Sensation or RCI Grandeur?

[momto2]

We are looking to cruise out of New Orleans and I am looking for the best cruise for the $. Does anyone have opinions regarding one of these ships over the other? Any other recommendations are also welcomed. Should I consider the Conquest? TIA for all your help!

[leeleent]

MY husband and I have been on the conquest and Granduer of the seas. We have now booked our next cruise on the sensation in april. We truly enjoyed granduer alot more than the conquest. The conquest was alot more crowed than granduer. We had more to do and had a better time on granduer, but now we are going with the sensation as it is in NO and we believe it too will be better than the conquest. I hope I'm right. Good Luck on your choice.

[Cruisegirl6]

In my cruise opinion and advice....

 

Choose the Sensation.....Grandeur although a beautiful ship has a different layout, check out the brochures and you will see there are many areas where you need to walk to this end, that end, up a flight and down another flight to get to public rooms. I found the entertainment on Carnival to be more assortment and variety. I love the midnight adult comedy shows that Carnival offers and on Carnival ships there is more activity in late evening hours than on on the Grandeur. If you have children they will enjoy Carnival more and Carnival has nice video game rooms on their ship, more assortment of different games and more to choose from. Casino's on Carnival are larger. The Sensation does not have a solarium where the Grandeur does, so you need to consider what is more important to you. As far as food, RCI has gone downhill but they are probably compatible to one another. People tend to dress a bit more upscale on RCI and Carnival is more laid back and informal.

This year, we are going back on Carnival and not even considering RCI as we found the prices on RCI also to be higher, so I would make price an option to your decision, they are both good, but my choice is Carnival and Princess.

[Cruising89143]

I guess it would all depend on what is more important. If price is then I would say go with the least expensive.

 

I just got off my first seven night cruise on RCI last month and I have to say that it was outstanding in every way. I have been on a lot of Carnival ships and none of them could hold a candle to the Navigator.

 

I found the food to be better than Carnival in some areas and weaker in others. I like that fact that one can get hot food for breakfast from room service on RCI. Dinner can also be ordered for room service. Carnival has better pizza. The Sensation is one of Carnival's older ships which came into service in 93/94.

 

You will find that nightlife is going to vary from cruise line to cruise line by the make up of the passengers for a particular sailing. I found that RCI in many ways offered more entertainment in the evening over Carnival.

 

Good luck and I'm sure that you will have a great cruise no matter which one you choose.

[12Cruise]

The Grandeur! I've been on her twice, the Sensation once and I'm getting ready to go on the Sensation again in Feb. I've also been on Princess and NCL... and so far the Grandeur is my favorite for ship layout. I love the indoor adults only solarium...my favorite one on the sea...well, the Golden Princess solarium was pretty dang nice, too.

 

Plus, I like the ships that have the Promenade deck where you can walk around the middle of the ship. The Sensation and her class do not have that, in order to go outside you have to go up to the top of the decks. The Grandeur does have a real Promenade deck. But, like I said...we are going again in Feb. on the Sensation and we are very excited about it.

 

I think the food has been the best on the Carnival ships that I've been on...a total of 3, I would rank the food #1 Carnival, #2 Princess, #3 RCCL and lastly NCL.

 

This is of course JMHO...others will experience their cruise totally different and that is A-OK!!! And I've never been on a bad cruise...I mean, how bad can it be when you are being fed every meal, someone cleaning your room twice a day, getting to see mostly good entertainment...and the best of all...sitting quietly watching the world go by as you cruise down the Caribbean.

 

Enjoy!!

[yuyi64]

Here's another vote for the Grandeur. I explained my choice in a reply to the similar thread you posted on the Royal Caribbean board.

[lucyjohnz]

One thing I've consistently found on Carnival ships during peak times (summer, holidays) is that they really seem crowded. If you're not going during peak times, crowds probably aren't as big a problem.

 

I was on Sensation 3 years ago on my 2nd cruise (I've since been on 6 more cruises). What I remember more than anything is that the ship was very crowded (2600 on our Christmas cruise) and that the decor was very neon and garish. My next cruise was on RCI's Monarch and it was far less crowded (same time - at Christmas) and the decor was much more subdued and relaxing. I have also cruised (early summer) on RCI's Rhapsody and it was an absolutely beautiful ship.

 

All that said, I still continue to cruise on Carnival because of the prices - I've since cruised Victory and Jubilee and plan on an Ectasy cruise in February with a RCI Med cruise on Splendour in late May. I've also done 2 Celebrity cruises (at reasonable prices), but while their service is wonderful and ship decor is again, subdued and relaxing, Celebrity's entire cruise experience was a little too laid back for me.

 

All said, I look at price first, then itinerary, then the cruise line, then the ship.

[momto2]

Thanks so much for the responses. It seems either would be a good choice. It seems, from looking at posts, the Grandeur is in need of refurbishment. I will also be traveling with 2-10 year old boys and 3-13 year old girls. Would this make any difference in your recommendations? TIA !

[robsvacation]

Not the best of choices I'm afraid. The Sensation, of the carnival ships I've sailed on, was the ugliest inside. The decor looks like it was inspired by a traveling carnival midway. Food, service and the overall feel of the ship was good though. I had friends come off the Grand out of Baltimore this year and they were decidedly underwhelmed, especially by the food. Overall the Grand seems to rank low in terms of food and service, pointing to a shipboard management issue. Every fleet has a ship that tends to underperform, in the case of RCCL it's the Grand (if you look on the boards she seem to illicit the most complaints of the RCCL ships)

[yuyi64]

Not the best of choices I'm afraid. The Sensation, of the carnival ships I've sailed on, was the ugliest inside. The decor looks like it was inspired by a traveling carnival midway. Food, service and the overall feel of the ship was good though. I had friends come off the Grand out of Baltimore this year and they were decidedly underwhelmed, especially by the food. Overall the Grand seems to rank low in terms of food and service, pointing to a shipboard management issue. Every fleet has a ship that tends to underperform, in the case of RCCL it's the Grand (if you look on the boards she seem to illicit the most complaints of the RCCL ships)

 

I agree with your assesment of the Sensation's decor, but I don't know what evidence you have to suggest that the Grandeur (if that's what you mean when you refer to a ship called "Grand") is a lowly-ranked ship or that it's the most underperforming ship in the RCCL fleet. If you look at the readers' poll on the Royal Caribbean board called "Favorite RCCL Ship", the Grandeur is the highest-ranked ship that is not part of the Voyager or Radiance class (the two newest RCCL ship classes). It even outpolls the often-praised Navigator of the Seas and the beautiful Jewel of the Seas. The Grandeur also has one of the highest repeat-cruiser rates of any RCCL ship. Have you actually been on this ship yourself or are you basing your opinion on just a few negative reviews?

[momto2]

Thanks for the post, I realize that niether of these is the best choice but the family we are traveling with have never cruised and don't want to spend a lot. We are traveling over Spring break which runs up the price considerably. In addition, they want to leave out of NO which is in driving distance. These seem to be the best options according to price. We have cruised on Disney twice and are afraid we will be dissappointed on either of these ships. The only upside is the price. As long as the ship is clean and fun and the food edible, we should be ok right? Please reassure me!

[Jen_G]

I have been on both of these ships and would go back on either one of them. I might give a slight edge to the Grandeur for service and decor. Although, my kids preferred the Sensation. They thought the kid's program on Sensation was much better and the other kids on board were friendlier. We were on both ships over previous spring breaks.

[yuyi64]

Relax, mom2to! I don't think you'll be disappointed with either ship. Don't expect Disney-like children's activities on either one, but you can still have a great cruise nonetheless. Book the cruise that's the best value since they both do a Western Caribbean itinerary. For my money, since you said the prices were almost the same, I would take the Grandeur's 7-day cruise over the Sensation's 5-day.