Curious about Carnival

[kbset]

Hi!

 

My husband and I just got back home from B2B cruises with Royal Caribbean and we really didn't care for it much...no "WOW" factor for us! We had a ton of problems; we think it was the ship we were on because we heard several people complaining about something or another, and mentioning that this was the worst Royal Caribbean ship they have been on :(. So we are considering trying Carnival out the next time we cruise (not sure when that will be) and we were wondering if anyone who sailed both Royal and Carnival, which is your preference and why; and what things are better/not as good with each cruise company? We don't know anything about Carnival, and weren't interested in trying them out until our cruise with Royal, so we are just looking for some feedback...any information would be greatly appreciated :D Thanks!

[carrieluvsgreg]

I'm just curious- what did you not like? That might help those trying yo explain their experiences. I can't personally offer any comparison as we've only done 10 on Carnival. Obviously we are happy, we are still cruising Carnival.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jazm2011]

We have only done 2 on Royal and I realize they weren't necessarily the biggest/best ships, so perhaps that is part of the equation. And even though we felt Royal vs. Carnival were relatively similar overall, our preference (if equal itineraries, equal cost (which it rarely is)), would be for Carnival for the following reasons:

 

Carnival cabins were bigger

Carnival food (buffet & MDR) was slightly better (although the Steakhouses were totally equal)

Carnival entertainment was slight to moderately better

Carnival travelers come across less snobby (we had very specific interactions at pool, as well as at our table in MDR) on Royal that made a very strong negative impression on us.

And finally - the overall atmosphere on Carnival is just plain fun. We felt like the Royal ship went dead at 10pm, which was kind of different.

 

So although we wouldn't necessarily NOT cruise Royal again, it would have to be a really good price or out of the ordinary itinerary, to have us choose them over Carnival.

 

Hope that helps.

[RWolver672]

We have been on both, one on Royal, the rest on Carnival. We started out with Carnival, but tried Royal when we wanted to visit Aruba the Royal was the only one going there at the time.

 

Food was equal. Entertainment was better on Carnival. Crew was more friendly on Carnival. Cabins were about the same on both. Fun times, Carnival has RCI beat ten times over. Yes, RCI has rocks to climb and ice to skate on but if you aren't in to rock climbing and ice skating, it really did nothing for us.

 

As you can see in my listing of cruises, we would never go on RCI again. It's not as much fun for us as the Carnival cruises are.

[brooklynfc]

I agree with the first response of needing a bit more info. from you end to really help you. What ship was it? Was it one of the older/smaller ships or one of the newer/bigger ones? What elements did you not fully like?

[susie8862]

If you were not happy with RCCL.....IMO.....you are NOT going to be happy with Carnival.

[Sarah@Sea]

I have cruised both, I was was really looking forward to my RCL cruise this past September for that WOW factor, and not only was I not WOW'd my basic expectations were not met. I am not hard to please and my requests were ones that Carnival had in the past easily full filled.

 

Carnival staff definitely friendlier and I would watch them interact with each other and be in good moods. On my RCL cruise I staff complain to me about other staff members being too lazy to wipe off a table, etc. Overall nice to me and my mother but the genuineness of it was not there, it just seemed to be a front.

 

Food is better on Carnival, only downside would be no hot breakfast avail for room service but that's not a make or break issue for me.

 

RCL had some issue with linens which is annoying, we were two females in a cabin and had only 2 bath towels, I need an extra towel when I wash my hair. Given we rarely showered twice day, thus using 2 towels 2x, I would think they could provide 3 towels at least...honestly I'd expect 4. On the topic of towels, RCL made us check out beach towels on the pool deck and return them there, this was annoying since the station was not open at all times and we often took the towels back to our cabin after the pool, wrapped around us. Whereas, Carnival leaves your beach towels in your room, and replaces them there, seems like an easy way to track the towels and we much preferred it.

 

Twice on Carnival I have left a note requesting an extra pillow on the first night and 2x I have received the pillows with no issue. Actually I was so impressed that while returning from dinner on my October cruise the room steward saw us in the hall and told us he got our pillows, he recognized us that quickly as to our cabin number. Now on RCL I asked for an extra pillow and the room steward said it would be the next day as she'd have to request it from the linen storeroom, well I never got the extra pillow, no I didn't ask again or make a fuss after all it's just a pillow...from both perspectives...not worth making a fuss, but also not a huge request that should take a 2nd, IMO.

 

As the other comment mentioned...rock walls, surfing, and ice skating are not something I can partake so it does not matter if the ship has it to offer or not, and I am left to wonder if $ that should be spent on having enough towels is being spent on surfing?

 

Another staff concern, while disembarking on RCL my mother needed a wheelchair and that service was just very slow, there was only 1 crew there trying to coordinate and it seemed others who should have been reporting back after taking a passenger off were not, there were plenty of chairs just not the people showing up to actually take passengers off. This was my first experience with this matter as it was Mom's first cruise, also our ship was 2 hours late into port because we had stopped for a passengers medical issue, not complaining...just realizing there probably could have been other factors as what occurred that morning, as the delay also meant staff had shortened turn around time, etc.

However, when I compare that to staff during disembarkment on Carnival, I had a question about how to get my $ credit off my account and there was a huge line at the service desk, Carnival has an ATM like machine for on board accounts, but I could not see how to take off the cash due to me. I quickly asked a crew member if that was actually possible, and he said yes, then walked back over with me and took me step by step to show me how to get my $. Very nice, in my book.

 

I'd say give them a try and see for yourself!

[Sun4Me2Please]

Hi!

 

My husband and I just got back home from B2B cruises with Royal Caribbean and we really didn't care for it much...no "WOW" factor for us! We had a ton of problems; we think it was the ship we were on because we heard several people complaining about something or another, and mentioning that this was the worst Royal Caribbean ship they have been on :(. So we are considering trying Carnival out the next time we cruise (not sure when that will be) and we were wondering if anyone who sailed both Royal and Carnival, which is your preference and why; and what things are better/not as good with each cruise company? We don't know anything about Carnival, and weren't interested in trying them out until our cruise with Royal, so we are just looking for some feedback...any information would be greatly appreciated :D Thanks!

 

 

I really think it comes down to why you are cruising.... We have done both Royal and Carnival. We have things we like about both... and there are things we don't like for both. I am thinking you should look at what your expectations are for your cruise, are you looking to relax, or more adventure... figure out what you are looking for on the front end of your cruise and then find the ship that will give you that experience. If you cant find it then maybe cruising is not your cup of tea..... I have many friends that have cruised once or twice and they will not do it again. They figured that it just isn't for them. Me personally I would go three or four times a year if I were living close to a port and had the vacation time to do so :)

[kbset]

I'm just curious- what did you not like? That might help those trying yo explain their experiences. I can't personally offer any comparison as we've only done 10 on Carnival. Obviously we are happy, we are still cruising Carnival.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We did B2B cruises on the same ship and our 6 day cruise was awful, but our 8 day cruise was better than the 6 day. To start off, our room was filthy...I took some Clorox wipes to wipe down door handles, light switches and things like that, and when I wiped down the floor of our shower I used 5 wipes and they were completely black :eek: it was horrifying and disgusting! Maybe I'm a weirdo for wiping down the shower floor, but I'm sure glad I did! Our room smelled musty and when we ran out of kleenex or toilet paper, our room steward would never refill them so we always had to call and have some brought to our room. 2 of the 6 couples that we sat with at dinner also had the same problem with their room steward not refilling their toilet paper or kleenex.

Our room steward was lazy to say the least...there was a long shelf on top of the closet where we would put our souvenirs, and every single night our room steward would take a bunch of clean towels (for when he would clean our room the following day) and shove them up on the shelf pushing all our our souvenirs towards the back! When we took the towels off the shelf my husband got up on a chair to see if any of our things got pushed way to the back and to our surprise not only were our things shoved to the back but we also found a pair of pajamas, a hair brush, a t-shirt, and a disposable camera, none that were any of ours, that were also pushed to the back because of what the room steward was doing!!! :mad:

The food in the Windjammer buffet was inedible...it was cold, tasteless, the trays were empty and when you would ask for something that was supposed to be in a tray that was empty they would tell you to go over to another station on the other side of the room and get what you wanted there. The same thing happened to us when getting drinks, I went up to get my husband and I an apple juice and there was only one there so I kindly asked for another one only to be told to go over to another drink station to get it! Thankfully, I'm not handicapped because if I was and they told me to go elsewhere to get what I wanted, I would have thrown a fit!

Our main waiter in the Main Dining Room for dinner was not friendly, a few times after we were done ordering what we wanted he would literally rip the menu from our hands (the other 6 couples at our table complained about this also) He would forget to give 1-2 people either coffee, an appetizer, or a dessert and when we would mention it to him he would never apologize, he would just simply walk away never coming back with what we ordered. Now, on the other hand, the assistant waiter was very friendly and attentive, in fact, one night when everyone at our table received their appetizers and my husband had not, the assistant waiter asked our main waiter, who was just standing there, where my husbands appetizer was and he just shrugged his shoulders, so the assistant waiter went back to get my husband his appetizer, if he would not have my husband would not have received his appetizer that night. Not only that, every single night it took our entire table an average of 2 hours and 15 minutes to get served our 3 course meal. We would get our appetizer, then have to wait for 30 minutes to get our entree, then we would eat that and wait another 30 to get our dessert. It should not take that long for a 3 course meal, our entire head table complained to I think it was the maitre'd and things got a little better but there wasn't much of a difference. Due to how long it took for us to eat dinner, our whole table was constantly missing the evening shows...which we found our on the second cruise not to be that great anyways.

I'm not sure what is going on with this specific ship, but everyone we ran into complained either about the food or the service. We talked to several diamond status members and they said that this is the worst Royal ship they have been on because of the service and the food. My husband and I are not picky eaters at all but we just couldn't get over how bad the food was, especially in the Windjammer buffet. So, we just ate breakfast in the Main Dining Room every day where it was much better, and we had lunch at Sorrento's.

On the second to last night of our first cruise we were supposed to get some paperwork sent to our room letting us know the procedure for doing a B2B cruise but we never received anything. So we went up to guest services and asked what were were supposed to do and the guest services person was rude and told us to be patient and that we would get something sent to our room by the morning letting us know what to do....well morning came and we never got anything so we went back to guest services letting them know and the girl who was helping us this time, looked up our information on the computer and said that the reason we didn't get anything is because it was not in the system so we weren't put on the list as doing a B2B. Mind you, we booked both of the cruises at the same time 13 months in advance and they noted that it was a B2B and we even called to confirm before we flew out for the first crusie. So, if we wouldn't have went to guest services we would have been clueless on what the whole B2B procedure was.

Now on the second part to our back to back cruise (on the same ship) things were a lot better, except the food, the food was still bad. But our room steward was great and our room was spotless when I took the Clorox wipes to it. Thankfully, there was no black all over the wipes when I wiped the shower floor in our new room, as we changed floors for the second cruise. Our waiter and assistant waiter were friendly and attentive also this time around.

We did contact Royal about our complaints, but we haven't heard anything back yet. I think that pretty much sums up most of the major issues that we had.

[idjaffe]

A lot of times it depends upon who you are cruising with/for and what specific ship you are on.

 

I would not cruise on Princess, Celebrity or Holland America with my pre-teens - they want more action....in the same way, if it is just my wife and I, we are fine with a more "sophisticated" atmosphere.

 

We like Carnival - but only the newest and biggest ships - we do not like the older ships - less activities, smaller space, pools not as nice, etc. We also shy away from short trips - too many "partiers"/drinkers out for a booze cruise.

 

We also like RCCL - the Oasis and Allure are probably our favorite ships...YET, we just got back from Independence of the Seas, and as much as we loved our cruise, we were left a little less than thrilled. - So we booked the Breeze for our next one.

 

What is the objective of your next cruise - kids? (how old), price point (Carnival is 25% less), specific ports? Price point? Port location?

 

In the end they all have positives and negatives...but both deliver a great vacation.

[kbset]

I agree with the first response of needing a bit more info. from you end to really help you. What ship was it? Was it one of the older/smaller ships or one of the newer/bigger ones? What elements did you not fully like?

It was the Independence of the Seas :)

 

I really think it comes down to why you are cruising.... We have done both Royal and Carnival. We have things we like about both... and there are things we don't like for both. I am thinking you should look at what your expectations are for your cruise, are you looking to relax, or more adventure... figure out what you are looking for on the front end of your cruise and then find the ship that will give you that experience. If you cant find it then maybe cruising is not your cup of tea..... I have many friends that have cruised once or twice and they will not do it again. They figured that it just isn't for them. Me personally I would go three or four times a year if I were living close to a port and had the vacation time to do so :)

My husband and I are not one's for laying out in the sun all day we like to go to relax, to visit the ports, for the nightly entertainment...that kind of stuff, and of course for the warm weather:D

[kbset]

A lot of times it depends upon who you are cruising with/for and what specific ship you are on.

 

I would not cruise on Princess, Celebrity or Holland America with my pre-teens - they want more action....in the same way, if it is just my wife and I, we are fine with a more "sophisticated" atmosphere.

 

We like Carnival - but only the newest and biggest ships - we do not like the older ships - less activities, smaller space, pools not as nice, etc. We also shy away from short trips - too many "partiers"/drinkers out for a booze cruise.

 

We also like RCCL - the Oasis and Allure are probably our favorite ships...YET, we just got back from Independence of the Seas, and as much as we loved our cruise, we were left a little less than thrilled. - So we booked the Breeze for our next one.

 

What is the objective of your next cruise - kids? (how old), price point (Carnival is 25% less), specific ports? Price point? Port location?

 

In the end they all have positives and negatives...but both deliver a great vacation.

 

 

Hubby and I did Celebrity for our honeymoon cruise and we absolutely loved it! :D We love to do longer cruises, specifically Caribbean...our honeymoon cruise was 11 nights and the total of our B2B cruises was 14 nights :) We don't have any children yet, BUT I am currently pregnant and due in July. We did say that we would be willing to try Royal again, but definitely not the same ship, we would love to try Oasis of Allure if we cruise with Royal in the future.

[Phlybice]

Hi!

 

My husband and I just got back home from B2B cruises with Royal Caribbean and we really didn't care for it much...no "WOW" factor for us! We had a ton of problems; we think it was the ship we were on because we heard several people complaining about something or another, and mentioning that this was the worst Royal Caribbean ship they have been on :(. So we are considering trying Carnival out the next time we cruise (not sure when that will be) and we were wondering if anyone who sailed both Royal and Carnival, which is your preference and why; and what things are better/not as good with each cruise company? We don't know anything about Carnival, and weren't interested in trying them out until our cruise with Royal, so we are just looking for some feedback...any information would be greatly appreciated :D Thanks!

 

What did you not like on the Indy?

[Mysticks1]

I have sailed both lines with 2 past cruises on both. It has been since 2006 since I sailed on Carnival. I am not sure if things have changed since then but my experience had the main dining room food better on Carnival and the Buffet type areas better on RCI. I love the Promenade Café on RCI with the little sandwiches and cookies. I thought the entertainment was comparable at that time but based upon other cruiser's reports I would say that depending upon the ship the entertainment might be worse on Carnival.

I sailed inside cabins on Carnival and balconies on RCI so I can't compare them. Service was pretty much equal on both lines.

 

I enjoyed my cruises on both lines but I did prefer RCI over Carnival if the ports were the same. My upcoming cruise on Carnival was booked based upon it leaving from New Orleans and the ports. I have sailed 4 lines so far and would rank them as Celebrity, RCI, NCL and then Carnival although the latter 2 are very close. I enjoyed the Freestyle dining on NCL and their relaxed dress code in one dining room each night.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Mysticks1

[S.S.Oceanlover]

It was the Independence of the Seas :)

 

 

My husband and I are not one's for laying out in the sun all day we like to go to relax, to visit the ports, for the nightly entertainment...that kind of stuff, and of course for the warm weather:D

 

food selections and food venues on carnival are good but entertainment is lacking.

 

Bill

[sailingwithfriends]

I've been on both cruise lines. I enjoy all of the cruises. What I have determined from reading reviews and comments made by others, is some cruises are just better than others. You can be on one ship and love it. The next week, there might be problems on the same ship. I think it all depends on your wait staff, room stewards, the weather and fellow cruisers. In my opinion, both RCCL and CCL are a lot more alike than they are different. I think I enjoyed my food and wait staff better on CCL. I think the professional entertainment is better on RCCL. I've decided to look at the date of the cruise, the price and the ports to make my decision about future cruises.

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

If I can't cruise DCL, it'll be RCI next. Probably Oasis/Allure. If it were up to ME, I would NOT set foot on a Carnival again. My honey may have to drag me on the next one if he wants to join our friends. I won't complain because he will have taken me on 2 DCLs and to WDW three times in about 14 months. But it wouldn't be my choice. Hopes he loves the next DC so much, he forgets about CCL altogether and rebooks on board. But anyway, I would do RCI before I would chose another CCL. Although the last one I was on was in 2002 in Hawaii (hard to beat that, although the ports were great and the cruise was good but not super memorable.) I just REALLY like to have nice serve MDR and service on the last CCL was abysmal. I have never been on any cruise or cruise line where I got up and poured my own beverages in the 'fancy' (didn't they used to be?) dining room. I also had never seen staff yelling at each other, only been asked for tips the one time we talked to our room steward (we always do the prepaid tips?) and have never waited in soooo many lines as that cruise. I am REALLY turned off of CCL at the moment and finding it hard to think that it would be a refreshing change from RCI...maybe they all need some improvement...

Edited February 10, 2014 by TwinPrincessMermaids

[meatloafsfan]

On Carnival I like better than Royal:

 

Beds (the newer Carnival beds are much more comfortable than Royals and have big, fluffy duvets)

 

Buffet/fast food and specialty Food - The steakhouse on Carnival was 10x better than Portofinos on the Explorer. The buffet on Carnival has better choices, better prepared and better set ups. The addition of the deli, pizza place, and on the newer/refurbed ships - guys burgers, blue iguana, etc beat the main stream Royal ships (not including Oasis or Allure).

 

Variety of daytime and evening entertainment. On Carnival there are usually several choices all at the same time or around the same time - Superstar Kareoke / Regular kareoke, Comedians, Music in the Atrium, Evening show, Dance club, etc.

 

Casino - Carnival's casinos are bright and airy with natural light. Royal has theirs tucked away and it felt dark and closed in with little space between the machines.

 

On Royal I like better than Carnival:

 

Soda package - some of the Royal ships have the freestyle soda machines and at the bars use fountain guns. Much better than fast pouring a warm can of soda over a glass packed with as much ice as they can stuff in.

 

Adult pool - it has stairs. Hauling my fluffy butt up a pool ladder isn't fun - I love that the pool in the Adult area has stairs.

 

Promenade - if you're ever crusing in cold weather (or wet weather), you appreciate all of the inside space that's well designed and has multiple venues all right in a row.

 

Quality of Evening shows - although Carnival gets the nod for quantity, Royal gets the nod for Quality (though DCL is better than both for "family friendly" shows - me, I like a little badda-dum added in ;)).

 

Tie:

 

MDR food - maybe not a tie, I do like Carnival better but not by a landslide or anything. On Carnival I don't remember not eating anything whereas on Royal there were a couple of things that were one bite and done. Variety is about the same and I do like that Royal has more every day desserts than Carnival (though WCMC with a fruit plate is pretty much the best thing ever).

 

Service - I've had amazing, great, good, meh, eh, ick and downright bad service on every line I've sailed on (Carnival, Royal and Disney). It's the person, not the line.

[beachbum53]

Your experiences on the Independence are unfortunate, and I would certainly complain too if we ever experienced those same things, on any ship. However, I don't think you can judge an entire cruise line based on what happened on one ship. Another poster on here said "If you were not happy with RCCL, you're not going to be happy with Carnival." That may be his opinion, but I disagree. That's a bit like saying "If you're not happy with a Chevy, then you're not going to be happy with a Dodge." My guess is, you just happened to book a cruise on a ship that had some bad staff members that need to be replaced. If RCCL's entire fleet was staffed with people like that, giving poor service to their customers, the people at the top would either have to accept the loss of business that would soon ensue, or (more likely), there would be a huge turnover in ship's staff fleet wide. While there is no excuse for poor customer service, hopefully the problems on the Independence are an isolated situation, and that RCCL will take care of it. We've cruised on both RCCL and Carnival. There are things we like (and dislike) about both. Fortunately for us, we've always been treated well on both lines. The complaints that I could list are very minor, and would not stop us from cruising on either line. We haven't been on a Royal Caribbean ship for a while, mainly because of cost. Carnival just happens to fit our budget better. Before choosing your next cruise, do your homework. Read customer reviews about the ship you're considering, and use those reviews as a rough guideline when making your decision. If eight out of ten people say pretty much the same thing, "Great ship! Great staff! Very enjoyable experience.", or " Terrible ship, in bad condition. Horrible staff. Worst vacation ever.", that could be helpful in deciding.

[Georgiagolfer]

Can't say DW and I prefer CCL over RCCL although most of our cruises have been with CCL. We choose a cruise based on when we want to cruise, can we drive or have to fly, length of cruise (based on time we have available),and cost last.

 

RCCL is usually higher, although our cruise on Freedom of the Seas last year in a Jr. Suite was cheaper than the Dream in an Ocean Suite for the same week.

 

I say try CCL and then see if you like what they offer. May may/not be what you like.

[BigJnSA]

We've done 3 Carnival cruises & 1 Royal Caribbean. My wife & I are mid 30's, no kids & prefer a laid back cruise. We prefer RC for better decor, better food in the MDR & buffets and less kids running around. RC had an older, more mature group that was more laid back. The drawback was the entertainment was geared for an older crowd. Disappointed that they didn't have comedy shows like carnival did. Rooms (balcony vs. balcony) were nearly identical. Service was nearly identical. If it was the same price, I'd probably do RC, but Carnival is usually a little cheaper, so we lean that way. We leave on another 7 day on Carnival in the next month. No such thing as a bad cruise, IMO.

[Sarah@Sea]

On Carnival I like better than Royal:

 

Beds (the newer Carnival beds are much more comfortable than Royals and have big, fluffy duvets)

 

Buffet/fast food and specialty Food - The steakhouse on Carnival was 10x better than Portofinos on the Explorer. The buffet on Carnival has better choices, better prepared and better set ups. The addition of the deli, pizza place, and on the newer/refurbed ships - guys burgers, blue iguana, etc beat the main stream Royal ships (not including Oasis or Allure).

 

Variety of daytime and evening entertainment. On Carnival there are usually several choices all at the same time or around the same time - Superstar Kareoke / Regular kareoke, Comedians, Music in the Atrium, Evening show, Dance club, etc.

 

Casino - Carnival's casinos are bright and airy with natural light. Royal has theirs tucked away and it felt dark and closed in with little space between the machines.

 

On Royal I like better than Carnival:

 

Soda package - some of the Royal ships have the freestyle soda machines and at the bars use fountain guns. Much better than fast pouring a warm can of soda over a glass packed with as much ice as they can stuff in.

 

Adult pool - it has stairs. Hauling my fluffy butt up a pool ladder isn't fun - I love that the pool in the Adult area has stairs.

 

Promenade - if you're ever crusing in cold weather (or wet weather), you appreciate all of the inside space that's well designed and has multiple venues all right in a row.

 

Quality of Evening shows - although Carnival gets the nod for quantity, Royal gets the nod for Quality (though DCL is better than both for "family friendly" shows - me, I like a little badda-dum added in ;)).

 

Tie:

 

MDR food - maybe not a tie, I do like Carnival better but not by a landslide or anything. On Carnival I don't remember not eating anything whereas on Royal there were a couple of things that were one bite and done. Variety is about the same and I do like that Royal has more every day desserts than Carnival (though WCMC with a fruit plate is pretty much the best thing ever).

 

Service - I've had amazing, great, good, meh, eh, ick and downright bad service on every line I've sailed on (Carnival, Royal and Disney). It's the person, not the line.

 

I agree with you on the RCL "Magic Soda" machines...lol...I did like it but on like day 5 of our 7 days cruise one of the machine on the promanade was out of order, and I thought when Windjamer is closed so is access to those machines. I love having the Diet Cherry Coke option.

 

And the stairs...yes...my fluffy butt liked those also, and the huge hot tub over the ocean on Freedom of the Seas. :D

 

I have yet to have a cruise experience where I'd say "never again" for that line, but after my FOS cruise other shipmates expressed similar issues and lack of customer service when reporting issues, now to read similar experience on IOS makes me wonder what is going on with staff training and morale on RCL?

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Your experiences on the Independence are unfortunate, and I would certainly complain too if we ever experienced those same things, on any ship. However, I don't think you can judge an entire cruise line based on what happened on one ship. Another poster on here said "If you were not happy with RCCL, you're not going to be happy with Carnival." That may be his opinion, but I disagree. That's a bit like saying "If you're not happy with a Chevy, then you're not going to be happy with a Dodge."

 

Not really. I am not a car person, so forgive me for the attempt, but its more like saying "I didn't care for my Dodge Truck, do you think I would like a Neon?"

Or substitute other brands or car specifics. Its a valid question to want to compare brands. However, at least myself personally, at least for me, I used to, but no longer, consider RCI and CCL equal brands.

 

but if it were a food analogy, I would say its a bit like someone having a bad experience at an Olive Garden and wondering if they would be happier with Fazolis... To me Olive garden is usually better but you could have a bad meal or two, and you might have a cheap quick lunch at Fazolis, but let's face it, it's not like going out to dinner...

 

Unless CCL has picked up their vacation experience to what it was 5-10 hrs ago...

[BenjiRodney]

We have been on 10 Carnival and 1 Royal, going to do our second Royal simply because Carnival is not going to Bermuda this year.

 

Liked Alaska, just not Royal. Found the activities and food to be lacking compared to Carnival.

[kbset]

On Carnival I like better than Royal:

 

Beds (the newer Carnival beds are much more comfortable than Royals and have big, fluffy duvets)

 

Buffet/fast food and specialty Food - The steakhouse on Carnival was 10x better than Portofinos on the Explorer. The buffet on Carnival has better choices, better prepared and better set ups. The addition of the deli, pizza place, and on the newer/refurbed ships - guys burgers, blue iguana, etc beat the main stream Royal ships (not including Oasis or Allure).

 

Variety of daytime and evening entertainment. On Carnival there are usually several choices all at the same time or around the same time - Superstar Kareoke / Regular kareoke, Comedians, Music in the Atrium, Evening show, Dance club, etc.

 

Casino - Carnival's casinos are bright and airy with natural light. Royal has theirs tucked away and it felt dark and closed in with little space between the machines.

 

On Royal I like better than Carnival:

 

Soda package - some of the Royal ships have the freestyle soda machines and at the bars use fountain guns. Much better than fast pouring a warm can of soda over a glass packed with as much ice as they can stuff in.

 

Adult pool - it has stairs. Hauling my fluffy butt up a pool ladder isn't fun - I love that the pool in the Adult area has stairs.

 

Promenade - if you're ever crusing in cold weather (or wet weather), you appreciate all of the inside space that's well designed and has multiple venues all right in a row.

 

Quality of Evening shows - although Carnival gets the nod for quantity, Royal gets the nod for Quality (though DCL is better than both for "family friendly" shows - me, I like a little badda-dum added in ;)).

 

Tie:

 

MDR food - maybe not a tie, I do like Carnival better but not by a landslide or anything. On Carnival I don't remember not eating anything whereas on Royal there were a couple of things that were one bite and done. Variety is about the same and I do like that Royal has more every day desserts than Carnival (though WCMC with a fruit plate is pretty much the best thing ever).

 

Service - I've had amazing, great, good, meh, eh, ick and downright bad service on every line I've sailed on (Carnival, Royal and Disney). It's the person, not the line.

 

Thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for :D Hubby and I never get drink packages and we really are not one's for going into the pools...and if we do, it's during the night time when it's not busy :)

 

Your experiences on the Independence are unfortunate, and I would certainly complain too if we ever experienced those same things, on any ship. However, I don't think you can judge an entire cruise line based on what happened on one ship. Another poster on here said "If you were not happy with RCCL, you're not going to be happy with Carnival." That may be his opinion, but I disagree. That's a bit like saying "If you're not happy with a Chevy, then you're not going to be happy with a Dodge." My guess is, you just happened to book a cruise on a ship that had some bad staff members that need to be replaced. If RCCL's entire fleet was staffed with people like that, giving poor service to their customers, the people at the top would either have to accept the loss of business that would soon ensue, or (more likely), there would be a huge turnover in ship's staff fleet wide. While there is no excuse for poor customer service, hopefully the problems on the Independence are an isolated situation, and that RCCL will take care of it. We've cruised on both RCCL and Carnival. There are things we like (and dislike) about both. Fortunately for us, we've always been treated well on both lines. The complaints that I could list are very minor, and would not stop us from cruising on either line. We haven't been on a Royal Caribbean ship for a while, mainly because of cost. Carnival just happens to fit our budget better. Before choosing your next cruise, do your homework. Read customer reviews about the ship you're considering, and use those reviews as a rough guideline when making your decision. If eight out of ten people say pretty much the same thing, "Great ship! Great staff! Very enjoyable experience.", or " Terrible ship, in bad condition. Horrible staff. Worst vacation ever.", that could be helpful in deciding.

 

I agree with you...we said we would give Royal another shot, but definitely not on the same ship and more than likely not the same class either! Hopefully, the next time we try Royal we won't have the same issues :)