carnival to royal

[strangeluv68]

i am almost platinum on carnival and have been very happy with their product. i guess i always go with proper expectations. my friends have a 5 day on royal planned and i am going along for the ride. can anyone who has frequented both tell me what to expect and how they compare??

[Gon2hwe]

I just got off of my first Carnival cruise (Dream) after 4 on Royal. Royal looks better inside. Better colors, more formal. Depending what ship your going on. most of the bigger ships have the promenade inside, which we really missed on Carnival . Carnival ships are harder to navigate. The food seemed a lot better on Carnival with a lot more choices available. The Allure had a lot of choices but still Carnival's food is better. Carnival has more of a fun vibe than Royal. Hope that helps.

[Tapi]

I'm Platinum on Carnival. Even with all the "perks" that I get on Carnival, I consider the Royal experience to be a few notches above Carnival. On the surface, some people may think that the 2 cruise lines are "more alike than different" but I beg to differ. When you start dissecting things like ship design and layout, category selection, suite perks, dining venues, loyalty program, kids program, onboard activities, quality of entertainment, etc, the differences become more evident.

 

You do need to compare oranges to oranges though. Just like sailing on the Sensation is going to be different than sailing on the Breeze, sailing on the Monarch of the Seas will be VERY different than sailing on the Allure of the Seas.

 

Which ship will you be on?

 

 

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Edited April 25, 2014 by Tapi

[buddylover]

To the contrary of many RCI folks....we were sorely disappointed in the overall RCI cruise. Food was less than mediocre on RCI, can't even compare it to CCL.....and to us food is very important! The beds and bedding is far superior on CCL, as is the cabin size. You have to upgrade many levels of cabin to get one (balcony cabin) the same size as a standard CCL balcony cabin.

 

However, the overall ship (we were on Adventure of the Seas) was much larger than CCL's largest ship and it did have alot more "WOW" power with the Promenade/Main Street down the middle interior. If you have children or would use a climbing wall, flow rider, ice skating rink etc, then RCI is the choice. But we don't partake in those activities, so it isn't worth the extra cost on RCI on most cruises. The demographics on both lines are identical, not much of a difference between the 2 lines ....but other than that, CCL is still our favorite and packs a far bigger punch for the buck.

[saltsandknit]

Carnival has better food and a more active nightlife. Royal has much better entertainment, more daytime activities and generally nicer looking ships. Both are worth sailing.

 

 

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[AmberTeka]

Carnival has better food and a more active nightlife. Royal has much better entertainment, more daytime activities and generally nicer looking ships. Both are worth sailing.

 

 

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Specifically, other than sports.....What activities do they have for the daytime?

 

the Freedom of the Seas is tempting me.......but I can't find a Daily.

 

thanks for the information

[Big_G]

i am almost platinum on carnival and have been very happy with their product. i guess i always go with proper expectations. my friends have a 5 day on royal planned and i am going along for the ride. can anyone who has frequented both tell me what to expect and how they compare??

 

What ship?

[Stateroom_Sailor]

We like both lines, but here's an outline of what we thought:

 

RCL advantage:

 

-Better entertainment and activities (significantly)

-Nicer ship design

-More healthy snacks at Midnight

-Easier to make lasting friends vs friendly acquaintances

-Better service generally (but can depend on the individual)

-More efficient embarkation.

-More cabin options (Promenade Room, Courtyard Balconies, Virtual Balconies)

 

RCL disadvantages:

 

-MDR food about 1 star drop in quality

-Not as good standup comedy

-Less nightlife

-No self-serve drink stations

-Cruises priced $100+ more

-Passengers take a bit longer to relax

-The Pizza is just awful!!!

 

But hey, it's like having 2 different theme parks near you, enjoy them both!

[pe4all]

I pretty much agree with almost all the above comments. We did FOS this past Christmas. Besides it costing almost double what CCL would have cost, we found the entertainment to be very good, the dining room food meh, loved the Coke machines where you could concoct your own sodas, loved the Promenade to just sit and people watch. Buffet was okay, service just about the same on both lines. We went to RCCL for a change, and got it. (2 new ports for us - Labadee and Falmouth.) We didn't even do the rockwall, ice skating or flow rider, so for us that was a waste. We are branching out to different lines because we are tired of the same shows over and over on the CCL ships. Ports and price are the major factors for us now. Truthfully, I wouldn't pay the premium price we paid to cruise on RCCL again. Get more bang for the buck with CCL and NCL. (NCL due to new shows, Howl at the Moon, Second City, etc.)

[saltsandknit]

Royal has dance classes, cooking classes, towel folding, pool activities. The daily is full of things to do carnival not so much. My husband and I like to dance to bands carnival is a little better for that and the bands play longer at night

 

 

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[sjcruiser]

I love both lines, but love the Promenade on Royal and the ice shows. We're planning to do the Allure or Oasis next year.

[Havingfun2010]

i am almost platinum on carnival and have been very happy with their product. i guess i always go with proper expectations. my friends have a 5 day on royal planned and i am going along for the ride. can anyone who has frequented both tell me what to expect and how they compare??

 

The number one thing that I have noticed is overall customer service. RCCL beats CCL hands down. RCCL also controls passenger flow much better with better layouts of ships. This eliminates many lines. RCCL controls "kids" better with curfews, and enforcement. The buffet has less food choices, but better layout, to eliminate the long lines. No bacon police. RCCL spreads out clubs and activity centers on the ship layout, preventing bottle necks, and giving a less crowded feeling. Entertainment is better on RCCL and classier. Daytime activities are also more abundant. RCCL has photo stations that are out of the way of customer flow. For example, when you get off the ship, it is to the side, and not on the gangway. Goes back to customer flow.

 

The food choices etc are based on what you like. The MDR is a classier experience. Nightlife is what you make of it, and who you are with. More live bands on RCCL. More variety of music.

[sailor_jimc]

I see this question a lot. Which is better? I have sailed brand X is brand Y better? When all is said and done YOU have to make that decision. What is important to YOU in a cruise may not be important to another person. At the very heart of a cruise is a ship that takes you places. They all feed you, they all clean your cabin, they all provide entertainment. And they all try to entice you with a "special feature" only their cruise line has. With Royal, its the huge ship with a hollow inside with shops they call the promenade, flowriders, "wow" factor. With Carnival its their "value for the money". For Celebrity its their upscale pampering.

 

We have sailed on CCL, RCL. NCl and Celebrity. All have a similar product. We are most comfortable sailing on CCL and since we are VIP, the loylaty perks make it a hard sell for us to sail on another line, but we would do it if the price, timing or family wanted to sail on a different line.

 

So what's my point? Try the other cruise lines, you may find you like them better, you may find it not to be worth it for you. But unless you try you will never know.

[Topo Gigio]

The number one thing that I have noticed is overall customer service. RCCL beats CCL hands down. RCCL also controls passenger flow much better with better layouts of ships. This eliminates many lines. RCCL controls "kids" better with curfews, and enforcement. The buffet has less food choices, but better layout, to eliminate the long lines. No bacon police. RCCL spreads out clubs and activity centers on the ship layout, preventing bottle necks, and giving a less crowded feeling. Entertainment is better on RCCL and classier. Daytime activities are also more abundant. RCCL has photo stations that are out of the way of customer flow. For example, when you get off the ship, it is to the side, and not on the gangway. Goes back to customer flow.

 

The food choices etc are based on what you like. The MDR is a classier experience. Nightlife is what you make of it, and who you are with. More live bands on RCCL. More variety of music.

 

The buffet has less food choices?? after 11 cruises on Carnival and about the same amount on Royal, I can tell you that when it comes to buffet, Royal blows Carnival's buffet out of the water in choices!

[cruise_girl2002]

I found the service on carnival much better. (maybe they were just having their off days on my rcl cruises...who knows). I like the layout of carnival better. I didn't like having to go inside everytime I wanted water.

 

I like the entertainment better on carnival, although the ice shows on rcl were very well done. Unlike others, I didn't like the promenade area on royal Caribbean (freedom of the seas). I don't want to feel like im in a mall...I hate malls. I also enjoyed watching the flow riders on rcl...that made for some fun entertainment

 

Food was so-so on royal Caribbean. I didn't care for the buffet on royal Caribbean (layout, taste of food, or choices). I like how carnival is right there making the burgers, rcl had them sitting under heat lamps and couldn't even get them outside...had to go into the café. I did think royal had better French fries lol.

 

I don't know what rcl ship your on, but the one thing that royal beats out carnival on are the balconies for your room. closet space is better on carnival.

 

I didn't feel like royal had a lot of daytime activities at all. some pool activities here and there. we didn't have trivia on rcl (unless they added that). carnival has the comedy club, we had no comedians.

 

do be aware. (we found this out the hard way). if you have your time dining on rcl, you must prepay gratuities and they cant be adjusted.

 

enjoy your cruise. its better than being at work!

[cruisinfanatic]

To the contrary of many RCI folks....we were sorely disappointed in the overall RCI cruise. Food was less than mediocre on RCI, can't even compare it to CCL.....and to us food is very important! The beds and bedding is far superior on CCL, as is the cabin size. You have to upgrade many levels of cabin to get one (balcony cabin) the same size as a standard CCL balcony cabin.

 

However, the overall ship (we were on Adventure of the Seas) was much larger than CCL's largest ship and it did have alot more "WOW" power with the Promenade/Main Street down the middle interior. If you have children or would use a climbing wall, flow rider, ice skating rink etc, then RCI is the choice. But we don't partake in those activities, so it isn't worth the extra cost on RCI on most cruises. The demographics on both lines are identical, not much of a difference between the 2 lines ....but other than that, CCL is still our favorite and packs a far bigger punch for the buck.

I see that you haven't been on Royal in over 2 years. Menus have changed on both lines, so you can't compare. I have and believe neither has very good food for the picky eater I am. Aside from the Guys burger for lunch, Carnival is definitely not better than Royal in any way

[cruisinfanatic]

I found the service on carnival much better. (maybe they were just having their off days on my rcl cruises...who knows). I like the layout of carnival better. I didn't like having to go inside everytime I wanted water.

I like the entertainment better on carnival, although the ice shows on rcl were very well done. Unlike others, I didn't like the promenade area on royal Caribbean (freedom of the seas). I don't want to feel like im in a mall...I hate malls. I also enjoyed watching the flow riders on rcl...that made for some fun entertainment

 

Food was so-so on royal Caribbean. I didn't care for the buffet on royal Caribbean (layout, taste of food, or choices). I like how carnival is right there making the burgers, rcl had them sitting under heat lamps and couldn't even get them outside...had to go into the café. I did think royal had better French fries lol.

 

I don't know what rcl ship your on, but the one thing that royal beats out carnival on are the balconies for your room. closet space is better on carnival.

 

I didn't feel like royal had a lot of daytime activities at all. some pool activities here and there. we didn't have trivia on rcl (unless they added that). carnival has the comedy club, we had no comedians.

 

do be aware. (we found this out the hard way). if you have your time dining on rcl, you must prepay gratuities and they cant be adjusted.

 

enjoy your cruise. its better than being at work!

What service was lacking on Royal? I've found both lines bend over backwards to please their customers.

 

Bad layout? You're probably the first I've evr heard say that. Royal's ships are the easiest. Ice water is at every bar outside, serve yourself

 

I wish Royal had a specific comedy club like Carnival, but no comedians on Royal at all. Never had that happen. IMO Carnivals comedy club is the only thing entertainment related that is better (lacking).

 

Why do you want to adjust (take away) gratuities?

[Linerguy]

I see this question a lot. Which is better? I have sailed brand X is brand Y better? When all is said and done YOU have to make that decision. What is important to YOU in a cruise may not be important to another person. At the very heart of a cruise is a ship that takes you places. They all feed you, they all clean your cabin, they all provide entertainment. And they all try to entice you with a "special feature" only their cruise line has. With Royal, its the huge ship with a hollow inside with shops they call the promenade, flowriders, "wow" factor. With Carnival its their "value for the money". For Celebrity its their upscale pampering.

 

We have sailed on CCL, RCL. NCl and Celebrity. All have a similar product. We are most comfortable sailing on CCL and since we are VIP, the loylaty perks make it a hard sell for us to sail on another line, but we would do it if the price, timing or family wanted to sail on a different line.

 

So what's my point? Try the other cruise lines, you may find you like them better, you may find it not to be worth it for you. But unless you try you will never know.

 

Best post so far.

[Tapi]

do be aware. (we found this out the hard way). if you have your time dining on rcl, you must prepay gratuities and they cant be adjusted!

 

 

I'm thinking that this may only be an issue for those passengers who always remove the auto-tips to then, ahem, "tip in cash". :rolleyes:

 

 

 

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Edited April 25, 2014 by Tapi

[Havingfun2010]

The buffet has less food choices?? after 11 cruises on Carnival and about the same amount on Royal, I can tell you that when it comes to buffet, Royal blows Carnival's buffet out of the water in choices!

 

Sorry, I was trying to find a positive with Carnival and I don't eat in many buffets! RCCL has so many places to eat on the bigger ships, I just did not notice.....

[jimbo5544]

Sorry, I was trying to find a positive with Carnival and I don't eat in many buffets! RCCL has so many places to eat on the bigger ships, I just did not notice.....

 

 

I was disappointed with the eating venues on the Oasis. Windjammer way way to small, then have to go find something else. Not my cup of tea.

 

 

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[Tapi]

I was disappointed with the eating venues on the Oasis. Windjammer way way to small, then have to go find something else.

 

 

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That's the beauty of the Oasis and the Allure. There are 24 different dining venues, more than half of which are free! That's why the Windjammer is not as big. Because there are so many places to eat, the crowds are spread out among several dining venues, unlike on Carnival where most passengers looking for a casual option are jammed up in the lido buffet.

 

This is one of the many reasons why these 6,000 passenger ships feels much less crowded than any Carnival ship. On Carnival, if you don't go to the MDR or the buffet, the choices are limited. On the Oasis, you can instead go to the Park Cafe (our favorite for breakfast. Always quiet, no lines, and wonderful alternative breakfast options), Sorrento's, Wipeout Cafe, Solarium Bistro, Cafe Promenade, or even enjoy a complimentary breakfast at Johnny Rocket's. And that's just the included free venues!

 

Thanks to the electronic signage, you know how full each restaurant is before you choose where to eat. You can even access the information from your cabin! When we sailed on the Allure, we'd pick where to eat before leaving our cabin. We made it to the Windjammer maybe 2 times during the entire cruise, partly because we wanted to experience everything, and partly because of the information that we gathered from the electronic signage.

 

If the Windjammer were the only (or one of a limited number of) casual options, I'd agree that it's too small, but IMHO it's not considering what these two ships have to offer. But I understand that some habits are hard to break, like robotically going to the buffet for a casual meal.

 

 

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Edited April 26, 2014 by Tapi

[TPFKAH]

i am almost platinum on carnival and have been very happy with their product. i guess i always go with proper expectations. my friends have a 5 day on royal planned and i am going along for the ride. can anyone who has frequented both tell me what to expect and how they compare??

 

I kinda remember my first RCCL cruise, after having 10+ CCL cruises under my belt. I was gonna show those LOYALS a thing or two.

 

And quickly shrunk back into my shelf within 30 minutes of walking around that ship. I remember my jaw dropping as I ascended in the elevator past the Royal Promenade, looking nothing mall like as I had imagined. It was more like a Harry Potter fantasy alley.

 

Then walking into the Windjammer, and seeing station after station of food, and no lines, thinking the reason ship was still empty. And eventually finding that was wrong; they just had the right set up. Walked all around taking what looked good. Sitting down, I was shocked with the drink servers.

 

Then off the the pool and pool areas. OMG! Real pools. Full sized pools. And two of them. Oh, and a third one up here for adults only!

 

But then the thing that really jumped out was the service. Mature service that imitated Disney, but not as great as Disneys, but people constantly there and ready.

 

And while I was arming myself for the crowds, they never materialized. The ships was so diverse, offering so many things (including the often ridiculed wall climbing, skating and such, none of which I was interested) that it pulled those people that liked those other things leaving me in a non crowded area where I enjoyed to do my thing. And that oft scorned "mall"? You can easily skip it by avoiding deck 5, but I wondered why would you. I enjoyed sitting outside the English Pub listening to minstral music while the strollers passed me by.

 

The food was good as well, after hearing it wasn't as good as Carnivals. I ordered what I liked, as many as I liked, and they even had ample beverage service, as well as specialty after dinner drinks in souvenir flasks.

 

The only thing I didn't like was the late evening food offerings. We resorted to that pizza and finger sandwiches at the Promanade Cafe. Carnival evened that playing field when they got rid of their late night buffets.

 

In any case, after our RCCL cruise, thinking it was a 1 time thing, we came back knowing we had a whole new fleet of ships to choose from, with some new itineraries.

[rednose83]

I have a very limited experience on RCI (as you can see by my signature).

 

In my experience, I thought the food was pretty much equal on both lines. I really liked the availability of Johnny Rockets on my RCI cruise. I liked their pizza better.

 

I also thought the service was about the same. We had the laziest room steward ever on RCI. He only came in the am and there were bloody towels (not ours) outside our door every morning.

 

One thing I really did not like on RCI was the dress code for dinner. To me, it felt way too pretentious especially for a four night cruise. If I remember quickly there were three different distinctions- formal, semi-formal, and resort casual.

 

I did like their private island. It was the first one I'd gone to and we really enjoyed it. If you've been to NCL's- it was pretty much the same as theirs (and you can see NCL's from the ship).

 

Now, I wouldn't hesitate to sail RCI again. In fact, I am considering it for my birthday later this year.

[jimbo5544]

That's the beauty of the Oasis and the Allure. There are 24 different dining venues, more than half of which are free! That's why the Windjammer is not as big. Because there are so many places to eat, the crowds are spread out among several dining venues, unlike on Carnival where most passengers looking for a casual option are jammed up in the lido buffet.

 

This is one of the many reasons why these 6,000 passenger ships feels much less crowded than any Carnival ship. On Carnival, if you don't go to the MDR or the buffet, the choices are limited. On the Oasis, you can instead go to the Park Cafe (our favorite for breakfast. Always quiet, no lines, and wonderful alternative breakfast options), Sorrento's, Wipeout Cafe, Solarium Bistro, Cafe Promenade, or even enjoy a complimentary breakfast at Johnny Rocket's. And that's just the included free venues!

 

Thanks to the electronic signage, you know how full each restaurant is before you choose where to eat. You can even access the information from your cabin! When we sailed on the Allure, we'd pick where to eat before leaving our cabin. We made it to the Windjammer maybe 2 times during the entire cruise, partly because we wanted to experience everything, and partly because of the information that we gathered from the electronic signage.

 

If the Windjammer were the only (or one of a limited number of) casual options, I'd agree that it's too small, but IMHO it's not considering what these two ships have to offer. But I understand that some habits are hard to break, like robotically going to the buffet for a casual meal.

 

 

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I get there are other options, bit I did not enjoy having to go look for them when we tried to go into the windjammer and was told to try and was told to try other places that had limited menus. Really? Not for me

 

 

 

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