A "Loyal Royal" Floats the Triumph 7/16-7/20

[keishashadow]

:D

 

No worries - I have a vivid imagination !

 

LOL

 

I really appreciate everyone's mutual respect that has been shown in this thread while I write my review. I know brand loyalty is fierce for any cruise line, but one thing we all share is the blessing to be able to take trips like these no matter what line delivers the experience.

 

Many thanks!

 

well put and a good idea for reflection in this economy

[alexkrn46]

Didbthe Behind the Scenes Tour and hands down much better then the free D+tour.

[Georgiagolfer]

I really appreciate everyone's mutual respect that has been shown in this thread while I write my review. I know brand loyalty is fierce for any cruise line, but one thing we all share is the blessing to be able to take trips like these no matter what line delivers the experience.

 

Many thanks!

 

Totally agree, as DW and I are truly blessed to be. able to cruise. Too many things happening in the world today, to fight or degrade others over brand loyalty. Thanks for reminding me.

[Jana60]

I know brand loyalty is fierce for any cruise line, but one thing we all share is the blessing to be able to take trips like these no matter what line delivers the experience.

Many thanks!

 

Wow. Would you please send this same note to the members of the US Senate. Just change the words "brand" and "cruiseline" with "political party", and change the phrase "take trips like these" to "live in a great country like this" and it would fit perfectly.

 

Wanna See how it would sound? "Dear Senators, I know loyalty is fierce for your political parties, but one thing we all share is the blessing to be able to live in a great country like the USA no matter which political party is in power." See it works! Maybe we could get them to cooperate too???

 

Your statement even has some of us with "strong feelings" about our "cruiseline" taking a more tolerant stance. Bravo! Would you like to run for Senator??? :D

[HB Cruiser]

Wow. Would you please send this same note to the members of the US Senate. Just change the words "brand" and "cruiseline" with "political party", and change the phrase "take trips like these" to "live in a great country like this" and it would fit perfectly.

 

Wanna See how it would sound? "Dear Senators, I know loyalty is fierce for your political parties, but one thing we all share is the blessing to be able to live in a great country like the USA no matter which political party is in power." See it works! Maybe we could get them to cooperate too???

 

Your statement even has some of us with "strong feelings" about our "cruiseline" taking a more tolerant stance. Bravo! Would you like to run for Senator??? :D

 

Can everyone say "LIKE"!!!!! ;)

 

I nominate this post for post of the year!

 

Tim

[Almost Packed]

Can everyone say "LIKE"!!!!! ;)

 

I nominate this post for post of the year!

 

Tim

 

Where's that "Like" button?

[Almost Packed]

If you are buying, I am sailing! =)

 

Well neighbor, i've got your airfare covered....is that a good enough start? lol. Florida? NOLA? just let me know. :)

[TxBubba]

Wow. Would you please send this same note to the members of the US Senate. Just change the words "brand" and "cruiseline" with "political party", and change the phrase "take trips like these" to "live in a great country like this" and it would fit perfectly.

 

Wanna See how it would sound? "Dear Senators, I know loyalty is fierce for your political parties, but one thing we all share is the blessing to be able to live in a great country like the USA no matter which political party is in power." See it works! Maybe we could get them to cooperate too???

 

Your statement even has some of us with "strong feelings" about our "cruiseline" taking a more tolerant stance. Bravo! Would you like to run for Senator??? :D

 

I like how you put that together - Bravo to you!

 

No thanks on the Senator offer - I don't have a shovel big enough the handle the amount of bull crap that comes with the job. =) Besides it would cut into my cruising time.

[TxBubba]

Well neighbor, i've got your airfare covered....is that a good enough start? lol. Florida? NOLA? just let me know. :)

 

It's a start! =)

[firefly333]

I like how you put that together - Bravo to you!

 

No thanks on the Senator offer - I don't have a shovel big enough the handle the amount of bull crap that comes with the job. =) Besides it would cut into my cruising time.

 

those guys actually work??? News to me .. sounds like a job that you could never show up and still have.

[TxBubba]

Hello everyone,

Today's entry has to do with probably the most important topic for many of you - the food! Let me preface my comments and comparisons on the food by saying I am no chef, not a food critic, or even half knowledgeable on what food goes with what wine, how many cooked carrots you pair your roast beef with, or what temperature you should serve the gravy at. What I do know is that if it tastes good I am going to to eat it.

I have employed the services of my 14 year old son Richard to assist me in this part of the review. As with most healthy teenage boys in a growth spurt he could probably eat you out of house and home in a very short span of time. In addition, my lovely wife has provided some input on the food as well but her eating habits are much more restrained and sensible than I could ever hope to attain.

Our family's eating itinerary consisted of casual dining on the Lido deck for breakfast and lunch and all dinners eaten in the main dining room at the first sitting.

Ok, enough with the preface already... Let's eat!

Casual Dining - Layout and Choices

The eating choices on the Triumph for casual dining were all found on the Lido Deck (9). My entire family agreed that Carnival has got the casual dining down to a science in regards to both choices and layout. Comparing to RCCL's Windjammer Cafe, which usually has 2 long buffet lines and perhaps 1-2 food stations beyond the long lines, Carnival had what I counted at least 8 different ways to get food on the Lido Deck. For lunch by the main pool, you have two different food stations offering the American fair of hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, fries and usually one or two different options for specialty foods. Moving inward towards the center of the ship on this deck you find two other "windows" where you can get Chinese food at one and deli cut sandwiches at another. Moving further into the main air conditioned restaurant you had the two main buffet lines along with a salad bar island that included deserts. If you still needed more food you could continue to the back of the ship by the aft pool and find the 24 hour pizza place and another American style grill like the ones on the main pool deck. These same stations transformed at breakfast time to offer 3-4 places where you could get a made to order omelet and all sorts of hot and cold breakfast items. We rarely had any more than about a 5 minute wait to get food and the good Lord knows we did not starve.

Casual Dining - Food Quality

Here is where I turn part of the program over to Richard with his impressions and comparisons of the casual dining food. Take it away, Richard!

Pizza: Royal is the best, but Carnival is good.

Hamburgers: Carnival - buns were much better.

French Fries: Royal - tasted better

Hot Dogs: Carnival

Chicken nuggets: Carnival

Dough-nuts: No dough-nuts on Carnival! Are you kidding? Fail!

Omelets: Carnival - awesome.

Ice Cream: Same on both lines - good.

More "stuff" out for breakfast to eat, except dough-nuts.

Favorite food the entire trip: Gourmet Burger in the dining room.

Thanks Richard! Now, for a little commentary from myself and Mrs. TxBubba on the casual dining food:

For lunch, We found the deli station/window to be a really nice change from typical cruise fare. My wife enjoyed the wraps quite a bit. When I did eat off of the buffet line I found the food to good quality but nothing very special. The salad bar was always well stocked and fresh. I disagree with Richard on the french fries and the pizza.. I thought Carnival's were better than RCCL.

For breakfast I had an omelet every morning and the quality was excellent. I know it's hard to screw up an omelet, but I think they always taste better when someone else makes them, you know? We found the baked breads to be fresh, soft, and good tasting. I have to agree with my son that I was surprised that dough-nuts were not part of the menu. Richard feels that cruise ship dough-nuts are always better than the dough-nuts you buy on land so he was disappointed in that respect. My wife was also disappointed in the fresh fruit choices available in the mornings. There were a few choices but it was more limited than what we had experienced on RCCL. The fruit we did eat was very good. Last but not least I thought the house coffee was leaps and bounds better than Royal. I usually end up buying the Seattle's Best on the RCCL ships simply because I find their house coffee too bitter. Carnival's was much better and I did not buy a single cup of specialty coffee. For reference purposes, I am a 3-4 cup of coffee a day drinker.

 

The Dining Room Experience

I like dinner, and I really like having dinner on a cruise ship. I love the atmosphere of the dining room, the service, and the whole dining experience. It's a big part of our trip and we were a little nervous about the Carnival experience as I noted in my preconceived notions list. In the back of our minds we pictured waiters dancing on our table, food right off the buffet line and served on dirty dishes, having to use the same cloth napkin each evening, and paranoia over what the Carnival "ambiance" would be. I am happy to say it was a dining room and an overall nice experience with a few exceptions. Let's dig in...

We chose the main 6:00pm seating for dinner over the "anytime" option primarily from the reviews we read on Cruise Critic. Many cruisers had tried the anytime option and had complained about the long wait times involved. This did not sound very anytime to me so we passed. I did observe the anytime dining option waiting area on several occasions and the wait looked long and the people in line looked hungry. Early seating on the RCCL ships we had sailed on recently was 5:30pm which was too early so the dinner bell ringing at 6:00pm on Carnival was good for us. We had a table for 6 that was off to the port side in the Paris Dining Room, away from the center of the dining room. Unfortunately our dinner table mates only came for formal night and the last night of the trip. They just preferred the casual dining options over rushing and getting in to dinner by 6:00pm. Table mates make dinner fun and I think meeting new people and having dinner with them is part of the experience of a cruise. Our table mates were great to visit with and we were happy to have them when they were there. No horror stories here folks, sorry.

We were fortunate to have a good wait staff but I have to admit I can now see why some cruisers have complained about dining room service. It seemed that our experience was somewhat rushed each evening due to the fact the wait staff had a lot of tables to attend to. They were trying to keep all of the tables "even" with where they were in the dinner process so every night there were parts of the service that were rushed. For example, one evening we were with our table mates and about half of us had finished dinner but the other half were still working on their main course. Those that were finished had their plates whisked away and a desert menu handed to them and the waiter stood there waiting for our desert order. He seemed shocked when I asked if we could wait until the rest of the party finished their meals so we could enjoy desert together. The waiter of course complied but seemed put out a bit. Bar service was also a bit difficult to get in the dining room even though I was ordering wine each evening. Again, I think the bar service waiters had too much territory to cover.

This was also the first cruise where I didn't feel like I got to know the wait staff like I had on other trips. Again, this appeared to be a symptom of them having too many tables to manage. On every cruise I have been on I have always managed to get a picture of my son with the wait staff as the experience is always a memorable one. Not on this trip. On most RCCL cruises we were on there was always a visit each evening from the maitre'd to see how our dinner service was that evening. The only maitre'd we heard from on this cruise was the one making the general announcements and leading the waiters in a song or a dance over the PA system. On the RCCL ships the waiter would start the dinner with a brief discussion of the menu and a recommendation, and always end the evening discussing the next day's port of call and to let us know the operating hours of the dining room the next day. On this cruise I was lucky if I got to say goodbye to the waiter before we left each evening. Please understand I am not condemning the wait staff at all but I am condemning the amount of work they are expected to carry. I think Carnival is really doing their passengers a great disservice here.

There was a brief "show" each night put on by the wait staff. They would either sing a song out of key or do a little dance, both of which were a lot of fun. They did not jump on our table, spit in our food, or steal our women as some have suggested they do. However, we could not see everything that went on from our vantage point but it sure appeared to be fairly tame. Many times our wait staff did not participate as they were just too damn busy with their jobs.

The Dining Room Food

The menus on Carnival have a few minor differences than RCCL which I enjoyed. There was always the daily menu choices and the food you could get anytime, but I loved the daily choice of something unique like Alligator Fritters. They also had a daily choice of comfort food like fried chicken or meatloaf. I thought these changes were a great idea to reach a much wider audience.

My wife really enjoys fish and looks forward to the cruise line's dinner selections but on this trip she was somewhat disappointed. The salmon was mediocre and a few of the fish entre's were served a little over cooked. She said they were certainly good to eat but she just expected a little better. Her favorite meal was the lobster on formal night.

For me, I usually had a beef selection each night and I was not disappointed at all. The prime rib was cooked perfectly and the steak I ordered one night was a decent cut of meat and cooked to my satisfaction. We sampled a chicken and pasta combination one night when we thoroughly enjoyed and I regret I cannot remember the name of it. My son ate only one vegetable the entire trip: Caesar Salad. He loves it and said Carnival's was very good.

Desert was a lot of fun and I can see why so many rave about the chocolate melting cake and vanilla ice cream. It was by far my favorite desert and I had it on three different nights. My wife said the Cappuccino Cake was her favorite and I think my son ate half of the ship's supply of orange sherbet. My wife had the tropical fruit plate one evening off of the desert menu and was very pleased at the fruit offered - which furthered her disappointment that she could not get the same fruits in the mornings.

So, where does all of that leave us? After a lot of deliberation and contemplation I think my family agrees that RCCL gets the edge in the main dining room.

Let's take a look at how we scored this category:

Casual Dining layout and service: Carnival

Casual Dining food quality and selection: Carnival (with judge's stern reprimand regarding the lack of dough-nuts)

Main Dining Room experience: RCCL

Main Dining Room food: RCCL

Totals: Carnival - 6, RCCL 3

Are you surprised how this is going so far? I have to admit I am surprised but in a great way.

Up Next: the PEOPLE - Observations on the crew and the passengers.

[jasbo49]

Up Next: the PEOPLE - Observations on the crew and the passengers.

 

Wow, T-bub, I hope you know what you're getting into. A diplomatic snafu here could ruin your senatorial campaign.

 

Jim

[kr8z]

I am looking forward to your next review. Thank you for putting so much time and effort into this.

[tiger belle]

Wow, T-bub, I hope you know what you're getting into. A diplomatic snafu here could ruin your senatorial campaign.

 

Jim

 

you ain't lyin', Jim...lol

 

I think T-Bubba could use a spin doctor here...or maybe even a PR consulting firm

 

enjoyed the review so far...I am sailing for the first time on RCI in November, so maybe I can give a female viewpoint/review/comparison when I return :)

[RRLLAL]

Hello everyone,

Today's entry has to do with probably the most important topic for many of you - the food! Let me preface my comments and comparisons on the food by saying I am no chef, not a food critic, or even half knowledgeable on what food goes with what wine, how many cooked carrots you pair your roast beef with, or what temperature you should serve the gravy at. What I do know is that if it tastes good I am going to to eat it.

I have employed the services of my 14 year old son Richard to assist me in this part of the review. As with most healthy teenage boys in a growth spurt he could probably eat you out of house and home in a very short span of time. In addition, my lovely wife has provided some input on the food as well but her eating habits are much more restrained and sensible than I could ever hope to attain.

Our family's eating itinerary consisted of casual dining on the Lido deck for breakfast and lunch and all dinners eaten in the main dining room at the first sitting.

Ok, enough with the preface already... Let's eat!

Casual Dining - Layout and Choices

The eating choices on the Triumph for casual dining were all found on the Lido Deck (9). My entire family agreed that Carnival has got the casual dining down to a science in regards to both choices and layout. Comparing to RCCL's Windjammer Cafe, which usually has 2 long buffet lines and perhaps 1-2 food stations beyond the long lines, Carnival had what I counted at least 8 different ways to get food on the Lido Deck. For lunch by the main pool, you have two different food stations offering the American fair of hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, fries and usually one or two different options for specialty foods. Moving inward towards the center of the ship on this deck you find two other "windows" where you can get Chinese food at one and deli cut sandwiches at another. Moving further into the main air conditioned restaurant you had the two main buffet lines along with a salad bar island that included deserts. If you still needed more food you could continue to the back of the ship by the aft pool and find the 24 hour pizza place and another American style grill like the ones on the main pool deck. These same stations transformed at breakfast time to offer 3-4 places where you could get a made to order omelet and all sorts of hot and cold breakfast items. We rarely had any more than about a 5 minute wait to get food and the good Lord knows we did not starve.

Casual Dining - Food Quality

Here is where I turn part of the program over to Richard with his impressions and comparisons of the casual dining food. Take it away, Richard!

Pizza: Royal is the best, but Carnival is good.

Hamburgers: Carnival - buns were much better.

French Fries: Royal - tasted better

Hot Dogs: Carnival

Chicken nuggets: Carnival

Dough-nuts: No dough-nuts on Carnival! Are you kidding? Fail!

Omelets: Carnival - awesome.

Ice Cream: Same on both lines - good.

More "stuff" out for breakfast to eat, except dough-nuts.

Favorite food the entire trip: Gourmet Burger in the dining room.

Thanks Richard! Now, for a little commentary from myself and Mrs. TxBubba on the casual dining food:

For lunch, We found the deli station/window to be a really nice change from typical cruise fare. My wife enjoyed the wraps quite a bit. When I did eat off of the buffet line I found the food to good quality but nothing very special. The salad bar was always well stocked and fresh. I disagree with Richard on the french fries and the pizza.. I thought Carnival's were better than RCCL.

For breakfast I had an omelet every morning and the quality was excellent. I know it's hard to screw up an omelet, but I think they always taste better when someone else makes them, you know? We found the baked breads to be fresh, soft, and good tasting. I have to agree with my son that I was surprised that dough-nuts were not part of the menu. Richard feels that cruise ship dough-nuts are always better than the dough-nuts you buy on land so he was disappointed in that respect. My wife was also disappointed in the fresh fruit choices available in the mornings. There were a few choices but it was more limited than what we had experienced on RCCL. The fruit we did eat was very good. Last but not least I thought the house coffee was leaps and bounds better than Royal. I usually end up buying the Seattle's Best on the RCCL ships simply because I find their house coffee too bitter. Carnival's was much better and I did not buy a single cup of specialty coffee. For reference purposes, I am a 3-4 cup of coffee a day drinker.

 

The Dining Room Experience

I like dinner, and I really like having dinner on a cruise ship. I love the atmosphere of the dining room, the service, and the whole dining experience. It's a big part of our trip and we were a little nervous about the Carnival experience as I noted in my preconceived notions list. In the back of our minds we pictured waiters dancing on our table, food right off the buffet line and served on dirty dishes, having to use the same cloth napkin each evening, and paranoia over what the Carnival "ambiance" would be. I am happy to say it was a dining room and an overall nice experience with a few exceptions. Let's dig in...

We chose the main 6:00pm seating for dinner over the "anytime" option primarily from the reviews we read on Cruise Critic. Many cruisers had tried the anytime option and had complained about the long wait times involved. This did not sound very anytime to me so we passed. I did observe the anytime dining option waiting area on several occasions and the wait looked long and the people in line looked hungry. Early seating on the RCCL ships we had sailed on recently was 5:30pm which was too early so the dinner bell ringing at 6:00pm on Carnival was good for us. We had a table for 6 that was off to the port side in the Paris Dining Room, away from the center of the dining room. Unfortunately our dinner table mates only came for formal night and the last night of the trip. They just preferred the casual dining options over rushing and getting in to dinner by 6:00pm. Table mates make dinner fun and I think meeting new people and having dinner with them is part of the experience of a cruise. Our table mates were great to visit with and we were happy to have them when they were there. No horror stories here folks, sorry.

We were fortunate to have a good wait staff but I have to admit I can now see why some cruisers have complained about dining room service. It seemed that our experience was somewhat rushed each evening due to the fact the wait staff had a lot of tables to attend to. They were trying to keep all of the tables "even" with where they were in the dinner process so every night there were parts of the service that were rushed. For example, one evening we were with our table mates and about half of us had finished dinner but the other half were still working on their main course. Those that were finished had their plates whisked away and a desert menu handed to them and the waiter stood there waiting for our desert order. He seemed shocked when I asked if we could wait until the rest of the party finished their meals so we could enjoy desert together. The waiter of course complied but seemed put out a bit. Bar service was also a bit difficult to get in the dining room even though I was ordering wine each evening. Again, I think the bar service waiters had too much territory to cover.

This was also the first cruise where I didn't feel like I got to know the wait staff like I had on other trips. Again, this appeared to be a symptom of them having too many tables to manage. On every cruise I have been on I have always managed to get a picture of my son with the wait staff as the experience is always a memorable one. Not on this trip. On most RCCL cruises we were on there was always a visit each evening from the maitre'd to see how our dinner service was that evening. The only maitre'd we heard from on this cruise was the one making the general announcements and leading the waiters in a song or a dance over the PA system. On the RCCL ships the waiter would start the dinner with a brief discussion of the menu and a recommendation, and always end the evening discussing the next day's port of call and to let us know the operating hours of the dining room the next day. On this cruise I was lucky if I got to say goodbye to the waiter before we left each evening. Please understand I am not condemning the wait staff at all but I am condemning the amount of work they are expected to carry. I think Carnival is really doing their passengers a great disservice here.

There was a brief "show" each night put on by the wait staff. They would either sing a song out of key or do a little dance, both of which were a lot of fun. They did not jump on our table, spit in our food, or steal our women as some have suggested they do. However, we could not see everything that went on from our vantage point but it sure appeared to be fairly tame. Many times our wait staff did not participate as they were just too damn busy with their jobs.

The Dining Room Food

The menus on Carnival have a few minor differences than RCCL which I enjoyed. There was always the daily menu choices and the food you could get anytime, but I loved the daily choice of something unique like Alligator Fritters. They also had a daily choice of comfort food like fried chicken or meatloaf. I thought these changes were a great idea to reach a much wider audience.

My wife really enjoys fish and looks forward to the cruise line's dinner selections but on this trip she was somewhat disappointed. The salmon was mediocre and a few of the fish entre's were served a little over cooked. She said they were certainly good to eat but she just expected a little better. Her favorite meal was the lobster on formal night.

For me, I usually had a beef selection each night and I was not disappointed at all. The prime rib was cooked perfectly and the steak I ordered one night was a decent cut of meat and cooked to my satisfaction. We sampled a chicken and pasta combination one night when we thoroughly enjoyed and I regret I cannot remember the name of it. My son ate only one vegetable the entire trip: Caesar Salad. He loves it and said Carnival's was very good.

Desert was a lot of fun and I can see why so many rave about the chocolate melting cake and vanilla ice cream. It was by far my favorite desert and I had it on three different nights. My wife said the Cappuccino Cake was her favorite and I think my son ate half of the ship's supply of orange sherbet. My wife had the tropical fruit plate one evening off of the desert menu and was very pleased at the fruit offered - which furthered her disappointment that she could not get the same fruits in the mornings.

So, where does all of that leave us? After a lot of deliberation and contemplation I think my family agrees that RCCL gets the edge in the main dining room.

Let's take a look at how we scored this category:

Casual Dining layout and service: Carnival

Casual Dining food quality and selection: Carnival (with judge's stern reprimand regarding the lack of dough-nuts)

Main Dining Room experience: RCCL

Main Dining Room food: RCCL

Totals: Carnival - 6, RCCL 3

Are you surprised how this is going so far? I have to admit I am surprised but in a great way.

Up Next: the PEOPLE - Observations on the crew and the passengers.

 

Off topic question Tex, having nothing to do with food. And if you cover this later, just indicate so and I'll wait. Did you happen to hear about and find the "hidden" guestbook that is in the library? We were able to find it 17 years ago on our honeymoon cruise and signed it. Wondering if it is still going.

 

 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

[Cushing985]

RRLLAL...it really isn't necessary to quote such a long posting especially if your question has nothing at all to do with the quoted post. It really sucks up the bandwidth. Just sayin.

[RRLLAL]

RRLLAL...it really isn't necessary to quote such a long posting especially if your question has nothing at all to do with the quoted post. It really sucks up the bandwidth. Just sayin.

 

Didn't mean too on my phone here.

 

Just sayin.

 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

[twindaddy]

To the OP, loving your review, a few questions...

 

1. You mentioned the MDR staff stealing women, what do they do with them? If they kidnap them, I will bring my mother in law on my next cruise

 

2. Ok, seriously this time, did your ship have a mongolian bbq? Looking forward to trying it, even with the wait times...

[Jana60]

Hello everyone,

 

 

The Dining Room Experience

We were fortunate to have a good wait staff but I have to admit I can now see why some cruisers have complained about dining room service. It seemed that our experience was somewhat rushed each evening due to the fact the wait staff had a lot of tables to attend to. They were trying to keep all of the tables "even" with where they were in the dinner process so every night there were parts of the service that were rushed. For example, one evening we were with our table mates and about half of us had finished dinner but the other half were still working on their main course. Those that were finished had their plates whisked away and a desert menu handed to them and the waiter stood there waiting for our desert order. He seemed shocked when I asked if we could wait until the rest of the party finished their meals so we could enjoy desert together. The waiter of course complied but seemed put out a bit. Bar service was also a bit difficult to get in the dining room even though I was ordering wine each evening. Again, I think the bar service waiters had too much territory to cover.

Sorry they rushed you but I actually complained about the opposite on our Triumph cruise. It took so long for dinner, it was hard to get to all the entertainment venues we had planned. I even appologized to the rest of our dining companions and asked the waiter if I could get dessert before everyone had finished eating because I wanted to get to the show.:o

You didn't mention room service. Did you order??? We love to have coffee and sometimes danish on the balcony in the morning even though we also went to breakfast! One night I didn't feel like having pizza but wanted a bedtime snack. I ordered a ham and cheese sandwhich and glass of milk from room service. The sandwhich was great and arrived hot and toasty from being grilled with crusts removed before grilling. The milk was cold. I was amazed as I had feared that since it was 2 am I would receive food with quality about on par with a vending machine!

[twindaddy]

[/size][/font]

 

Sorry they rushed you but I actually complained about the opposite on our Triumph cruise. It took so long for dinner, it was hard to get to all the entertainment venues we had planned. I even appologized to the rest of our dining companions and asked the waiter if I could get dessert before everyone had finished eating because I wanted to get to the show.:o

 

You didn't mention room service. Did you order??? We love to have coffee and sometimes danish on the balcony in the morning even though we also went to breakfast! One night I didn't feel like having pizza but wanted a bedtime snack. I ordered a ham and cheese sandwhich and glass of milk from room service. The sandwhich arrive hot and toasty from being grilled with crusts removed before grilling. The milk was cold. I was amazed as I had feared that since it was 2 am I would receive food with quality about on par with a vending machine!

 

How long did it take to arrive?

[kr8z]

How long did it take to arrive?

 

Room service can take 30 -45 minutes during busy times (like lunch). Normally about 15 - 20 max

[Jana60]

How long did it take to arrive?

 

Room service or Dinner? There are alot of courses depending on what everyone orders and there is sometimes a delay between courses as the waiters must receive the food from the kitchen before they can serve it. Room service at 2am arrived amazingly fast. It was there in less than 15 minutes. Those guys must have slapped that sandwhich on the grill and then ran to our room with it. Thats probably why the cheese was still bubbling.

 

We also had the opposite experience from Bubba concerning wine and alcohol at dinner. They must have been behind on their alcohol sales the week we sailed on Triumph. Our table was asked at least 4-5 times if we wanted anything from the bar. One man at our table even promised the bar waiter that he would buy a shot for his coffee to have with dessert if the guy would just go away for the rest of the meal! :eek:

[petesweet]

I am sailing for the first time on RCI in November, so maybe I can give a female viewpoint/review/comparison when I return :)

Ohhh, please do! Please title it in such a way that we won't miss the comparison.

Bubba - I am loving this review. Thanks so much. Sometime we must try one of the newer Carnival ships, although we have no problem with the older ones we have enjoyed. But we do love RCCL over all the other lines we've been on.

Kathy

[TxBubba]

you ain't lyin', Jim...lol

 

I think T-Bubba could use a spin doctor here...or maybe even a PR consulting firm

 

enjoyed the review so far...I am sailing for the first time on RCI in November, so maybe I can give a female viewpoint/review/comparison when I return :)

 

Ha! I appreciate everyone's concern and I promise to be gentle.

[BobbyD]

I am enjoying reading this review. I enjoy cruising but if I had to make a choice I would cruise RCI. I have cruised 3x on Carnival and we are going to book the Glory next March, so I have something to compare. I agree with TX comments. My first two Carnival cruises are somewhat of a blur but last year on the Magic is still very fresh in my mind. I thought the food was very good with many choices throughout the ship. Probably tough to compare the Magic with an older ship but so be it. I do disagree with OP in that I thought the buffet on the Magic felt crowded compared to the openness of the Windjammer on Royal. I do agree that the waiters in the MDR are overworked and have more tables to attend to. When we went last summer, our waiters complained to us about the recent (back then) adjustments to their responsibilities. They were not happy and very apologetic. They wanted us to give our desert choices at the very beginning of the meal in order to ensure better service. We didn't like that. But, they were nice and friendly and aimed to please to the best of their ability.

 

Loved the Tandori bar and the burrito bar!! Also, on a 12 day Med, the laundry facilities came in handy. RCI has no facilities. Our Med cruise on the Magic last year was a "trip of a lifetime" and we were extremely pleased with the Carnival product. Some pluses and minuses compared to Royal but that's to be expected.

 

So, given the choice, I would have to say that I would prefer to cruise RCI, but would cruise Carnival (as I have and will continue) when the opportunity strikes.