Royal vs Carnival: an honest opinion

[Velvetwater]

There was a fair amount of Trivia on Royal just not during the main part of the day. :). There would be 1 Trivia at 10am then it would not start again until 5-6pm even on a sea day.

 

As far as grits go we didn't see any but they did have breakfast biscuits and gravy even though we had no American bacon for brekkie on our cruise....despite every other US breakfast item there.

 

I forgot to include Disney and Holland didn't I? Holland I am unsure where to put apart from an older cruiser mainstream line.Disney are obviously firmly in the family section. They are both lines we have been hesitant to try (along with P&O) for different reasons but we would never rule them out entirely. You never know if you don't try right?

 

Celebrity vs Carnival review is here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2250659

[Mikew0805]

You actually did a Celebrity vs Carnival review? No offense, but what was the point of that? Did you really think =X= would be anything like CCL?

 

Why not do a Cunard vs Carnival review?

 

I, personally, love Celebrity because it IS "sedate", same for Cunard. Everyone has different tastes.

 

Compare apples to apples, and that is what you are doing now- good thing! :)

 

Compare what you want!

 

I also think Celebrity is equal"ish" to Cunard is more of a stretch in this context than CCL to Celebrity.

[Mikew0805]

Speaking for myself, I am not "loyal" to any one line. Of the ones I have tried, I rank them Disney, Royal, and far below, Holland America.

 

I have investigated them all, and I know my likes and dislikes. There are enough things that hit my dislikes on Carnival and NCL I know that I do not like them. I don't have to have been ON a line to know that there are aspects of it I don't like - because those same things exist in the non-cruise world and I dislike them there. Ditto why I refuse to go on a Behemoth of the Seas. I dislike aspects of them in real life and don't see the need to pay for the experience to "try it".

 

To assume that when we say we will never go on a certain line it's just because we haven't been on them - and liken it to trying a food for the first time is just as ignorant and misguided as you're accusing us of being.

 

 

LMAO

 

Well I think "ignorant" was the right word. However, it was sent in the wrong direction. :cool: Dictionary's are amazingly underutilized.

[topnole]

The ship (Decor, features, ratio etc)

 

The only Carnival ship we have sailed is the Legend (Vista coming up) so will be comparing her the Independence. First thing about Royal was we really loved the Promenade due to its central hubness and party location and we also loved the grand 3 story dining room. We were also impressed with the pools being deep and the spacing out between the them as well and I think this is where Royal beat Carnival as well as the decor being more understated. However we were not a fan of the closed in back of the ship windjammer that didn't seem to encourage outdoor dining and felt small for the size of the ship...Carnival ships seem to have Lido in the middle to offer a more open feel. The Indy also seemed to have less space for the amount of people onboard as there was a lot of waiting everywhere (could be big ship syndrome though). Another thing I though was a bit odd was the speciality restaurants were near the Windjammer with an overflow in the middle. It was also a bit hard to get to Sorrentos/Cafe on Party nights if you needed a snack so felt that although the Promenade was amazing it affected the layout a little of other venues and made the ship feel inside based rather than out on deck based. Summarising we loved both but each had smallish faults. Royal gets it by a hair.

 

Carnival: 0 Royal 1

 

 

Food

 

I am going to start out by saying the food was very comparable overall on both lines. Very similar quality and presentation even to the point we figured they had similar suppliers. Both lines would name a dish something that it wasn't (Carnival's glass noodles that were spagetti and Royal calling Roast potatoes fondant potatoes but oh well!) and have cooking disasters (hard chicken on Carnival and undercooked pasty on Royal). We were quite surprised to see there wasn't lots of for free dining spots on Royal for the size of its ships (including Harmony) compared to Carnival (which has many). Indy also had only 3 pay for restaurants for its size and we tried Johnny Rockets which was tasty and we loved the waiters...however Guys is free on Carnival. We don't often do additional dining venues but also did Bonsai Sushi on Carnival which was just soso but Sushi is hard to do right. Royal's Brasserie lunch was great and I had the best dessert of the cruise there. I similarly like Carnival's sea day brunch with its comforting dishes especially the Mexican eggs. I was however shocked to have no Lobster on formal night with Royal even though we were a 7 day sailing. We like room service on both too with generally good selections. Carnival's buffet was better than Royal's purely for how in changed its offerings all the time for lunch/breakfast and dinner where as Royal's stayed the same for breakfast and changed some stations for lunch and dinner. Carnival win due to options and variety.

 

Carnival 1: Royal: 1

 

 

Nice comparison but with all due respect it isn't really fair to call this a comparison of two cruise lines but instead a comparison of two different ships. Since you've only been on one ship from each cruise line I'd have to say you are missing a lot of the differences that exist within each cruise line.

 

Anyone reading this should be aware that things vary (sometimes greatly) from ship to ship within Royal and Carnival. Things like one cruise line has more trivia or better staff are so dependent on the ship (and even that could vary week to week) that drawing a conclusion about an entire fleet from that seems trivial (pardon the pun). Independence for example is Freedom class but lacks some features that Liberty and Freedom have (such as the Dreamworks experience which could be very important to families). In addition, a comparison of Allure to the Carnival Sensation would be quite silly but a comparison of the newest Carnival ship to the older Royal ship wouldn't really be fair either.

 

Basically, attributing certain characteristics of one cruise/ship to an entire cruise line is painting way to broad of a brush stroke to capture the reality of the situation. I really don't think this serves people new to cruising very well. If you heard Carnival was a party ship and did a 4 night cruise to cozumel you would probably come home agreeing. If you did a 10 night trip to the south caribbean on Carnival you'd probably come home thinking that reputation doesn't match your experience. The ship, length of cruise, origin and destinations, cruise director, etc. vary so much from ship to ship it really is impossible to draw conclusions about an entire cruise line if you've only been on one ship from each company.

Edited June 6, 2016 by topnole

[Velvetwater]

Nice comparison but with all due respect it isn't really fair to call this a comparison of two cruise lines but instead a comparison of two different ships. Since you've only been on one ship from each cruise line I'd have to say you are missing a lot of the differences that exist within each cruise line.

 

Anyone reading this should be aware that things vary (sometimes greatly) from ship to ship within Royal and Carnival. Things like one cruise line has more trivia or better staff are so dependent on the ship (and even that could vary week to week) that drawing a conclusion about an entire fleet from that seems trivial (pardon the pun). Independence for example is Freedom class but lacks some features that Liberty and Freedom have (such as the Dreamworks experience which could be very important to families). In addition, a comparison of Allure to the Carnival Sensation would be quite silly but a comparison of the newest Carnival ship to the older Royal ship wouldn't really be fair either.

 

Basically, attributing certain characteristics of one cruise/ship to an entire cruise line is painting way to broad of a brush stroke to capture the reality of the situation. I really don't think this serves people new to cruising very well. If you heard Carnival was a party ship and did a 4 night cruise to cozumel you would probably come home agreeing. If you did a 10 night trip to the south caribbean on Carnival you'd probably come home thinking that reputation doesn't match your experience. The ship, length of cruise, origin and destinations, cruise director, etc. vary so much from ship to ship it really is impossible to draw conclusions about an entire cruise line if you've only been on one ship from each company.

 

Right.

 

So I have to sail the whole fleet to have an opinion?

 

Moving on people....:cool:

 

 

 

Surprised to hear fellow cruisers thought the kids were well behaved. Husband and I are Primary teachers so maybe we have very high standards? We had lots of rowdy kids running through hallways and stairwells, going crazy in the pools (when mothers were there with small children), kids shouting at events and a kid has run up a $400 bill on his mums card when we were at guest services. However its probably more to blame with some of the parents...as I mentioned. There was an instance where a small toddler was running around a quiz event and even when he fell over and cried his parents didn't come to get him. It took Alison (entertainment staff) to stop the quiz and ask someone to get him...even then his 5/6 year old brother came until a lady appeared minutes later. Its unfair to blame the kids tbh. I work with them I am all up for them having a fun packed holiday but parent responsibility was lacking me thinks.

[Flamencacha]

Right.

 

 

 

So I have to sail the whole fleet to have an opinion?

 

 

 

Moving on people....:cool:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surprised to hear fellow cruisers thought the kids were well behaved. Husband and I are Primary teachers so maybe we have very high standards? We had lots of rowdy kids running through hallways and stairwells, going crazy in the pools (when mothers were there with small children), kids shouting at events and a kid has run up a $400 bill on his mums card when we were at guest services. However its probably more to blame with some of the parents...as I mentioned. There was an instance where a small toddler was running around a quiz event and even when he fell over and cried his parents didn't come to get him. It took Alison (entertainment staff) to stop the quiz and ask someone to get him...even then his 5/6 year old brother came until a lady appeared minutes later. Its unfair to blame the kids tbh. I work with them I am all up for them having a fun packed holiday but parent responsibility was lacking me thinks.

 

 

 

That happens more often than not. I have a social group, where the children are watched by all. Including scoldings.

 

I feel when you are on vacation with children, either put them in the children's program or interact with them. Do activities together( imagine that). It's just a mind set.

 

An no they are not bad kids, they just don't have boundaries.

 

 

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[Velvetwater]

That happens more often than not. I have a social group, where the children are watched by all. Including scoldings.

 

I feel when you are on vacation with children, either put them in the children's program or interact with them. Do activities together( imagine that). It's just a mind set.

 

An no they are not bad kids, they just don't have boundaries.

 

 

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Completely agree. I think some parents were concentrating on their drinks package instead.

 

Talking of kids on Royal I remember a kid bawling his eyes out as the cruiser director said his last goodbye at the farewell show. Poor little guy, I was feeling the same at that moment.

[topnole]

Right.

 

So I have to sail the whole fleet to have an opinion?

 

Moving on people....:cool:

 

 

 

Surprised to hear fellow cruisers thought the kids were well behaved. Husband and I are Primary teachers so maybe we have very high standards? We had lots of rowdy kids running through hallways and stairwells, going crazy in the pools (when mothers were there with small children), kids shouting at events and a kid has run up a $400 bill on his mums card when we were at guest services. However its probably more to blame with some of the parents...as I mentioned. There was an instance where a small toddler was running around a quiz event and even when he fell over and cried his parents didn't come to get him. It took Alison (entertainment staff) to stop the quiz and ask someone to get him...even then his 5/6 year old brother came until a lady appeared minutes later. Its unfair to blame the kids tbh. I work with them I am all up for them having a fun packed holiday but parent responsibility was lacking me thinks.

 

Didn't say you have to sail the whole fleet but how can you judge an entire fleet by one ship? I disagreed with you but I did back up my point with logic and explanation that comes from experience.

 

I've been on many different Royal ships and even more Carnival ships than that and while it is your choice to do so, I can assure you that judging a cruise line by one ship or class of ship isn't really very representative of an entire cruise line. You would've had a very different impression of Royal if you cruised on the Granduer out of Baltimore and yet again a very different experience if you were on the new Harmony of the Seas in Europe or then again Allure in the Caribbean.

 

So while I think this is a good comparison of two ships and your experiences on them I don't think it can really be a comparison of both cruise lines since they both have different types of ships that cater to different types of cruises, etc..

 

That is my opinion and I'm entitled to it just as you are yours. I guess you'll disagree but that is fine, that doesn't upset me. I just think others who are newer to cruising should understand that a comparison of two cruise lines can't really be captured by comparing just two ships and their is a great deal of variance even within each cruise line.

[Paul65]

Shocking, we are nations of seafood eaters.

 

I don't think the implication was in any way that they don't serve seafood on European itineraries, but the seafood selections may be different.

[Paul65]

Right.

 

So I have to sail the whole fleet to have an opinion?

 

Moving on people....:cool:

 

Don't let that get you too defensive. You can have an opinion on a line without even sailing it at all. I think all that person was trying to say is that it's hard to get a good feel for a cruise line based on sailing only one of their ships. Seems like a valid point.

[Ocean Dancer]

Velvetwater,

 

We have sailed many times on Carnival including many different ships from 5 day sailings to 48 day sailings, We have sailed Royal from the old Nordic Empress to the new Anthem, and many in between including the Grandeur on sailings of 6 days to 12 days on Royal's ships.

 

I am enjoying your review as I can easily relate to it. You are doing a fine job and looking forward to reading the rest.

 

You only have to cruise Carnival once to know that the 24 hour pizza is excellent.

 

To others, we have seen trivia on Royal mid afternoon.

 

Happy cruising everyone!! :)

[ryano]

 

You only have to cruise Carnival once to know that the 24 hour pizza is excellent.

 

And 10X better than that horrid stuff they call pizza at Sorrentos :cool:

 

 

I could plug in Magic for Carnival and Freedom for Royal, which is a fair comparison IMO and my review would be very similar to the OPs.

[Velvetwater]

In my view I am simply doing what a travel writer/reviewer does..When they review a cruise line they are sometimes not even on for the whole voyage.

 

We experienced pre and post 2.0 on the Legend and we experienced the larger side of the Royal fleet.

 

These 3 holidays displayed enough of a feel for whichever cruise line one might choose I think. I haven't experience a Carnival 7 day sailing...I haven't done a long cruise on Royal but I think I have sailed enough to give an overview of the two lines (especially Carnival since I have done both sides of the pond sailings as well). A cruise line has one chance to make a first impression.

 

Because of company standards and consistency I think its completely fair to review a line based on one or two sailings. I have even stated in parts of my review where I thought it could be another issue/point rather than the line to be fair.

 

 

Fact of the matter is we loved both and I realised I forgot to wrap up the scores. As you can see Carnival won by 1 point and given their value we would probably still choose them over Royal. However if the right itinerary came up we would love to book Royal.

 

Our overriding feeling is that if people want to pay extra for Royal's stellar entertainment and ship features then fair enough I completely understand. I am more of a cruising for the ports and the sea type so those things while amazing are not as important. Carnival seem to have stuck with the classic elements of cruising while throwing a few surprises here and there (skyride for example) and in our view, they are smoother at the basics of a cruise holiday...but Royal also do very well. Both lines are miles ahead of Celebrity for us based on activities and atmosphere.

 

Tbh its likely we will sail Royal in the near future due to them having more sailings near us and all over the world (something they certainly do better than Carnival) but if we are heading to the Caribbean we will choose Carnival as they sailing out of NOLA in the summer where we really want a holiday anyway.

 

Thats all folks! :)

 

[Velvetwater]

We liked the Pizza at Sorrento's but it wasn't a patch on Carnival's!We also had a 'legendary beef sandwich' and that was nice but I preferred the Pork ones.

 

Celebrity Pizza was horrible...It tasted liked Frozen supermarket ones.

[topnole]

And 10X better than that horrid stuff they call pizza at Sorrentos :cool:

 

 

I could plug in Magic for Carnival and Freedom for Royal, which is a fair comparison IMO and my review would be very similar to the OPs.

 

I agree it makes more sense to compare more similar types of ships although even that comparison is tough since Freedom is still quite a bit bigger than Magic (maybe 25K GT and 100 feet or so longer?). I'd say Voyager class is still probably slightly bigger but would be the closest comparison to Magic since it is most similar in size and number of passengers held.

 

Regardless, I was just talking with a friend regarding cruising and they had some seriously false assumptions about each cruise line based on what they heard from people who really had little cruising experience. So I really tried to stress to them that if you did something like the Magic it would probably be great compared to a small Royal ship and vice versa since they wanted a big cruise with lots of activities and options. Hence, I added my opinion in case newer cruisers were reading this thread. I still stand by my logic here and think it is an important clarification (ship comparison relative to comparing an entire cruise line based on one ship each). Sure there are some generalities that may apply but each ship is typically quite or at least a bit different.

Edited June 6, 2016 by topnole

[NECruiser83]

In my view I am simply doing what a travel writer/reviewer does..When they review a cruise line they are sometimes not even on for the whole voyage.

 

We experienced pre and post 2.0 on the Legend and we experienced the larger side of the Royal fleet.

 

These 3 holidays displayed enough of a feel for whichever cruise line one might choose I think. I haven't experience a Carnival 7 day sailing...I haven't done a long cruise on Royal but I think I have sailed enough to give an overview of the two lines (especially Carnival since I have done both sides of the pond sailings as well). A cruise line has one chance to make a first impression.

 

Because of company standards and consistency I think its completely fair to review a line based on one or two sailings. I have even stated in parts of my review where I thought it could be another issue/point rather than the line to be fair.

 

 

Fact of the matter is we loved both and I realised I forgot to wrap up the scores. As you can see Carnival won by 1 point and given their value we would probably still choose them over Royal. However if the right itinerary came up we would love to book Royal.

 

Our overriding feeling is that if people want to pay extra for Royal's stellar entertainment and ship features then fair enough I completely understand. I am more of a cruising for the ports and the sea type so those things while amazing are not as important. Carnival seem to have stuck with the classic elements of cruising while throwing a few surprises here and there (skyride for example) and in our view, they are smoother at the basics of a cruise holiday...but Royal also do very well. Both lines are miles ahead of Celebrity for us based on activities and atmosphere.

 

Tbh its likely we will sail Royal in the near future due to them having more sailings near us and all over the world (something they certainly do better than Carnival) but if we are heading to the Caribbean we will choose Carnival as they sailing out of NOLA in the summer where we really want a holiday anyway.

 

Thats all folks! :)

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed your review!! I feel that any reasonable person understands that there are differences between ships within one line. You did a wonderful job doing a comparison on YOUR experiences, and your review shows that each line has areas they excel in. Yes, ships may vary within a line, but I feel things such as food and service should be held to the same standard throughout the fleet, and in that case can 100% be compared.

 

Thank you again for the detailed review, it was very enjoyable to read 😆

[topnole]

I thoroughly enjoyed your review!! I feel that any reasonable person understands that there are differences between ships within one line. You did a wonderful job doing a comparison on YOUR experiences, and your review shows that each line has areas they excel in. Yes, ships may vary within a line, but I feel things such as food and service should be held to the same standard throughout the fleet, and in that case can 100% be compared.

 

Thank you again for the detailed review, it was very enjoyable to read

 

I thought it was a good review too. Not being a troll here and agree reasonable people understand this (experienced cruisers) but new cruisers don't necessarily know how different the ships are even within each company. Maybe food, entertainment, etc. should be consistent from ship to ship within each line, but in my experience it is not. So my only point, which seems to be getting quite a negative response, is that I don't think a comparison of two ships really provides a complete picture of each cruise line. Now I'm not stating the OP is stating it does. I'm just making a couple of points for anyone new or newer to cruising. Hopefully, it might help someone understand they need to think about no only which cruise line but also which ships in a given cruise line. The differences are significant and newer cruisers might not know it.

Edited June 6, 2016 by topnole

[OSUZorba]

You actually did a Celebrity vs Carnival review? No offense, but what was the point of that? Did you really think =X= would be anything like CCL?

 

Why not do a Cunard vs Carnival review?

 

I, personally, love Celebrity because it IS "sedate", same for Cunard. Everyone has different tastes.

 

Compare apples to apples, and that is what you are doing now- good thing! :)

 

I for one would read that review. For example, I know I like RCL, so if someone wants to write a comparison between RCL and Cunard, I'd probably find it interesting since it would be based in something I know. A comparison between Cunard and Silver Seas would be pretty meaningless to me because I don't have a baseline for either.

 

Just like a BMW salesman better be able to tell me what makes that BMW better than a Ford if I ask, and he shouldn't just point to the logo and laugh "Its a BMW."

 

Its not like he is comparing the Washington State Ferry experience vs a cruise ship and saying "I like that I don't have to worry about losing my car if the ship sinks." "Food: Only food on the ferry is a couple of overpriced vending machines. But the cruise just puts food everywhere, for free. Ferry 0 Cruise 1."

 

;)

Edited June 6, 2016 by OSUZorba

[Paul65]

In my view I am simply doing what a travel writer/reviewer does..When they review a cruise line they are sometimes not even on for the whole voyage.

 

We experienced pre and post 2.0 on the Legend and we experienced the larger side of the Royal fleet.

 

These 3 holidays displayed enough of a feel for whichever cruise line one might choose I think. I haven't experience a Carnival 7 day sailing...I haven't done a long cruise on Royal but I think I have sailed enough to give an overview of the two lines (especially Carnival since I have done both sides of the pond sailings as well). A cruise line has one chance to make a first impression.

 

Because of company standards and consistency I think its completely fair to review a line based on one or two sailings. I have even stated in parts of my review where I thought it could be another issue/point rather than the line to be fair.

 

Interesting. As I said earlier, I think you were being a bit unnecessarily defensive about the comment, but I certainly don't think one cruise is really adequate to evaluate an entire cruise line. (But since it was obvious to the reader that you were basing it on only limited sailings, I didn't think it was a problem with your review, really.)

 

But, having sailed several times on several different ships, I can tell you that things like entertainment, cabins, food, decor, etc. can vary a fair amount from one ship to another within the same line.

 

(Can't comment pizza quality, though, because I never seem too interested in sampling pizza, when I'm on a cruise.)

 

I'm not criticizing the review, though. Enjoyed reading it. I was a little thrown off by the final score being 5-4 on evaluation of 8 categories, but I guess you gave them a point each on one that you considered a tie. :)

Edited June 6, 2016 by Paul65

[Proudmom1120]

The problem with this question is everyone has a different opinion and it is your vacation so your opinion is the only one that matters. I will give you my opinion since you asked. I have been on both lines and feel it is no comparison. Royal wins. However, if you go in with a positive outlook, whether your vacation is on land or sea, you can have the best vacation possible. Make the most of your vacation. You don't need others to do it for you. Whatever you choose, have a blast!!

[bigeagle12]

We are 60ish and never thought we would like Carnival .. turns out we both love it. Can't wait to sail Magic in September. We cruise mainly when kids are in school and pick cruise based on itinerary and price. Will gladly sail Carnival, Royal, Princess, and Celebrity again anytime. Will not sail HAL again until we are in our 70's or 80's unless they start catering more to our generation.

 

 

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[Paul65]

Comparisons can be made to highlight differences, not just similarities. Two things do not need to be nearly identical to compare and contrast and offer opinions of your experiences.

 

Agree with you there. So many people want to argue with comparisons because "you're comparing apples and oranges"... That's sort of a cop-out way to try to dismiss someone's opinion, though. You can compare almost any two things to each other (including apples and oranges, or even Carnival and Celebrity). :cool:

[cruzin76]

The problem with this question is everyone has a different opinion and it is your vacation so your opinion is the only one that matters. I will give you my opinion since you asked. I have been on both lines and feel it is no comparison. Royal wins. However, if you go in with a positive outlook, whether your vacation is on land or sea, you can have the best vacation possible. Make the most of your vacation. You don't need others to do it for you. Whatever you choose, have a blast!!

 

You are so right about opinions and a positive outlook. I think Ruth Chris has the best steak, my wife thinks I grill the best steak We do agree on a favorite cruise line. RCI

[ryano]

Can't wait to sail Magic in September.

 

Great ship :) I saw your reply to my review of Magic. I hope you have as good a time on her as I did and hopefully one day we will cross paths on a cruise and I can take you up on that drink offer :) I like Royals ships better. They are a little calmer as far as decor goes and flow better and have better pools. Other than that, Carnival Magic meets or exceeds in about every other category in my opinion. There were more included food options, overall better food and better specialty dining. Carnivals steakhouse is still superb. My last two times in Chops, not so much.

 

Although I will say the only Carnival entertainment I partook in was the band in Ocean Plaza every night or the guitar man in the Red Frog. Im sure Royals entertainment is probably better as far as their shows goes.

Edited June 6, 2016 by ryano

[bigeagle12]

Great ship :) I saw your reply to my review of Magic. I hope you have as good a time on her as I did and hopefully one day we will cross paths on a cruise and I can take you up on that drink offer :) I like Royals ships better. They are a little calmer as far as decor goes and flow better and have better pools. Other than that, Carnival Magic meets or exceeds in about every other category in my opinion. There were more included food options, overall better food and better specialty dining. Carnivals steakhouse is still superb. My last two times in Chops, not so much.

 

Although I will say the only Carnival entertainment I partook in was the band in Ocean Plaza every night or the guitar man in the Red Frog. Im sure Royals entertainment is probably better as far as their shows goes.

 

 

Ryan .. I agree with your comments .. I love Guys Burgers, 24 hour pizza, Blue Iguana, the Deli, Fish and Chips .. and can't wait to try Guys BBQ. We did like the comedy clubs and seems like more entertainment through the the ship .. not just the theater.

 

 

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