Cliffs Notes from my RCI cruise to CCL folks.

[cruisinfanatic]

Have multiple cruises with both lines. And if RCL sailed from Galveston year around, we would probably never sail Carnival. RCL's product is tremendously better than Carnival. Well except for the Chocolate Melting Cake, the food is better on RCL with their new menu. Carnival is Wal Mart while RCL is Macy's. Just my opinion.

My opinion also for sure now after getting off the Freedom yesterday.

Except for the grill and fish and chips, the food was pretty disappointing. The new dining room menus are Denny's quality with few new choices every night.

Was on Allure last September and the bands overall where night and day better than Freedom. The only exception was the duo that played in the evening in the centrum. They were excellent. The food wasn't perfect on the Allure, but was miles above.

You do get what you pay for

I'll be reviewing today or tomorrow

Edited March 4, 2013 by SeaUs

[cruisinfanatic]

-and that is precisely why I've never gone thru with making a RCI booking!

 

Twice now I've seriously considered doing Royal Caribbean

but their waaay-more prices stopped me dead, right there!

 

Yes Royal may be a bit more upscale with nicer decor

but if I want that, I'll just go Princess instead.

.

If you are booking apples to apples and choose the right time ahead to book, RCCL prices can be very similar especially for balconies

[NavarreCruiser]

That could probably vary wildly from ship to ship.

 

 

Actually it doesn't vary that much from ship to ship. I agree with most of what the O.P. said and it is hard to justify the extra cost. However my younger daughter and husband like the amenities on the larger RCCL ships (rock wall, flow rider, and ice rink) for their children so we cruise with them whenever they go. Also somewhat off setting the higher fare is the fact that as diamond plus on more than 1/2 their fleet we get a free happy hour every night from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

[ScottsSweetie]

Price, port, and itinerary is normally what drives our decision to book. It is awfully hard to beat past guest prices (specials) when comparing to other lines. We have also sailed RCI and NCL. I can't remember much about the RCI cruise. It was in October right after 9/11 - I remember it being a very subdued cruise and probably would be unfair to compare that with a "normal" cruise. Our NCL cruise was lovely - the biggest difference, in my opinion, was the food. NCL's buffet had many more choices and their food was much better there. In the dining room, on the other hand, the food was "meh". Desserts were especially terrible on NCL. We were SO disappointed in that aspect of our cruise. I would sail them again, however - we would just eat in the buffet every meal! :)

[J and J]

My 9 year old will tell you she likes Carnival's kids club better then RCI. We liked both lines and have had good cruises on both, while DD is young we lean to Carnival because it's her preference for kids club.

 

20 days to the Conquest and next spring break on RCI. We haven't been swayed to loyalty with either yet. This year was because it was New Orleans and a stop in Grand Cayman that put us on CCL and next year it is itinerary that will put us on RCI - Key West, Nassau, and the RCI island.

 

I prefer the smaller ships, my DH prefers the big ones.

 

You tend to meet more people from overseas on RCI, when we were on the Oasis, my daughter made friends from Scotland, England, Canada etc. It was a very cool experience for her.

 

Would like to try NCL Epic but DH thinks the cabins are laid out strange w/ the bathrooms. My DD would like to test out the water slides. Me as long as I have a balcony, relaxation, good ports, good service...I am content. I am away from work, which my office is in my home and that's all I care about.

 

I am humored by every time I say we are going on Carnival, family and friends make funny faces and ask if we worry because of the Triumph. I just laugh and say catch my trip pictures on face book. No worries. But oh what a crazy story I could tell if we ran into that situation...

[Perfect Stranger]

The flow rider is a shoulder injury waiting to happen. Better food is more important. Can't justify the extra cost for Royal Caribbean.

[hayesktrm]

Great comparison. Our experience has been:

 

NCL--wonderful buffets, terrible MDR. Not impressed with the service, especially in the MDR. We thought the entertainment was excellent. We were on a brand new ship and the cabins were tiny!! We had an oceanview and thought we could do 4 of us (it was going to Alaska so it was very expensive), it was like we were sardines. The cabins were even smaller than the ship we went on for our first cruise, the Ecstasy.

 

Disney--wonderful food, cabins, entertainment...except for adults at night. Not much going on and I do like a casino even though I only donate a few times a trip. That said, EXPENSIVE! Now that the kids are older, we probably will never said with them again, but it was a wonderful experience.

 

RCCL--good entertainment, good food, nice cabins, great service. We tended not to use all the extras like the climbing wall. We would cruise with them more, but the extra price is just not worth it. Also, I think their itineraries aren't as good as Carnival. Their clientele is slightly more upscale.

 

Carnival--nice sized cabins, pretty good food (although it was better), decent entertainment, good service, great itineraries and great prices.

 

Just for fun, I looked to see if they had any cruises that would be comparable to the one we will go on in July. They don't go out of New Orleans or Galveston in July. For a comparable cruise out of Florida (which we would have to fly to so even more money) it would have been $1400 more and that was for an inside and not an oceanview. We have two cabins so that would have been $2800 more (more than 1 of our cabins) and it would be for an inside. We will have about the same amount of fun for a lot less money. Easy choice for us.

[Georgiagolfer]

The cost of RCI compared to what I booked on CCL (June 2 Carnival Breeze) was almost double!! I just couldn't justify the cost difference...plus I enjoy CCL a little more! :)

 

While I agree that in many cases RCI is higher than CCL, not always.

 

Our upcoming cruise is actually $50 less (Junior Suite) than CCL Dream (Ocean Suite). Both sail from Port Canaveral and are for Western Caribbean. Dream sails Saturday, and Freedom on Sunday.

[seannyice81]

The flow rider is a shoulder injury waiting to happen...

 

I watched the people on the Flow-rider on occasion. It looked really fun. I did climb the rock wall and it was pretty cool. I was talking to the ship's nurse (friend banged foot pretty bad on reef) she mentioned most injuries do come from it and the rock climbing wall. I never did see anyone injure themselves on either though.

Edited March 5, 2013 by seannyice81

[orlando80]

I just came back from a 3 night cruise in the Monarch of the Seas after a little over 2 years since my last RCI cruise. I always enjoy a cruise and make the best of it, and my wife is a big RCI and Celebrity fan. That said I found that CCL has more selection in their buffet. Their main dining is almost the same, but missed the didja menu option. The shows were good, but Carnival has more and better comedians. Embarkation was quicker and very organized. The service was good in both cruise lines, I will continue to cruise RCL and Celbrity with my wife, but missing CCL :-(

[aprilivy]

RCL - stuffy, unfriendly, but very pretty ships

CCL - great food and fun - and more friendly passengers and crew

Princess - food is awful - ship is pretty - the least helpful crew, unless you complain loudly and then they snap to and make you feel special.

 

If pricing is a high priority (it is with us) - prefer the bang for the buck that I get with CCL.

Edited March 5, 2013 by aprilivy

[gelo7]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[gusandgidgetsmom]

I totally agree with you. I like Carnival for their MDR food, RCL for their buffet food and NCL not so much.

RCCL has some amenities that are different from the other ships which are appealing to some of the younger generation. The rock wall, the flo rider are few. You will pay for these in your fare and for us it is not worth it for those items. My Grand kids can go on a transition/rock wall whenever they care to as we have one in our business and get the thrill of the flo rider (without the water) on much of our equipment.

I look for price,itinerary and convenience to port most of the time. Those that say RCCL is more expensive are not totally right. There are cruises on RCCL that are cheaper than Carnival. Mostly on their smalls ships tho.I have found in the 25+ cruising years that of the three cruise lines I have mentioned that they are more alike than different so it is nice ot have so many choices when I cruise.

I took my first RCCL cruise and was looking for the things that the RCCL loyalists said made RCCL a step up, or a better line.

 

And came off finding they were just a step aside, not a step up.

 

And thoroughly enjoying them. Yes, there were some things they had that CCL didn't, and some things they didn't have that CCL did.

 

And then that most things were right on par with both lines.

 

So, it was a plus plus for me. It opened up a whole new fleet of ships and a whole bunch of new itineraries to choose from.

[cruisinfanatic]

RCL - stuffy, unfriendly, but very pretty ships

CCL - great food and fun - and more friendly passengers and crew

Princess - food is awful - ship is pretty - the least helpful crew, unless you complain loudly and then they snap to and make you feel special.

 

If pricing is a high priority (it is with us) - prefer the bang for the buck that I get with CCL.

RCL stuffy, unfriendly?

I don't think so

Edited March 6, 2013 by SeaUs

[MissKIA]

Actually it doesn't vary that much from ship to ship. I agree with most of what the O.P. said and it is hard to justify the extra cost. However my younger daughter and husband like the amenities on the larger RCCL ships (rock wall, flow rider, and ice rink) for their children so we cruise with them whenever they go. Also somewhat off setting the higher fare is the fact that as diamond plus on more than 1/2 their fleet we get a free happy hour every night from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

 

I was talking about the food at the buffet. I haven't been on an RCCL cruise, but I know that Carnival's food at the buffet varies from ship to ship alone. There are way more choices on the Breeze or the Dream than there are on the Fantasy, no?

[wordsneeded]

Thank you for posting your review - it was very helpful for someone like myself who is newer to cruising and is not sure about what else is out there :)

[ibcnusoon]

After starting out cruising on Carnival, we are making the switch to Norwegian Cruise Line this year and Royal Caribbean next year.

 

The reason being that yes, there are cheap Carnival cruises out of Florida but the airfare (and the pre- and post cruise hotels, meals, etc.) really take a bite out of cruising affordably from there.

 

We looked into Carnival in the New York and Baltimore are and until they start changing up the itinerary, we will sail NCL and RC from now on.

[Bigtex1622]

Here are the prices out of Galveston for Feb 2014.

Both are going to Roatan, Belize, Cozumel.

............RC ...............CCL

Inside.$1363.64.........$1349.06

Bal.....$2343.64.........$2209.06

 

You are right the prices are almost DOUBLE.

Oh wait they are not.

In fact we are going to have to get a inside cabin,

because we cannot fit into the GS on Magic, like we can on Royal's Suites.

So there goes the savings for us, but it is the itinerary that did it for us.

 

 

:rolleyes:

Edited March 6, 2013 by Bigtex1622

[cruisinfanatic]

Here are the prices out of Galveston for Feb 2014.

Both are going to Roatan, Belize, Cozumel.

............RC ...............CCL

Inside.$1363.64.........$1349.06

Bal.....$2343.64.........$2209.06

 

You are right the prices are almost DOUBLE.

Oh wait they are not.

In fact we are going to have to get a inside cabin,

because we cannot fit into the GS on Magic, like we can on Royal's Suites.

So there goes the savings for us, but it is the itinerary that did it for us.

 

 

:rolleyes:

Well if someone says RCCL is double, then it must be true

[jamin jul]

Is there any music on Carnival Dream? Is there any music by the pool on the Carnival Dream? Any Reggae/calypso music anywhere on Carnival Dream?:confused:

[wampuscat7]

Thank you for your post. I've only cruised on Carnival. Booked once on NCL and had to cancel. Currently booked on Royal, but not until next year.

 

I was excited about trying a new brand, even though I loved Carnival and have very little to say that is bad. The décor and amenities of some of the Royal Caribbean ships appeals to me. However, after seeing the info on the upcoming Carnival ship, I think Royal Caribbean might be losing its edge in that department.

[Tapi]

Royal markets itself globally, where Carnival caters strongly to the North American market, and they push the "drive to port" concept heavily. Many Carnival cruisers, specially from ports like Galveston, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Charleston and Baltimore will hail from neighboring states rather than from overseas. This is a big reason why you're bound to see more international passengers on a Royal ship than on Carnival.

 

About the food, all I can say is that we enjoy the food on Royal more. Many of their selections are more on the alternative, innovative, health conscious side which may not appeal to the "Guy's burgers, pizza, burritos" crowd, but it does appeal to those seeking something different. Personally, I feel that junk food is easily accessible on a daily basis at home, which is why while on a cruise, I usually gravitate away from that stuff. I prefer to try new things, even if they may be a bit foreign to me.

Edited June 1, 2015 by Tapi

[Tapi]

Well if someone says RCCL is double, then it must be true

 

 

My experience is a bit mixed when it comes to pricing. When we sailed on the Allure of the Seas, our Boardwalk window stateroom cost twice as much as our Balcony stateroom on the Carnival Dream a few months later. However when we sailed on Enchantment of the Seas, we snagged two connecting oceanview staterooms for less than one oceanview stateroom on the Carnival Sensation. In addition to that, we used a past guest savings certificate along with Royal points which truly brought the total cost of our cruise down even lower.

 

While I agree that Carnival is consistently cheaper, there are deals to be had on Royal as well.

[Gardeneroflove]

I've kinda considered jumpin the fence...maybe one day.

 

What was the atmosphere like on the RCI cruise? Less of a party atmosphere?

 

way less of a party atmosphere on ours, it was pretty much all old people, very few kids, and younger adults (and we're in 30's!). I wasn't impressed with room service, 45 minutes was the normal.

 

We were on an older ship, no rock climbing or the new stuff.

 

We paid 3500 for balcony on RCCL (that was with kid or 3rd free) $3000 for suite on carnival.

 

The service was ok. The only reason I didn't reduce tips for cabin guy (who we never saw! and had to ask more than one for more towels) was because I was too lazy to go downstairs, so his tips stayed.

 

RCL did have happy hours. buy one get one free, so we did buy a drink. :D

[Tapi]

Princess - food is awful - ship is pretty - the least helpful crew, unless you complain loudly and then they snap to and make you feel special.

 

 

Ironically, some of the reasons why we've placed Princess at the top of our list after we sailed on them last September are because the food was wonderful and because of the impeccable, attentive and professional service from the crew! [emoji2]