Royal Caribeean or Carnival?

[Aquahound]

So would MANY others, ... even the ones who say 'no way, no how'!

Sure. ;)

 

I can honestly say there are some ships I would not sail under any circumstances. Not lines....ships.

[WetToes]

 

I sailed on at the time Carnivals oldest and crappiest ship in the fleet. Even one the diehard cheerleaders hated. LOVED that cruise!

 

There is just nothing that terrible that I seen about Carnival that would keep my off one of their ships. :)

 

With the right mindset and attitude a good time can be had almost anywhere. :)

I'd take any cruise, anytime, especially if it were free. :D

[BillOh]

First cruise was carnival, the next 36 have been RCL.....You couldn't get me on a carnival ship if it was free.....K.O.

 

That is probably how I would go, if I won one or someone else paid for me to go. That said, I almost got Shanghi'd (pun intended) on a Carnival Cruise. My brother in law, a top tier member of Carnival wanted to arrange a family cruise and I'm sure with him being the most experienced cruiser at the time and he would have been doing the coordinating it would have been on Carnival. He died unexpectedly in the initial planning stages, so it didn't happen. His first two cruises were on Carnival and was free for him, so he stuck with it.

 

Ironically, someone else also picked my first cruise and it was on Royal and I stuck with it.

[Upandadam]

I feel it's best to mix it up a bit. There are loyalists for certain lines but I feel they're really missing out. Obviously since I'm on a RCI board, I like RCI, but Carnival is the worlds largest for a very good reason. They must be doing something right.

[Lunarclipse]

Since when was Carnival the largest cruise ship company in the world? RCCL > Carnival. If RCCL can succeed with RCI, CL, AZA, Pullmantur, TUI Cruises, and Croisières de France I think they are doing something right.

[LMaxwell]

Since when was Carnival the largest cruise ship company in the world? RCCL > Carnival. If RCCL can succeed with RCI, CL, AZA, Pullmantur, TUI Cruises, and Croisières de France I think they are doing something right.

 

Carnival Corporation is larger than RCCL

 

Carnival Cruiselines is larger than RCI

 

Slice the pie however you wish, it's still going to taste the same.

[Lunarclipse]

Carnival Corporation is larger than RCCL

 

Carnival Cruiselines is larger than RCI

 

Slice the pie however you wish, it's still going to taste the same.

 

Personally I would prefer my pie slightly burnt instead of drowned.

 

Are you basing this off of stock prices? Number of ships? Number of guests served?

[Upandadam]

Since when was Carnival the largest cruise ship company in the world? RCCL > Carnival. If RCCL can succeed with RCI, CL, AZA, Pullmantur, TUI Cruises, and Croisières de France I think they are doing something right.

 

Not that it's really that big of a deal, but Carnival is the largest cruiseline (including all holdings) with 52% of the market. Not saying it's the best however.

[LMaxwell]

Personally I would prefer my pie slightly burnt instead of drowned.

 

Are you basing this off of stock prices? Number of ships? Number of guests served?

 

Total number of ships. Amount of employees. Market Cap of Carnival Corp is nearly 3X that of RCCL ($27.5B versus $9.5B)

 

There's not much objectivity to account for here; just numbers. It has nothing to do with personal preference for one company over another. I don't think Royal Caribbean has had a market cap over Carnivals except for MAYBE, MAYBE in their very early years; talking about 35+ years ago.

[Upandadam]

Personally I would prefer my pie slightly burnt instead of drowned.

 

Are you basing this off of stock prices? Number of ships? Number of guests served?

 

Revenue, number of ships, berths, employees, assets, guests served.

[CRUZBUDS]

Since when was Carnival the largest cruise ship company in the world? RCCL > Carnival. If RCCL can succeed with RCI, CL, AZA, Pullmantur, TUI Cruises, and Croisières de France I think they are doing something right.

 

I think it was in the mid-1990's -- as of 2011 -- Carnival Corporation controlled 49.2% of the worldwide cruise market --- Royal Caribbean is number 2 -- maybe they try harder ;)

[Aquahound]

Not that it's really that big of a deal, but Carnival is the largest cruiseline (including all holdings) with 52% of the market. Not saying it's the best however.

 

The parent corporation has 52% of the market, not the cruise line.

 

But that said, CCL remains the largest line....for now. I seem to remember a RCI press event not long ago, saying after Quantum Class is released, along with Oasis 3, RCI will be the largest in terms of passengers.

[Rogueperson]

Personally, I've been on 5 different lines and enjoyed each of them immensely.

 

But comparing them side by side, I found my one Royal Caribbean cruise on the Jewel of the sea, seemed to fail only slightly in service. They didn't seem to be as enthusiastic or energetic as other cruises. This maybe indicative of timing as well. If the bulk of the crew is about up on their rotation, and are thinking of going home soon, then you may notice a drop in service because they've been at it for so long.

 

The MDR food was comparable to everything else, but the signature restaurant, I found to be lackluster. It looked very nice and presentation was amazing, but after biting into it, i found the flavor of that food to be under par.

 

Price comparison between Carnival and Royal Caribbean tells me that Carnival has a cheaper price most of the time with comparable rooms. But in my opinion, they both offer the same services with varying degrees of fluctuation. For a value for the price. Carnival wins, as they both offer the same thing, but Carnival does it for less.

 

Innovation, Royal Caribbean wins hands down. They continue to push the envelope of entertainment with ice rinks, and rock walls, etc. The premium you are paying for, is the innovation. Carnival tends to stay with what works. Bars, pools, water parks and improves on that, while R/C brings out the new and experimental. I also kind of feel that Royal Caribbean depends on innovation to win out.

 

My own personal opinion, is that I like Carnival better. The population onboard the ship seem to have more my peers (early 40s) then Royal Caribbean, but surprisingly, Carnival runs a farther gambit with the old and the young. This is very subjective, but the ONLY cruise line that has ever truly detached me from my real life so completely, was Carnival. A far second runner up was Celebrity. Another thing, I notice that Carnival does a little more in the passenger integration than Royal Caribbean, but we shall see if it was a one time thing.

 

You also have to keep in mind that there are outside variables that the cruise line can't truly control. The big one is population. You can't control truly who you will cruise with, and I believe these passengers are a big factor of enjoying your cruise, or feeling left out in the cold. The same cruise line, the same cruise ship, will have a vastly different population due to the number of days you sail, where you sail, when you sail. You will also get a totally different experience from your departure port. LA is a vastly different port to Bayonne, which is vastly different from Fort Lauderdale. With all these factors, it is truly hard to decide which is "better".

 

To truly make an informed decision, you would have to do two cruises of different cruise lines, but with the same comparable class of ship (Dream class vs. Freedom class? or Radiance Class vs. Spirit Class?) during the same time of the year, at the same departure port, and maybe even the same itinerary to make a truly informed decision of which is "better"

 

For those reasons, my next one will be on Royal Caribbean. To this day, I still do not know which i like "better".

Edited November 5, 2013 by Rogueperson

[Lilystar]

I agree with the poster that said, if you have only sailed on one line, then you are missing out on new experiences. But that's just my opinion. I've sailed on Carnival 3 times, Royal twice and Disney once. With the exception of the Disney Wonder, the cruises on Carnival and Royal were all 3 or 4 night itineraries on the smaller/older ships.

 

I enjoy a cruise no matter what. There are things that are different of course, but where there is a trade off in one area, there is a plus in another.

 

Below are my personal ratings:

 

Room Quality- Royal gets the lowest marks here. Their beds were squeaky and uncomfortable and had the most uncomfortable pillows ever. Disney gets the highest marks with room layout, bed comfort and bathroom layout. Carnival falls in the middle but far surpasses Royal for standard room comfortability. On all 3 Carnival cruises I've been on (one we had bunk beds with 3 in a room) and I didn't feel squished at any time. Beds were comfortable.

 

Food- Disney wins here. I know this thread was to compare Royal and Carnival, but feel I need to share all of my experience to make it fair. Disney has rotational dining meaning you eat in a diff restaurant each night with the same wait staff. Food quality was really good. There would be a tie between Royal and Carnival for 2nd place. Perhaps giving a slight edge to Carnival. I've found both have similar quality of food and didn't have a bad meal on either line. I found the variety to be much better on Carnival though. Picky eaters might like Carnival better.

 

Decor/Overall Atmosphere- Disney wins hands down here as well. So much detail is put into every single thing that they do from the carpet to the lighting fixtures. Next would go to Royal for sure. I love that I feel like I'm on the love boat when I cruise on Royal. Surroundings are classy and well thought out. This is Carnival's big downfall. I just don't like that casino-meets-cafeteria-meets star trek decor. But I can get past it because there are so many other great things.

 

Service- I bet you would think I'd say Disney here, but nope. I've found service to be just as good on both Royal and Carnival. With Royal having the slight edge.

 

Entertainment- This is VERY subjective....as entertainment always is. I love all things Disney and I live 17 miles from Disney World and have season passes. So my preference in entertainment goes to Disney hands down. They are in the entertainment business....if there is one thing they know how to do is entertain you. And the ships are not an exception. That being said, if you don't like disney, princesses, stories....you won't like Disney cruiseline entertainment. My next rating goes to Carnival FAR above Royal. I found Royal's entertainment to be very mediocre if not flat out bad. On Carnival, it's a little more "casino production show" and as long as the singing/dancing are good, then it's entertaining to me. On Royal, they had one of those shows and the singing/dancing was terrible. The magician was mediocre and the comedian wasn't funny at all. On Carnival they had a late night comedian that took the house down he was so funny (not censored at all!)

 

Bars/Lounges/Activities- All lines are soooo different here. On Disney, everyone including adults were GONE at 11:30 and bars pretty much closed up shop. No doubt this is due to families being on this line. The adult activities started at 10:15 and ended around 11 and then everyone scattered EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. The stuff they did have was really fun though. But sometimes I'd like to stay out and have a good time until 12-1 when I'm on vacation. If this is you, you won't like Disney. On Carnival, you can pretty much find people partying at all hours of every night. Disney's polar opposite. That is really nice, but has it's downfalls too. The clientele on Carnival at those bars tends to be, um, questionable. Iv'e encountered a lot of obnoxious people on Carnival....didn't encounter any of those people on Royal or Disney. Royal is a toss up....sometimes there are people out and having a good time, other nights the ship was a ghost town.

 

Well, I think I've typed enough of my opinion! HOpe it helps to hear what we all have to say!

[jsickels]

I prefer Royal Caribbean to carnival but I have been on the nicest RCI ships and older carnival ships so that could be the difference. That said, my next 2 cruises I have booked are on Carnival because they offer a wider variety of ports where they sail. I am looking forward to my 2014 cruise on the carnival dream to see how sailing on one of the best carnival ships compares to sailing on the best RCI ship.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Cruising89143]

Not that it's really that big of a deal, but Carnival is the largest cruiseline (including all holdings) with 52% of the market. Not saying it's the best however.

 

True. Wal-Mart and McDonalds are leaders in their category. Doesn't make them the best. Both are far from it for me. Same with Carnival.

 

Used to only cruise on Carnival (16). Now they are not even on my list of considerations. Far too many options out there that are better IMHO. Poorly designed ships that are packed with passengers.

 

OP it's good to try other lines. It's the only way to know if a certain line is a good fit. We have tried several lines that were okay but did not measure up to RCI. Celebrity has been the only line to top RCI and only a slight edge.

[yogimax]

Do you follow trends? If so, you would find that

 

1. Carnival has been trending downward in the last few years, from safety issues, to loyalty rewards to terrible entertainment.

 

2. Royal has (at least) been holding its own.

 

Considering that RCCL had a better product three years ago and Carnival is in a downward spiral, the recommendation is obvious!

[sellwingri]

After 8 Royal Caribbean cruises, we tried a short, 5 day Carnival cruise to Canada in June because it was unbelievably cheap. The ports and the balcony room were great. That is the end of the "greats". We found nothing to do at night and the food was horrible. We ate in the steakhouse 2 nights in a row. The ship layout made no sense. On several decks you had to up or down to go forward. Customer Service was non existent (although RCCL is dropping in this category).

 

That being said, I asked DH if he'd go on Carnival again and he said "yes, if the price was as low as it was". We basically got a 5 day cruise for 2 in a balcony cabin 5 weeks before sailing for $1100.

 

I guess if you love being on the sea and seeing places you've never seen before, any cruise is wonderful. However, I'll stick to RCCL for the entire package - cruise AND on ship entertainment.

 

On a side note, we've sailed multiple times on Princess but sill prefer RCCL.

Edited November 9, 2013 by sellwingri

[astroboy99]

First cruise was carnival, the next 36 have been RCL.....You couldn't get me on a carnival ship if it was free.....K.O.

 

Having only one Carnival cruise under your belt doesn't give your opinion much credit.

 

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Forums mobile app

[astroboy99]

Do you follow trends? If so, you would find that

 

1. Carnival has been trending downward in the last few years, from safety issues, to loyalty rewards to terrible entertainment.

 

2. Royal has (at least) been holding its own.

 

Considering that RCCL had a better product three years ago and Carnival is in a downward spiral, the recommendation is obvious!

 

As far as safety is concerned, Carnival has been very straight with the public as far as what the causes of the incidents were and what they planned to do to correct the situation. Has RCI ever ever announced what the cause of the fire was on Sovereign?

 

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[bobbiejean]

We have been on 5 Carnival and 1 Royal. Overall I think the Royal ships are more beautiful. We like the food choices better on Carnival. The best cabin we ever had was balcony on Carnival Miracle. We are doing Alaska in May on Royal so I will compare again. Would't hesitate to go on either if going my way and price was right. Just get to go.

[mdwcruises]

I will let you know after Thanksgiving. ;)

 

Never been on either but have a B2B in a week from Carnival Breeze to RCCL Liberty. (hey, if something is worth doing, it's worth overdoing!) :p:D

[Rogueperson]

We have been on 5 Carnival and 1 Royal. Overall I think the Royal ships are more beautiful. We like the food choices better on Carnival. The best cabin we ever had was balcony on Carnival Miracle. We are doing Alaska in May on Royal so I will compare again. Would't hesitate to go on either if going my way and price was right. Just get to go.

 

Carnival tends to overdue their decorations. So if you like it, you'll love it, but if you don't, you may feel like its tacky. I felt Royal Caribbean is more subtle in their elegance

[Cruising89143]

As far as safety is concerned, Carnival has been very straight with the public as far as what the causes of the incidents were and what they planned to do to correct the situation. Has RCI ever ever announced what the cause of the fire was on Sovereign?

 

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Sovereign?

[LMaxwell]

Sovereign?

 

I think they may have meant to reference the fire on Grandeur earlier this year.