pafam4

Differences?

1. the fleet is basically much easier to traverse. On Carnival, you often have to go up and then down to get from one end of the ship to the other...(ships are all build off one basic design at Fincanterri shipyards).

2. Royal has the promenade..shops, bars, eateries, a wide open interior space that is, frankly, dramatic.

3.This is the one that gets folks excited and angry. It is a different "type" of passenger. Not saying one is better than the other, but different.

4. You will find RCI has a stricter dress code in the Dining rooms. You decide if that is good or bad.

We (by our signature) prefer RCI, but we also sail Carnival.....have never had a bad experience on RCI, and only one poor cruise on Carnival....like the Breeze, Magic and Conquest.

5. Extra charge dining: Both have steakhouses, comparable. RCI has Giovanni's table, far superior to Carnival's Italian dining. RC has SABOR, nothing comparable on Carnival.

6. 24 coffee shop on RCI, 24 hour ice cream on Carnival.

#3:. I'm not excited or angry, but having cruised in both lines, I just don't understand this statement. I've heard it many times and I honestly see no difference in the "type" of customers. Could you give a more in-depth description?

#4 Royal was the only cruise line I've cruised that allowed a man at the table next to ours dressed in basketball shorts, sleeveless t-shirt, flip-flops and backwards ball cap to dine in the Dining room on formal night. Never saw that on Carnival. Since I have seen people turned away from the dining room on a Carnival ship, I'll have to disagree with you there.

I enjoy both Royal and Carnival. Can't wait to cruise again!

My money says no one will stop them.

You will probably win that bet. A couple of weeks ago on the Allure, the table next to us on the second formal night I would say did not conform to dress code. One of the gentlemen had on a well-worn t-shirt, basketball shorts and a baseball cap on backwards. While I always dress according to the dress code, what other people wear doesn't bother me. I noticed this particular party because of reading so much discussion on here about the dress code.

Based on these people being served dinner in the dining room, ripped jeans should be no problem lol.

This exact scenario happened to us, but the price difference was more than $100. The utter fiasco of trying to book this cruise via the website and the horrid customer service is not getting us in the mood to enjoy our first Royal Caribbean cruise!

When we couldn't complete our booking, we called RC. The agent said that the price we were seeing was not available. We were told to clear our cookies, try different browsers, different devices etc. Same result (lower price) every time. After several days of back and forth, they asked for a screenshot of what we were seeing. After they received the screenshot, a supervisor very impolitely told us, it was wrong and the price couldn't be honored. We are traveling with others, so went ahead and booked at the higher price, but believe me, our booking experiences at Carnival, NCL and Costa have been far superior to this nonsense--classic bait and switch.

EBFURR, I have followed your story on the other thread. I'm so glad you will be refunded. I hope you and your wife have a wonderful anniversary despite the disappointment. We are booked on our first RCI cruise in a couple of weeks to celebrate our 30th anniversary, and Royal's handling of this situation has made me very uneasy. But we're trying to keep a positive attitude and praying for calm weather.

I have to say that how Royal Caribbean is handling this situation is certainly not inspiring confidence regarding my family's first Royal Caribbean cruise in a couple of weeks. We are not cruise novices, we have sailed previously many times on NCL, Costa and Carnival. Our experience with the actual booking of the cruise with RCI has been horrendous, but we have been hoping the on-board customer experience would be better. Still hoping that!

If you have a chance, take a look at their Facebook page. Even in the early hours of this morning, RCI has posted responses to customers insisting they will need a letter from the airlines verifying cancelled flights and inability to reaccommodate. Or proof that roads were impassable. Seriously Royal? Turn on the TV, you'll see proof right there.

People always say that RCI has superior customer service. Certainly not so far in our case and absolutely not in their handling of the current situation. Carnival far out performed them this time.

Clear your cache and use IE

Did not help our issues. As mentioned above, we tried multiple devices, multiple browsers - issues persisted (even when we cleared our cache.)

I feel your pain! We've had major issues with the website only to be told by customer service that the problems are our fault: wrong browser (we've tried three), wrong computer (we've tried two different types of phones and two types of computers.) Very poor customer service and so far the interactions have been very unprofessional. So frustrating when compared to our experiences with other cruise lines.

Congratulations!!!! Said without any snarkiness or humor. This is the best post ever on one of these rant threads.

 

They are a hotel at sea company. Their primary investment is in ships and personnel to man those ships. They are not an "internet company". Which all those do is sell us ways to waste money and time. What is important to RCI is that their ships sail on time, safely and profitably. Facebook the most destructive company in the history of the planet. Let's you post stuff you shouldn't and lets you peer into peoples lives and bedrooms in ways that are only healthy compared to Caliqula.

 

Basically FB is *********** that you can feel good about. So, they better have an outstanding web product because there are thousands of other real *********** webs you could be watching instead of your healthy attraction to your friends lives....

 

I agree RCI's web page is not perfect, but it is not as bad as you people say. Sure compared to Amazon it sucks, but it is actually better than most of their competitors.

 

JC:halo:

From my experience, it is far, far worse than their competitors' sites. We have booked about 10 cruises via 3 different cruise lines' websites without any issue at all. To be honest, I was shocked with how badly the website performed and how poor their customer service has been. They basically accused us of lying about the price we were seeing online, despite the screenshots they requested. I was so looking forward to our first Royal Caribbean cruise, and I hope the onboard experience is much better than our purchasing experience.

We have had so many problems with the website. We would see a great price on a balcony cabin, try to book online, it would take our credit card info, then wouldn't complete the transaction. When we called RC, we were told that price wasn't available, but a higher priced cabin was. They told us it must be our computer.....

The next day, saw the same low price, my husband tried to book again, same error. Tried different browser, same result. Tried a work computer, same problem.

Called Royal again, explained the above. They asked for screenshots of the low price and that the site had allowed us to almost complete the booking, which we sent. Three layers of management later, they won't honor their website prices.

Since we are traveling with family who already booked, we booked a cabin anyway. We are extremely dissatisfied with this experience so far. Although this is our first cruise with RC, It isn't our first rodeo, having cruised multiple times on three other lines. We can only hope the cruise itself is much better than the purchasing experience.

This is not hard to understand , Someone HAS to be 25 in the same cabin , UNLESS the 2 under 25 are MARRIED to each other . So a 21 and 23 year old would not be able to go , UNLESS they were married .. If not they need someone 25 in the cabin with them .[/QUOT

 

UNDER 21 are the key words. Since these two young people are over 21, there are no worries

 

If they were 18, 19, 20, THEN they would need the 25 yr old in the cabin

Grenada was beautiful when we sailed there in the 80's.

I also agree that I miss the cruise ships docking in Hamilton, Bermuda.

You are absolutely 100% correct. In many households including mine.

Yep, my kids were always so excited to be taken on cruises, they would have never balked at whatever dress code was required. Also, they do understand the concept of dress codes, having worn uniforms to school forever lol! They get that appropriate attire is required in certain situations.

That being said, I do think I have seen jeans worn in the MDR on elegant night, so I don't think OP's son would be turned away.

The Virgin Baths at Virgin Gorda... Port of Tortola

You beat me to it! That was such a memorable excursion! Breathtaking! Would love to go back.

Eli was a social host back in 2009 on our Carnival Freedom cruise. He was very energetic and personable. When we left the ship on the last day, he actually remembered my son's name and thanked him for cruising. I remember thinking back then that he would make a great CD.

As others have said, 18-20 year olds can do anything other adults can do, except consume alcohol and use Serenity deck.

My son cruised with us at age 18 and 20. He attended activities he enjoyed, such as karaoke, trivia, games in the red frog pub, etc. and met people with like interests. He also enjoyed hanging out with family. Have your son attend activities that he enjoys, and I'll bet he meets friends.

I realize that all young people are not the same. But by 18, they should be able to make friends or figure out how to enjoy a cruise without a parent's help. Honestly, my kids love cruising so much and are so grateful for the opportunity to cruise, they need no assistance in having fun.

Also, in our family, fun does not have to include alcohol, so they have seen us over the years having a blast on cruises without drinking. Of course, when my son turned 18, he was able to have a drink in certain ports which was great for him.

I've been reading alot about trivia on carnival but I have never seen or heard about it while sailing and I've been on 5 cruises. When and where do they have this and what is it about? Sounds like fun that I've been missing.

Trivia is held several times every day, more contests held on sea days. Always lots of fun.

My daughter And I both eat a gluten free diet. We sailed on the freedom in June and had anytime dining. It was wonderful! The waiter would show us the next day's dinner menu and we would pick out what we wanted. Almost anything we ordered was able to be modified to be gluten free, with a few exceptions. In those cases we just ordered something else. We couldn't believe how helpful and accommodating the staff was.

Just recently off the Carnival Freedom. My daughter and I both eat a gluten free diet. In regards to the pizza, it will only take about 15 minutes for the gluten free version to be prepared for you. I think an earlier poster said something about having to order it the day before. That was not true on the freedom. For gluten free, we thought the pizza was pretty good. I would order it again.

We were on the Carnival Freedom in late June and had Any Time Dining. We just arrived at the dining room when we were ready to have dinner and were seated immediately. We even requested the same wait staff every evening. I wonder why it was done the way you describe on the Sunshine? I agree, that is really not any time dining.

I second the over the door shoe organizers. Since we started traveling with our dd I have brought them and it keeps her shoes and hair pieces organized.

 

Also, I always bring command stick hooks to put on the wall for semi wet clothes or beach bags. A swimsuit coverup or Tshirt is never going to dry on the bathroom hooks with the door closed and there are usually only a couple of hooks. It helps for drying and keep things off of the floor.

 

Remember there is usually only one plug-in, so if they all have "devices" you should give them a strip plug.

Wow! I can't believe I never thought of that, Travelhound! We just got back from a cruise and were always looking for a place to hang things we handwashed or wet bathing suits. You're right, it takes forever for them to dry in the bathroom. Fabulous idea, and will be bringing command hooks on our next cruise!

We've never been to any of the Karaoke but thought we might on our upcoming cruise. Is this area non-smoking?

Yes the international lounge where most of the karaoke is held is smoke free. Very fun time listening to fellow passengers. Enjoy!

It was a great time...great stops, great weather, great food.... Right!?

Absolutely! I think our best cruise yet. Really loved the addition of Red Frog Pub and Blue Iguana. I'd hop right back on that ship tonight if I could!

We were on that cruise too, Clevecruiser. We had a wonderful time. Really looking forward to the rest of your review!

Seems like all of us who sailed on the Freedom on June 22 had a great time! We enjoyed the 2.0 additions, especially the Red Frog Pub, Guy's Burgers, and Blue Iguana. We were told there were just under 1,000 kids onboard but I noticed no issues at all. Food was good and service in MDR was excellent. Lots of things to do for all ages. We would book the Freedom again in a heartbeat! Whatever ship you choose, have a great time!

Just got off Freedom on Monday and miss her already! I'm very jealous. You will have an awesome time!