Steve8

If you are just going to be there for the day I would recommend looking into the Cozumel Bar Hop. It's a blast and would be a great time for your group.

 

http://www.cozumelbarhop.com

I highly recommend the Cozumel Bar Hop too. Everyone will have a great time.

I've done Pride several times and last year we sailed on the Grandeur. Here is the comparison I did after that:

Royal Caribbean Pros

• Nicer décor for the ship
  
• Buffet area is “classier” and everything is close together
  
• They serve your drinks at buffet and get you refills
  
• Getting off the ship is easier than Carnival mostly because they aren’t stopping everyone to get pictures taken and they “scan” your card
  
• Freestyle soda machines (Great choices and lots of them)
  
• Better drink packages (One person in a room can purchase even if other does not and there is no drink limit or time limit)
  
• They have a formal Meet & Mingle for Cruise Critic members with ship personnel & prizes
  
• Daily announcement with excellent details from the Captain even on port days (and you could even understand him)
  
• Less push for sales by Cruise Director
  
• Longer cruises (Carnival has very few over 8 days)
  
• Rock wall
  
• Tutti salad bar in dining room on sea days
  
• Park Café (Nice choices and good selection with small lines)
  

The Same

• Wait Service (Both have been equally excellent every time for me)
  
• Housekeeping service (Also both are excellent)
  
• Quality of dining room food
  
• Quality of breakfast foods at the buffet
  
• Cleanliness
  
• Embarkation/Debarkation
  

Carnival Pro’s

• Bigger rooms
  
• Much bigger showers
  
• Bigger bathroom sinks
  
• More storage space
  
• Suitcases fit under the bed
  
• Entertainment (I do not go to Production shows so please exclude those)
  
• Activities (Many more activities and in my opinion better and more exciting)
  
• Comedy Club (One of my favorite things about Carnival)
  
• Piano Bar (MUCH more interactive and fun)
  
• Bigger casino (obviously dependant on ship)
  
• Double odds craps (Single odds on Royal is ridiculous)
  
• More choices on dining room dinner menu
  
• Better desserts
  
• Lower drink prices and packages
  
• Soap dispenser in showers
  
• Early saver (I Love it! Some hate it!)
  
• Many more TV Channels and include networks
  
• Shorter lines for buffet on private islands
  
• Many more choices for lunch (Guy’s, Mongolian Wok, Blue Iguana Cantina, Fish & Chips, etc.)
  
• Easier to find seating in the much bigger spread out buffet area
  
• Buffet area is always open
  
• 24 hour pizza and ice cream
  
• Better beds and bedding (I would even say much better)
  
• Water slides
  
• Miniature golf
  
• Much easier to find chairs in the Serenity area than the Solarium
  
• Dress shorts are allowed in dining room for dinner (my preference but others feel exact opposite I’m sure)
  
• Real anytime dining (Royal really pushes for you to make a reservations which defeats the purpose)
  

those of you who have traveled since the rule changes, were you able to carry on any alcohol? (Don't flame me, if you don't like my style move on!)

 

Are you still able to go to that convenience store before boarding and get liquor?

 

If you went off and came back on again, could you carry on more pop?

 

Thanks!!

Just got off the Liberty on Sunday. Carried on two bottles of wine in one carry-on and soda in another carry-on. They put zip ties on both carry-ons when it when thru the scanner so that the ship staff could check the bags. I know many people just removed the zip tie before they got on the ship.

And yes you can go back out in San Juan to the CVS, or another store, and get more of either. We just got a 12 back of soda but when we came back they didn't even put the zip tie on the backpack it was one.

Hope that helps.

Steve

Liberty Craps table was a $5 minimum all of last week. Never changed.

How much are chairs and an umbrella at Coki? Is there any place (or person) better to get them from than others?

We booked a cruise on Tuesday that was setting sail on a Friday. I submitted my shareholder info immediately after I booked and just figured I had nothing to lose. On Thursday my credit was applied. It can happen very quickly. Sometimes!

I'm totally with you! Price and itinerary - no loyalty for me! Generally that has spelled Carnival. Well this summer it is spelling Royal! This will be our first Royal experience. Looking forward to it! Definitely feel open-minded. Really appreciated the original poster's comments. I'm sharing them with the others in our party.

I'm sure you will have a great cruise. Another area that we really loved was the Royal Promenade on Explorer of the Seas.

More isn't necessarily better.

This is definitely true!

"Many more choices for lunch (Guy’s, Mongolian Wok, Blue Iguana Cantina, Fish & Chips, etc.)"

None of these choices are on the Miracle.

I'm looking forward to trying RCCL for the first time in the fall. Where do you put your suitcases if they don't fit under the bed?

Actually Miracle just came out of Dry Dock and now has all but the Fish & Chips now.

We had the carry-ons under the bed and sat the big suitcase on half of the love seat and put our dirty laundry in that one.

If this is compared to Carnival, you probably just shocked some chronic Royal complainers. :D

Don't worry, chronic complainers are on both sides!

Appreciate your comparison - a couple of things on your "lists" -

 

Never sailed a RC ship where suitcases wouldn't fit under the bed, and have sailed many different ships.

 

Always had soap/shampoo dispenser in shower.

 

Schooner bar has always had a piano player.

 

Have played mini golf on several ships.

 

I think many of your Carnival pros (such as those above) could be on the "same" list.

 

Thanks for the review - seems like things are pretty equal - buffet lines, food, etc. is so subjective and can vary from cruise to cruise - even day to day.

Apparently you haven't sailed on Grandeur or you have very thin suitcases. This was the first time mine wouldn't fit under the beds either. If you like to look at the positives for this is that this was a much "older" cruise than I have experienced before and it would be a much shorter fall out of the bed for any elderly patients.

Shampoo dispenser - yes. Soap dispenser - no.

Schooner Bar had a Piano Player every night. He played piano very well and his singing was OK (IMO). But every Piano Bar I have ever been in before was more upbeat and usually more interactive. The audience was never a "part" of the show on any evening.

And you are totally right about things varying from day to day and even cruise to cruise.

Steve

you forgot to add that Carnival has self service laundry rooms.

Luckily we are Platinum on Carnival so Laundry is free for us. Up to a limit we haven't met yet anyway.

I agree with most of your points. Although I was not impressed with Park Cafe and would gladly take the Deli and 24 hr pizza instead.

I agree with that. What I did like about Park Café was there was never any lines, nice variety and it was pretty good.

I'm interested in knowing more about the differences. My first cruise was with Royal in 2003, but since then I've been on Carnival 4 times with a 5th booked. I also have a cruise with Royal booked for next year, so I really would like to learn more about the differences between them. I agree with your Carnival pros, which makes me a little nervous about next year on Royal, but I'm sure I'll still have fun.

No need to be nervous, I'm sure you will have a great time - we did. I would be happy to answer any specific questions you have.

We love carnival breeze. Let's not forget the awesome cove balcony cabins. So many more food choices. I am sure going to miss that on my oasis cruise in June. The comedy club on carnival is great too like u said. Every night. Not just once in a week. Don't forget about the towel animals every night too.

I haven't tried the cove balconies yet but hope to do so. I totally agree about the Comedy Club. We actually had two different comedians on the Grandeur last week and my wife and I didn't find either very funny. Plus the "club" atmosphere really does make a difference.

We did have towel animals either every night or almost every night on Royal so it was no difference that I saw from Carnival. No chocolates on Royal but I really don't care about that.

Steve

I've sailed both and while we won't agree on everything I would have trouble disputing any of your thoughts. Not true for all markets but for me the BIG difference in Baltimore is itinerary. You mentioned the Pride having few 8day+ itineraries but what strikes me more is the variety of itineraries. Nearly all of the Prides cruises are one of 2 7-day itineraries; I think there are less than 10 cruises on their schedule that go beyond those 2 itineraries they've been doing forever. I think Royal is partly responsible for the few Pride deviations; I think when they abandoned Baltimore Grandeur picked up a few Sundays and forced a Carnival change.

 

In my recent 18 days on the Grandeur I saw a better selection of ports than the Pride will see in the next 6 months. To me that's huge.

 

Roy

Roy, it was great meeting you last week and I also agree 100% with your itinerary comments. The Pride itineraries are not as good in my opinion either. But what really drew me to Grandeur is the 10 days. I REALLY prefer longer cruises. I probably would consider a 10 day cruise to nowhere on Carnival.

First of all reviews really aren’t fair at all. They’re just a matter of opinion. And quite honestly most of our comparisons just aren’t very fair. How can you compare the Carnival Fantasy to the Carnival Breeze? How do you compare Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas with the Quantum of the Seas? How do you compare a 4 day cruise with a 10 day cruise? Let’s just face it – it’s impossible to do it fairly.

Yet, that is exactly what Cruise Critic is here for. That’s why we continue to read everything we can on our next ship to build our excitement. Some of us seek out the positive and others seem to seek the negative. And let’s face it EVERY line has both. One of the interesting parts of this is my negatives may be your positives. A friend of mine and I were talking about the differences between Carnival and Royal Caribbean and we each mentioned what we liked best and why we liked one over the other. And we actually agreed 100% on the differences. The only real difference is some meant more to him and some meant more to me.

A simple piece of advice for whichever line you choose - just go and have fun. Do your research but take everything with a grain of salt. A cruise is what you make it. Go with a great attitude and you will have a great time, I know I always have. Go and look for things to complain about and I’m guessing you will find plenty.

All of that being said we just finished a cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas. In full disclosure 15 of our previous 16 cruises were on Carnival ships ranging from the Miracle to the Breeze and the other was Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas. Obviously my family likes Carnival. Obviously I liked Royal Caribbean enough to book another Royal cruise.

So instead of going into great details on many things I thought I would just share what I feel are some of the positives from one line to the other in bullet format. For the most part I tried to do more “overall” type comparisons or when possible more of a comparison for the Pride vs Grandeur to be as fair as possible. Yes they are just my opinions and yes each would very from ship to ship. For what it’s worth:

Royal Caribbean Pros

• Nicer décor for the ship
  
• Buffet area is “classier” and everything is close together
  
• They serve your drinks at buffet and get you refills
  
• Getting off the ship is easier than Carnival mostly because they aren’t stopping everyone to get pictures taken and they “scan” your card
  
• Freestyle soda machines (Great choices and lots of them)
  
• Better drink packages (One person in a room can purchase even if other does not and there is no drink limit or time limit)
  
• They have a formal Meet & Mingle for Cruise Critic members with ship personnel & prizes
  
• Daily announcement with excellent details from the Captain even on port days (and you could even understand him)
  
• Less push for sales by Cruise Director
  
• Longer cruises (Carnival has very few over 8 days)
  
• Rock wall
  
• Tutti salad bar in dining room on sea days
  
• Park Café (Nice choices and good selection with small lines)
  

The Same

• Wait Service (Both have been equally excellent every time for me)
  
• Housekeeping service (Also both are excellent)
  
• Quality of dining room food
  
• Quality of breakfast foods at the buffet
  
• Cleanliness
  
• Embarkation/Debarkation
  

Carnival Pro’s

• Bigger rooms
  
• Much bigger showers
  
• Bigger bathroom sinks
  
• More storage space
  
• Suitcases fit under the bed
  
• Entertainment (I do not go to Production shows so please exclude those)
  
• Activities (Many more activities and in my opinion better and more exciting)
  
• Comedy Club (One of my favorite things about Carnival)
  
• Piano Bar (MUCH more interactive and fun)
  
• Bigger casino (obviously dependant on ship)
  
• Double odds craps (Single odds on Royal is ridiculous)
  
• More choices on dining room dinner menu
  
• Better desserts
  
• Lower drink prices and packages
  
• Soap dispenser in showers
  
• Early saver (I Love it! Some hate it!)
  
• Many more TV Channels and include networks
  
• Shorter lines for buffet on private islands
  
• Many more choices for lunch (Guy’s, Mongolian Wok, Blue Iguana Cantina, Fish & Chips, etc.)
  
• Easier to find seating in the much bigger spread out buffet area
  
• Buffet area is always open
  
• 24 hour pizza and ice cream
  
• Better beds and bedding (I would even say much better)
  
• Water slides
  
• Miniature golf
  
• Much easier to find chairs in the Serenity area than the Solarium
  
• Dress shorts are allowed in dining room for dinner (my preference but others feel exact opposite I’m sure)
  
• Real anytime dining (Royal really pushes for you to make a reservations which defeats the purpose)
  

So is my goal to convert anyone to Carnival over Royal – absolutely not. Why would I want to do that and make the prices on Carnival go up? Will I go on another Royal Caribbean cruise – probably some day. Just go with a great attitude and take the knowledge you can gain on Cruise Critic and have a great cruise.

Happy Cruising!

Steve

First of all reviews really aren’t fair at all. They’re just a matter of opinion. And quite honestly most of our comparisons just aren’t very fair. How can you compare the Carnival Fantasy to the Carnival Breeze? How do you compare Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas with the Quantum of the Seas? How do you compare a 4 day cruise with a 10 day cruise? Let’s just face it – it’s impossible to do it fairly.

Yet, that is exactly what Cruise Critic is here for. That’s why we continue to read everything we can on our next ship to build our excitement. Some of us seek out the positive and others seem to seek the negative. And let’s face it EVERY line has both. One of the interesting parts of this is my negatives may be your positives. A friend of mine and I were talking about the differences between Carnival and Royal Caribbean and we each mentioned what we liked best and why we liked one over the other. And we actually agreed 100% on the differences. The only real difference is some meant more to him and some meant more to me.

A simple piece of advice for whichever line you choose - just go and have fun. Do your research but take everything with a grain of salt. A cruise is what you make it. Go with a great attitude and you will have a great time, I know I always have. Go and look for things to complain about and I’m guessing you will find plenty.

All of that being said we just finished a cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas. In full disclosure 15 of our previous 16 cruises were on Carnival ships ranging from the Miracle to the Breeze and the other was Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas. Obviously my family likes Carnival. Obviously I liked Royal Caribbean enough to book another Royal cruise.

So instead of going into great details on many things I thought I would just share what I feel are some of the positives from one line to the other in bullet format. For the most part I tried to do more “overall” type comparisons or when possible more of a comparison for the Pride vs Grandeur to be as fair as possible. Yes they are just my opinions and yes each would very from ship to ship. For what it’s worth:

Royal Caribbean Pros

• Nicer décor for the ship
  
• Buffet area is “classier” and everything is close together
  
• They serve your drinks at buffet and get you refills
  
• Getting off the ship is easier than Carnival mostly because they aren’t stopping everyone to get pictures taken and they “scan” your card
  
• Freestyle soda machines (Great choices and lots of them)
  
• Better drink packages (One person in a room can purchase even if other does not and there is no drink limit or time limit)
  
• They have a formal Meet & Mingle for Cruise Critic members with ship personnel & prizes
  
• Daily announcement with excellent details from the Captain even on port days (and you could even understand him)
  
• Less push for sales by Cruise Director
  
• Longer cruises (Carnival has very few over 8 days)
  
• Rock wall
  
• Tutti salad bar in dining room on sea days
  
• Park Café (Nice choices and good selection with small lines)
  

The Same

• Wait Service (Both have been equally excellent every time for me)
  
• Housekeeping service (Also both are excellent)
  
• Quality of dining room food
  
• Quality of breakfast foods at the buffet
  
• Cleanliness
  
• Embarkation/Debarkation
  

Carnival Pro’s

• Bigger rooms
  
• Much bigger showers
  
• Bigger bathroom sinks
  
• More storage space
  
• Suitcases fit under the bed
  
• Entertainment (I do not go to Production shows so please exclude those)
  
• Activities (Many more activities and in my opinion better and more exciting)
  
• Comedy Club (One of my favorite things about Carnival)
  
• Piano Bar (MUCH more interactive and fun)
  
• Bigger casino (obviously dependant on ship)
  
• Double odds craps (Single odds on Royal is ridiculous)
  
• More choices on dining room dinner menu
  
• Better desserts
  
• Lower drink prices and packages
  
• Soap dispenser in showers
  
• Early saver (I Love it! Some hate it!)
  
• Many more TV Channels and include networks
  
• Shorter lines for buffet on private islands
  
• Many more choices for lunch (Guy’s, Mongolian Wok, Blue Iguana Cantina, Fish & Chips, etc.)
  
• Easier to find seating in the much bigger spread out buffet area
  
• Buffet area is always open
  
• 24 hour pizza and ice cream
  
• Better beds and bedding (I would even say much better)
  
• Water slides
  
• Miniature golf
  
• Much easier to find chairs in the Serenity area than the Solarium
  
• Dress shorts are allowed in dining room for dinner (my preference but others feel exact opposite I’m sure)
  
• Real anytime dining (Royal really pushes for you to make a reservations which defeats the purpose)
  

So is my goal to convert anyone to Carnival over Royal – absolutely not. Why would I want to do that and make the prices on Carnival go up? Will I go on another Royal Caribbean cruise – probably some day. Just go with a great attitude and take the knowledge you can gain on Cruise Critic and have a great cruise.

Happy Cruising!

Steve

We just got back from our cruise yesterday and did the Bar Hop Tour last week. This was our 17th cruise (5th time in Cozumel) and my wife and I both agreed that this was one of the best excursions we have ever done anywhere. It was a total blast. They handled everything exactly as they said they would from booking to drop off at the pier. Colleen was also wonderful!

I will say the only variable is your fellow tour guests. We didn't know any of the other 8 people in our before the tour started but we left as best friends.

I highly recommend this tour and we will definitely be taking this tour on our next trip back to Cozumel. I would be happy to answer any specific questions.

Steve

Do you know if they're giving that 15% discount as OBC to those who pre-purchased?

I can't say for sure but it did say "only available if purchased on day1"

Here is the verdict for Grandeur today. Buy 1 ultimate or select and get the 2nd for 15% off.

I just heard from someone currently on the Grandeur that there is NO BOGO50 on this sailing. The current sailing is an 8 day and the previous reviewer that posted was on a 10 day. So is that the difference? Who knows? I am on the 10 day on Saturday and will report as soon as I board and buy the package.

Steve

Thanks so much for checking Roy! Enjoy the rest of the cruise and see you on Saturday.

Steve

How and why I think it may be appearing on certain Ships is 1. The pre sale of the packages are very low 2. length of trip and number of port days which I am sure result in lower package sales.

I totally agree with this too. It seems to me they would be a lot more likely to offer this on a 10 cruise than a short cruise.

I could be wrong, but it sounds like there are two different things being discussed in this thread.

 

The original question (I think) is whether or not it's true that once on the ship a drink package can be purchased BOGO half off.

 

It seems to me reading thru the thread that we may be talking about two different things though.

 

There's a current package being offered for new bookings (or bookings during a certain time period) that allows one to purchase a drink package and get 50% off the second. This isn't what the OP was asking about. Going this route, the beverage package is purchased BEFORE you get on the ship under the current BOGO50 "sale", either on-line or by calling Royal or a T/A. And as I and many others have now found by calling Royal, you lose other offers you may have on your current reservation (such as OBC), and must reprice your reservation under the current fare prices, which are inflated to make up the cost of the "half-off" beverage package they're promoting.

 

I'm still curious about the OP's question. Has anyone has actually waited to get on the ship and been able to purchase a beverage package at buy-one-get-one-half-off (as it was rumored in another thread).

You hit the nail on the head and described it perfectly. It was a Grandeur review that said they were offering the BOGO50 sale on board. The reviewer said "Upon entering the ship I found that the two drinking packages I purchased (the ultimate and select) were now buy one and get the second 1/2 off."

I will be boarding the Grandeur on Saturday morning. I originally purchased two Premium Packages. Only booked ahead to make the pain of the cost not show up on the bill while on the ship. So yesterday I cancelled both packages since nothing is lost this way and I will buy as soon as we get on the ship. If there is a special we benefit, if not it really doesn't matter. I will report back here on Saturday as soon as I get the package and report my findings. Might help those on future Grandeur cruises but who knows what it means fleet wide.

Steve