MISSSNOOPYGIRL

If you had cruised on RC during peak season you probably would have seen a better cross section of age groups. Off season draws an older crowd.

 

I got the impression from your review that you enjoyed your experience on Jewel of the Seas. You may want to give RC another try on one of the larger ships.

good point but I usually ALWAYS sail in off season and the Jewel of the Seas crowd was probably the oldest I have ever encountered

i am on the same page as you. I think her positives were a bit skewed towards rcl, but i get the feeling she preferred the energy that ccl has.

yes!!

Thanks for your review. I agree with many of your points.

 

I like both lines but do prefer Carnival and a big reason is the terrible beds and pillows on Royal - extremely hard, thin mattresses and flat pillows.

 

We haven't experienced a difference in dinner service though between the two lines. I give an edge to Carnival MDR, mainly because I like entrees and desserts better.

 

Overall though, we do like the Promenade (and Café Promenade) on Royal, we like their MDR food, like the service, and like that they have interior accessible cabins that easily sleep 3 which makes Royal an option when looking for a cruise. I will only book Royal thought if the price is right and if they have a Freestyle Coke Machine on board (learned that one after our Navigator cruise).

really I was just surprised at how SIMILIAR both lines really are, save for a few differences here and there

The OP pointed out some features that were better on RC, however I think what ultimately made him choose Carnival was the overall atmosphere of Carnival with the younger average age crowed and overall silliness of the Carnival brand. Not to say older people aren't fun, I've met many older cruisers and they were a blast to hang around. For me what's makes or breaks a cruise are the strangers around you and how interesting and fun they are. I get the impression that some of that familiar fun was missing on RC.

nailed it :)

It was just no fun when practically the whole ship went to bed at 9:30

Somewhat confused. From your "mini review", most of your comments were in favor of Royal yet you say Carnival wins - ???

They were really so equal, it's hard to choose, but I was really missing that FUN factor that Carnival offers so fun trumps all. My 58 year old mom agreed, she missed the fun of Carnival. We were docked next to a Carnival ship one day and I was SOOOO wistful, wanting to board that instead.

Many of the RC ships do have snacks available and for no xtra charge. Cafe Promenade is open just about all the time except when in port. Large selection of mini sandwiches, desserts and cookies as well as coffee, tea, cocoa and water are available.

 

 

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Yeah I was just looking for chips, or chips n salsa, or small finger foods. I wanted something like that, not a dessert. They had free (not very good) pastries at coffee shop

Welcome to this very fun and very addicting club!

I promised you all I would update you on my thoughts of Royal vs. Carnival. So here goes...

Food is very similar, although if I had to choose, Royal has slightly better food and Carnival has better desserts in the MDR. Royal had a "warm chocolate melting cake" that was chewy and just not good. Their cherries jubilee was not as good as Carnival's either. However Royal's MDR service was much faster which I loved! (Carnival puts you to sleep with their slow pace). Terrible coffee all around Royal Caribbean. TERRIBLE pizza as well. It just LOOKED unappetizing. Carnival's pizza is really phenomenal (I am from Chicago, I think I am a fair judge). I missed the silly entertainment in Carnival's MDR. (Royal entertained us only 2 nights on a 7 day cruise). At mealtimes at the buffet, Royal always had waters and juices pre-poured and on trays for you to just grab. I liked this much better. Beats waiting in line when you were hungry while everyone grabbed cups, filled them with ice, then filled them with drinks. However it was hard to find water/ice at non meal times (luckily we brought portable water bottles which we filled at every meal time).

Royal ships are easier to navigate. You don't need to go down then up then sideways just to get where you need to be :) I love how they had small ship models/maps on display near the elevators.

Royal has better organized parties/fun (Quest game, silent party), although Carnival does seem to be a bit more of a younger, more fun crowd. (I am 38 for reference). Hardly anyone ever danced at the disco on Royal and that made me sad. Sail away on Royal is hardly a party.

I NEVER encountered a line on Royal. Not to board, not to debark, not for food anywhere, not for THE THEATER/COMEDY CLUB (glares at Carnival Sunshine). NEVER had a problem finding a place to sit at mealtimes (again tricky at times on Sunshine!) However chair hogs are equally universal. If this is Royal Caribbean all the time I am loving it!

I missed Carnival's fish and chips and burritos. Royal never had any SNACKS (well unless you count the pizza but that was inedible to me). I missed my favorite on Carnival, Alchemy bar (you can have Guy's Burgers, I rarely eat burgers)

I loved Royal's mini movie theater on Jewel of the Seas (though I take away coolness points for having to buy $2 bags of popcorn.) I highly prefer this over those giant, obtrusive deck TV/movie screens but know I am in the minority and Jewel of the Seas is getting one soon.

Royal seems to make more effort and cleanliness/sanitation if you can believe it.

Royal's rooms and showers were smaller and beds less comfortable. As the husband said, "a large person would be in contact with the wall during the entire shower"

Royal has no constant annoying announcements onboard! This made me happy. You got maybe one a day, and that was usually from the captain.

Mostly things were more the same than different, down to the same soft serve ice cream machines, wonderful gyms, general layout, photo gallery, towel animals, muster, and great service by all of the staff.

Overall, for someone my age, CARNIVAL WINS!! The Sunshine and the annoying cutbacks caused me to look elsewhere, but as they say, the grass is not always greener. I'd say the average age on Jewel of the Seas was 55 and I just prefer a bit of a younger, more fun crowd (not 21 year old spring breakers, but mid 30's). Carnival is just more fun, more silly, even down to their marketing, and I really missed that silliness. Royal does seem to have more interesting and varied itineraries, as well as those mega ships, so I would definitely try them again...when I am older.

I promised you all I would update you on my thoughts of Royal vs. Carnival. So here goes...

Food is very similar, although if I had to choose, Royal has slightly better food and Carnival has better desserts in the MDR. Royal had a "warm chocolate melting cake" that was chewy and just not good. Their cherries jubilee was not as good as Carnival's either. However Royal's MDR service was much faster which I loved! (Carnival puts you to sleep with their slow pace). Terrible coffee all around Royal Caribbean. TERRIBLE pizza as well. It just LOOKED unappetizing. Carnival's pizza is really phenomenal (I am from Chicago, I think I am a fair judge). I missed the silly entertainment in Carnival's MDR. (Royal entertained us only 2 nights on a 7 day cruise). At mealtimes at the buffet, Royal always had waters and juices pre-poured and on trays for you to just grab. I liked this much better. Beats waiting in line when you were hungry while everyone grabbed cups, filled them with ice, then filled them with drinks. However it was hard to find water/ice at non meal times (luckily we brought portable water bottles which we filled at every meal time).

Royal ships are easier to navigate. You don't need to go down then up then sideways just to get where you need to be :) I love how they had small ship models/maps on display near the elevators.

Royal has better organized parties/fun (Quest game, silent party), although Carnival does seem to be a bit more of a younger, more fun crowd. (I am 38 for reference). Hardly anyone ever danced at the disco on Royal and that made me sad. Sail away on Royal is hardly a party.

I NEVER encountered a line on Royal. Not to board, not to debark, not for food anywhere, not for THE THEATER/COMEDY CLUB (glares at Carnival Sunshine). NEVER had a problem finding a place to sit at mealtimes (again tricky at times on Sunshine!) However chair hogs are equally universal. If this is Royal Caribbean all the time I am loving it!

I missed Carnival's fish and chips and burritos. Royal never had any SNACKS (well unless you count the pizza but that was inedible to me). I missed my favorite on Carnival, Alchemy bar (you can have Guy's Burgers, I rarely eat burgers)

I loved Royal's mini movie theater on Jewel of the Seas (though I take away coolness points for having to buy $2 bags of popcorn.) I highly prefer this over those giant, obtrusive deck TV/movie screens but know I am in the minority and Jewel of the Seas is getting one soon.

Royal seems to make more effort and cleanliness/sanitation if you can believe it.

Royal's rooms and showers were smaller and beds less comfortable. As the husband said, "a large person would be in contact with the wall during the entire shower"

Royal has no constant annoying announcements onboard! This made me happy. You got maybe one a day, and that was usually from the captain.

Mostly things were more the same than different, down to the same soft serve ice cream machines, wonderful gyms, general layout, photo gallery, towel animals, muster, and great service by all of the staff.

Overall, for someone my age, CARNIVAL WINS!! The Sunshine and the annoying cutbacks caused me to look elsewhere, but as they say, the grass is not always greener. I'd say the average age on Jewel of the Seas was 55 and I just prefer a bit of a younger, more fun crowd (not 21 year old spring breakers, but mid 30's). Carnival is just more fun, more silly, even down to their marketing, and I really missed that silliness. Royal does seem to have more interesting and varied itineraries, as well as those mega ships, so I would definitely try them again...when I am older.

I have cruised Carnival, NCL, and Royal, but all that my "sleeping around" shows me is that Carnival has my heart. They are the most fun (I am 38).

my mom had the same situation with my sister. My mom paid for her cruise and she was a stick in the mud pretty much the whole time. Be careful what you wish for

cruising 10 plus years ago used to be so much better, so special. Now cruising is starting to feel like Walmart. NOT special...I think my next vacation will be a land one in a tropical place

wow saddened to hear about the past guest party. We liked belonging to that "secret" club but are not yet Platinum. The cutbacks are why I tried Royal Caribbean

Whenever I am reading reviews and people complain about the food! They will say it was horrible, they hated the new menus, food not very good, etc. My question is what are they comparing it to? The Denny's, Tacos Bells, hot dog joints and Burger Kings they frequent? Or are they eating in 5 star restaurants all the time? They are rarely specific either. They will just state- "the food was not very good". I mean the food on both Carnival and Royal (Royal especially) is FANTASTIC, both in taste and presentation! I cook often and only cook the best for my family, and when I go out I tend to only go to the best restaurants (there are tons in Chicago) so I think I know good food. Call me a borderline food snob but I never even eat fast food and will not even go to a restaurant with less than favorable reviews because I feel so passionate about food!

I'd say our last one on Jewel...but we always tend to pick the last one because it is freshest in our minds...loved cruising with a group of 9 family members...more fun in my opinion...and just LOVED hanging around Puerto Rico

I have done an inside for 14 days with hubby and mother-in-law. It was interesting, but doable.

 

You get to know everyone very well! The single bathroom was sometimes a struggle, as was the issue of dressing with men and women both there.

 

If you have the bed that pulls down, make sure the person sleeping there doesn't mind barefoot climbing the ladder (MIL had tender feet and didn't do well with it at all). It was a Princess ship so this could be different on RCCL.

 

Hopefully nobody (or both of them as was my case) snores much.

 

Lastly, air freshener for the cabin and especially the bathroom was a necessity.

MOTHER IN LAW???? NEVER!

and yes you do see a new side of people. The good, the bad, the TMI, and the ugly.

Personally it would be too stressful for me with the space limitations. Hubby is all I can take.

We were at the port by 11:00am. No lines. Got right on and checked in. We were sitting by the pool at 11:20.

Dining in the main dining room was moved to 5:30 on this day only, due to the muster drill. The drill was at 8:00pm. Late seating was at 8:30.

The timing of muster was very bad for those with late dining. I was sailing with first time cruisers and of course we all wanted to experience their first sail away with them. So we enjoyed it and were about 20 minutes late to dinner that first night. Also, this ship seemed CONSIDERABLY less crowded than any prior cruise. No lines anywhere! May have been due to all those people missing the ship, but my 1st thought was that all of Royal's ships were like that and I was very pleased!

I loved Liberty. Prettiest ship to me. I'm 5 days away myself HOLY CRAP!!!

pretty ship that Imagination. I like the colorful lights by the pool. I have found all places of Mexico to be like that (pushy vendors) and I hate it

I love when the elevator lady in her accented voice says "verandah"

is this new? I am on deck 2, so will I be one of the first or last to be called upon to board? How am I notified? What if they leave a message but I don't check my messages and just show up at say 11AM?

what's this I hear about no more announcements onboard? Why is this? They are kind of annoying at times, were there too many complaints? So how are you supposed to be kept in the loop? Are certain important things still announced, like muster for example?

Yes Day6 on Southern Itinerary, best to ask your Waiter on day3 or 4 to confirm.

Here you go

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Thanks you just got me tingly (chocolate breakfast)

On our cruise in December, the "White Party" was on day 4 after we left St. Lucia, 70's night was day 6 after St. Croix.

 

 

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Is the white party formal or casual dress?

It was nice being able to sit outside and have breakfast with no wind.

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that sounds very nice!