Loyals to Royal: What would it take for you to sail on Carnival?

[dixieva]

It doesn't take much reading of the Carnival boards to see they appeal to more of a trash le blanc crowd. I can't vacation 4 or 5 times a year; not going to risk my limited time potentially dealing with the same crowds I try to avoid on land; loud, obnoxious, inconsiderate, F-bombs constantly, DJ pumping out loud and obnoxious music, crowds of people pushing, shoving, stomping for sales, fights in bars and casinos.

 

I work hard, I'll spend a bit more for a little more peaceful and civilized experience. I'm sure a LOT of very nice people go on CCL, but plenty of bargain basement shoppers with no common decency do too. Not for me. No thank you.

 

 

Just wondering how you know that plenty of "bargain basement shoppers" with no common decency book Carnival. How many Carnival cruises have you been on?

 

I have been on 5 CCL cruises and loved them all. Have never seen any fights or any of the other "shoving and stomping" you speak of.

 

As you can see I am Diamond Plus so I also love cruising RCI.

[LMaxwell]

Just wondering how you know that plenty of "bargain basement shoppers" with no common decency book Carnival. How many Carnival cruises have you been on?

 

I have been on 5 CCL cruises and loved them all. Have never seen any fights or any of the other "shoving and stomping" you speak of.

 

As you can see I am Diamond Plus so I also love cruising RCI.

 

A handful in the past and I enjoyed them, but my tastes have changed. Like I said, it takes only a casual reading (ie: first page, any weekend) of the Carnival board to see peoples reviews of the average behavior of guests on Carnival and that their 2.0 "upgrades" appeals to a rowdy set. Not for me.

 

At this point in time in my life my time is too valuable to save a few hundred bucks and risk having a bad experience. I would however be intrigued to try other lines owned by CCL to experience the ships, itineraries, etc. RCI is not the only one I have sailed, but for where I am at in life I enjoy what they offer and the value is right.

[jagsfan]

It doesn't take much reading of the Carnival boards to see they appeal to more of a trash le blanc crowd. I can't vacation 4 or 5 times a year; not going to risk my limited time potentially dealing with the same crowds I try to avoid on land; loud, obnoxious, inconsiderate, F-bombs constantly, DJ pumping out loud and obnoxious music, crowds of people pushing, shoving, stomping for sales, fights in bars and casinos.

 

I work hard, I'll spend a bit more for a little more peaceful and civilized experience. I'm sure a LOT of very nice people go on CCL, but plenty of bargain basement shoppers with no common decency do too. Not for me. No thank you.

 

Wow! Talk about generalizations!

The only fistfight between two drunks I've ever seen on a cruise ship was on Freedom of the Seas. I don't consider that an indictment of Royal, Freedom or the class of passengers attracted to Royal.

There is a frequent battle of posts by Royal passengers regarding what is suitable attire in the MDR. Wearing pretty much what pleases you seems to be the opinion of a large number of them. Not a problem, but not a step above Carnival.

I don't think there is a huge difference between the passenger mix of the two cruise lines. I prefer Royal because of the ships themselves, but pretty much see the same passengers.

I've enjoyed 99% of the people I've met on all my cruises.

[Cruising89143]

Nothing. Been there and done that. Their ships are years behind the competition in design and they continue to build larger ships with less space per passenger. They are now glorified cattle carriers. I used to be a die hard fan of Carnival but after 16 cruises and watching the product slide south all it took was one cruise on RCI to open my eyes as to what I had been missing.

 

When the best thing that their biggest cheerleader can brag about is free 24 hour ice cream and pizza then that should tell you something.

 

Also they are having pricing issues. They continue to cut prices to fill ships. With price cuts comes even more reductions in quality to help the bottom line. Carnival has had to bring Bob Dickinson back to help mend the fences with the travel agency community after basically trying to cut them out of the picture.

 

It comes down to each individual but for us it comes down to more than just price, free ice cream and pizza. I want quality which is why I won't cruise Carnival. Also we are not loyal to RCI. We have tried NCL and HAL. Did not care for them. Celebrity is now our first choice followed very closely by RCI. Those Oasis class ships are hard to beat.

[janetz]

The other thread with 700+ posts (that has turned into unsolicited propaganda for Carnival) got me thinking. To those of you who are "loyal to Royal", what would it take for you to sail on Carnival (or any other cruise line for that matter)?

 

Although I'd love to hear from people who only cruise on Royal, any input is welcome. :)

 

You know your just opening the door for "you know who" to pop in and tell us how wonderful Carnival is and I am SHOCKED that she/he has not posted. :p

Our one cruise on CCL was on the Legend. Beyond the ugly urns, the casino and one show. There was NOTHING to do at night! We love shows and entertainment venues.

We are not fussy and have cruised most main stream lines. RC, Princess and Celebrity our favorites. :)

[LucasLounger1]

Our first cruise was on Carnival and we had a ball. But last Christmas I joined my sister and her family on Royal... well within a day I knew I wouldn't go back to Carnival. Everything was superior. And to agree with a previous poster (and sorry if this offensive) there was definitely a higher class of people on Royal. Perhaps my (limited) experiences are not indicative of each company as a whole, but that's all I can base my choices on.

[clean1owner]

The other thread with 700+ posts (that has turned into unsolicited propaganda for Carnival) got me thinking. To those of you who are "loyal to Royal", what would it take for you to sail on Carnival (or any other cruise line for that matter)?

 

Although I'd love to hear from people who only cruise on Royal, any input is welcome. :)

 

A free cruise. And even then I would hesitate booking the trip.

[cruzeluver]

I'm not loyal to any particular line, but I would no longer consider Carnival. My vacation time and money is too valuable to risk it. Just about everything I have experienced on their ships felt cheap and second-rate from the food, entertainment, service and especially the tacky designs and cheap-looking furnishings. Ice cream and pizza? Whoopdee-doo!

[TexCruise371]

Royal and Celebrity have been great to us. :)

 

I have no desire to try Carnival because I'm happy with where we are now. We know the product and what to expect when we step on the ship.

[Tapi]

You know you're just opening the door for "you know who" to pop in and tell us how wonderful Carnival is and I am SHOCKED that she/he has not posted.

 

He's still too busy posting "over there". Maybe the title of this thread is keeping him away. It does begin with "Loyals to Royal"...:)

[FLACRUISER99]

I have sailed Carnival a couple of times and they were fine. I would sail them again if not for the great D+ perks of RCI.

[skagen]

I have sailed Carnival a couple of times and they were fine. I would sail them again if not for the great D+ perks of RCI.

 

This hits on what I would say - we have 8 cruises under our belt - 3 Carnival, 3 Royal, 1 Princess, 1 Norwegian.

 

Decided that since we were going to cruise a lot and we've got years ahead of us (41 (me) and 38 (wife)) that I'd concentrate our cruises on a line with a good loyalty program.

 

If Carnival came out with a loyalty program competitive with RCCL, we'd consider it. Also, suite perks would have to be better.

 

For us, where we'll be booking suites until at least we get to Diamond and perhaps beyond, the suite perks and the loyalty benefits are huge. Carnival is tremendously deficient in suite perks.

[KansasK]

From my signature, I have obviously cruised on Carnival. My brother suggested a cruise on the Miracle a few years ago and off we went. I think they had a good product four years ago. Many of RCI's ships were even then bigger and seemed to offer more, but we still had a good time. Some people even prefer smaller ships. The cabin attendants and the waiter staff were very good.

 

Since then the entertainment has gone downhill a lot on Carnival. The passengers too often are the entertainment. The dead in the water problems they have had with two ships is also a consideration. Right now my brother has not gone back to Carnival and is booked for two RCI cruises with us.

 

I won't say never for cruising on Carnival again, but just not right now.

[bigque]

I would do free one out of Charleston because I can drive there in a little more than 2 hours. When I was going to book my first cruise different people we knew that had cruised Carnival before said "don't pick Carnival" so I didn't. When I have exhausted the iteneraries I want and some other ships I want to sail on and unless something drastically bad happens with me on RCI then I will just stay put for now. I will one day cruise another line but it won't be Carnival but realistically as I said I wouldn't turn down a free cruise out of Charleston. I save for one big cruise and get the cabin I want and save for everything I want to do for that cruise, so with the kind of money I am putting out I will go with what I know to be a good product. When I hit the Powerball I will take one of those expensive upscale all inclusive cruises one of the luxury lines! :D

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Oh how great it would be to go on a Carnival Cruise..........(not)

 

[Angelsea57]

We have cruise with Carnival, Royal Caribbean and NCL.

The experience with Carnival has been good but the experience with Royal has been excellent.

That's why we go back to Royal.

Our last Carnival cruise was on the Carnival Dream and we were not too

impressed with the ship, shows and activities.

On the other hand we have been blown away with some of the Royal Caribbean ships, specially the last two ships, the shows, entertainment, activities and food have been superb..

Don't have anything against Carnival or NCL just prefer what Royal Caribbean

has to offer better.

[teajak]

For us to cruise on another Carnival ship!!! it would take all the other ships to disappear .....but if that happened I'd switch to land vacations and give up cruising completely.

 

Royal Caribbean has treated us wonderfully over the many years that we've cruised. We are VERY LOYAL but have used other lines when an itinerary was not available through RCI (NCL Pride of America around Hawaii).

Couldn't agree more, but after our treatment from Carnival I would rather stay home.:eek:

[Nyrina4life]

Nothing. Before I ever set sail on any cruise line, I never found Carnival all that attractive as a company. I don't know. . . just something about the ships, and the cruise-line seemed off to me. Maybe I'm a snob or something?? But I thought Carnival appeared cheap.

[NewYawkYankees]

I'm going to preface this by stating that this is only my opinion. I've cruised on both extensively (Diamond/RCCL, Platinum/CCL) and haven't really noticed the differences between the services provided.

 

I lose money in both casinos, sing off-key at both piano bars, fall asleep at the shows for both and walk off every ship weighing more than I entered it. I've also witnessed cutting lines on both, entered elevators with all floors pushed on both and have experienced employees having "bad" days on both.

 

The difference I see is that, on Carnival, some guests go on a vacation maybe once every couple of years. They saved up for months / years to enjoy a cruise. They have fun and don't care who watches them dance, drink or act. I love talking to Carnival cruisers (while cruising) about their time on the ship. They are having the time of their lives and they typically don't complain.

 

On Royal, some guests go on vacation once / twice a year, every year and expect things to be flawless every time. And they are entitled to think that way. Carnival just can't promise that every time...

 

However, the Royal ships are a million times better and, as pointed out by others, the loyalty program dwarfs that of Carnival. Gotta love the Concierge / Diamond lounge..

 

Just my $0.02...

[evelyn51]

I wouldn't exactly say "I'm loyal to Royal", but I do love their product!!! When looking to cruise, Royal is where I go. I have had only great experiences with them. That's why I keep going back. I do have to give credit to Disney. It was a Wonder cruise that got my husband and I hooked on cruising!

 

That said, my employers are taking the employees on a Carnival cruise to nowhere to celebrate our 15th anniversary. Due to our business, we only have a long weekend to do it. We will be on the Glory. I plan on having a great time!!!! I do jokingly say that even though it is a 2 night cruise, I am taking enough underwear to last for a week ;):D

 

ETA: If this upcoming cruise is enjoyable, I may also check into some of the newer Carnival ships!

 

 

Don't forget EARPLUGS!

[krazy4kruisin]

New ship, good itinerary, and good price ... I will try them.

 

Ditto, Been there done that, would do it again. In this economy, you do what you gotta do to take a cruise

[evelyn51]

No " maybe "! No, not even for free.

 

 

 

No, Nay, Nada! You couldn't pay me to cruise Carnival. Well maybe if it was a ship load of $$$$! You know what they say everyone's got a price. ;)

[Rick-n-Lisa]

We're loyal to Royal and have only done 1 Carnival on the Sensation, a smaller older ship with all the neon and glitz but we had a great time with good service and good food. Based on that we would do again if the price or other circumstance was right. I can't speak for those of you that have had a bad experience but for those who have never been, never say never. Plenty of folks have had good experiences and I don't think you should rule something out just because someone else doesn't like it. There are restaurants in my town that people rave about that I don't care for and ones I like and others don't. We went on our Carnival cruise with a very open mind and knew that it would not be anywhere close to our experience on Royal and it ended up exceeding our expectations. Was it perfect? No. If you can be open to experiencing new and different things you will probably be fine and enjoy. If you go and try to compare to what you love and are familiar with you will probably be disappointed. My opinion and my experience, fwiw. :)

[molsonschooner]

We prefer Royal over Carnival. Our last 4 cruises were on RCI. We did have a great time on the Carnival Triumph a few years back. Great service all around. Better food than on any of our Royal cruises.Far better service in the MDR compared to what we got on The Oasis.But that was a few years ago. But the Royal ships are nicer. They are better laid out. There seems like there are more things to do on Royal ships. For those people who say that Carnival attracts a lower class of people, I think you should open your eyes and see some of the poorly dressed people that I have seen. Oh, and take a look at some of the drunken people(some even as early as noon) that wander around the Royal ships. I have only cruised on the 2 lines but the fact is, I have seen a lot of the same stuff on all ships.

[Angelsea57]

I'm going to preface this by stating that this is only my opinion. I've cruised on both extensively (Diamond/RCCL, Platinum/CCL) and haven't really noticed the differences between the services provided.

 

I lose money in both casinos, sing off-key at both piano bars, fall asleep at the shows for both and walk off every ship weighing more than I entered it. I've also witnessed cutting lines on both, entered elevators with all floors pushed on both and have experienced employees having "bad" days on both.

 

The difference I see is that, on Carnival, some guests go on a vacation maybe once every couple of years. They saved up for months / years to enjoy a cruise. They have fun and don't care who watches them dance, drink or act. I love talking to Carnival cruisers (while cruising) about their time on the ship. They are having the time of their lives and they typically don't complain.

 

On Royal, some guests go on vacation once / twice a year, every year and expect things to be flawless every time. And they are entitled to think that way. Carnival just can't promise that every time...

 

However, the Royal ships are a million times better and, as pointed out by others, the loyalty program dwarfs that of Carnival. Gotta love the Concierge / Diamond lounge..

 

Just my $0.02...

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