RCL(10+ cruises) v. Carnival (just returned from 1st) - LONG

[CHOPPERTESTER]

OP's observations were spot on.

 

Didn't cover the clientele though. It's true Carnival may be more of a "party" environment but then Princess is the opposite. I think RCCL is just right.

 

Problem with price comparisons is you can't do it on a category by category basis. On Carnival I would definitely need to book a balcony to get away from the clientele. On RCCl I could book an interior or OV instead.

 

I prefer the traditional dining over MTD, anytime dining, freestyle dining etc and I found RCCL MDR staff to be the best over NCL, Carnival and Princess.

 

Now NCL with its freestyle crusing and no tradional dining, the clientele in the MDR let's just say "do you want fries with that". Flip flops, shorts, ball caps and "I'm with stupid" t-shirts were the most I have seen on any cruise line. Some on all of them in this order NCL, Carnival, RCCL, Princess.

[sloopsailor]

....the father figure in the cabin wore denim overalls everyday w/ no shirt underneath. He was a really nice guy who always said hello in the hall, and normally I would not have noticed that he was wearing this everyday, however he showed up to the dining room with them on, and no shirt.

 

Was he allowed to remain dressed that way in the MDR?

[Happy_Traveler02]

Thank you for the great review. We have traveled on RCL twice and Carnival once. I was a bit apprehensive about the "party" atmosphere on Carnival. It really wan't too bad, and we actually had a fantastic time during the "dance under the stars" party.

What surprised us was the food. None of us are picky eaters - we take our food as served and eat what is put in front of us. However, what we tried we couldn't eat very much of. The steak I got one night was served almost burnt even though I ordered med/rare. After the 3rd night my daughter gave up on MDR. She ended up eating salad and pizza every night. I have to say - the pizza was really good - it was made fresh. I've heard since that the pizza crust is now premade and brought in frozen.

 

While I might try Carnival again - it won't be in the near future - unless I am looking to lose weight. :rolleyes:

[Mikew0805]

Was he allowed to remain dressed that way in the MDR?

 

 

Yes, he did remain in the MDR for the each of the meals.

[ivycruise]

Very nice comparison. We also agree that from our experience RCI will only command a small premium for us to take them over carnival. We had stayed away from carnival due to all what we had heard, mostly from those who never tried them, and found those stereotypes not to be true once we finally took the plunge.

 

Found more rowdies and intoxication on our shorter NOS cruises. The lines are more similiar than different although RCI certainly has a bigger WOW factor on their ships but not something which would command a signficant price difference.

 

I say try them all, we are going to try Celebrity next and paying a premium for that line, considerably more than any of our Carnival or RCI cruises but interested in trying them all eventually.

[mommabean]

We always bring a 12 pack of soda and water both on RCI - as recently as last month - carry it on ourselves.

 

Some RCI ships DO have credit card safes - it varies by the ship.

 

You couldn't have saved $900 on my upcoming 5 night RCI ship on the nicest ship - Radiance of the Seas. For that matter you couldn't have saved $200. You could have gotten on board for $179pp interior as recently as 3 weeks ago. Does Carnival have any middle aged ships for that price AND major storage ability in the cabin? For that matter - $349pp was a large balcony price for 5 nights on Radiance. It was less for a smaller balcony room.

 

I've enjoyed the other passengers on Carnival with no major difference. It's the luck of the draw with each cruise.

 

I don't care what's on television on either line since I don't watch it. I'm happy to have no TV or telephone. If I have to see it, I DVR it at home. :)

 

I'll cruise either line but pick RCI unless there is some major reason to choose Carnival...like who I'm going with or the port since they don't do the same ports exactly.

 

Gina

[Kaboochi]

 

 

Thanks for the comparison. We've sailed both and there are plus's with each. Are you sure you can't bring cokes on RCCI? Sailing them in Feb and I thought we were able to bring them on in the past. Has this changed? Thanks