Carnival vs. Royal Caribbean help!

[lghgha]

Good day cruise buddies. My husband and I have been on 4 cruises all with Carnival. We are thinking of trying Royal Caribbean and I was wanting some advice from people that have been on both. Which do you prefer and why? We love Carnival but if you've been on one Carnival cruise you've been on them all. We cruised the Carnival Conquest for our honeymoon and again 3 years later. The shows, jokes and enterainment in general were all exactly the same as before. I was a little disappointed and was hoping for a little bit of a change. We are just wanting to try something a little different this time but wanted to know what to expect with RC. Anyway, any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.:)

[Carolin]

The shows rarely change but the comedians change often on Carnival.

 

I think you would like Royal. There are a few differences but all in all they have a great product. If you choose to go on Royal (I recommend that you do to see for yourself.), that you can not take your wine or order your fave adult bev from thier version of bon voyage. But you can order a wine package which is very nice.

 

which ever you choose. you will be on a cruise and having a great time.

[printingchick]

As you can see from my signature, I'm a Carnival to Royal convert. Like you, I was perfectly happy with Carnival's product, but when I gave Royal a try, I decided I preferred RCL. I've tried to outline the differences below. I hope this is helpful. It's clearly a personal decision and I obviously prefer Royal, but I tried to be non-partisan in my descriptions below.

 

SHIPS

• Carnival has the slides, which I really liked. It's the one thing I miss from my Carnival days.
  
• Royal ships are pretty universally touted as being the most innovative. Personally, I tend to prefer the smaller Royal ships to the mega ships packed with bells and whistles, but can't help be being awestruck by the features of the larger ships.
  
• The decor on Royal ships are MUCH nicer. There's a thread about the UGLIEST ships here on CC and it includes photos - primarily photos taken on Carnival ships. Check it out.
  

MAINTENANCE

It's something I never considered as a Carnival passenger, but noticed when I changed lines. Royal does a better job of maintaining their ships in tip-top condition. For the most part, older ships don't FEEL old.

 

DINING

It's a wash. Both lines have their pluses and minuses.

ACTIVITIES

This was one of the biggest differences for me. I felt Carnival depended too heavily on their party atmosphere and there were not enough activities to keep me from sometimes being bored on sea days. I've never felt bored at sea on RCL. They have lots of activities for people of all interests.

 

SERVICE

• It's a wash. In my experience, I've gotten better service on Royal, but it could be my bias. I've been lucky to have had some GREAT service people on Carnival.
  
• I do think the CD's are better on Royal. I never really noticed or cared about the CD's on Carnival ships. The cruise director was just THERE. I've been extremely impressed with several on my Royal cruises.
  

 

If you decide to try out Royal to compare, please come back and let us know YOUR thoughts. I'd be interested in hearing.

[Jimnbigd]

My advice: Try the Navigator of the Seas while it is still in New Orleans. It is a voyager class ship with an ice rink and free ice show. The Feb. 2, 2013, sailing has a great price, especially if at least one of you is age 55 or older. Note that Mardi Gras weekend will be going on when this sailing ends on Feb. 9. Good prices too for Nov. 24, Dec. 1, & Dec. 8, 2012. You are from Louisiana, so I assume you can drive to New Orleans, which can save you lots of airfare money. Also check on any LA special rates. Note that the Navigator sails on Saturday. If you drive down Saturday be sure to allow plenty of extra time for any delays. You have to be checked in 90 minutes prior to departure. If you have more than a 4 hour drive, you might want to drive to or near New Orleans Friday evening/night just to be sure.

[Keith1010]

In time people will try other lines after sailing Carnival and RCI is a good next step.

 

You'll find items such as food and service being a little nice on RCI and some of their ships are nicer.

 

Keith

[cruiseapril]

We have enjoyed both cruise lines- it's fun to try different lines.

 

We like the spacious cabins on Carnival and preferred the entertainment on RCI.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Both lines are good ..

[Starry Eyes]

I have only been on one Carnival cruise...or by your words all of them;)...That cruise was OK...definitely were good points, but not my style. I have been on multiple Royal Caribbean cruises and I think it is a terrific line. As with Carnival, Royal Caribbean has ship's of various sizes and ages. If you are attracted to Royal Caribbean for all the bells and whistles and active fun, you will want one of the newer ships. Oasis and Allure are by far the largest with loads to do...nothing from any company matches them. Next newest and biggest is Freedom Class...not as large, but loads of fun. If you are young and active, Oasis class or freedom class would get my nod. Next down is Voyager Class which are still fairly large ships, but lack flow rider...they are older but generally well maintained. for proximity, Navagator for this class would be a reasonable choice for you, but if you select her, remember Royal Caribbean has bigger and newer ships to try if Royal Caribbean suits your style.

 

As you can surmise, I like big ships, but others like smaller ones. if you are not interested in ice rinks, flow riders, zip lines and such, Radiance class is delightful...lots of glass, nice layout, well kept.

[jimslady15]

We have been on both and doing another with Carnival in 36 days:D I do miss the entertainment we had on RC on the pool deck, but the prices lately on Carnival have been better for us.

[sjcruiser]

We've been on both lines, and enjoy both. Royal prices are a little higher than Carnival's, but it's worth it to me. We were looking to booking a Royal cruise for next summer during the WOW sale which ends tomorrow, but the prices and amenities/bonuses aren't what they use to be in the past. We'll wait until after the holidays to nail down a selection on which line to sail. One of the ports we want to go is Jamaica, which we haven't been to since our first cruise, so our choices for June/July is limited to The Allure and Oasis, or the Magic and Conquest.

[lady_cruiser]

Good day cruise buddies. My husband and I have been on 4 cruises all with Carnival. We are thinking of trying Royal Caribbean and I was wanting some advice from people that have been on both. Which do you prefer and why? We love Carnival but if you've been on one Carnival cruise you've been on them all. We cruised the Carnival Conquest for our honeymoon and again 3 years later. The shows, jokes and enterainment in general were all exactly the same as before. I was a little disappointed and was hoping for a little bit of a change. We are just wanting to try something a little different this time but wanted to know what to expect with RC. Anyway, any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.:)

I noticed you are from Louisiana. May I ask where? I'm from Church Point.

 

My sister and I prefer Royal Caribbean. Would I sail on Carnival again? Yes if the price and itinerary is right. But we do find that Royal gives us better service and find that the food is a "little" better than Carnival. But this is based on our taste. Many people here at Cruise Critic finds Carnival food better.

 

We'll be on The Navigator on a B2B starting this Dec 1st so if you want to join us for either week be sure and check out our roll calls.

[spookwife]

Our first cruise was Carnival. It was enough to let us know we liked the concept of cruising.

 

Our second ship was Disney. with one exception( food), Disney beat the pants off Carnival.

 

our third( and 4th and 5th) are Royal. Food was on par with Carnival's which gives it a leg up on Disney but the service, atmosphere and activities were a MUCH Better fit for us over Carnival. for the price .. Royal will always be our default until we are ready to jump to Celebrity or even Seabourne.

 

I found Carnival's party/cheesy games atmosphere to be off putting. their shows were meh at best( to be fair we have yet to actually see a show on Royal so cannot compare, but Disney's are top notch) Royal seems to do almost as good a job at keeping the adult only areas exactly that( Carnival sucked royally at that,) as Disney was.

 

If you are ready to step up your experience a notch, I think Royal will be a great line to try.

[msjazzymiss]

Why not try something new and go with Royal Caribbean. We alternate between Carnival and RCCL. Last year we did RCCL this year will do Carnival. I preference is RCCL because I feel service, food, entertainment is better than Carnival and slightly less of a party atmosphere (just slightly). Why not give RCCL a try for your next cruise. I would be curious as to what your opinion of the two lines would be. Happy Sailing!

[Yvonne]

We've been on Carnival and Royal, and enjoy them both about equally. There may be a few things on one line that we like over the other, but to us they're pretty much even. Right now the only difference is price. Carnival is less expensive. Our upcoming cruise will be on the Carnival Conquest, but I'm itching to book Royal's Oasis of the Seas next. :) And we'd like to try other lines like Celebrity, Norwegian, Princess, etc. as well. We're not 100% "loyal" to any one cruise line. I would suggest taking a Royal cruise and seeing for yourself which line you prefer, theirs or Carnival.

[wantocruisemore]

I've been on both lines and they are definitely more similar than different. I always choose based on price, date and itinerary. Sometimes Carnival wins, sometimes RCCL. If you liked Carnival, you will like RCCL. Just pick whichever works best for your itinerary and schedule.