CCL vs. RCCL

[Cushing985]

No, I was not on the ABE as the hired help, my daughter was. My wife and I got to join her on a Tiger cruise so we were the paying passengers (we had to pay for our meals on board). Too bad the cruise wasn't longer than 2 nights. Had a blast, especially due to being an E-7 so I actually got to go to parts of the ship that were off limits to my daughter (such as the Chief's Mess).

 

Yeah...I was a bit confused. I thought you were Air Force because of your avatar but now know you were on the Lincoln because your baby girl was stationed on her. I'm glad she made the right decision on which service to join.:p

[CarnivalCruising]

I love all of the comparisons between both lines. Thanks, everyone for all of the great information.

 

I have been on 19 cruises. 18 of those have been on Carnival and 1 on NCL.

 

I would love to sail on other lines, but always end up on Carnival because I find the best deals with them.

 

I live 30 minutes away from the Port of Miami. I was looking for a weekend cruise. That weekend, NCL had the 3 day for $99 for an inside, and $150 for a balcony. We chose the balcony cabin.

 

I found both cruise lines very similar. I loved them both equally. The only difference that I found was that the buffet had less choices than Carnival. Keep in mind that the Sky is one of their smaller ships. The food in the main dining room was delicious. We never had to wait.

Edited June 15, 2014 by CarnivalCruising

[Out to sea!]

Yeah...I was a bit confused. I thought you were Air Force because of your avatar but now know you were on the Lincoln because your baby girl was stationed on her. I'm glad she made the right decision on which service to join.:p

 

Yes, I am retired USAF. truthfully, she wanted to go AF as well but the recruiter here was less than worthless and would not even respond to my calls even though i outranked him! :eek: The Navy kept calling her every day and she finally said, why not? It has been great for her, my wife and I got a cruise out of it, and I'm very proud of her. My son is AF due to a decent recruiter replacing the crappy one.

[Out to sea!]

I love all of the comparisons between both lines. Thanks, everyone for all of the great information.

 

I have been on 19 cruises. 18 of those have been on Carnival and 1 on NCL.

 

I would love to sail on other lines, but always end up on Carnival because I find the best deals with them.

 

I live 30 minutes away from the Port of Miami. I was looking for a weekend cruise. That weekend, NCL had the 3 day for $99 for an inside, and $150 for a balcony. We chose the balcony cabin.

 

I found both cruise lines very similar. I loved them both equally. The only difference that I found was that the buffet had less choices than Carnival. Keep in mind that the Sky is one of their smaller ships. The food in the main dining room was delicious. We never had to wait.

 

If you are looking for deals and want to try something new, check out the MSC Divina out of Miami. They have some great deals going on right now.

[Gon2hwe]

Even if you've done 100 cruises on Carnival or any other line, you should go on Oasis or Allure at least once. Just for the entertainment. Otherwise I prefer Carnival. Better food and more of a fun atmosphere. For the money, you can't beat Carnival. If you have small children you should dig deep and go for Disney at least once. You will never regret doing that for your kids.

[Out to sea!]

Even if you've done 100 cruises on Carnival or any other line, you should go on Oasis or Allure at least once. Just for the entertainment. Otherwise I prefer Carnival. Better food and more of a fun atmosphere. For the money, you can't beat Carnival. If you have small children you should dig deep and go for Disney at least once. You will never regret doing that for your kids.

 

I want to do the Allure but it's hard to justify the cost. And Disney is just ridiculous with their pricing.

[jetta8300]

We cruised the Allure of the Seas with RCCL and the Carnival Freedom. The two ships weren't really comparable, but there were things we liked better about each I think that would apply to most cruises.

 

We thought Carnival MDR food was definitely better. More variety, better quality, bigger portions, something for everyone. However we thought RCCL buffet food was better (as well as more options). Carnival won hands down though with the amazing drinks. Much better, stronger drinks with Carnival and a great drink menu. The martini's, DOD's, everything drink wise was better on carnival.

 

We loved the movies under the stars with Carnival and really missed that with the Allure. The Allure had movie screens but they were never showing movies. They were used as a background for some shows and did show a major sporting event but that's it.

 

Carnival's rooms were bigger but also uglier. But we would take the bigger room any day.

 

We did not like the adult only area on the Allure. It was an indoor area (most adult sections on RCCL ships are indoors or have a retractable roof. ) either way the roof was closed the entire trip, and it was unbearably hot in there, and we couldn't spend any time in there the entire trip.) Carnival's Freedom's serenity area was outdoors with comfy chairs that we loved, and we spent almost the entire cruise out there. Fantastic.

 

We did like to be able to make reservations for "my time dining" on our TV with RCCL that day, so we wouldn't have to wait. In general I like the brighter, more sunny decor on the RCCL ships. The Freedom was a bit dark in comparison, and honestly I think a lot of the Carnival ships are kind of ugly...but that doesn't matter much to me. The sort of "overdone" decor on the Carnival ships is part of the character :)

 

In General we liked the cruise on the freedom better, mainly because of the food, serenity area, drinks, and night time movies!:D The entertainment on the Allure was fantasitc, but some of the production shows on the Freedom were quite good too, plus the movies under the stars. I'd definitely go on RCCL to see the shows, and then you can decide if that matters to you.

 

I know we will cruise both lines many more times in the future. Whoever has the better itinerary wins out with us. We actually were contemplating cruising the NCL Breakaway this coming spring, but I found all of the "pay for extras" very annoying. It seems like there are so many areas you can't even enter without paying a fee, and not just the restaurants. They have an adult area you have to pay to enter, bars that have a cover charge, etc. It's not even about the money, but it's just more annoying to us to have to worry about paying for everything once we board.

Edited June 17, 2014 by jetta8300

[frito58]

We have sailed Carnival 11 times on various ships mostly newer or larger ones. RCI 5 with more booked guess for us its the ships themselves , Carnival ships are so cut up and hard to navigate as compared to a voyager class ship of RCI they are so much nicer IMHO the Royal Promenade area is so cool. and ships flow so nice . Would give food to Carnival they just seem to do a better job. Everything else is a toss up to us. RCI is doing a better job at pricing to compete this past sale they had was fantastic. Booked cruises way cheaper than Carnival , plus their loyalty program is better we are Platinum on Carnival gets you basically a few perks . RCI we are Platinum and we get a $100 discount for booking a balcony and that's only after 5 cruises.

[Gon2hwe]

I want to do the Allure but it's hard to justify the cost. And Disney is just ridiculous with their pricing.

 

The only way to justify the cost of Allure or Oasis is that you know the entertainment and novelty of these ships is worth the extra cost. If you book Disney in the off season the prices aren't terribly bad. Keep in mind you can bring your own bottles (including Liquor). Soda is also free. The food is also better. Crab legs and shrimp on the buffet. Ribeye steaks on the beach. So no need for upscale for fee resturants. We got a military discount on Disney and our cruise was the cheapest per day we've done. They tend to discount 60 days or less out. Just no casino if our into that.

[ExFed drvr]

If you are looking for deals and want to try something new, check out the MSC Divina out of Miami. They have some great deals going on right now.

 

We sailed the MSC Lirica years ago and it was a lot different but we hung out with a group from New York state and had a blast. I'm just wondering what this ship would be like just sailing in Miami. The entertainment staff was the best we have every sailed with and I have over 50 cruises on most all lines. Dennis

[JimAOk1945]

We have taken four Carnival cruises and four RC cruises with another RC cruise booked for next year. We enjoyed them all, but we prefer RC over Carnival for many of the same reasons already given by others here on this thread.

 

Happy cruising! It's a great way to see the world!

[super0701]

CCL

Cheaper

More relaxed

Casual

Lots of young people (some who just party all day)

 

RCL

expensive

Bigger ships

Attracts older crowds

More formal

 

 

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[jakesnana]

We cruised the Allure of the Seas with RCCL and the Carnival Freedom. The two ships weren't really comparable, but there were things we liked better about each I think that would apply to most cruises.

 

We thought Carnival MDR food was definitely better. More variety, better quality, bigger portions, something for everyone. However we thought RCCL buffet food was better (as well as more options). Carnival won hands down though with the amazing drinks. Much better, stronger drinks with Carnival and a great drink menu. The martini's, DOD's, everything drink wise was better on carnival.

 

We loved the movies under the stars with Carnival and really missed that with the Allure. The Allure had movie screens but they were never showing movies. They were used as a background for some shows and did show a major sporting event but that's it.

 

Carnival's rooms were bigger but also uglier. But we would take the bigger room any day.

 

We did not like the adult only area on the Allure. It was an indoor area (most adult sections on RCCL ships are indoors or have a retractable roof. ) either way the roof was closed the entire trip, and it was unbearably hot in there, and we couldn't spend any time in there the entire trip.) Carnival's Freedom's serenity area was outdoors with comfy chairs that we loved, and we spent almost the entire cruise out there. Fantastic.

 

We did like to be able to make reservations for "my time dining" on our TV with RCCL that day, so we wouldn't have to wait. In general I like the brighter, more sunny decor on the RCCL ships. The Freedom was a bit dark in comparison, and honestly I think a lot of the Carnival ships are kind of ugly...but that doesn't matter much to me. The sort of "overdone" decor on the Carnival ships is part of the character :)

 

In General we liked the cruise on the freedom better, mainly because of the food, serenity area, drinks, and night time movies!:D The entertainment on the Allure was fantasitc, but some of the production shows on the Freedom were quite good too, plus the movies under the stars. I'd definitely go on RCCL to see the shows, and then you can decide if that matters to you.

 

I know we will cruise both lines many more times in the future. Whoever has the better itinerary wins out with us. We actually were contemplating cruising the NCL Breakaway this coming spring, but I found all of the "pay for extras" very annoying. It seems like there are so many areas you can't even enter without paying a fee, and not just the restaurants. They have an adult area you have to pay to enter, bars that have a cover charge, etc. It's not even about the money, but it's just more annoying to us to have to worry about paying for everything once we board.

 

We sailed on the Breakaway in February and while there were some extra costs, it seems like most of the cruise lines are doing this. The Adults Only area on deck 16 did not carry a cover charge. There is only one bar that had a cover and it was the Ice Bar, which we didn't care to see anyway. I believe the cover gets you 2 drinks in the bar, so that is really a wash. They did have a Cirque show that had a cover charge, however, it was VERY good and much less expensive than I would have paid to see a Cirque show locally.

 

If you have any questions about the Breakaway, just let me know. I found it a great mix of Carnival (for the casual, relaxed atmosphere) and RCCL (for the beautiful ship and great entertainment).

[jetta8300]

We sailed on the Breakaway in February and while there were some extra costs, it seems like most of the cruise lines are doing this. The Adults Only area on deck 16 did not carry a cover charge. There is only one bar that had a cover and it was the Ice Bar, which we didn't care to see anyway. I believe the cover gets you 2 drinks in the bar, so that is really a wash. They did have a Cirque show that had a cover charge, however, it was VERY good and much less expensive than I would have paid to see a Cirque show locally.

 

If you have any questions about the Breakaway, just let me know. I found it a great mix of Carnival (for the casual, relaxed atmosphere) and RCCL (for the beautiful ship and great entertainment).

 

thanks so much for your info. i'm sure we will try the breakaway at some point. I believe the adult area with a cover charge is called The Vibe beach club. I think it was $75 pp for the cruise. It looked comparable to the serenity area with carnival, with the padded chairs and such. I know the Cirque dinner show did look amazing and I think that was $39 per person? And then the majority of the restaurants adding an extra charge. I know there are a lot of lines doing the upcharge restaurants, but I think it was the upcharge for the adult area, and entertainment that mostly turned us off.

Edited June 18, 2014 by jetta8300

[CarnivalCruising]

If you are looking for deals and want to try something new, check out the MSC Divina out of Miami. They have some great deals going on right now.

 

Thanks so much! I will! My coworkers got a great deal during spring break, but I had already booked the Carnival Liberty. We're teachers so we can cruise during vacation times when the prices are higher, on Spring break(which by the way all lines had great deals this year) Christmas, Thanksgiving , and summer vacation(Carnival is having great deals. The lowest I have paid during the summer) I just booked the Glory leaving in 10 days.

[jakesnana]

thanks so much for your info. i'm sure we will try the breakaway at some point. I believe the adult area with a cover charge is called The Vibe beach club. I think it was $75 pp for the cruise. It looked comparable to the serenity area with carnival, with the padded chairs and such. I know the Cirque dinner show did look amazing and I think that was $39 per person? And then the majority of the restaurants adding an extra charge. I know there are a lot of lines doing the upcharge restaurants, but I think it was the upcharge for the adult area, and entertainment that mostly turned us off.

 

Here's a description of the Vibe Beach Club (which is on deck 17), which goes WAY beyond what the Serenity area is:

 

Guests will jump for quiet joy upon discovering this private retreat where they can connect with ocean – and disconnect from everything else. Exclusively for those 18 and over, Vibe Beach Club is resplendent with ocean views, an oversized hot tub, chaise loungers and a relaxing water feature – ideal for drowning out every last bit of stress. A full-service bar, water spritzers, chilled towels and skewers of fruit ease you even more into serenity. A limited number of passes will be available for purchase onboard at the Guest Service Desk.

 

Here is the info on Spice H2O, which is the free Adult's Only area on deck 16 which is very similar to the Serenity area:

 

Inspired by the renowned summer beach parties on the island of Ibiza, Spice H20 is an adult-only escape with contemporary Asian influences located aft on Deck 15. By day, lounge beside hot tubs and a soothing waterfall; by night, it’s a whole different beat. Let loose and dance beneath the stars as vibrant images display on the huge video screen. Spice H20 will add pizzazz to your palate too, with its unique offerings of snacks and appetizers.

 

IMHO, Spice H2O was AMAZING and blew the Serenity area out of the water, but that's just my opinion. Just wanted to let you know that there is an adult's only area on the Breakaway that is free.

[kteachcruiser52]

We have cruised 7 times with CCL AND 2 times with RCCL. As the cruise lines have changed over the last few years, I was hoping to start a list of comparisons between these 2 cruise lines. It had been over 10 years since our last cruise on RCCL and I expected to feel some jump in luxury from CCL to RCCL, but honestly, I didn't. Please list what you like about each in comparison.

 

Lobster

CCL small but served without an upcharge in main dining room

RCCL pay extra in main dining room

 

Burger joint

Guys Burgers free on Lido

Johnny Rockets upcharge

 

Comedy

CCL every night in small club

RCCL possible large venue show

 

Shows

CCL Playlist Productions cheesy shows

RCCL entertainers nightly

 

Cruise director

CCL seen and heard regularly at show and on speakers

RCCL no idea who the cruise directors are

 

Please continue - good and bad for both lines

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

We were on Liberty of the Seas in Feb 2014, and we had lobster in the DR on the last night of the cruise and there was no extra charge for it. In fact, I had 2 lobster tails. The head waiters are also given a # of tickets for free tours of specific parts of the galley which they could give to some of the cruisers. We were lucky enough to get tickets.We enjoyed appetizer, a drink of champagne mixed with orange juice, and a tour. A couple of chefs demonstrate things for us

And we watched workers prepare things. it was an awesome tour and we were allowed to take pictures.

[yknot13]

We have cruised 7 times with CCL AND 2 times with RCCL. As the cruise lines have changed over the last few years, I was hoping to start a list of comparisons between these 2 cruise lines. It had been over 10 years since our last cruise on RCCL and I expected to feel some jump in luxury from CCL to RCCL, but honestly, I didn't. Please list what you like about each in comparison.

 

Lobster

CCL small but served without an upcharge in main dining room

RCCL pay extra in main dining room

 

Burger joint

Guys Burgers free on Lido

Johnny Rockets upcharge

 

Comedy

CCL every night in small club

RCCL possible large venue show

 

Shows

CCL Playlist Productions cheesy shows

RCCL entertainers nightly

 

Cruise director

CCL seen and heard regularly at show and on speakers

RCCL no idea who the cruise directors are

 

Please continue - good and bad for both lines

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Do not post info unless you know it to be factual.