RC or Carnival

[ldw81]

DH and I are thinking about taking a cruise in Italy next summer. I have looked into both Carnival (which we have sailed on before) and Royal Carribean.

Which is better for Europe?

[KirkNC]

It depends on what you want. To me Carnival is a younger crowd, more kids, more partying. RC will be a more mature crowd.

 

Kirk

[I&MsMom]

We did an Eastern Med. on Carnival a couple of years ago - it was shoulder season, though (April). It was a CC group cruise, so I got to know many of the fellow pax more than I likely would have on another cruise. Many of our cruisemates were 50+ and most were very, very well traveled. Amercians were well represented, but so were many other nationalities: Australian, South African, and many European countries pop to mind. There were some children, but most were not American, or were ex-pats living elsewhere in Europe.

 

One thing to consider: Carnival's ship in the Med. next summer will be brand new.

 

We had a great experience with Carnival - never having sailed RCL, I can't compare.

 

I'm not familiar with RCL's itinerary, but be sure to consider time in port. The ports for Florence (Livorno) and Rome (Civitavecchia) are a fair distance from those cities. Also, with these very intensive Med. itineraries, sea days are very welcome! (We're sailing a 7 night western Med. with NO sea days next month, and I'm already trying to build up my stamina! :p)

 

Here's a link to my trip report of our Carnival Med. cruise: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=560927&highlight=

 

Whatever you decide to do, have a great time!:)

[chipmaster]

Ports and schedule first, all other things being totally equal of the first two then the ship should be considered. One spends some much time in port ( hopefully ) that IMHO ship is the a distant third consideration.

 

Happy planning

 

DH and I are thinking about taking a cruise in Italy next summer. I have looked into both Carnival (which we have sailed on before) and Royal Carribean.

Which is better for Europe?

[misspupule]

we did a transatlantic oct 2008 with carnival splendor and it was fabulous. we had a mix of young and old with a few kids. don't understand what OP says about more partying and younger crowd, since i've been on both cruise lines and preferred carnival. to each his own. look at the itinerary, if it suits your fancy go with it. plus keep up with roll call, it was nice to see them on board: go on tours together, have dinner or cocktails with fellow CC's. whatever you decide have fun.

miss pupule

[hubofhockey]

I disagree with the post about Carnival being a "party ship", especially for a Med cruise. They have been out of the Med for a couple of years and they are sending a brand new ship there and their prices are very good. I had actually thought about doing Carnival for the Med because of the prices. But this is the year we're doing Med and we're actually happy doing a longer Princess Med itinerary. OP, any reason you aren't considering Princess?

[epixx]

We sailed on Carnival 3 times in Europe, including 2 12 day Med itineraries and one 12 day Baltic cruise. We also sailed last year on Princess Ruby 12 night Med. I agree with Chipmaster that port stops and port times are most important. We found far more similarities between Carnival and Princess than differences. Both were great! Overall we slightly preferred Carnival in the Med, so that we're booked for next summer on the 12 night Carnival Magic. The port stops and times in port are excellent for that itinerary. Have fun choosing.

[D4]

We consider the ports the most important and then the ship, and then the cruise line.

 

All things being equal, we'd select Carnival because we're Platinum and can send out our laundry every day for free! That is always a nice benefit, but it would be even more useful on a longer Med cruise.