Carnival to RCCL

[RedLightVegas]

Hey just a couple of questions.

My husband and I are pretty new to crusing. We've only been on 2 in the past 2 years because we travel all the time.

Went to Europe for 2 weeks earlier this year (Amsterdam and Cologne) and now we're planning on a quickie vacation for the end of this year which happens to be a 4 day cruise to Cozumel on Navigator of the Seas.

 

My husband and I tend to be bit of "partiers." We both have corporate jobs and make good money so when we go on vacation I like to sit back and drink and really just have a good time. Both are super artistic and very casual. We're 25 and 27 years old. Go to Vegas once a year and travel for the sole sake of living it up.

We have no kids and don't plan on having any. (But kids don't bother us)

 

Is Royal Caribbean right for us? LoL

 

RCCL just seems to have more to do activity wise which is what we're looking for. We don't hate Carnival, just want to try something new.

 

How much is it to eat in Johnny Rockets?

 

Does the "cover" for Portofino and Chops cover the cost of your meal or are there "al la carte" items you have to pay for in addition to your "cover."

 

Do the rooms have flat screens?

Does it cost to skate in the ice rink?

 

Are there lines for everything? (Movie theatre, skating rink, etc.)

I mean lines to the point where it's uncomfortable and not worth waiting.

[Carolin]

You will have a great time on either line. Just a heads up, if kareoke is your thing then you will have to do without on RCCL (unless thats changed recently).

[ltbw038]

I think you will really enjoy the Navigator. As far as fun things to do, there is a myriad of activities. The late night dancing and drinking is usually great fun in the disco, but a lot depends on the crowd you have. The ice skating is free, I think the cover at JR's is like 4 bucks. The cover at chops and portifino includes everything except wine or alcohol. Portofino has always been wonderful in my experience. You can order multiple apps, but you will pay $10 for a second entree, which you probably won't need. The lines are never bad, just get tickets for the ice show early! I hope you have a wonderful time!

[ltbw038]

They had kareoke the last few times I sailed in the On Air Lounge.

[jeast]

I thought they had Karaoke at 'on air' on the freedom?

[mom2two2]

We sailed NOS to Cozumel/Belize last Jan and had a great time. You sound similar to us but we are a little older...lol. We were on the first long vacation without the kids and wanting to party a wee bit...lol. There were not a ton of kids on board.

 

You may have to "work" a little to find the young scene. I mean absolutely NO disrespect when I say that NOS on our sailing had ALOT of older people. We just checked the Compass each day and made plans accordingly. One night there was an 18+ (maybe 21+? I forget) party up on deck in the Solarium....Club style DJ, lots of dancing and drinks. Before we knew it, it was 2:30 or something in the morning. LOL. I think it was the night before the last sea day. Look for that kind of thing.

 

You will have a good time, we really enjoyed ourselves.

 

Johnny Rockets was a $4.95 surcharge but if I remember correctly drinks (pop and shakes etc) were extra. LOTS of food - rings and fries etc.

 

Lines for shows etc were not bad at all.

 

Fun English style pub on the promenade. Order a couple drinks and do not be shy about participating and you will have lots of fun in there. When we sailed there was a woman named Christine who played live guitar and funny drinking songs in there. Handed out bells and tamborines and had the crowd joining in up front. That place was packed often.

 

Hope this helps....I think I rambled a little.....

[ltbw038]

The movie theatre is small, showing stuff that is a few months old. Never any line, but it is small, maybe 30 seats, and I wouldnt waste any time there. The shows are great fun. I might suggest late dining, I have always liked having a few hours to chill after a long day before dinner. I'm up late, so late dining works better for me.

[ltbw038]

We sailed NOS to Cozumel/Belize last Jan and had a great time. You sound similar to us but we are a little older...lol. We were on the first long vacation without the kids and wanting to party a wee bit...lol. There were not a ton of kids on board.

 

You may have to "work" a little to find the young scene. I mean absolutely NO disrespect when I say that NOS on our sailing had ALOT of older people. We just checked the Compass each day and made plans accordingly. One night there was an 18+ (maybe 21+? I forget) party up on deck in the Solarium....Club style DJ, lots of dancing and drinks. Before we knew it, it was 2:30 or something in the morning. LOL. I think it was the night before the last sea day. Look for that kind of thing.

 

You will have a good time, we really enjoyed ourselves.

 

Johnny Rockets was a $4.95 surcharge but if I remember correctly drinks (pop and shakes etc) were extra. LOTS of food - rings and fries etc.

 

Lines for shows etc were not bad at all.

 

Fun English style pub on the promenade. Order a couple drinks and do not be shy about participating and you will have lots of fun in there. When we sailed there was a woman named Christine who played live guitar and funny drinking songs in there. Handed out bells and tamborines and had the crowd joining in up front. That place was packed often.

 

Hope this helps....I think I rambled a little.....

Christine is VERY fun!

[akcruz]

RedLight, Carnival and RCCI and more similar than different. There are places to hang out and relax and places to party it up. You may need to look around a bit to find where the fun is happening on your sailing, but you will find it. You will have disco, the pub on the promenade which usually has music, the schooner bar that has sing along piano, not sure what it is on Voyager, but the Viking Crown up on deck 14 that usually has jazz, a latin bar on most of the ships and more. There is activity on the promenade all the time.

 

I agree, I've seen Karaoke available whenever I've sailed on Royal. It isn't in the same place on each ship, but has always been there.

 

Oh, and one last thing, if you are into partying, defintely go see Quest. Sounds like you guys would get a kick out of it.

 

ETA - Just saw mom2two's post. I agree with everything she said there, and will add we found the Royal ships to appear much less crowded than an equivalent Carnival ship. One thing Royal does very well is their ship design, spreads out the passengers very nicely, only lines for the 1 time events that everyone wants to go to.

[templed]

I just took my first Carnival Cruise... and while I'm sure that you'd have fun on Carnival... I think you'd get more from your money on a Royal Caribbean Cruise.

 

.... Either line... you'll have fun. And each has a very similar product... but I think that Royal Caribbean has a better "all around" product.

[printingchick]

Hey just a couple of questions.

My husband and I are pretty new to crusing. We've only been on 2 in the past 2 years because we travel all the time.

Went to Europe for 2 weeks earlier this year (Amsterdam and Cologne) and now we're planning on a quickie vacation for the end of this year which happens to be a 4 day cruise to Cozumel on Navigator of the Seas.

 

My husband and I tend to be bit of "partiers." We both have corporate jobs and make good money so when we go on vacation I like to sit back and drink and really just have a good time. Both are super artistic and very casual. We're 25 and 27 years old. Go to Vegas once a year and travel for the sole sake of living it up.

We have no kids and don't plan on having any. (But kids don't bother us)

 

Is Royal Caribbean right for us? LoL

I took six cruises on Carnival before switching to RCCL. I enjoyed my Carnival cruises, but prefer RCCL. As another poster said, they have a lot of similarities. Both market to a younger passenger. Both offer a lot of the cheesy stuff that some of us LOVE and others find silly or tacky. (Hairy Chest/Sexy Legs contest, Belly Flop Contest, etc.)

 

RCCL just seems to have more to do activity wise which is what we're looking for. We don't hate Carnival, just want to try something new.

I think you just hit the nail on the head. Royal appeals to a more active passenger. I'm sure having a rock-climbing wall as a symbol of their ships is meant to convey that. I was sometimes bored during Carnival sea days. I just can't sit by the pool and drink all day. I like to be more active. I've been on three RCL cruises now and have seen or participated in: The Sexy Legs Contest (I was a judge - wicked fun), crew versus passenger dodge ball game (on my first RCL cruise we had a very young and athletic captain who actually played in this game!), crew versus passenger water volleyball game, Belly Flop Contest, ping pong tournaments, ice skating, in-line skating, the Flow-Rider surfing pool, mini golf, the rock climbing wall...you get the point.

 

How much is it to eat in Johnny Rockets?

It costs $4.95 to eat at Johnny Rockets. The cover charge is for all you can eat. Malts cost extra. They are billed like any other virgin specialty drink.

 

Does the "cover" for Portofino and Chops cover the cost of your meal or are there "al la carte" items you have to pay for in addition to your "cover."

The cover charge at all specialty restaurants includes everything, even the tip. You can, of course, leave more if you choose.

 

Do the rooms have flat screens?

When I cruised on Freedom of the Seas, the rooms had flat screen TVs. On Voyager and Radiance class, they still had regular TVs.

Does it cost to skate in the ice rink?

It does not cost anything to skate or to rent skates. The rink is open on days where there will NOT be an ice show. The performers will be using the rink for practice on those days. You do need to wear long pants to skate. There is no charge for the in-line skating on Voyager class ships either.

 

Are there lines for everything? (Movie theatre, skating rink, etc.)

I mean lines to the point where it's uncomfortable and not worth waiting.

 

The lines are very dependent on the ship and the activity. I've never had to wait in line at the theatre. You will wait in line to pick up ice show tickets (free, but you need tickets). They have the show on more than one day and you get tickets for the performance that best fits your schedule. Not everyone can fit into the rink for a single performance.

Personally, unless you're really set on doing the FlowRider, I'd recommend a Voyager class ship over the Freedom class. I found Freedom to be way too crowded at public events and forget about trying to get an elevator. The ship carries two thousand more people using the SAME number of elevators. And with kids who think of the elevators as amusement park rides, it's a nightmare.

 

My #1 piece of RCL advice - do NOT miss the Quest game!! And don't let people spoil it for you before you go. It's more fun to be surprised!!

Have fun!!

[klfhngr]

We've done both lines and we like to 'party' also... If you like a lively crowd, stick with Carnival. Not that RCCL is boring or subdued, but it's definately not as 'wild'.

Another thing to take into consideration is that there is usually more partying on shorter cruises. And finally, it all depends on who's cruising that week, you might get a bunch of party animals! So you never know what type of crowd you have until you get there. The Roll Calls here can give you a slight idea as to whom you'll be cruising with.

[aldewitt]

I just took my first Carnival Cruise... and while I'm sure that you'd have fun on Carnival... I think you'd get more from your money on a Royal Caribbean Cruise.

 

.... Either line... you'll have fun. And each has a very similar product... but I think that Royal Caribbean has a better "all around" product.

 

I agree that you'll likely have fun on either line, but I too think RCCL is better for the money. My experience on Carnival, and I've been on there 3 times, is that the guests tend to be satisfied with a lower quality product. I think the quality of the food is a lot better on RCCL. I've also never been on an RCCL cruise where someone had to be kicked off for drinking and fighting, and that's happened on one of my Carnival cruises.

 

Perhaps I don't see the similarities between the lines, and for that reason I wouldn't say both were similar. What I would say is that Carnival has been trying hard for family dollars, and so has RCCL. For that reason RCCL tends to have a lot of family-oriented entertainment and shows.

 

Anyway, have a great time.

[shellann]

We did a 4 day to Coz on Royal one week and the identical cruise the next week on Carnival. RCCL beat Carnival hands-down for nightlife and party atmosphere. I don't think the CD ever slept. Definitely more to do on RCCL! But I love Carnival too. lol