Honest observations and comments from anyone who has sailed RCI and Carnival

[forensic]

We have only cruised RC and are planning our next cruise (already) for Jan. 2010' date=' on the Dream. Any how I would like to hear from anyone who has cruised both and what do you think we may, miss/enjoy/hate/love etc... thanks:)[/quote']

 

 

We have sailed mostly Celebrity, but have sailed RCI and Carnival. RCI is a small step above Carnival.

 

The food and service is a little better on RCI and the staterooms were definitely better (ocean view and balcony on all ships) on RCI. The food on Carnival is like eating at Denny's or a $9.99 steak house. RCI is a little better but on RCI they do give you an option of getting a good steak, they just will charge you $15.00 for it and charge it to your on-board account. Celebrity is like Ruth's Chris. With rooms like a very top rated Sheraton or better.

 

We have liked the RCI ships better, more room, a little wider walk ways and hallways. We also like "real formal nights", Carnival no longer has this. So this is personal taste.

 

Also, and this is also personal opinion only, we would rather said with fellow cruisers that follow the rules and do not think that they get to make their own rules. We find that Celebrity are more our type of fellow cruisers. In our opinion Carnival has more of the "we can make our own rules" type.

 

All of this is our own opinions and our own observations. Whatever you choose to do and sail I wish you a GREAT TIME and a GREAT CRUISE!!!!

 

That is the reason there are so many cruise lines and so many ships - there is something for everyone. We have truly found what we LOVE in CELEBRITY. But we continue to sail other cruise lines, we will try them all and try to get to as many ports as possible.

 

Happy Cruising!

[dan40]

This question gets asked over and over again. I wish there was a truly functional search feature on CC. [not that it would be used, just available:D]

 

Many will say, rightly so, that the 2 lines are more similar than they are different.

 

I am a Platinum Carnival cruiser and a Diamond RCL cruiser, and will cruise both lines many more times, I hope. And other lines too.

 

Since Voyager OTS, and maybe before, RCL has the prettier ships. So that's in RCL's favor. But that's also why RCL HAS to charge more for their cruises. Their ships cost more and they HAVE to borrow money to buy them so they have debt service to cover. Carnival has been building the same ships for years, tweaks here and there but the same ship. So they're less to build AND Carnival has the money to pay for their ships without the debt loading.

Pretty ships RCL, Just about everything else Carnival by a little or by a noticeable margin.

Rooms, bedding, CCL.

Dining room food, CCL, easily

Buffet food, RCL, slightly

Buffet choices, CCL handily.

Shows, =

Service = maybe a little better in RCL's dining room.

Fun, CCL.

 

I only compare today on a ship with yesterday on that same ship. Because my last cruise is only a memory and my next cruise is only a plan. The cruise I'm on is the ONLY one to enjoy.

 

So if I'm on CCL, I'm not thinking they don't have an ice rink and if I'm on RCL I'm not thinking CCL has better pizza. Way TOOOO many other things to eat on either line.

 

Dan

[swscruiser]

We have sailed both. Differences-

 

Cabins larger on Carnival

Supper Club Food much better on Carnival

Regular Dining Room a little better on RCCL

Service toatally depends on individual waiter and room steward

Entertainment a little better on RCCL

Room Service Hot Breakfast on RCCL

Bedding Carnival NOOOOOOO Comparison

Keith

[S.S.Oceanlover]

We have sailed both. Differences-

 

Cabins larger on Carnival

Supper Club Food much better on Carnival

Regular Dining Room a little better on RCCL

Service toatally depends on individual waiter and room steward

Entertainment a little better on RCCL

Room Service Hot Breakfast on RCCL

Bedding Carnival NOOOOOOO Comparison

Keith

 

Keith,

How does one get the hot breakfast in your cabin on RCI. I was looking forward to this when we were on the Sov of the Seas last week and the room service hot no hot foods on it. Just cereals, danish, etc.

 

Bill

[Kurbanfan]

any reasons why?

 

Bill

 

I want to know this too....cuase I am platinum with Carnival and I have to say Princess rocks:D

[Nothin' But Sun]

Very interesting comments. I am getting excited just reading everyones opinions and it just make me WANT to check it out for myself for sure. Our kids are 4 and5 so I do hope the Camp Carnival will excite them.

I did not realize that Carnival has the same look to their ships as one poster stated. I thought they would be different. What about the Dream, is she not supposed to be somewhat different?

[QFSYDLAX]

I know this is a Carnival vs RC thread, but can someone explain why Princess is so much better than both these? I've never cruised Princess, but I am hooked on Carnival, so I'm curious!

 

Thanks,

michael

[shipty2]

I love both lines but have to say Carnival will give you more bang for your buck.

The food on Carnival is better and the staterooms in comparable categories are larger in the main cabin area and the bathroom. The showers in the average Carnival stateroom can fit 2 people. The showers on Royal can fit one person only.

The murphy beds for a third or fourth person on Royal come down from the ceiling and creaks with movement. The Carnival murphy bed comes from thebed and makes no noise at all when you turn over.

Royal has more categories of luxurious staterooms. So if you are willing to spend the money you can have a larger stateroom and bathroom however for the average cruiser Carnival offers bigger cabins.

[dclark]

I did both lines b2b.Compared to CCL, the food on RCL is slop. It is not even "subjective", it is obvious.

The filet on CCL was a 3/4" slab, on RCL, two very, very thin slices, to make it look bigger.

Shrimp on CCL were the large type, skewered. The ones on RCL were about the size of your pinky, butterfly cut so that they looked bigger. I guess that is enough fool most people. Add a huge dollop of rice in the middle to complete the illusion.

The majesty of the seas was the first cruise ship I have ever been on where (outside of the pay for Johnny Rockets) I didn't see a single hamburger! The quality of the food ranged from average to poor. My daughter gave up on the "angus" steak because it was all gristle. The family agreed that RCL had terrible food. We were not blinded by the excitement of being on a cruise, we sailed on the CCL Liberty the week before and the contrast was huge. If we had the same food served to us in an typical chain resteraunt, we would have sent it all back and left, it was that bad.

Entertainement wise, CCL has comedians late night. RCL outside of the "Quest" (which, ironically, encompasses much of what RCL snobs say CCL party ships did in the past).

As for decor, I think the days of saying that RCL is better are also coming to a close. The CCL is the first CCL ship that I could say looked classy and maybe set a new trend.

Kinda of funny, my cruise agent, the one who I booked both my last CCL and RCL cruises, asked how my cruises were and I told her. SHe told me that she has heard a lot of complaints about RCL food, it is not like it was in '80's.

[dan40]

I know this is a Carnival vs RC thread, but can someone explain why Princess is so much better than both these? I've never cruised Princess, but I am hooked on Carnival, so I'm curious!

 

Thanks,

michael

 

Who said Princess is better? Princess is similar to both RCL and CCL. Don't expect a die hard Princess fan to agree, but that's how it is. The rest of the time Princess is better compared to HAL than CCL or RCL. But they are all good as far as I'm concerned.

 

Dan

[MrPete]

We've loved the RCCL ship we have been on (3X), but we find Carnival offers the best OVERALL experience.

 

But we have enjoyed both lines, and would do either.

[dclark]

Who said Princess is better? Princess is similar to both RCL and CCL. Don't expect a die hard Princess fan to agree, but that's how it is. The rest of the time Princess is better compared to HAL than CCL or RCL. But they are all good as far as I'm concerned.

 

Dan

 

Princess fan here! For service, food quality and room, Princess is far better than RCL. Compared to CCL, my family still likes Princess better. There are few things CCL does better than Princess, CCL is still pretty good. Our next two cruises are with CCL, but after that, I really want go back to Princess, main reason is that I wanted change.Both CCL and Princess are my favorites.To me, Princess is like a ribeye steak and CCL is like a real good sirloin.RCL is like a salisbury steak!

[dan40]

Princess fan here! For service, food quality and room, Princess is far better than RCL. Compared to CCL, my family still likes Princess better. There are few things CCL does better than Princess, CCL is still pretty good. Our next two cruises are with CCL, but after that, I really want go back to Princess, main reason is that I wanted change.Both CCL and Princess are my favorites.To me, Princess is like a ribeye steak and CCL is like a real good sirloin.RCL is like a salisbury steak!

 

You are welcome to have Princess as your favorite. Where and for how long have your Princess cruises been? I find the 7 day Princess Caribbean cruises to be all but the same on PCL, CCL, HAL, Costa, NCL, MSC, and RCL.[that is not a complaint] On 10 to 15 day cruises I find Princess to be very much like HAL but with more people from Britian. And all of that is generalization, as I have found EVERY cruise to be unique. Even B2B's are noticeably different week to week. I find CCL's food better than PCL and PCL better than RCL. But I wouldn't use the dining room steaks on those lines as any example. NONE are worth eating. [unless you think Outback is FINE dining] I'll eat my steaks at steakhouses or off my own backyard grill. But the other food choices is where I'm comparing lines. And I'm not saying one line is good and the others are bad. There are good choices available on each line and I look at itinerary first, then price, then the brand. I'm a foodie, but I know there will be more than enough good food on each line.

Not 5 STAR food, but I'm not spending anywhere near 5 STAR money. 3 meals a day for 7 days in a 5 STAR dining establishment woud cost 2 to 5 times the cost of the entire cruise.

CCL is my favorite but I was Platinum before the Platinum program started and the program was almost 3 years old before I took my first Platinum cruise. Too busy cruising other lines with interesting itineraries.

Worst I ever had was terrific.

 

Dan