Is Royal Caribbean REALLY better than Carnival??

[grumpytilicruise]

In June, I went on a family vacation with 25 family members on RCL and I come to the conclusion that CCL is SOOO MUCH BETTER! The first thing we noticed was on RCL, the rooms are tiny tiny! The bed is set up under the window and to look out, you had to crawl completely across the bed. The bathrooms are so tiny that I think you could put 2 RCL bathrooms in 1 CCL bathroom. Another thing is their food just does not compare to CCL. On CCL you get the warm chocolate melting cake or the bitter-n-blanc, RCL nothing fabulous unless you order the brownie off the childrens menu. Their stage on the soverign class is even tiny compared to the fantasy class. There didn't seem to be a lot going on around the ship on sea day either. Needless to say, I slept on sea day which is something I usually do not do. I can always find something to do on Carnival so I don't usually have time to sleep. There were other things but these are the ones that sttod out to my husband and I.

 

This is MY OPINION and I know others don't agree but this is just a poll.

[Tutankhamen]

:confused: I'm confused as to why that is surprising to you???? Do you not think it possible? Have all the snobs you've met been on one line or have they been on several different ones?? :confused:

 

I would guess that thru out a cruise I probably talk to 50 different people. I probably witness behavior of an additional 100 folks. 150 times 98 comes to about 14,700 cruisers. I have seen all kinds of people. Rude, friendly, obnoxious, caring, considerate, selfish, egotistic, vain, down to earth and yes snobbish.

 

Do I think it is possible not to come across snobs on ships? Yes, but it still surprises me that in 98 cruises, even if the ship capacity was only 1000 that would be close to 100,000, that you haven't crossed cruisers who have a snobbish way. I have read posts here (cruise critic) that come across as snobbish.

[nealstuber]

I would guess that thru out a cruise I probably talk to 50 different people. I probably witness behavior of an additional 100 folks. 150 times 98 comes to about 14,700 cruisers.I have seen all kinds of people. Rude, friendly, obnoxious, caring, considerate, selfish, egotistic, vain, down to earth and yes snobbish.

 

Do I think it is possible not to come across snobs on ships? Yes, but it still surprises me that in 98 cruises, even if the ship capacity was only 1000 that would be close to 100,000, that you haven't crossed cruisers who have a snobbish way. I have read posts here (cruise critic) that come across as snobbish.

 

I'm starting to enjoy your tactic of starting off with a whacky assumption, multipling, dividing then presenting it as fact.

 

My assumption is that, as people interact with each other, they inspire different traits and behaivors.

 

Some of us just bring out the worst in others. ;)

[lostinvegas]

Also some people who like Royal have some loyalty status that would give them perks that I as first time cruiser would not have, would I feel 2nd class?

 

I would say yes. On my first RCI cruise the people with loyalty status were first in line to board, had a seperate area with additional seating in the buffet and generally were given the first option on things like booking reservations etc.. This is one of the reasons I did not enjoy my cruise on RCI as much as other lines.

[frito58]

I voted It depends , I feel , most things on the ship are more alike than different as in food , service , shows , and what not , I just think some of RCI's ship just blow Carnival out of the water if you will pardon the pun:rolleyes: when it comes to the Voyager and Freedom class ships. I have not sailed the Oasis but I hear and read its something to see. But in saying that you also pay for those ships . we are sailing the Carnival Liberty this Nov. way cheaper than the AOS next spring . If you booked ships in the same port such as Dream vs Freedom I am sure you could book the Dream at a better price so its all in what you want IMHO.

[jtaylor2]

We are about to do our 5th cruise. This is number 3 on Carnival and the first on Carnival in a few years. I am interested in seeing if the changes that people talk about on CC on are as evident as some say.

[cruisercrazy69]

Neither are valid polls nor anything based of them. Too funny is that Royal Chumps seem to think otherwise. :p

If the polls were reversed both strong for CCL you would say they were BRILLIANT LOL

[Sargent_Schultz]

If the polls were reversed both strong for CCL you would say they were BRILLIANT LOL

 

You have no idea what I would say, so why pretend that you do? You aren't so BRILLIANT. :p

 

I don't think I have ever seen a BRILLIANT poll on CC. ;)

[Chigirlcruzin]

I would say yes. On my first RCI cruise the people with loyalty status were first in line to board, had a seperate area with additional seating in the buffet and generally were given the first option on things like booking reservations etc.. This is one of the reasons I did not enjoy my cruise on RCI as much as other lines.

 

Carnival does the same thing, except the buffet seating area.

[kruisingkouple]

We feel that they're about the same. There are noticeable declines in both lines, other than Oasis and Allure but as others have said, you also pay a lot more to sail on those ships. We don't cruise for the ship or the food, we consider it a floating hotel and love the fact that you can travel to another country while eating, sleeping, watching shows or having fun in the casino but it's all about exploring the ports. Get out of the port area and experience the island and the local people - so much fun!

[KirkWN737]

I personally find Carnival better than Royal Caribbean. But like someone else said, it's a matter of personal preference.

[Tapi]

.... I come to the conclusion that CCL is SOOO MUCH BETTER! The first thing we noticed was on RCL, the rooms are tiny tiny!

 

While I do respect your opinion, let's be fair here. Your ONE experience on Royal was aboard the MONARCH OF THE SEAS; their oldest ship. Not a good representation of what Royal has to offer....

 

It would be the equivalent of sailing on the (now retired) Holiday and saying that based on that one ship, Carnival as a whole is so much worse.

[DragonMouse]

LOL...a funny note to remember about RCI that "I" discovered. On RCI they have waiters/waitresses that serve "specific" tables. Their names are on the tables on little cards. Their names are "unusual" to us American types. Some of the tables were reserved for DIAMOND customers so when I saw all those little cards on the tables I figured they were "reserved". OMG...it was TRUE...all the horrible comments about no tables being available in the buffet..every one of them was reserved...I finally just got rebellious and sat down at one...after all no one was using it or seemed to be coming...

 

:p...ooop...it wasn't reserved after all...that was our waiters name. A thousand lashes with a wet noodle to me for being stupid. Alas...on Carnival I've never had a specific waiter/waitress assigned in the buffet.

[HMM]

We just got off the Carnival Valor last week. A year ago we were on the RCCL Navigator. There are pros and cons to both. I would give RCCL a slight edge overall; however, my 12 year old would not agree and overwhelmingly favored CCL. Here is a brief run down.

 

Embarkation and debarkation: Overwhelmingly the edge goes to Carnival here. However, I don't know if it was the particular port- Carnival was in Miami and RCCL in Ft. Lauderdale or the cruise line; however, the Carnival process was much faster and organized.

 

Ship overall: Edge to RCCL. The Carnival Valor was a bit difficult getting around and figuring out- Navigator had a better flow about it and better appearance overall.

 

Cabin: Slight edge to Carnival. We had a balcony cabin on each and the Carnival cabin seemed better organized with more room to store all our stuff.

 

Food: RCCL slight edge. Seems most people I talked to favored Carnival, but I felt RCCL's food was slightly better.

 

Entertainment: Big edge to Carnival. Always more tons to do.

 

Kids programs: Edge Carnival

 

Level of cruiser: Big edge to RCCL. The best way to describe this is like comparing Walmart customers (Carnival) to Target customers (RCCL). Carnival definately had an lower class of customer, probably due to the lower pricepoint. This isn't to say that there weren't many very fine people on the Carnival cruise.

 

There is my two cents.

[cruise_girl2002]

My opinion is that the service is a step up with Royal. The tips aren't automatically added unless you specifically request. On Carnival, the tips are added automatically. So I feel like the servers don't feel the need to impress you as much. They know they are already getting the tip unless all of the passengers go down to guest services and ask for the tip to be removed. On Royal, you provide the tip specifically to those that serve you, so in my opinion they work a lot harder. I've experienced much better service on my Royal cruises than my Carnival cruises.

 

The prices are always more expensive though. For example, we booked a RCI cruise for next summer that is 200 more per person than the same exact cruise on Carnival. So basically it comes down to how much you are willing to pay.

 

Personal preference is that I like RCI better and if the price was cheaper, I would always use them. Carnival has also came up with some better itineraries from FLL and MIA. Royal is still doing the same old tired itins that most people have done. So lately, Carnival has been getting our business so that we can try new ports.

 

I think this changed. when we sailed last year, our tips were automatically included and charged to our card (i think it was $12 per person per day). even though we didnt like the service, we kept our tips on. we felt they tried