My long awaited Carnival vs RCCL comparison...

[Redsfan]

Not that anybody will remember this but 2 years ago or so we booked RCI Freedom of the Seas as we wanted for ourselves to see if the price difference between the two lines makes sense for our family. First a bit of background.

 

We are a family of 5, 3 girls aged 5, 7 and 13. Our previous 3 cruises on Carnival which we enjoyed, but not overwhelmed aside from aspects on the Breeze. Typically Royal is anywhere from $500-$800 more expensive which we did not want to pay due to budgets, etc. Our cruise on Freedom of the Seas wounds up running us $2,360 or so for a 7 nighter which is a no brainer on any ship almost. We did enjoy ourselves despite the issues Freedom is having right now, as our itin was changed last minute and we were compensated 25% off next cruise voucher and $275:

 

Food: IMO pretty much the same quality. Food in the dining room I give the edge to Royal, while I like Carnival's buffet and overall layout of the Lido on the ships we have been on. On Freedom of the Seas you cannot sit outside with a meal and if you want a soda machine drink and sitting by the pool you have to get a shirt on and walk a bit. No 24 hour ice cream on Royal, and no popcorn with late night movies. Love that on the Breeze

 

Entertainment: Royal seems to gear itself to a more mature audience which was expected. Only 1 night of comedy which was disappointing, but the singers/entertainers overall seem much better than Carnival's. That being said the music is geared towards an older crowd which we are not really. Royal has steel drums by the pool twice a day on port days which I love and Carnival still is missing the boat with not having them

 

Cleanliness: Both seem on par with each other

 

Friendliness of staff: if you put me on a ship I wouldn't know which was which as both are always friendly and good

 

Outdoor Entertainment: Royal does not have waterslides, however, their pools are larger, have the rock climbing wall, flow rider. Their H20 zone for kids is fantastic with their own hot tubs, different swimming pools that my kid's would stay in all day. Add the sports zone, overall I think Royal has Carnival beat on the boats I have been on

 

Food options: We did not do specialty dining but I love the Cafe Promenade on Royal. Mixed in with the boutiques you have Ben and Jerry's, Bars, Pizza restaurant, Cafe with Starbucks as well as little bite size sandwiches and desserts (free of charge except Ben and Jerry's and Starbucks)

 

Camps: Both I see on par with each other, as my two youngest kid's enjoyed themselves immensely

 

Overall I can see why Royal is a bit more expensive than Carnival, however, I do not see them as that much superior as I was led to believe before we booked with them. From what I read both lines have made cutbacks that have made regular cruisers mad, so the experiences seem to be more similar than not. I view Freedom of the Seas on par with a newer Carnival ship like Dream or Breeze and don't see an awful lot different.

 

Not sure I would spend the $500+ to go on Royal again, but dollar for dollar I would if the boat/itinerary was of interest. Likewise, would definitely give Carnival another shot if the sailing was appealing for us...

Edited December 13, 2014 by Redsfan

[CruisersNC]

Can't argue with your assessment. We feel about the same. They're more similar than different. If the ships were going to the same places for about the same price we'd choose RCI. But the disparity in prices seem to be growing which leads me to think that there will be more Carnival cruises than RCI in our future. :)

[Orison]

Your post took me back to the first time we sailed RCCL. I went on that cruise looking for that "Step up" fell, and found real quick that most things were neck and neck between the two lines.

 

Although each one DID excel at something in certain areas.

 

Yeah, there was the missing slide, but two real full pools compensated for that.

 

Yeah, we were used to eating around the pool, and it was a PITB to go all the way back into the WJ to get coffee or juice. Be we did take our trays to the loungers anyway.

 

But I do remember coming off that cruise wishing I could simply have a Carnival (at that time) experience on an RCCL ship, cause Carnival can't touch them on that level. I also enjoyed the feeling that I was cruising among others that were also willing to pay more on a mass line.

[Tapi]

Redsfan:

 

Thanks for your review, and I do agree with many of the things that you wrote. While I do give an overall edge to Royal, that edge varies from one ship to another. I'll gladly pay a bigger premium to sail on an Oasis class ship, but only a much smaller premium to sail on a Vision class ship to the Bahamas. I also agree that each one of these cruise lines has its strong points, and even when we sailed on the Allure, I still found several things that Carnival does better.

 

They're more similar than different.

 

IMHO, the differences are many and substantial. But I also think that while some people will care greatly about these differences, others may not care or even notice. For example, a person with very small children may be blown away by the Royal Babies and Tots program (like we were), while someone else may not realize that the program even exists. Entertainment style, ship design, decor and layout, number and variety of dining venues, loyalty program, attention to detail, type and focus of daily activities, itineraries & ports of embarkation, technology utilization, product partnerships, and target audience are some of the categories where I've found marked differences between the two cruise lines, but once again, a lot of people may sail on these two cruise lines back to back and not notice a single one of these things.

Edited December 13, 2014 by Tapi

[pe4all]

[quote name=Redsfan;44965223

Overall I can see why Royal is a bit more expensive than Carnival' date=' however, I do not see them as that much superior as I was led to believe before we booked with them. From what I read both lines have made cutbacks that have made regular cruisers mad, so the experiences seem to be more similar than not. I view Freedom of the Seas on par with a newer Carnival ship like Dream or Breeze and don't see an awful lot different.

 

Not sure I would spend the $500+ to go on Royal again, but dollar for dollar I would if the boat/itinerary was of interest. [/quote]

Totally agree with your statement. FOS was our first Royal cruise, and we were not blown away by it. Thought the dining room food was pretty bad, but thought the suite perks were better. (concierge lounge was great) Entertainment was better - but that was because it was all "new" to us. ( the ice show was amazing) We paid a lot more for the Royal "experience", but felt that dollar for dollar Carnival or NCL gave more bang for the buck. If we got a good price for Royal, would try them again, but definitely will not spend the $3,000 more that we spent this time for the same period of time (Christmas) when we can get a better experience on Carnival or NCL.

[RSLeesburg]

Totally agree with your statement. FOS was our first Royal cruise, and we were not blown away by it. Thought the dining room food was pretty bad, but thought the suite perks were better. (concierge lounge was great) Entertainment was better - but that was because it was all "new" to us. ( the ice show was amazing) We paid a lot more for the Royal "experience", but felt that dollar for dollar Carnival or NCL gave more bang for the buck. If we got a good price for Royal, would try them again, but definitely will not spend the $3,000 more that we spent this time for the same period of time (Christmas) when we can get a better experience on Carnival or NCL.

 

 

I wish Carnival offered better suite perks.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[jimbo5544]

Not that anybody will remember this but 2 years ago or so we booked RCI Freedom of the Seas as we wanted for ourselves to see if the price difference between the two lines makes sense for our family. First a bit of background.

 

We are a family of 5, 3 girls aged 5, 7 and 13. Our previous 3 cruises on Carnival which we enjoyed, but not overwhelmed aside from aspects on the Breeze. Typically Royal is anywhere from $500-$800 more expensive which we did not want to pay due to budgets, etc. Our cruise on Freedom of the Seas wounds up running us $2,360 or so for a 7 nighter which is a no brainer on any ship almost. We did enjoy ourselves despite the issues Freedom is having right now, as our itin was changed last minute and we were compensated 25% off next cruise voucher and $275:

 

Food: IMO pretty much the same quality. Food in the dining room I give the edge to Royal, while I like Carnival's buffet and overall layout of the Lido on the ships we have been on. On Freedom of the Seas you cannot sit outside with a meal and if you want a soda machine drink and sitting by the pool you have to get a shirt on and walk a bit. No 24 hour ice cream on Royal, and no popcorn with late night movies. Love that on the Breeze

 

Entertainment: Royal seems to gear itself to a more mature audience which was expected. Only 1 night of comedy which was disappointing, but the singers/entertainers overall seem much better than Carnival's. That being said the music is geared towards an older crowd which we are not really. Royal has steel drums by the pool twice a day on port days which I love and Carnival still is missing the boat with not having them

 

Cleanliness: Both seem on par with each other

 

Friendliness of staff: if you put me on a ship I wouldn't know which was which as both are always friendly and good

 

Outdoor Entertainment: Royal does not have waterslides, however, their pools are larger, have the rock climbing wall, flow rider. Their H20 zone for kids is fantastic with their own hot tubs, different swimming pools that my kid's would stay in all day. Add the sports zone, overall I think Royal has Carnival beat on the boats I have been on

 

Food options: We did not do specialty dining but I love the Cafe Promenade on Royal. Mixed in with the boutiques you have Ben and Jerry's, Bars, Pizza restaurant, Cafe with Starbucks as well as little bite size sandwiches and desserts (free of charge except Ben and Jerry's and Starbucks)

 

Camps: Both I see on par with each other, as my two youngest kid's enjoyed themselves immensely

 

Overall I can see why Royal is a bit more expensive than Carnival, however, I do not see them as that much superior as I was led to believe before we booked with them. From what I read both lines have made cutbacks that have made regular cruisers mad, so the experiences seem to be more similar than not. I view Freedom of the Seas on par with a newer Carnival ship like Dream or Breeze and don't see an awful lot different.

 

Not sure I would spend the $500+ to go on Royal again, but dollar for dollar I would if the boat/itinerary was of interest. Likewise, would definitely give Carnival another shot if the sailing was appealing for us...

 

 

Nice thoughtful review. Thanks for posting.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[spazilla1]

Thanks for the comparison review! I have always sailed with Carnival not because we think they are the best, necessarily, but because they fit the budget the best. I have often wondered if we were missing out on a more spectacular ride with RCCL but now that I have read your review I believe we are good with not spending the extra $$.. I saw you had little ones, if you can ever scrape the funds together for all of you I would go Disney at least one time. Thanks again for the review! :D

[dogbert's mom]

Great review. We recently sailed on the Allure of the Sea, our first Royal Caribbean cruise. We enjoyed it but there was things that we missed from Carnival. We to are looking for new experiences but don't need the more formal experience of Celebrity. Guess we will try NCL in the future.

[Redsfan]

Thanks for the comparison review! I have always sailed with Carnival not because we think they are the best, necessarily, but because they fit the budget the best. I have often wondered if we were missing out on a more spectacular ride with RCCL but now that I have read your review I believe we are good with not spending the extra $$.. I saw you had little ones, if you can ever scrape the funds together for all of you I would go Disney at least one time. Thanks again for the review! :D

 

Would love to do Disney, but not for the prices they want! Had some cash leftover from the missed ports and did a Day in Magic Kingdom which the kids loved.!

[Redsfan]

thanks for the replies...To be honest we sail for newest ships, cabins of 5, and islands we want to visit more than cruise line so we are not tied to anything.

 

The ice show on RCI was amazing, and anybody who has a chance to see it will feel the same! I will say that I am disappointed that RCI has dropped the ball with the latter sailing of Freedom before dry dock, as the issues were known for a while...hint, hint Carnival as they are no different.

[BND]

As you can see by my signature, we have done both lines, although exclusively RCI for the last 5 years or so. We've always said they are more similar than not. When we first started cruising RCI, we found the food on Carnival was much better. We'll see again in Feb if that still holds true for us. We do love the suite amenities on RCI, plus we have Diamond Plus status on RCI so we have benefits that Carnival can't match. We're doing Carnival because our friends invited us, but we have no issue with the line. I have met many RCI cruisers who have never been on Carnival yet they bad mouth it. :rolleyes:

[firespud]

Thanks for the honest review. We have only cruised RCI once, and that was on one of the smaller, older ships (but it had just come out of dry-dock and we were in one of the rooms they had added to the ship). We had only cruised Carnival once at that time (on the Holiday) and wanted to compare. We have only cruised Carnival since then, mostly on the Spirit class ships, but this past April on the Dream. For the difference in price, we will stick with Carnival. We have an 8 nighter booked for April 2015, with a total price of $957 plus $100 OBC, bringing our total to $857. The same cabin category on Royal for a 7 night during the same time period is a little over $1600. That is almost double, and it is 1 night less. We don't necessarily book for the ship, but for the ports. Looking forward to April and visiting 3 ports we have never been to.