Just Off Grandeur (9/30); RCCL/Carnival Differences

First off, I don't do reviews much because it would take me forever to type everything I want to say. So I am going to give some key points and/or things that need to be mentioned and if anyone has any questions, fire away!!

We used Park-N-Go because the rate was only $5.99 per day there. I know this was a special that was being ran until, I believe, the end of October. Everything went really smooth with them. Got there at about 11:30, was immediately shuttled over. Embarking took us maybe about 20 minutes. The longest we waited was to get checked-in and get our Sea Pass ..but the line was constantly moving. Very smooth!

We have only ever cruised with Carnival, so for anyone curious about the differences, these are some things we noticed/our opinion.

*The cabin was quite smaller. We had a standard inside cabin, like usual and the difference was noticeable but nothing that would cause us to rethink sailing or anything. The shower was also angled weird and was small but the size was nothing shocking, as Carnival's showers were super small as well. With Carnival, the shower can be so hot that you scald yourself but with RCCL it didn't seem to go past a certain temp. Still hot water but definitely could have been hotter. The room also had LOTS of storage space. So while the cabin wasn't immense, you had tons of room to store clothes and everything else. Wasn't thrilled that the suitcase wouldn't fit under the bed but the closet was large enough to store them both. Closet also had bunches of hangers, which was a nice change. Hair dryers were already in the room, which was awesome ..but we didn't have the body wash in the showers or the razors and trial toothpaste that we were used to having with Carnival. The temp. controls on Royal were more like central air were as Carnival was like an airplane with the device you either open or close. Not sure which I prefer, honestly. Also, instead of having a faux window for the inside cabin, the area was all mirrors. That we definitely preferred.

*Ship layout seemed a lot more user friendly then Carnival. We were used to getting off one to get onto another to just get where we needed to go. It was often confusing and frustrating. Didn't have this problem with Royal. Everything was one level, no breaks in between things.

*We thought the Windjammer was much better then Carnival's casual dining. The options seemed endless from soups, salads and sandwiches, to carved meats and sushi. I know me personally, I didn't eat much in Carnival's casual dining because everything to me seemed like I was eating in a cafeteria. We loved how everything in the Windjammer was laid out. The presentation of the desserts on Carnival we thought was more elegantly done but besides that, Royal wins hands down. No chocolate milk! But we did like not having the stupid trays like on Carnival.

*Pizza on both ships seemed just about the same.

*Formal dining I was kind of on the fence. I seemed to have an easier choice in dinner on Carnival but I think that's because I am mostly a chicken eater. Royal was more up-scale with their dining choices, so I can't say it loses points for this, just that I found it hard to find things for me to eat. Dinner also came out slow to super slow. Wasn't too bad because we didn't have much else to do but they definitely could have picked up the pace. We missed the little 'shows' at dinner with all the waiters.

*LOADS more places to sit and watch the water on Royal. One thing we really dislike about Carnival was how hard it was to secure a seat next to the windows on the pool deck. Royal had not only lounge chairs but also lounge chairs that only sat up. This was amazing and something we took advantage of every night at sail away. And because Royal has so many windows, we also were able to see the water. It was one of the first things we took notice of and really were quite thrilled about. We were able to sit in these chairs, facing the water and still able to see outside because of the floor to ceiling windows. Awesome! These chairs were also on outside decks, not just the pool deck.

*Royal has no afternoon/high tea :( Unless we some how missed this.

*Customer service wins hands down, too. By the second night our waiter (Lourdress Nicholas) had both of our names down ..and a certain waiter near the pool (Jezreil) remembered not only our names but what we wanted to drink. Everyone we passed was always smiling and saying hello or have a good day. The only person who didn't seem as friendly was out cabin steward.

*Only received towel animals 3 of the 5 nights. Is this standard? Used to getting one every night, so this was kind of a bummer.

*The Palladium set-up was a lot better then Carnival's show area. The seats are set up as individual seats, so you weren't basically trying to all crowd onto one long couch. Loooooved this. Noticed a lack of waiters coming around and taking drink orders. Not a huge deal but was definiely a difference from Carnival.

*Carnival seems to have a lot more events on board but we never once seemed bored or without having anything to do. The shows were all pretty good, Beattlemane Live being AMAZING but Carnival does the shows better with more elaborate costumes.

*Loved the Solarium. The only time it seemed to be full was on our one day at sea and even then was a very relaxing environment.

*There was an 11:30 deck party which was AMAZING. Really reminded me of Carnival's long lost midnigth buffet. Awesome carved watermelons ect. Was super windy that night but the food and festivities was awesome!

Not that it was Royal's fault but we did miss CocoCay. It was one main reason we booked the itinerary we did but because of the tropical depression, the captain found it unsafe to tender in so changed the itinerary the day before to Nassau. Nassau was mostly a wash out with many excursions being cancelled that morning. We have been to Nassau so many times that it wasn't even exciting but it was nice for them to give us another port to make up for not being able to get to Coco.

Disembarking was super fast. All times we have been on Carnival, if you are self embraking, we have had to wait outside in the hallways ..hot and sweating until they allow us off. Embarking was announced, we went back to the room, collected our things and then waited in maybe a 10 minute line to get off. Park-N-Go was there in about 3 minutes, got shuttled back to the car and off we went. Super easy.

Questions? :D

I will have pictures up soon! So many to sort through. I've got many food pictures :P

*Only received towel animals 3 of the 5 nights. Is this standard? Used to getting one every night, so this was kind of a bummer.

Welcome back!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D:D:D I have anxiously been awaiting your return and review.

So sorry you missed CocoCay.

Someone in our group asked about the towel animals for the first night, they said that the cabin attendants do not do towel animals on the first night because of the luggage -- did you not receive any on the first and last night?

I had never noticed that before, our cabin attendant (and the one up the hall) more than made up for it the rest of the week. I had a whole zoo for the kids.

Yes, didn't get them on the first and last night. Was bummed about it but it wasn't anything that we NEEDED to get. Definitely more important for children!

Is the late night buffet standard? I wasn't sure if that was something that always happens or if it was because we didn't get to go to CocoCay.

Forgot to mention the bed. Carnival's bed was like heaven ..lol.. Bed on Royal was a bit too hard for my liking.

Also we loved that you didn't have to get your drinks. Everything was already poured (tea, water, lemonade ect)

On other RCI ships if chocolate milk is not displayed, all you have to do is ask for it. Thanks for all the interesting comparisons.

On other RCI ships if chocolate milk is not displayed, all you have to do is ask for it. Thanks for all the interesting comparisons.

We never did ask, so that was lame on our part. We sorta figured we could get it if we asked, just thought it was odd to not have it out.

Can you tell me where the park n go is? We leave on the grandeur this coming monday and was told parking at the pier is $15 a day.

I cant wait to get on the grandeur! Im glad you had a good time!

Thanks for the comparison between lines. It was nice reading one that was fair and balanced between the two. I also liked the fact you did not bash or promote either. Very good job.

Tim

Is the late night buffet standard? I wasn't sure if that was something that always happens or if it was because we didn't get to go to CocoCay.

Nope, that's standard. I actually missed it because I was at Quest that night and forgot to go check it out afterward. :) Did you make it to Quest?

We weren't sure what Quest was until we read about it afterwards that it's an adult gameshow? Is that correct? Darn!

I am getting ready to sail on the Grandeur...day after tomorrow! I am so excited!

What is the late night buffet and where is it?

Does the ship seems small and intimate, or large? I have only ever been on Disney Magic, and am wondering how it compares in size?

Do you have kids and if so, what did they think of the kid's program? My children are 12 and 10.

Do you recommend any spa treatments?

Thanks for the great review~

The buffet was on the pool deck on our day at sea night, which was the 4th night.

I have never sailed on any Disney ships, so I can't answer that one accurately. Hopefully someone here knows! I do think it was comparable in size to the other Carnival ships I've been on, Fantasy Class.

Don't have any children, but I know cruisinmama does ..so maybe she can provide some insight :D

For anyone interested, here is the Park-N-Go website!

http://offairportparking.com/portevg/

It's located RIGHT next to the port. Seriously, very close. Took us like 2 minutes in the shuttle to get to the drop off zone.

We were on the same cruise. We really enjoyed ourselves. But then again, we were in the Royal Suite. OMG, what a room. This is not how we usually cruise, we are regular balcony type people. But it was my 60th Bday and we went all out.

I know some people were talking about the change of Captains on this ship, but let me tell you, Captain Rune Johnsen is a really nice man. We got to meet him and talk with him at a private cocktail party and he is just like you and me. We felt like we were sitting in a friends living room and having drinks and conversation.

We did not make it to the buffet but most RCCL's ships have this party once a week. They are always alot of fun.

We thought the food was good. Some meals really good, others just OK. We did MTD and had a table for 2 every night and had the same waiter. We enjoyed our dinner experience.

We had lunch in the Windjammer 3x's and breakfast only on the last day. We did take advantage of room service. Since we had a suite we were able to order from the dinning room menu during the hours they were open.

I agree that the staff are very friendly and do remember your names and some bartenders do remember what you drink.

If anyone has any question please ask.

Irene

I am getting ready to sail on the Grandeur...day after tomorrow! I am so excited!

 

What is the late night buffet and where is it?

 

Does the ship seems small and intimate, or large? I have only ever been on Disney Magic, and am wondering how it compares in size?

 

Do you have kids and if so, what did they think of the kid's program? My children are 12 and 10.

 

Do you recommend any spa treatments?

 

Thanks for the great review~

According to wikipedia, Disney Magic is slightly smaller in size:

Tonnage - Disney Magic: 83,000 GRT, Grandeur: 74,000 GRT

Length - Disney Magic: 964 ft, Grandeur: 916 ft

Beam - Disney Magic: 106ft, Grandeur: 106 ft

Decks - Disney Magic: 11, Grandeur: 11

Passenger Capacity - Disney Magic: 2,400, Grandeur: 2,446

Great little review, I liked the comparison between the 2 cruiselines. I will sailing my first cruise on RCCL this December and will able to make my comparison between the two after.

...With Carnival, the shower can be so hot that you scald yourself but with RCCL it didn't seem to go past a certain temp. Still hot water but definitely could have been hotter. ...

On all Royal ships that I have sailed on, there's a red button on the shower temp control that must be pressed to allow the temp to get to scalding. This is probably a safety feature.

Enjoyed your review, thanks.

Bob

 

We did not make it to the buffet but most RCCL's ships have this party once a week. They are always alot of fun.

 

We thought the food was good. Some meals really good, others just OK. We did MTD and had a table for 2 every night and had the same waiter. We enjoyed our dinner experience.

 

We had lunch in the Windjammer 3x's and breakfast only on the last day. We did take advantage of room service. Since we had a suite we were able to order from the dinning room menu during the hours they were open.

 

I agree that the staff are very friendly and do remember your names and some bartenders do remember what you drink.

 

If anyone has any question please ask.

 

Irene

It was SO windy that night ..but we did have a lot of fun. Only stayed out for many an hour or so though, felt like I was going to be blown off deck lol

We never went to breakfast or lunch in the MDR and we never got room service. We actually never used this much on Carnival, either.

The service was awesome! Definitely left us talking about it still days after.

Great little review, I liked the comparison between the 2 cruiselines. I will sailing my first cruise on RCCL this December and will able to make my comparison between the two after.

I was going on RCCL with only Carnival to compare it to and wanted to give insight because I am sure I am not the only one who's has this. Even though everything is strictly opinion, I wanted to be sure to include facts like the palladium theater seating because we found the small differences very welcomed.

I hope you enjoy yours as much as we did!! :D

On all Royal ships that I have sailed on, there's a red button on the shower temp control that must be pressed to allow the temp to get to scalding. This is probably a safety feature.

 

 

 

Enjoyed your review, thanks.

 

 

 

Bob

Oooh, so that's what that was!! ..lol.. We weren't entirely sure because our little knob on the shower was a bit wobbly. Took us ages just to figure out how to turn the shower ON ..so hilarious :P

Some pictures have been posted ..as well as all of the food pictures I was able to take!

Bumping for anyone that wanted to see pictures. More added ..almost finished :D

Thanks for posting all those pictures! Those are gorgeous and I can't wait to see more if you have any. We leave on the Grandeur next weekend, so we are very excited.

Since you went so recently, can I pose a question to you? How are the waters? Are they very rough right now with it being smack in the middle of hurricane season?

Thank you!!

The water was FABULOUS until we had to go around the tropical depression. So it was one night of being a little rocky and one night of it a lot rocky.. but it wasn't the worse that we've been on, so I don't know if that helps any lol

For some reason, when we have sailed out of Jacksonville on Carnival Fascination ..it's always been really crazy rough. I don't know if it was the month we've sailed (went both times in December) or what but Grandeur was like, 100 times smoother!

Awesome! Thanks so much! I was just kind of wondering. Our first cruise last year was taken in the spring. We'll have sea sickness pills and whatnot but for me it's more of a balance issue (yay naturally clumsy people! lol). The trip last year was rather rough going through the Gulf and I swear I hit so many walls that first night from being unable to keep my balance.

Thanks for the review! We are sailing on it later this month.

No afternoon tea would be a bummer. :eek: RCI ships usually do it in the Windjammer from 3pm to 5pm.

Heading over to check out the pics now :)

Awesome! Thanks so much! I was just kind of wondering. Our first cruise last year was taken in the spring. We'll have sea sickness pills and whatnot but for me it's more of a balance issue (yay naturally clumsy people! lol). The trip last year was rather rough going through the Gulf and I swear I hit so many walls that first night from being unable to keep my balance.

It definitely should not be that bad! Doesn't sound that bad even when we were at the roughest ..and that was with a depression right over us :p