Thinking about booking RCCL

[Maleeni]

Hoping to get some feedback, advice etc.

 

I've been on 4 Carnival cruises. All were great. 3 on Fascination and 1 on Sunshine. RCCL is having a 30/30 sale. Found a 5 day on the Brilliance of the Seas for a good price.

 

What can I except of the Brilliance ship compared to Carnival?

Thanks in advance for your help![/QUOTe]

 

Go for it. You won't regret it. You will end up remembering what it was like to get a full service cruise.

[peteukmcr]

Go for it. You won't regret it. You will end up remembering what it was like to get a full service cruise.

 

 

Are you insinuating that Carnival doesn't provide a full service cruise? If so, what examples can you provide where RCI provide more service than Carnival? I found better service on Carnival.

Edited June 6, 2015 by peteukmcr

[S.S.Oceanlover]

This area is for Carnival cruise lines....please Go to the Royal caribbean thread.... they know more info

 

oh good a new moderator. :)

 

Bill

[Podna's]

Go for it. You won't regret it. You will end up remembering what it was like to get a full service cruise.

 

 

Been cruising Carnival for 20 years and been on one RCCL and I have no idea what you mean. Care to explain?

[Maleeni]

Been cruising Carnival for 20 years and been on one RCCL and I have no idea what you mean. Care to explain?

 

I'm cruising 30 years. The things you no longer get, taken away, or have to do yourself. There's a reason they offer $30 /day fares. Yet if you book a suite, you get treated the same as those with the IS Rivera deck cabins.

[Handsome58]

way a person can really compare is to sail the ship for yourself. After double digit Carnival cruises I went on RC this past April. I say go for it.

[Cinders411]

We have sailed both lines and both are good. I do prefer RC for their entertainment. We tend to book Carnival for the price. I think it is good to try different lines just to see what is out there and which one fits you best. :)

Edited June 6, 2015 by Cinders411

[dmdiver]

I'm cruising 30 years. The things you no longer get, taken away, or have to do yourself. There's a reason they offer $30 /day fares. Yet if you book a suite, you get treated the same as those with the IS Rivera deck cabins.

 

 

I think IS cruisers are just as important as suite cruisers. Not a fan of snobbery. Wish I could get a $30/day fare. Haven't seen one yet.

[Havingfun2010]

I'm cruising 30 years. The things you no longer get, taken away, or have to do yourself. There's a reason they offer $30 /day fares. Yet if you book a suite, you get treated the same as those with the IS Rivera deck cabins.

 

Who is having $30 a day fares? No cruise line I know, not even Carnival.

[dacsmom]

We ended up trying RCCL b/c we were feeling like trying something new. We love Carnival but everything was starting to seem repetitive - pool games, menus, buffet, etc. We tried the Freedom of the Seas and loved it. I missed certain things from Carnival but liked some things on RCCL. Here's what I wrote as soon as we got home after trying RCCL. This is my comparison between the two.

 

 

Cabins: as a general rule they’re bigger on Carnival and I noticed that I missed the space a bit but it wasn’t that big of a deal. Both lines have adequate storage and cabin layout. I missed my Carnival robe though on RCCL. It’s a nice touch that Carnival gives everyone a robe, not just elite members. Also RCCL doesn't give pens or paper or toiletries or anything like Carnival does. The shower however was awesome compared to Carnival as it had closing doors and great water pressure but I heard from a friend this is ship dependant, not across the line. I also liked that Carnival gives you pool towels in your cabin and they change them for you whenever you need them to. This was nice on Port days as I found it a slight bit easier to just pack up in our room than having to send someone up on deck to get 6 towels for our family whenever we needed them. Not a big deal, but something I enjoyed on Carnival a little more.

 

Ship layout: this depends on the ship, not the line IMO. I thought the layout was fine on every ship I’ve been on, but I did like how RCCL has the interactive maps everywhere and their signage is better to find your way around. Elevators seemed less cramped on our RCCL ship than previous Carnival ones. Décor seems to be hit or miss on either line. We loved the promenade though which Carnival ships don’t really have. It was bright, open, inviting and fun.

 

Food: I found the dining rooms to be equivalent, menus equivalent and food equal for the most part. I however prefer Carnival for lunch and breakfast. They have much much more variety. I got bored of the windjammer buffet after day 3. The food just repeats in every line. Carnival however has lots of different themed areas all around the ship which I preferred. We defaulted to the dining room for lunch and breakfast whereas on carnival we never found a need to. I like how Carnival makes it easier to eat around the pool. They serve food and drinks on the pool deck, on RCCL you have to walk further and get fully dressed and go into the buffet area to get food. Carnival has buffet food out there, pizza out there and sometimes a hotdog stand. I kind of like being able to eat in my lounge chair in my bathing suit on vacation and I missed this on RCCL. I also found it hard to get a cold drink other than water on the pool deck on RCCL. Whereas on Carnival you could walk over to a drink station really close by. Lastly, there is only 1 little ice cream machine on RCCL and it’s on the pool deck. Carnival seems to have a few more spread out so they’re easier to access. Pizza however is way better on RCCL. Sorrentos is delicious and it’s nice that they have Italian desserts, fruit cups and biscotti there.

 

Staff: amazing on both

 

Kid’s camp: My children actually preferred Carnival. Carnival has more toys in the camp for kids to play with and the children liked the free play time more on Carnival. They also liked the Carnival scheduled activities more. I found they watched more movies on RCCL which wasn’t as exciting for them.

Entertainment: The skating show is a nice touch but it’s a tradeoff for Carnival’s comedy show. You can really only see the skating show once but Carnival has a different comedian almost every night. I missed that. The production numbers were way better on RCCL in my opinion. Also the little extras like parades, entertainment on the promenade, etc were awesome. We also loved the rock climbing and flow rider but on Carnival loved the ropes course and the 5D movie theatre.

 

Pools: hot tubs were hotter on RCCL which was nice. Pools were bigger too which was nice. Splash area for kids though was better on Carnival b/c of the slides. But, it was nice that they had hot tubs for adults in the splash area so adults could sit in there while kids played. I don’t remember that on Carnival.

Crowd: We met nice people on both lines and observed rudeness on both lines.

 

Cost: Everything seemed a little more on RCCL. From the price of the cruise, to the price of drinks, to the daily tipping amount. There also seemed to be more things in general that weren’t included on RCCL. For example Johnny Rockets charges $5 a person whereas Guys Burgers doesn’t charge any fee. Room service has a charge at certain hours, Carnival does not. Fresh squeezed juice there was a charge on RCCL but you could get it at least in some places on Carnival included.

 

Embarkation/Debarkation: same on both

 

Overall we really loved both. I would sail either again in a heartbeat. I will make my book my next cruise based on price, ship reviews and itinerary as I don’t find the differences to be enough to sway me towards one or another.

 

Thank you for your detailed comparison. I am coming back to Carnival for a bit after several years on RCI. Carnival seems to have better prices for solo cruisers right now.

[JonathanFlorida]

Hoping to get some feedback, advice etc.

 

...RCCL is having a 30/30 sale...

 

What is a 30/30 sale please?

[JonathanFlorida]

I think IS cruisers are just as important as suite cruisers. Not a fan of snobbery.

 

^^^^^ THIS !!! ^^^^^^^ + 1 Gazillion

[jimbo5544]

^^^^^ THIS !!! ^^^^^^^ + 1 Gazillion

 

 

There certainly is a difference between how Carnival treats everyone the same and Royal does not.

[dacsmom]

What is a 30/30 sale please?

 

Up to 30% off for 30 days. The sale is through the end of June.

[dmdiver]

I guess that 30% isn't all sailings - I put in a search, but still over $700 for 7 nights in an interior in winter. Maybe only during certain time periods, but I thought a January cruise would be cheap.

[AandBmom]

Thank you for your detailed comparison. I am coming back to Carnival for a bit after several years on RCI. Carnival seems to have better prices for solo cruisers right now.

 

Have you tried NCL? We did and didn't love it but I heard the solo travelers were thrilled with everything they do for them

[BenjiRodney]

You may enjoy it, we have done 12 on Carnival and 2 on Royal and don't care to jump ship again to another line. Just our preference.

[dvond]

We have done 11 Carnival, 6 RCL and 6 NCl

 

We just had a kid free cruise on the Brilliance and it was excellent.

 

Food was improved and solid, service was perfect, bartenders by the pool and casino very friendly and quick. I got 1 drink package as on RCL both do not have to get it and there is no limit, its a great deal. The sing and dancing shows were terrible but we think Carnivals's are as well. They did have to outdoor lunches, a Mexican one and another day with paella and fajitas, bith were great. Park Cafe is a great alternative to buffet, nice sandwiches and snacks all day. Its a small ship but so easy to get around and staff was so friendly.

 

More laid back than Carnival but 2 of the entertainment young guys were so good, made it fun by the pool. Band was good as well outside.

 

They only had comedians 3 of the nights in main room so that was only thing missing from Carnival who has them every night