Carnival vs. Royal Caribbean Cruise Line?

[southern*belle]

I hope I don't offend anyone, but I have to ask.

 

I've been on RCCL Navigator of the Seas as my first cruise. I was supposed to travel on Carnival Paradise and found out via "my own research" :eek: (not the travel agent or any email from Carnival at all) that not only was my itinerary changed from a 7 day Western Caribbean cruise to a 15 day Panama cruise, but the boat was then the Carnival Triumph if I remember the ship name correctly. I was able to cancel with Carnival and went with RCCL instead. We didn't have 15 days to travel.........

 

I remember choosing the Paradise because it was a smoke free ship! To make a long story short, this makes me so leary about going on Carnival not to mention all the bad reviews I see all the time. Not just some of the time I mean all the time!!

 

What is the issue? I would still love to cruise with Carnival, but I take my vacations seriously and it's not the luck of the draw with me. I want to have a great time. And if I know that Carnival is 1. a Party Cruise Line, and 2. many people have issues with different boats, I'm finding it hard to see the good in Carnival.

 

So, someone please change my mind. I'd love to hear about a carnival cruise that you didn't get screwed on.

 

Not to mention, our cruise on RCCL, was during the time of Hurricane Ivan and Jean. Ivan leaving port and Jean coming back. We missed Grand Cayman, due to the damages, but they also offered more islands on the 7 day cruise than Carnival (Carnival had 3) and we had an awesome time.

 

Can anyone recommend a ship or itinerary they personally loved? I'm a 35 year old married woman, who doesn't care for the "Party Life" all the time, I want to relax on my vacation and enjoy it. I don't see that happening on a Carnival cruise, someone please change my mind!

[finoky]

I would recommend the Legend 8 day southern itinerary out of Fort Lauderdale. The ship is wonderful and will not feel crowded at all. You get four relaxing sea days and three really good ports.

[imosoreal]

Hello Southernbelle: I understand your concern. One of the reasons I work is to be able to take nice vacations. Let me put it to you like this. I have only cruised with RC once and with Carnival all other times. The differences I found were hardly any that I can remember. It was my opinion that RC sailed to more ports in a week on a seven day than did Carnival, however, I can't hold that to be true anymore since my Miracle cruise will be four ports. I have also seen a tremendous number of bad reviews about RC. Did they deter me from sailing with them? Not at all. I am eight years older than you and married too. I had heard that Carnival had the party ships, booze cruises, etc. I have not found that to be true. If you look for boozers and the like, I'm sure you can find them on any cruise. If you go on any vacation with a negative attitude, then of course it will be easy to find everything about the experience negative. I find that if I set out to enjoy myself that's exactly what happens. No one can really change your mind. If you already have a perception of something, the only way to change that is to experience it yourself.

[southern*belle]

carnivalcruisejunkie~ thanks for the itinerary option. I'll look at that one. :)

 

imosoreal~ your post is exactly what I'm talking about! I just needed to see what other people felt about their CCL experience for real. And I'm not the time to go looking for a party either, but thanks for your post! I have my eyes set on a Western Caribbean with Carnival. I pray all goes well.

 

Thanks :D

[stlrboo]

Your original 'scheduling' problems were the result of re-positioning and/or upgrading of service. Paradise was changed from non-smoking to smoking, as they had trouble filling the ship with groups, etc., because of the rule. I really wanted to take a cruise on the Paradise, but didn't specifically like its itinerary.. I believe the Paradise is now on the West Coast.

Our recent cruise of 7 days was on the Triumph, Western Caribbean; Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios and Cozumel.. ALL day in Cozumel (the late returners were a real treat that nite) with three 'sea days' mixed in which I enjoy immensely!! :) Our itinerary this April is similar, also Western, tho' they call it 'exotic'.. Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Belize with a sea day at each end. Sounds interesting.. and on a Spirit class ship!

 

As a previous poster mentioned.. if you look for the 'partiers', they are there.. We had no problem finding things to do to our liking, and if we wanted to 'tip a few' we could join in, but it certainly wasn't prevelant.. We just enjoyed 'walking' the ship, the decks and enjoying everyone else on the cruise. You'll love Carnival.. a cruise is what you make of it. :D

 

ps: We are sailing RCI Jewel of the Seas in April 2006, so I'm not just pro-Carnival.. I just like to 'cruise'..

[HeidiHo]

I havn't been on RCI but have been on 3 Carnival cruises and all 3 were fantastic. Our last cruise was 2 years ago on the Pride when it was in the caribbean. It is now on the west coast. I have heard negative things about almost all cruise lines. You just have to take them with a grain of salt. I wouldn't hesitate to do a Carnival cruise.

[gabbygirl123]

My very first cruise was on Elation. This was when it did the Mexican Riviera route. My husband and I had a wonderful and thought that the ship was beautiful. Service was wonderful, blah,blah,blah. For our next cruise we decided to do the Western Caribbean. We went on Voyager of the Seas. The ship was much bigger, a lot newer, and more things to do. The itenerary was also great because it made four stops. So we go on our cruise, which we paid more for than we would have a Carnival, and also had a great time. The thing that I really liked was how everyone got off of the ship in Labadee and we had the whole pool area to ourselves. It was great. The pool on RCCL has this border area which is more like a wading area, where when it's not crowded you can lay and sunbathe, but you don't get too hot because you have the water to cool you down. It was weird though because there were certain things that I missed about Carnival. I loved how on Elation there is an outdoor grill by the pool where you can get your lunch. You don't have to get all dried off and dressed to eat. I also missed the sushi, the pizza, and the caesar salads. That brings me to last year. I really wanted to go back on Carnival, but it was the pool that made me go back to RCCL, how crazy does that sound. We picked the same itinerary and decided that we would stay on board when we were in Jamaica and have the place to ourselves. Well, it didn't work out that way. We had rain almost our entire cruise, it was still warm, but it was kind of annoying. Being from Washington state the rain doesn't bother us that much and we still had a wonderful time, but I didn't get to take advantage of the pool, which was the whole reason that we booked with RCCL again. As far as outdoor activities obviously the Voyager class ships have a lot more. Rock climbing wall, mini golf, in-line skating, ice skating rink. But going on the same class of ship and the same intinerary twice we still didn't find time to use all of it. Right now I am working on picking a cruise and know for sure that it will be on Carnival. It seems to me that Carnival offers more activities throughout the day than RCCL does. I also believe that they are less expensive, not only for the cruise, but other things like pictures, etc. We will probably go on Valor, on the W. Caribbean route. There will be four stops. And as far as Carnival being one big party boat I don't think that is true at all. Sure there are a lot of bars, but there are just as many on RCCL. I think that there is so much to do on any of the cruise ships anymore that you will be comfortable doing what you want and won't feel out numbered by others that are partying a little harder than you are.

[PrincessJul]

Our first cruise was on RCL's Explorer of the Seas Western Caribbean route and I came home convinced that I should be their new spokesperson because NO ONE could love them more than me!! I loved the ship, the crew, the itinerary and really loved Labadee.....the private beach thing to me is awesome because you get off the ship but don't feel hurried....very relaxing. Anyway, the next cruise we took was Carnival's Conquest out of New Orleans, Western Caribbean route again. I was very skeptical about Carnival just from reading all the stuff about the "party ships" as I am looking for sea, sun, and relaxation. But let me tell you, Carnival far exceeded my expectations. It was a great cruise. If you don't hang out in the bars and dance club type places, the only "partying" you'll see is around the main pool during the day where the band plays and they have all the crazy contests. And to me that was not annoying at all, but just part of the experience. There are other pools and sunning areas that are quiet also. The thing I REALLY loved about the RCL cruise is the staff and the cleanliness....EVERY single employee makes eye contact, smiles (genuinely), and addresses you. And they are ALWAYS and FOREVER cleaning cleaning cleaning. (elevator buttons, hand rails, etc.) I did not see this at all on Carnival - sometimes they totally ignored you and had conversations with other employees in front of you about things they shouldn't be talking about. Sometimes even angry and arguing! Wierd. And I love the option on the Voyager Class ships of the Solarium pool........quiet, closed off, cushy chairs, and only 16 and older can use it. But on Carnival, I loved the midnight buffets (every night) which RCL doesn't have. And I loved the grill by the pool for burgers and fries, etc. just about any time you want them. My kids liked the 24 hour ice cream. (RCL shuts off their machines at 8:00 p.m.)

 

Anyway - my point is............either one is excellent. Just depends on what is important to you. And Carnival (in my opinion) is NOT a step down......but it IS cheaper almost always. We definitely are not partiers, and we were pleasantly surprised to find all the rumors about Carnival to be false. Perhaps on some of the shorter 3 or 4 day cruises there would be some of that, I don't know.

 

One thing I found kind of interesting though was that we were first timers on the Explorer and we were upgraded immediately to an atrium room which overlooked the royal promenade (which I loved). I was surprised to have that happen with us not being past guests. And I later found out the ship was almost completely full the week we sailed.

[neverenufcruising]

I would recommend the Legend 8 day southern itinerary out of Fort Lauderdale. The ship is wonderful and will not feel crowded at all. You get four relaxing sea days and three really good ports.

 

I would 2nd this recommendation!! We had a great time on this cruise last month.

[puffer46]

southern*belle, It really is a matter of opinion when it comes to one ship or another. We have always cruised on Carnival and wanted to try Royal Caribbean forever. Finally a group of us went on R.C. Adv. of the Seas in the southern caribbean(my personal favorite itinerary). The Adv. of the Seas was a beautiful ship and there were things on that ship I liked that Carnival didn't have. (ice skating, rock climbing,etc). But we thought that this ship was a little too sedate for our tastes. We are not real partiers either but do enjoy having a few drinks. Carnival just seems to me to be more lively.... The dinning room is much more fun with your waiters and all. I know some people don't like the "singing waiters" etc. but we found it enjoyable. The whole experience on Carnival has always been more fun for us.(late 50's-early60's age group). I'm sorry you had a bad experience on your last cruise. But in all reality you could have a horrible time on another cruise. Lets hope that never happens!!!!!!!!! Good luck... Linda

[ukbballfan]

southern*belle

 

How weird...My first cruise was on the Paradise and my second was on the Navigator of the Seas. Being my "first' the Paradise will always be special to me. I am not a party person by any stretch of the imagination but felt quite at home on Carnival. The nightlife was there if I wanted but the quite back deck and star filled front bow was there aslo. You will probably have a letdown no matter what ship you sail after having the Navigator as your first cruise experience. The RCCL experience is a class act. The best way I can describe the two are this...on Carnival I felt like "one of the guys"...on RCCL I felt like I was the "boss".

 

One thing to take into consideration is the size of the ship you choose. Again having the Navigator as your first means you will more than likely be on a smaller ship in comparison to it. And after just recently having sailed on the 70,000 ton Pride of Aloha.....I found out that "size does matter"! I am looking at booking the Carnival Destiny to the southern Carribean next Jan. Its a nice size ship and I've always wanted to go to Barbados.

 

Do a little research through some of the port of call boards and look to see what others are saying about activities available on that island. When you see things going on that you enjoy in a few places then look for a ship that goes there. The Pride of Aloha was a big disapointment but the Hawaiian Islands more than made up for it. So what I'm saying is make sure the ports of call are what you really want and then even if the ship you choose turns out to be not the greatest, you still have your port time to make your vacation special.

[Carnival Queen]

 

Can anyone recommend a ship or itinerary they personally loved? I'm a 35 year old married woman, who doesn't care for the "Party Life" all the time, I want to relax on my vacation and enjoy it. I don't see that happening on a Carnival cruise, someone please change my mind!

 

I actually had a similar dilemma about RCCL. I'd always cruised Carnival and loved it, but a few year's back we booked RCCL Enchantment of the Seas to try something different. 12 days before we were to said (with our boys during Easter vacation), the ship was dry docked due to a fire in the engines. We had booked about a year in advance and our airfare was booked separately, so we had to scramble to get on any other ship that busy vacation week (preferably the same ports - Western Caribbean). Thankfully our agent got us on the then new Paradise - we would up having to get 2 cabins and paid a little more, but it was well worth it. Was our best cruise ever!! I wondered it it was a sign that I was meant to stick with Carnival?!!

 

Until now - a close second (or maybe the new favorite) was the Miracle - we just returned from a 2/13 sailing. The ports were unbelievable (Grand Cayman and Cozumel - our two favorites, and Costa Maya and Belize). I absolutely loved the ship - the layout (aside from some of the funky decor) and our balcony cabin. As a matter of fact, I'm about to book the exact same ship again for next February - this time for President's Day week because my 15-year old son wants to come with us this time after hearing how great it was! I could have gotten a great deal on the new Liberty the week before, but we can't wait to do the Miracle again and bring our son along this time.

 

We think the food on Carnival has gotten even better. We're not at all the party types (neither my husband nor I drink), and I thought this sailing was a pretty mellow crowd. There's always a mix of all types and all ages of people, which is what I like. This particular sailing had a lot of people from Michigan, since their kids were on vacation that week. It was also a little more casual (especially at dinner) than previous cruises we've been on, but that was okay. I just like to meet nice people and have a great time, and we certainly did. There is definitely something for everyone on Carnival.

 

I've actually heard a lot of reviews lately about RCCL going downhill - especially the food. Not sure why . . . we also met a family in Costa Mayer that was on RCCL this time (after about 6 Carnival cruises) with their two kids, and they said they definitely preferred Carnival, and their kids liked it better too and thought there was more to do on Carnival.

 

So, hopefully this changes your mind. We are in the 49/55 age bracket, and like I said, we've always met great people on all of our cruises - of all ages.

 

Any more questions, let me know . . .

[southern*belle]

Wow, I've gotten so many responses. I didn't really expect this. but I sure do appreciate it. We are going to do Carnival Legend in the Western Caribbean to Cost Rica and Panama. I'm going to do research on the ship now.

 

 

Thanks to all of you for everything.

 

P.S. - My mother cruises with CCL and has had no complaints either! That should be my clue as well.

 

 

thanks everyone! :D

[savandbarb]

I hope I don't offend anyone, but I have to ask.

 

I've been on RCCL Navigator of the Seas as my first cruise. I was supposed to travel on Carnival Paradise and found out via "my own research" :eek: (not the travel agent or any email from Carnival at all) that not only was my itinerary changed from a 7 day Western Caribbean cruise to a 15 day Panama cruise, but the boat was then the Carnival Triumph if I remember the ship name correctly. I was able to cancel with Carnival and went with RCCL instead. We didn't have 15 days to travel.........

 

I remember choosing the Paradise because it was a smoke free ship! To make a long story short, this makes me so leary about going on Carnival not to mention all the bad reviews I see all the time. Not just some of the time I mean all the time!!

 

What is the issue? I would still love to cruise with Carnival, but I take my vacations seriously and it's not the luck of the draw with me. I want to have a great time. And if I know that Carnival is 1. a Party Cruise Line, and 2. many people have issues with different boats, I'm finding it hard to see the good in Carnival.

 

So, someone please change my mind. I'd love to hear about a carnival cruise that you didn't get screwed on.

 

Not to mention, our cruise on RCCL, was during the time of Hurricane Ivan and Jean. Ivan leaving port and Jean coming back. We missed Grand Cayman, due to the damages, but they also offered more islands on the 7 day cruise than Carnival (Carnival had 3) and we had an awesome time.

 

Can anyone recommend a ship or itinerary they personally loved? I'm a 35 year old married woman, who doesn't care for the "Party Life" all the time, I want to relax on my vacation and enjoy it. I don't see that happening on a Carnival cruise, someone please change my mind!

Comparing the two as like putting apple and oranges against each other and asking if they are the same.:rolleyes: I have been on both( even went on the Paradise)but I find that if you want a fun ship( not a party ship) go Carnival.but if you want to go on a more relaxed and fancy ship go royal.I like the larger carnival ship and the smaller royal ones.just my opinion though.good luck with your choice.:D

[Carnival Queen]

Wow, I've gotten so many responses. I didn't really expect this. but I sure do appreciate it. We are going to do Carnival Legend in the Western Caribbean to Cost Rica and Panama. I'm going to do research on the ship now.

 

 

Thanks to all of you for everything.

 

P.S. - My mother cruises with CCL and has had no complaints either! That should be my clue as well.

 

 

thanks everyone! :D

 

Sounds good - good luck!

[margie1221]

Sounds like you've already gotten lots of advice but I thought I'd just throw in my two cents worth...

 

We've been on Carnival Destiny and Imagination and RCI Explorer of the Seas... in a nutshell I'd say the service is better on RCI but the food and live entertainment are far better on Carnival. Carnival seems like a better experience for kids too (including teenagers). Fellow cruisers seemed friendlier on Carnival to be honest - altho it was a blast to meet all the Harley people on our most recent cruise with over 80 bikes on board - they're a great bunch of fun-loving Americans and they chose RCI!!

[cruisercathy]

After a few Carnival cruises, my family which consists of me, my 2 sons ages 17 and 13 and my parents ages 78 and 75 went on the Navigator of the Seas, yes we jumped ship but we are back to Carnival........Carnival has the FUN....FUN....FUN..........better food, better entertainment......RCCL has the adult only pool area which is a plus.......that is all we found. It was a very quiet cruise.......

[JrMafia90]

I would recommend the Legend 8 day southern itinerary out of Fort Lauderdale. The ship is wonderful and will not feel crowded at all. You get four relaxing sea days and three really good ports.

 

WE are actually planning on doing this.

[MrPete]

I can't give you a comparison, as I've never sailed RC, but I've done 14 Carnival cruises in 17 years, and I've yet to see a "party boat".

 

I have my 15th Carnival cruise booked for May, and I have been estatic on each and every one of them.

[Sailfish]

I was one of those people who avoided Carnival, and pretty much stuck to Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Princess. I found that Royal Caribbean's Voyager class ships offer us more choice in active things to do while at sea, so that has been our favorite. I have sailed both the Navigator in 2003 and the Mariner last month. But I made the decision last year to try Carnival again, sailing on the Pride, and I am very glad I did.

 

Although we had a great vacation, enjoyed the ports of call in the Mexican Riviera and found the ship to be quite nice, I didn't care for the constant sales pitch or the lack of activities on the days we were at sea. There were many annoying announcements throughout the day all week long for bingo, the art auction, etc. And although lots of activities were scheduled through out the day, they were things like napkin folding, swing dance classes or hairy chest contests. No volleyball or other competative sports activities; just the gym and a few aerobics classes. One reason we love Voyager class ships is we enjoy things like the rock climbing wall, mini golf, skating and volleyball. There was volleyball everyday for 2 hours on the Mariner last month!

 

I realize we are somewhat in the minority, but from what I can tell, Carnival's activities are too sedentary for my taste. With that said, I thought the food on the Pride was much better than what we had on the Navigator or the Mariner. I thought the stateroom we had on the Pride was larger and better designed. I also enjoyed the nightly entertainment on the Pride more. There are pros and cons; it's best to do your homework. You are very smart to solicit input!

 

I too thought Carnival attracted a younger crowd, a more rowdy "party till you drop" clientele. Not so. I found the Pride to be a beautiful ship and will not hesitate to take my group on the ship in 2006. But Carnival has to do something about their constant emphasis on revenue generating activities. I got so sick of the cruise director constantly "reminding" us about bingo, the sale in the shops or about the excellent deal we can get on tanzanite in the jewelry store on the ship. I know all ships have these sorts of announcements, but not like the Pride.

 

Now that I know how it is, I can warn people in my group! Speaking of groups...Carnival is the best!

 

Good luck!

 

Suzi

[southern*belle]

Thanks everyone for responding. I'm now booked on the Carnival Legend for 8 days Western Caribbean (Costa Rica, Belize, Panama Canal)! And I'm just too excited!

 

Now, I've got to see whose coming with me!!!