A Carnival guy's first RCCL cruise: A pictorial review.

[Mrs. pscan5150]

Beautiful review and pictures. Thanks for sharing! :D

[sandytoes03]

Thanks for the review. I agree about Coco Cay! We've been there twice and just loved it both times. :D

[Vanessa L]

Awesome review, Darth! Just enough details to keep me interested and your pics were great! I've afraid to go on another RCL cruise (last was 1994), because the rooms on the Carnival ships have spoiled me! But, as you said, if the price is right.....I'm there! :D

 

Thanks again!

[Ms Belvedere]

Great review Garth, it's always nice to read a comparison from someone who's actually sailed both lines. You gave an excellent overview and your pictures were a real bonus! Thank you. :)

Ms B

[Langley Cruisers]

Wonderful, thank you. Glad to hear you had a good time on Royal. Hope you'll come back - I think you'd like the Freedom class ships. We have sailed on Liberty and absolutely loved it.

[BroncosFan2010]

What is the difference between the Carnival rooms and RCCL? I have only ever sailed RCCL, and had a D1 or E1 balcony. Are Carinival's room that much bigger, is it the setup, or the ammenities? Am I missing something?? :D

[Cruising89143]

What is the difference between the Carnival rooms and RCCL? I have only ever sailed RCCL, and had a D1 or E1 balcony. Are Carinival's room that much bigger, is it the setup, or the ammenities? Am I missing something?? :D

 

The biggest difference is with the Sovereign and Vision class ships. They are smaller. On the Radiance, Voyager and Freedom class, they match up very nicely. Suites on RCI are much nicer and larger.

 

Very nice review Darth. I have to say that I much prefer the astroturf carpeting that RCI uses over the teak and now on the newer ships, most of the cruise lines are going with the fake fabricated teak decking.

[GeckoGirl]

Sounds good to me, another fine reason for me to try the Freedom next time. Besides the fact that RC is about to put her in my back yard when she goes to Port Canaveral next year!

 

 

Me too, although I loved the Mariner and will be sorry to see her leave, but I am excited about having the Freedom here.

 

I went to my friends house yesterday in Cape Canaveral and it's so cool to see the ships in port. Yesterday the Monarch was there and 2 NCL ships, one was docked at Carnivals pier and the other was down near Jetty Park. I think they are out of NY and stop here for people to go to Orlando/Disney World/Universal, because Port Canaveral does not have a NCL pier; only Carnival, RCCL and Disney.

 

My husband gets to watch the ships go by when he is at work, he works in Cocoa Beach, most of the ships head out around 4:30 so he gets to watch them leave before he heads home. I'm jelaous, LOL, I work in Rockledge and can't see them from my job.

[Gator0178]

Thanks for the honest review and narrative pics.

 

You do need to try a voyager class and/or Freedom class ship!:D

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Great review, with your pictures it really gives the feeling of being there.

 

Loved it, Thanks for sharing! ;)

 

***

[MrPete]

Great pix!

[calazula]

Awesome review. Thanks!

[Arizona Laura]

Wonderful review.

The pics really enhanced it.

Nice not to have to take the time to go through webshots etc to look at pics.

My first cruise was on Carnival so always will be close to my heart. Opened up a new world to me.

Great job.

Laura

[DarthGrady]

Hey thanks for all the positive comments and feedback! I really enjoyed putting this one together since it was an all new experience for me. :)

[UTCJCB]

Hey thanks for all the positive comments and feedback! I really enjoyed putting this one together since it was an all new experience for me. :)

 

Do you have an account with Webshots or anything like that? I'd love to see all your pictures if you don't mind!:D

[DarthGrady]

Do you have an account with Webshots or anything like that? I'd love to see all your pictures if you don't mind!:D

 

Unfortunately no, I use Walgreens.com since there is one right by my house and it makes picking up my prints easier. I don't believe the accounts are viewable to everyone like Webshots or Photobucket.

[dolfandude]

Thanks for the honest review and narrative pics.

 

You do need to try a voyager class and/or Freedom class ship!:D

 

Thanks Darth. Now that you've tasted a little of the other side, there's no need to go back to the Dark Side!;)

We're sailing the Monarch in less that 2 weeks and your review helped to heighten the anticipation!

[petesweet]

I noticed that too! I was thinking how bad that must be to have always worry about someone peeking in!

 

Is it different on other ships? Don't they all have the same problem? I guess I never noticed it. (We always have inside rooms.)

[petesweet]

I too am becomimg very upset by lack of ice cream on Royal Caribbean ships. It seems since they have brought in Ben & Jerrys they have really cut back on free ice cream especially soft serve. At least on Carnival there is plenty of free ice cream even up until late at night! More and more nickel and diming ( try charging for the things people really enjoy) that really sucks!:mad::mad::mad:

 

We had soft-serve ice cream for lunch every day on the Serenade, and there were tubs of hard ice cream in the cafeteria line at times (probably the evening meal - I didn't particularly notice) with toppings available. Not on all RCCL ships?

[rubrrick]

Darth.........an excellent review of the Monarch. Some of us have been aboard her enough..........to say that you are spot right on in your remarks.

 

And, yes, the standard cabins on the Monarch are smaller than the same cabin on Carnival.

 

My wife would say that from her experience on 3 Carnival ships.......the food has been superior on Carnival than on RCCL. You tend to confirm that.

 

A nice touch that I was not aware of........is that Carnival supplies robes in every cabin. RCCL will do the same.....but you have to be a Diamond member to receive robes. Good to know the difference.

 

We have lost the Monarch here on the West Coast to you......and in return we have no more 3/4 day cruises.

 

Carnival is taking up the slack here, by adding a second ship. So, while my DW has sailed with Carnival........and I have not........I suspect that I'm about to experience something that you love!!

 

Thanks again for a straightforward and wonderful review.

 

Rick

[petesweet]

That was a great review, and the pictures made me want to be on her! Thanks. Glad you enjoyed my favorite cruise line.:)

[CulverCityCruisers]

Great review. I liked the fact that you were honest. We miss Monarch here in Los Angeles:(. She is a great old ship and perfect for 3 and 4 day fun. You have to try a Radiance class ship, they are beautiful and the cabins are much LARGER. Vision class is also wonderful.

 

Enjoy exploring ships it is the best vacation!!!:D:D

[DarthGrady]

Darth.........

 

Carnival is taking up the slack here, by adding a second ship. So, while my DW has sailed with Carnival........and I have not........I suspect that I'm about to experience something that you love!!

 

Thanks again for a straightforward and wonderful review.

 

Rick

 

Thanks! I appreciate it, especially since you seem to be the Monarch go-to guy. I laughed at that thread that someone posted last week saying how much they loved it and that you couldn't have her back! I was thinking "man, theres some salt in the wound!" But hey, you might like Carnival. At least you guys on the west coast have Elation and Paradise; the two newest and, in my opinon most modern (in terms of decor) of the Fantasy class ships. Just one piece of advice though. If you do take a short Carnival cruise, wait until whichever ship you'll be going on has the cabin renovations. As I mentioned in the review, it made a big difference.

 

We had soft-serve ice cream for lunch every day on the Serenade, and there were tubs of hard ice cream in the cafeteria line at times (probably the evening meal - I didn't particularly notice) with toppings available. Not on all RCCL ships?

 

I suspect that may be the case, they didn't have any at lunch. It wasn't a big deal really, I certainly don't need any ice cream ;). The ones who missed it more were our friends that had been on Carnival twice, and always had it in the buffet area.

[Tiger Lilly]

Hey Darth - we'll be on the Monarch next month - 2 questions.

 

1. Do they have deck chairs on deck 7?

 

2. What is the debarkation procedure?

 

Thanks!

[DarthGrady]

Hey Darth - we'll be on the Monarch next month - 2 questions.

 

1. Do they have deck chairs on deck 7?

 

2. What is the debarkation procedure?

 

Thanks!

 

1) I went back and checked my pics to be sure. Yes there are a few deck chairs out there. There arent a lot, probably since they want to keep the area clear for runners and joggers. Although they did paint the shuffleboard court right in the middle of the running track, so go figure.:rolleyes:

 

2) They gave us colored luggage tags on the last night along with a sheet telling you approximately when you would be able to debark the next morning. Then you could either leave your bags outside your room the night before for them to pick up, or carry them and get off early doing self-assist debarkation. Once the ship is cleared, they let off the VIPs, and self-assist folks (and probably handicapped pax.) followed by the colored zone numbers.