new to RCCL, what can I expect?

[NYCcruiser86]

Hi All,

 

I've done a number of cruises, most have recently all been with Celebrity. For my next one I've decided to try out Royal Caribbean. We're on the Jewel of the Seas doing a Caribbean sailing.

 

How would Royal Caribbean compare to the companies I've done in the past (mostly Celebrity and Carnival - but haven't done Carnival in years.) We're a gay couple - not sure that matters - on Celebrity nobody ever makes a big thing about it (or even a small thing :D ).

 

I figured the Radiance class ship would be an easy transition from the Celebrity Milli class since they're almost the same dimensions. Does RCCL do welcome aboard Champagne? How's the food in the MDR? Are the staff helpful and plentiful? How's the alcohol package?

 

Any input you all had about what to expect from RCCL would be great!

 

Thanks!

[spookwife]

Royal is a step DOWN from Celebrity in many respects, mostly little things.

 

no welcome aboard champagne. food is subjective, I find it it to be anywhere from good to excellent across the board.

 

not every ship offers the new alcohol packages, I know Oasis and Allure do, not sure on any of the others.

 

 

 

do we like Royal? yes. yes we do . we found Carnival to be NOT our cup of tea at all. have we found Royal's staff to be pleasant and helpful? yeap.

as long as you are not sticking your tongues down each other's throat in the hot tub, nobody gives a flying leap who your travel companion is.

[Bakincakes]

Unfortunately RCI isn't consistent on all of its ships.

 

Food may be good on one and not great on another.

 

I agree with the other poster who said that Celebrity is a step up from RCI. We've noticed a definite downgrade in RCI over the past 5 years. That goes for food...the behavior of fellow pax..entertainment...

 

 

Most of the RCI ships we have sailed have been clean and well kept. Any issues we have had have been settled in a timely manner.

 

Generally the crew have been great but we have run into a few stinkers over the years. That is to be expected.

 

No Champagne welcome.

 

Don't know about the alcohol packages...we aren't drinkers so we don't really pay attention to those packages.

 

And after some of the antics we've seen onboard RCI ships from pax..I highly doubt anyone will pay much attention to who you are sailing with.:)

 

If I had a choice....I would sail X in a heartbeat over RCI.

[sjb317]

After 27 cruises on RC we decided to try Celebrity. Honestly, we did not see much difference between the two lines. There were things I liked better about Celebrity and things I prefer on Royal. Some food items were better on Celebrity and some better on Royal but Celebrity overall was not the step up we had been told to expect.

 

We greatly enjoyed our Celebrity cruise and will choose them again for the right itinerary. We are leaving next Sunday on Freedom and I am looking forward to being back on Royal again.

 

Sherri:)

[Daghis]

Another way to look at this would be to sail on the best that Royal Caribbean has to offer, rather than pick and older ship that's physically closer in size to the ships you've sailed on. I don't know whether you have any interest in sailing on the larger ships, but the Oasis class ships are truly unique and really help define what Royal Caribbean offers at the large end of the scale.

 

Stepping back a bit, the Voyager and Freedom class ships may be a good compromise between something a bit larger (and letting you still try out the Royal Promenade), while not being as overwhelming as the Oasis class.

 

In my opinion, and this is somewhat without basis since I've not sailed on the Vision or Radiance classes, Royal Caribbean is really excelling in their larger ships with a greater number of amenities available to serve a wider variety of passengers. Note here that if these extra amenities are not of interest to you (feel like "hanging 10" on the FlowRider? :D), then this advice probably won't suit you and you may still well enjoy Royal Caribbean's smaller ships more.

[NYCcruiser86]

Unfortunately RCI isn't consistent on all of its ships.

 

Food may be good on one and not great on another.

 

I agree with the other poster who said that Celebrity is a step up from RCI. We've noticed a definite downgrade in RCI over the past 5 years. That goes for food...the behavior of fellow pax..entertainment...

 

 

Most of the RCI ships we have sailed have been clean and well kept. Any issues we have had have been settled in a timely manner.

 

Generally the crew have been great but we have run into a few stinkers over the years. That is to be expected.

 

No Champagne welcome.

 

Don't know about the alcohol packages...we aren't drinkers so we don't really pay attention to those packages.

 

And after some of the antics we've seen onboard RCI ships from pax..I highly doubt anyone will pay much attention to who you are sailing with.:)

 

If I had a choice....I would sail X in a heartbeat over RCI.

 

 

I completely agree with your last sentence and would always choose Celebrity but we wanted a cheaper route in the summer than Europe or going all the way to Alaska so RCI won out over Carnival lol. We're excited but a little apprehensive. What kind of antics were the other pax involved in? We love that on X the pax tend to be more mellow and relaxed.

[NYCcruiser86]

Another way to look at this would be to sail on the best that Royal Caribbean has to offer, rather than pick and older ship that's physically closer in size to the ships you've sailed on. I don't know whether you have any interest in sailing on the larger ships, but the Oasis class ships are truly unique and really help define what Royal Caribbean offers at the large end of the scale.

 

Stepping back a bit, the Voyager and Freedom class ships may be a good compromise between something a bit larger (and letting you still try out the Royal Promenade), while not being as overwhelming as the Oasis class.

 

In my opinion, and this is somewhat without basis since I've not sailed on the Vision or Radiance classes, Royal Caribbean is really excelling in their larger ships with a greater number of amenities available to serve a wider variety of passengers. Note here that if these extra amenities are not of interest to you (feel like "hanging 10" on the FlowRider? :D), then this advice probably won't suit you and you may still well enjoy Royal Caribbean's smaller ships more.

 

 

All the extra amenities aren't really appealing to us. We talked about it and quickly decided those ships aren't for us. We like to cruise because we want to experience being on a floating hotel, not a floating town lol. That our take on it though, to each his own.

 

also the number of passengers on those large ones is a deterrent as well. We kind of know the feel we're going for :D

[Bobal]

I would also agree that RC is a step down from Celebrity - having said that there are things about RC which we really like. We've only sailed on Carnival once so can't claim to be experts but feel that RC feels like a step up from Carnival.

 

You are right in saying that the Jewel and the Millie are similar - in size and layout. We've only sailed once on a Radiance class (the Jewel) and really liked that class of ship and we sailed on the Millie recently and said how similar we found the ships.

 

Being gay shouldn't be an issue - we've met lots of gay couple of both lines, more so on RC but that's probably because we've sailed more with RC.

 

No welcome aboard Champagne and other little touches which set Celebrity a notch above RC - sorbet and cold towels by the pool, cold towels on arrival in port, cloth handtowels in the restrooms.

 

Food in the dining room is always going to be subjective - I would say Celebrity is slightly better but that may be because we got used to the RC menus - and also the same menus can be different from ship to ship even within a fleet, depending on how well the kitchen executes them.

 

The drink packages on Celebrity are definitely better - mainly because they also include speciality coffee and bottled waters, a shame the RC don't do that.

 

Entertainment is more lively on RC (which isn't necessarily a bad thing - as it can be really fun), there are more announcements on RC (which is a bad thing). There tends to be a younger, more fun crowd, on RC - the nightclub will tend to have more people and there's more chance of a fun atmosphere if they have a party on-deck.

 

If you really like the itinerary and it suits your needs I would certainly give the Jewel a try

[jonbgd]

Having been on the Infinity and the Radiance a few times. They are similar in size

IMHO I think those are the best size ships afloat. Never seems crowded.

 

While I think both lines have similar foods I would give the nod to Celebrity in overall quality.

The cruisers on Celebrity tend to dress a little nicer in the evenings

Also didnt have kids running around as much on X.

 

Saying all that I think RCCL is a great product and have always had good service and food onboard their ships and will probably cruise on RCCL next time.

 

I also enjoyed the solarium on both ships......... NO KIDS:D

[1cat4jan]

RC, Carnival and Celebrity seem to be quite similar. Some ships/sailings are great - some are good - none are bad. I wouldn't make a blanket statement that one cruiseline is vastly superior over the other.

 

I would say, though, that I like to sail on the newer ships. I feel the ambience on new ships puts me in the mood for a great cruise. It just seems more special.

 

Our next cruise is on the Oasis - next week. Now that will be a different experience. First time on that class of ship. Can't wait.

[Daghis]

Being gay shouldn't be an issue - we've met lots of gay couple of both lines, more so on RC but that's probably because we've sailed more with RC.

 

Right... I forgot to talk about this in my post. We're a gay couple also, and we've cruised on Royal Caribbean with our children several times. It's never been an issue for us whatsoever, whether it be from the staff or other passengers. We've always been made to feel welcome and valued.

[TEXASMUNK]

No way to I put Carnival and Celebrity i the same catagory.

Quality of product and demographics of the passengers

Quality of the food

Professionalism of the staff.

 

having said that, Carnival is close to Royal...We find the Royal crew to be more genuinely friendly, the layout of the ships far easy to get around (on many, many Cranival ships you have to go up or go down in order to move forward or aft on the ship. RCI layouts, on all of their classes of ships are fare superior.

Food. RCI and Carnival are close, Celebrity is much better. Steak house on Carnival is absolutely outstanding and makes Chops look like a corner hamburger joint. Giovanni's table on RCI rocks! Period! Amazing!

Formal nights....Celebrity will be far more formal and they request you remain in formal attire for the evening. Royal...still call it formal night and you will see probably 50% of the men in coat and tie or tux..on Carnival, it is no longer formal nights, dress codes have all but dissappeared, it is now elegant night....with little or no definition.

[NYCcruiser86]

Right... I forgot to talk about this in my post. We're a gay couple also, and we've cruised on Royal Caribbean with our children several times. It's never been an issue for us whatsoever, whether it be from the staff or other passengers. We've always been made to feel welcome and valued.

 

Thanks for this! This is honestly one of the areas we were most concerned about. As a couple we've only done Celebrity and have never had a problem. On the last cruise in Europe you couldn't even tell who was gay and who wasn't! But never having sailed Royal we weren't sure... Good to know you've never had a problem. Now I won't hesitate to bring my square cut bathing trunks! :eek::D:p