

Yep.

 

Beauty: RCCL Mariner was a beautiful, elegant ship - if you like malls. Thats what it felt like. Less windows for looking out at the ocean since most of the ship focused on the mall.

 

Cabins: CCL cabins are all about the same size even for insides not counting suites. But my RCCL balcony cabin looked nicer and perhaps even a couple feet longer but I paid a hefty pricetag. I'm posting pictures of the 2 comparible balconies below side by side for comparison.

 

Laundry: CCL has self serve, RCCL does not

 

Karaoke: CCL usually has it nightly. RCCL had it very little. I got to sing one song out of 7 nights because they always had superstar karaoke so the only way you got to sing was if you wanted to be in the competition. Very disappointing since I have so much fun singing at karaoke.

 

Food: I give the edge to CCL for taste of food but both were good so that wouldn't make any difference for me when booking a cruise. CCL has awesome grilled rueben sandwiches and I missed that on my RCCL cruise. Sometimes the food just doesn't look appetizing so I can always count on a rueben to fill me up.

 

Wine: CCL lets you bring on 1 bottle of wine per person which eliminates the desire to smuggle booze onboard.

 

Carnival has awesome "Free" burgers. In order to get a decent burger on RCCL, you need to pay the service fee for Johnny Rockets. Their buffet burgers are premade & warmed under a lamp. Yuk. CCL is grilling them fresh all afternoon.

 

RCCL Mariner had a rock climbing wall but we didn't use it. They had an ice skating rink which we didn't use but did enjoy a nice ice skating show there which beat the pants off any other shows I've seen. RCCL had a fun game to watch called Quest. I wish CCL had them.

 

Deck activities: Both had fun deck activities. RCCL had the belly flop contest and ladies bicep contest, CCL has the hairy chest contest. All pretty much the same type stuff. Funny to watch.

 

I would say if you are getting a balcony and are not into karaoke, you will enjoy an RCCL cruise.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

Forgot to post my balcony pictures.

 

Carnival Spirit:

Royal Carribean Mariner:

[mrpayroll]

Have cruised both lines and will continue to do so. Enjoyed all the cruises.

[Naomi John]

The original post was 7 years ago!!!!!!!

 

Nothing posted before today is accurate, as things have changed dramatically in that time.

 

Ignore this whole mess!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad:

 

Thanks, I was wondering when a person said they were on the Jublee recently.

 

Forgot to post my balcony pictures.

 

Carnival Spirit:

Royal Carribean Mariner:

 

The shots are a little off, not at the same angle. They look the same size, but it appears the CCL room has a larger bed, and RCCL has a larger couch. Both decors seem "hotelly" to me. Hey it's a bed on a cruise, i'll take both.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

Both shots were from the same angle and pretty much the same shot. RCI has more floor space in front of the couch. The RCI couch is longer only because we had a larger balcony category so the couch was longer & more floor space. Carnivals beds are larger and I actually think Carnival beds are more comfy but thats a matter of opinion. My back hurt on the RCI bed and it wasn't a king.

 

How about the opposite angle

[chachi]

I thought my cruise on Royal was fine, but I prefer Carnival. I thought the food, cabins, service, and entertainment was better on Carnival. I did not use any of their extras except for the rock climbing wall though. That was my first time on a wall, and I learned that it does not compare with real rock climbing. I did not use the flowrider or ice skating rink (nor did I want to). My first cruise was with Carnival, and I tried Royal for my second. I haven't gone back, although I may if they had a great itinerary that I couldn't find elsewhere.