carnival to royal caribbean. help please.

[girlsjustwannacruise]

never cruised Royal before. i am looking for a change and have heard such great things about royal. i have a few questions for those that have traveled both carnival and royal car.

 

1. food- room service, better or worse than carnival? do they charge for this?

2. shows, entertainment- which line has better entertainment?

3. casinos- does royal have real card dealers or the electronic poker tables.

 

please also feel free to give me your personal opinion about royal and your experiences. thanks.

[Clarea]

never cruised Royal before. i am looking for a change and have heard such great things about royal. i have a few questions for those that have traveled both carnival and royal car.

 

1. food- room service, better or worse than carnival? do they charge for this?

2. shows, entertainment- which line has better entertainment?

3. casinos- does royal have real card dealers or the electronic poker tables.

 

please also feel free to give me your personal opinion about royal and your experiences. thanks.

Royal's room service is free, except from midnight until 5am when they charge $3.95 per order.

 

I know Royal has both electronic poker and human card dealers for blackjack, but I don't recall if they also have human card dealers for poker.

[ehfl]

This is all subjective.

 

For me, the food is about the same. The buffet on RCL seems to be better organized with less time in line. There are some other great restaurants on RCL depending on the ship. I don't use room service, except for coffee in the morning, and it's always been fine....no charge. I think there is a charge on RCL for after-midnight meals (I never understood the need to wake up in the middle of the night just to order food, but apparently, people do).

 

I prefer shows on RCL. They really have the "wow" factor with ice skating, diving, and cirque-type shows. Was not wowed by the Carnival shows, but they were fine. I thought Carnival had better and more music throughout the ship, but RCL seems to have increased the amount of time you can listen to the piano or another band, etc. They still seem to play for shorter sets on RCL, then you have to move to another venue. Latin bands on RCL seem to be very good.

 

I have no idea about the casinos on either...they're just a noisy room on your way from one place to another.

[ticktoneer]

never cruised Royal before. i am looking for a change and have heard such great things about royal. i have a few questions for those that have traveled both carnival and royal car.

 

1. food- room service, better or worse than carnival? do they charge for this?

2. shows, entertainment- which line has better entertainment?

3. casinos- does royal have real card dealers or the electronic poker tables.

 

please also feel free to give me your personal opinion about royal and your experiences. thanks.

We sailed Carnival in September 2012 and the general food and room service is much better on Royal.

 

On Royal entertainment is much better. More choice and better organised. The shows are also much better on Royal - esp. On the larger ships.

 

Poker I can't comment on - sorry

[cruiselvr04]

Have done both lines this year.

 

Rccl room service. Same type of food. There is a charge for room service between midnight and 5 or 6 am only.

 

We think the entertainment is much better on royal. Some nights on carnival there was only Karoke. There will be some type of major show each night on royal.

[dixieva]

For me I find the food to be good on RCI but I think the food on Carnival is much better.

 

Room service food is about the same-good on both.

 

Not sure if they have real poker dealers on board in the casino.

[lidopuppy]

As a whole, the food in the main dining room and buffet is better on Carnival. I cannot speak on the specialty restaurants. The entertainment is a lot better on RCCL (although its not really any good on the Navigator). Regarding the casino, the last three ships I was on had live Texas hold'em dealer on RCCL. Hope that helps.

[rushedmom]

I think the room service menu on Royal is much better then Carnival. (more choices)

 

Most ships have a live dealer for Poker I believe.

 

Oasis and Allure great shows

 

Rest of the fleet shows are above average.

 

Carnival had great comedy shows.

[BND]

We thought the food on Carnival was better than RCI (and Princess) but it's been 4 years since we've been on Carnival, but at that time, that's how we felt. We rarely use room service (breakfast once or twice per cruise at most) and I only play slots in the casino. RCI shows are much, much better than Carnival. Our experience on Carnival was that the singers were mediocre at best. The singers and performers on RCI are really good. Overall, the lines are more alike than not. Both are mass market, but I do have to say, Carnival seems to be slipping the last few years.

[lady_cruiser]

The only two differences I found in room service between Carnival and Royal Caribbean are; Carnival allows you to order from room service on debarkation morning while Royal Caribbean does not. And, Royal Caribbean will charge a $3.95 service charge if you order room service between the hours midnight and 5 AM. Other than this I think the food is comparable.

[BecciBoo]

Food is totally subjective...but IMHO RCCL is better...see... the previous lidopuppy thought just the opposit.

In general I prefer RCCL, ships much better layout/cleaner, our Carni ship was filthy! ...and certainly RCCL is decorated much more tastefully...but again, it's all in the eye of the beholder.

The Lido deck or pool decks are light years ahead of Carnival's. Pools much bigger and with real tile etc. no fake palm trees.

Crew seems to be a little better too. In 15 cruises no crewmember has ever failed to greet me with a smile and a "Gooday".

Of course shows would be a little better on RCCL, they have an ice show after all...but productions shows, maybe about the same. But the ice show is the bomb.

There are real dealers for all the games and an electronic table for Texas Hold'em...also poker bandits and the usual machines.

[cruisinfanatic]

never cruised Royal before. i am looking for a change and have heard such great things about royal. i have a few questions for those that have traveled both carnival and royal car.

 

1. food- room service, better or worse than carnival? do they charge for this?

2. shows, entertainment- which line has better entertainment?

3. casinos- does royal have real card dealers or the electronic poker tables.

 

please also feel free to give me your personal opinion about royal and your experiences. thanks.

My opinion:

Food in the main dining room is about the same overall IMO. Carnival has some good and bad nights, same on RCCL.

For lunch, Carnival gets the nod because I like the outdoor grill. A good burger that Royal doesn't have unless you go to Johnny Rockets and pay a surcharge for your lunch. Depending on the ship of either line, there may be an Asian restaurant or area for lunch. Wife loves those.

 

Entertainment: The main shows on RCCL are much better. Carnival more Vegas type and RCCL more musical type. Carnival does have Punchliners where there are multiple comedians throughout the week.

 

RCCL has free room service as does Carnival and is much better. The small fee that RCCL charges in the middle of the night includes tip so not that big a deal IMO. Carnival does not offer any food choices that are hot. No bacon, sausage, etc for breakfast.

 

Casino about the same. On RCCL I've seen both live and machine for holdem poker

 

RCCL has a much better loyalty program

 

Read some of my reviews when you have time

[srvdmy4usn]

I think your general questions have been answered so I will just drop my personal opinion in. As others have said it is mostly subjective. But even more than that it is situational, you could find the "best" vacation spot, fly on the "best" airline, and eat in the "best" restaurants; but if the staff is having a bad day, your experience will reflect it.

 

What I can say from my cruises, RC has always been a notch ahead in my book. Service has always seemed more personable, ships have been cleaner and had a more updated feel, food was generally comparable but always slightly better.

 

I won't say "never", but carnival will need to have something very incising for me to go back, they just can not compete if you eliminate $

[BettyPC]

I have taken 2 Carnival & 2 Royal - I had a great time on both lines.

 

The food was very good on both. Go with the intention of having a great time and you will!

[jbwaterski]

We have been on Carnival once and Royal 10 times.

We felt that the food was better on Royal but not a huge difference.

The entertainment was good on Carnival, great on Royal. The Royal ships we have been on were very clean, that was not the case on the Carnival ship we were on. We also felt that there was much more to do on Royal.

 

Jim

[time4u2go]

never cruised Royal before. i am looking for a change and have heard such great things about royal. i have a few questions for those that have traveled both carnival and royal car.

 

1. food- room service, better or worse than carnival? do they charge for this?

2. shows, entertainment- which line has better entertainment?

3. casinos- does royal have real card dealers or the electronic poker tables.

 

please also feel free to give me your personal opinion about royal and your experiences. thanks.

 

You might want to post your questions on the Carnival board as well, so you can get as many informed opinions as possible.

[yogimax]

Carnival has gone downhill dramatically in the last two years, especially in the areas of food and entertainment.

 

1. Some of Carnival's food choices are almost inedible - the meatloaf is an example.

 

2. Entertainment has dimished to the point that much of it is provided by the passengers!!! Seriously, this is a disappointment!

[hsaroya]

never cruised Royal before. i am looking for a change and have heard such great things about royal. i have a few questions for those that have traveled both carnival and royal car.

 

1. food- room service, better or worse than carnival? do they charge for this?

2. shows, entertainment- which line has better entertainment?

3. casinos- does royal have real card dealers or the electronic poker tables.

 

please also feel free to give me your personal opinion about royal and your experiences. thanks.

 

Please note that this a copy/paste of a reply I had written on another post on a similar question a few weeks back. Sorry cannot reply on the casino, other than that the Oasis one was very large and quite beautiful. My post was also about two very specific ships, so please bear that in mind. I have no other experience with either cruise line as my history has been mainly with Princess.

 

We just did Christmas on the RCL Oasis and New Year's on Carnival Freedom, so have a very recent basis of comparison. Both cruise lines were a first for us. We picked Carmival as it was a cheap add on for the second week for us (airfare from where we are in Canada is too high just to come south for only one week). All 10 of us swore that we will never do Carnival again, yet will definitely do Oasis or Allure many more times. There were 2500 more people on Oasis, but it was not til we boarded Carnival that we had lines, waited for elevators, experienced chair hogs, had smokers impact all outer areas. The oasis was visually stunning while the freedom was dark, dank, and looked much older than its five years. The shows on oasis rivalled anything I've seen in Vegas, while on freedom, two of the main shows in the main theatre showcased passengers as the headliners, something other lines do as their version of American Idol in a nightclub or lounge, not the main venue. The varied and numerous eating venues on oasis, many of them no charge, were also a highlight. The food in Carnival's buffet was mediocre at best and the selections at dinner were scant. for those who might interject that we should have eaten in the MDR, we did! And then always headed to the buffet hoping for something better!! The adult, fee free area on oasis, the solarium, is not to be rivalled anywhere, absolutely stunning. I respect the opinions of the diehard Carnival cruisers, and hope they realize no disrespect was intended - simply my opinion based on one cruise.

 

As soon as we boarded Carnival, and remember this was three hours after getting off RCL, I turned to my sister and said " I think we just went from the Bellagio to the Imperial" - those of you who have been to Vegas will know what I am talking about! I keep saying that RCL WAS the destination and Carnival was merely the vessel TO the destination. Please bear in mind that this review is based only on one experience on both lines, as we are Princess diehards. My two teens had a fantastic time on RCL. So hands down, RCL!

[ImmortalxKiss]

For me, I find Carnival's food to be more my speed.. but that's cause I am a VERY picky eater and mostly eat just about chicken. Royal seems to have many 'upscale' options which I think is awesome, I just don't eat any of them lol

 

We loved the show we seen on Grandeur when we sailed ..but weren't so impressed with the ones we seen on Monarch. I'd say they are probably about the same when it comes to comparing between the two cruise lines.

 

What we do love about Royal is all of the windows for viewing. We like to just sit and relax and watch the water. Carnival has a good setup but the floor to ceiling windows on the pool deck are awesome! Also love the Ben and Jerry's on Royal lol

[klingoncruiser]

Food is subjective so all comments here are worthless.

 

Room service is as stated.

 

Casino is smoky and noisy and not my kind of place to hang around in long.

 

Bottom line, go find out for yourself. I have been on 5 different cruise lines multiple times. All have good and bad points. So.... just go ahead and book with RCL and make up your own mind. It is good to try other cruise lines.

[sparks1093]

OP, I'm glad you posted this because we may be changing our cruise to May and the GOS out of Baltimore.

[MrPete]

never cruised Royal before. i am looking for a change and have heard such great things about royal. i have a few questions for those that have traveled both carnival and royal car.

 

1. food- room service, better or worse than carnival? do they charge for this?

2. shows, entertainment- which line has better entertainment?

3. casinos- does royal have real card dealers or the electronic poker tables.

 

please also feel free to give me your personal opinion about royal and your experiences. thanks.

 

I made the jump about 7 years ago.

 

I remember walking on and within minutes, starting to try to compare the two lines, until I asked my self, "What the hell was I doing?"

 

And then proceeded to appreciate the differences between the two lines, as cruising all of a sudden seemed fresh again.

 

And ulimately, found there were mostly similarities between the two lines.

 

And each line did do somethings better than the other, but BOTH were in the business, and BOTH knew howto put on a good "SHOW".

 

And, I found the THREE things that kept me off RCCL were not true at all.

 

Proceed without caution!

[nbsjcruiser]

never cruised Royal before. i am looking for a change and have heard such great things about royal. i have a few questions for those that have traveled both carnival and royal car.

 

1. food- room service, better or worse than carnival? do they charge for this?

2. shows, entertainment- which line has better entertainment?

3. casinos- does royal have real card dealers or the electronic poker tables.

 

please also feel free to give me your personal opinion about royal and your experiences. thanks.

 

Food is always subjective of course but for my money Carnival's food has been slipping. IMHO, what you'll find is that the MDR food is better and well presented. The buffet, well its heads and shoulders better.

 

Entertainment - RCI does a really professional job on this. You should find a significant difference between the two lines.

 

Casino - I don't go there much so can't answer that one.

[funfamilyof6]

never cruised Royal before. i am looking for a change and have heard such great things about royal. i have a few questions for those that have traveled both carnival and royal car.

 

1. food- room service, better or worse than carnival? do they charge for this?

 

RCCL better. We don't get room service often, but ordered it one night and gave up waiting after 2 hours since it got to be too late. This may have been just our bad luck. We were also not big fans of Carnival's food or buffet layout. We have never had a bad experience with RCCL. Neither cruiseline charges for room service.

 

 

2. shows, entertainment- which line has better entertainment?

 

Positively RCCL!!!!

 

 

3. casinos- does royal have real card dealers or the electronic poker tables.

 

We don't use casino.

 

please also feel free to give me your personal opinion about royal and your experiences. thanks.

 

After doing Disney for many years, we decided to go back to cruising. After doing a few RCCL cruises, we decided to give Carnival a try this past summer to try out some new ports and save money.

 

We loved the ports part of our vacation with Carnival but not the cruise part. It's something you really have to try and see for yourself. Our biggest issue were the lines. We couldn't escape them. The best Carnival purchase we made were the FTTF passes we obtained for both of our cabins. We were amazed of how much time we saved by having these passes, especially the tender lines.

 

We also were not impressed with the buffet area because Carnival separates all of the food options into different sections and again because of the long lines. It is even more difficult if your kids want different food then what you are getting or if you want food from 2 different areas. This means waiting on 2 or more loooong lines. Terrible system IMO. We also had better dining experience in the main dining room. Our servers never asked if we wanted tea, more rolls, etc. We had to ask for everything. Terrible service, but again, this could have been just our bad luck.

 

One of the biggest reasons why we like RCCL better was because there were more "sporty" things to do on RCCL ships. We made the mistake of trying to go to the volleyball court on Carnival. It was tiny and very wet. Nobody seemed to use it the entire week. Sporty based activities could rarely be found on Carnival. This is never the case on RCCL. I do want to add that we are basing our decision cruising on Freedom of the Seas. Some of the older RCCL ships probably don't have everything that the FOS has.

 

We are so looking forward to our RCCL cruise this summer. If you do decide to give RCCL a try, go with one of the Freedom class ships, you won't be disappointed!

 

 

Answers in RED. :)

[3dog]

The Lido deck or pool decks are light years ahead of Carnival's. Pools much bigger and with real tile etc. no fake palm trees.

 

Depends on the ship you might be sailing. ;)