American Bear
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I am very curious to know what the differences are between Royal Caribbean & Carnival. People have told me that they are VERY different in every single way. I have even been told that the clientele of the 2 lines is vastly different. I would like your thoughts, thank you.
This can be a very incendiary topic on these forums!
Our opinion only,,,as we have cruised both quite a bit,,,
Shows are better on RCL.
Food quality about the same.
Food choices we like better on Carnival.
Port of calls we like the Carnival choices more.
Ships, our favorite is the RCL Radiance Class, the Carnival 2.0 Conquest class next, the rest follow not that far behind.
Price is usually less on Carnival.
RCL has the best loyalty club, and casino club.
Carnival has the best options for booze if you drink. (you can order pre-cruise bottles in your cabin at reduced rates, RCL D/D+ offerings make it a little bit closer if you have them)
Cruisers are about the same, Carnival maybe a little younger/rowdier, RCL a little older/snooty.
Each have their strong points, both offer a lot for the money in a vacation, are really not that much different, whatever your choice, enjoy!:D
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Hi all,
Have a cabin held on the 16-night Rhapsody TA from Tampa to Rome next year in April. I have to decide by tomorrow if I want to book. While a Voyager/Freedom Class seems fun to do a TA, it has no enclosed solarium, so that's why I'm torn between a vision class and Radiance class ships. I have done them both and the only thing I miss on the Vision class is the helipad. May be too cold up there anyway
Rhapsody has 8 sea days or so in a row and I'll be traveling solo. I love reading and relaxing, but I am afraid that I will get a little lonely.
What class ship would you book for a TA? Vision or Radiance? Itinerary doesn't really matter so much, love the fact that Rhapsody is 16 nights.
What would be the advantages if I book on the Adventure in September? (Haven't done that in a long time, can't remembEr)
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cindy
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The Vission Class is good:), but the Radiance Class is the best:D RCL has in our opinion!
So we'd chose the Radiance first always, but its really personal opinion!:confused:
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So DW and I have decided we want to do a Christmas cruise next year and have identified two 4-nights that we're interested in. A 4-night on Brilliance leaving from Tampa that calls at Cozumel and a 4-night on Enchantment leaving from Miami that calls at Nassau, CocoCay, and Key West. Here are the things that are making this a difficult call for us. We would love to hear the CC hivemind weigh in on this.
- We're taking another cruise the first week of December, a 7-night cruise on Rhapsody that will also call in Cozumel.
- The itinerary on Enchantment appeals to us more. We LOVE CocoCay and Key West and tend to stay on the ship in Nassau and enjoy the downtime of a less crowded ship. The problem, however, is that Enchantment will arrive in Key West at 8:00 AM, leaving us with some dead time until we can actually do anything in port.
- With Brilliance's itinerary, we'd only be going to Cozumel, a port I've been to once before (and admittedly liked) and that DW has been to twice before. Cozumel's also one of the ports of call on our trip on Rhapsody earlier that month.
- Shipwise, Brilliance appeals to me more. I love the Radiance class and Brilliance would be our second cruise on a Radiance class ship. If we opt for Enchantment, that will be our third Vision class ship and we'll have done back-to-back cruises on a Vision on the back of our cruise earlier that month.
- Pricewise, Brilliance is the better deal. We can get a balcony starting at $743 per person (including our C&A balcony discount) whereas Enchantment is about $60 per person more.
So how about it? Which way would you go?
We love the Radiance Class best of any class on any cruise line, but port calls also matter to us, we like to stretch our legs at a port, so,,,,,,,,,we'd pick the Enchantment this time!:D
But a balcony out of Tampa, on the Brilliance would be OK too!:confused:
- We're taking another cruise the first week of December, a 7-night cruise on Rhapsody that will also call in Cozumel.
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It's been years since I've been on a cruise and I'm wondering if midnight buffets are a thing of the past or if I should expect to see a midnight buffet at some point during my 7 night Allure cruise this coming July?
Out of Port Canaveral they run a midnight party as you leave Nassau!:D
At least that's what we remember, getting old you know!:confused:
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Ditto to that. We like to mix them up, but still prefer the smaller ships with favorite
being the four Radiance sisters! :)
Agreed, Radiance Class best of any on any cruise line!
Beautiful ships, perfect size!:D
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So never done one, but just wondering how many have you done one, your thoughts, what ship did you do it on, do they do anything for you special and how it all works and where did you go?
We've done it many times, on many ships, a triple B2B2B on Majesty, B2B on Monarch, Grandeur, Radiance, Allure, Oasis, Freedom, Liberty, etc..
All will take care of you between cruises, while others leave, even excursions at some ports, the biggest/best suggestion we would make is get the same cabin for each trip that way there's no packing and moving!
Have fun, we don't do anymore cruises less then 10 days now, so its either a 10 day or more, or B2B's! Luckily we're retired so we have the time!:D
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I am not sure if the beverage package promotions offered on the Liberty repositioning cruise from Bayonne to Galveston were ship or sailing specific or if they will be offered fleet wide in the future.
C&A members were offered a discount on the Premium and Ultimate beverage packages.
The daily price was discounted by 50% for Pinnacles, 40% for D+, 30% for D and 20% was offered to Emerald along with 10% discount for Platinum members.
The discount was offered for packages purchased at any time up to 4 days prior to the final sailing date.
At that point, Liberty offered a new $67, 10 drink coupon voucher that was available for sale up until the final day of the sailing. These 10 drink vouchers could be used in any bar for any beverage up to a $14 value.
Unique to this $67 voucher was that it could be shared. It was only available on the last 3 days of the sailing.
I was allowed to pay an 'upgrade' for wine that was more expensive than included with any package. Diamond drink 'coupons' were valued at $8, while these vouchers were given a $14 value.
Liberty was heavily promoting these packages right up to the last evening of the cruise and had a 'manned' table set up at the entrance to the Windjammer throughout the sailing to continue to push drink packages.
While bar menus did not have prices daily special drinks ranged from $6.50 to $8.50 daily, mixed drinks ran from $8 to $14 and the most basic wine was priced at $8 by the glass. Wine by the glass was very limited in the specialty restaurants.
The voucher book idea is a good one, saw it first on MSC, definitely brings down the prices of drinks, when you don't want the unlimited pkge.!
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I am looking to go on a cruise mid-May and while I was looking at Carnival Sensation going to HMC, Grand Turk and Nassau it is getting pricier with the exchange rate. When I look at Royal it shows CAD so it is quite a bit less expensive! I am torn between two cruises now though, so I'd like some help choosing if anyone has an opinion :)
I am travelling with my son who is 6. We did a cruise on Carnival Liberty in February and are hooked on cruising :) He really wants to go to HMC but I suspect Coco Cay would be just as good (he probably won't know the difference at this age lol). We like beach time, he wants to try snorkling and kayaking but BASIC stuff, like from the beach, would be best. So the choices:
First is Enchantment May 16 from Miami going to Coco Cay, Nassau & Key West, no sea days. I am leaning towards this one as it has no sea days, the ship looks better than the other one, but it is $500 or so more for the cabin I'm looking at.
Second is Majesty of the Seas May 16 from Port Canaveral going to Coco Cay & Nassau, one sea day. I think this is right out of dry dock and while I'd prefer the 23rd sailing it seems to not have any early dining left and we cannot do the 8:30. I don't want to risk that :) We had late dining on the Liberty cruise and it was horrible.
Any way! Flights are about the same. It's the ships... as much as I love the price of the Majesty cruise I am not sure if we would like it as much as the other. I also don't know much about Key West, so not sure what we would like to do there, I don't think there is a beach near by. Thanks for any comments/help! :)
With the Enchantment doing the 5 day cruise out of Miami with 3 port days, we consider this an easy choice, pick the Enchantment, better itinerary, better ship!
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We prefer Dynamic over Traditional!
Always thought Traditional was like the cruise lines treating their customers like Children with specified times!
We like flexibility cause we aren't hungry each day at the same time, and want to see entertainment at different times!
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I think crystal light may have a mango flavor mix
We always take single serve packets of crystal lite with us, better then carbonated soda!:)
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My DW and I are not BIG gamblers, but we have enjoyed playing the slots on all of our past cruises. But on our recent Grandeur of the Seas cruise the casino was so TIGHT that is was just plain NOT fun!!! :mad:
Is it just us, or have the RCCL casinos been decreasing payouts steadily over the last few years?
We consider the casino and the money we allot there as part of our entertainment, but it isn't even entertaining when all you do is lose, lose, lose, and then when you do finally hit a bonus round the payout is so pathetic it just makes you MAD!!!!!
I was playing on a machine betting one dollar and went into a "bonus" round. The machine paid out a GRAND TOTAL of $4.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:
RCCL, we hope you are reading this!!!!!! We will cease to "play" in your casinos if things don't get better.
Texas, don't feel bad, on our last RCL cruise I hit 4 jackpots over a $1,000. and still lost enough to make the people in the casino club happy!:D
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The most I have ever encountered was 32000 passenger movements at Barcelona.
The worst crowding I have ever encountered was in Dubrovnik. I was there at a conference and they had so many ships in that people could hardly move in a very large area of the city. Dubrovnik now has many ships that only call for part of the day to reduce crowding.
While some websites just do passenger counts based on double occupancy of the ship, ports should actually count passenger movements.
For instance, Cruise TT had the Vision call in Barcelona on the 8th of August as 11,399, but the port was actually much more crowded as they show that 24,570 passengers actually moved through the port on that date.
The worst we've encountered in the Med was Civitavecchia (Rome) cause the traffic in and out of the city is worse then a NY rush hour!:D
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Hey everyone. My DW and I decided to take a spontaneous cruise so we leave in about 60 days. Our final port is Cozumel. We have been there many times but saw that at this point, there are going to be 6 ships in port which is about 22,000 people by a certain website.
What has been your busiest port of call in your many adventures and how did you handle it?
Have a great Friday everyone!
We've been in Nassau and Cozumel with 6 ships.
Couldn't tender at Coco Cay, so the Capt. took us to Nassau, nice gesture, but just too crowded .
Cozumel was crowded, but OK!
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Allure wins by 2 inches according to Wikipedia!:D
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Since everyone has different desires, these are our thoughts,,,
We'd always take a balcony over an inside, even on a much smaller ship.
If you drink alcohol, Carnival is cheaper:D, and we like the free food choices on Carnival more.
But,,,,going on a lower priced cruise might mean a younger crowd:eek:, and RCL's entertainment is better.
Whatever your choice, have a great cruise.:)
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Although my TA warned me that calling RCI will not get a different offer, I tried today. The person I spoke with was cold and removed and basically confirmed that nothing can be done about it. I am upset because I am not looking to make anything on this, lol, just wanted a sailing that would be as interesting as a Halloween one we were on. OR a discount on a sailing from NY or Baltimore or Boston.... He would not even have a meaningful conversation. Meanwhile I am looking for prices out to 2017 even nothing is appealing to me. I am a bit pissed that I might have to just walk away from this one and lose the 100 OBC offer.
PRIOR TO this cruise becoming charter, but in anticipation of it, I booked a very nice cruise for 7 days for November 2016 so maybe when my TA comes back from vacation I will try to get him to have the 100 OBC applied to that sailing.
I hope everyone else is doing better than I am!
As the old saying goes, 'the squeaky wheel gets the oil'!
It would seem there are two paths you could take,
1) sit back and accept whatever, or
2) attack where it hurts, up the chain of command,
either way, hope you get a satisfactory conclusion for you! :)
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WOW
Wonder what the next concern will be when post #2 comes along:D
Sea Ya
Your point?
Sounds like the poster has a legitimate beef!
I know I'd be an unhappy camper if this happened to us!
Many travel great distances, spending a lot more to travel then this OP mentioned!
A suggestion to the OP, buy insurance in the future! Once cruise lines like many other forms of travel have their hands on your money, its hard to get it back!
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Not much of a difference between Oasis Class and Dream Class pools? I couldn't disagree more with that one.
Crowded pools are the same to us, not our cup of tea!:)
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As a shareholder, we'd like to thank all those paying higher drink prices!:D
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Honestly we would only go on an Oasis class ship again if it were free as it once was before from the casino club, just not our favorite class of ship by a long shot! (Radiance Class Rules)
But if it were free, we'd pick Allure cause its bigger!:D
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A badly designed Royal ship is still better than the Carnival ships that you can't get from the bow to the aft without switching decks.
Not defending badly designed ships, but ever try to go aft, Dk 6 on the Majesty?
So not only Carnival has this type of problem(?), and we still love the Majesty!
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That is not a true comment. I'm 42 and I was considered young on my last Carnival cruise. There is a mixture of ages on Carnival.
Its very rare that 42 would be considered young on a Carnival cruise.
They market for the younger adult crowd!
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We ate in giovannis last week and I loved the food, much better for me than portfolios. The lamb chops are wonderful
Agreed. We like Giovanni's much more.
We found Portofinos all show, thought it was more expensive, and the food wasn't to our liking.
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We have never cruised on CCL, but have enjoyed both DCL and RCCL. We have found DCL and RCCL to be very similar with a family-friendly environment, service-oriented crew, and plenty of activities for all ages. We have friends and family members who have sailed CCL and most say "never again" - even the ones who have been on no other cruises for comparison. I am sure there are other cruise lines that offer a more mature crowd, but we actually like RCCL. It seems to have the right mix of energy and casual atmosphere for us.
Like Doug said, we have been in ports with CCL ships and have observed which people board which ship. There were plenty of nice people getting on both ships, but when you saw people who were behaving or dressed in a less than appropriate manner, 2 out of 3 were headed for the CCL ship. I think much of this is due to their marketing strategy. CCL does advertise themselves as the "fun ships". They seem to promote more of a party atmosphere, where RCCL tends to advertise more of a family atmosphere with sporting activities and shore excursions.
Personally, I don't ever see myself on a CCL ship. I might try X or HAL, but RCCL just seems to fit our needs best.
My opinion is that CCL has a younger, higher spirited crowd because their cruises are more affordable(cheaper) then RCL, and that's what younger singles, and couples can afford! And those younger people like to party more then older crowds.
Take a HAL cruise, costs more, and you'll be asleep by 10pm with that old crowd!:D
That said, RCL has its share of jerks.:D
Happy cruising.
Is cancelling our cruise the best decision for us?
in Carnival Cruise Lines
Posted
We currently have booked a Jan cruise, New Orleans to Barcelona and a return in Feb and we're gonna call and see if we can't move these to the end of 2021 at least, cause we're definitely not going! Europe is already seeing increases in the virus and some lockdowns, not where we want to be!
We also have 3~b2b cruises booked for April that we'll also be rebooking to as late as possible, hopefully in both cases we're offered cruise credit!