Carnival vs other cruise lines

[FLSteve11]

When a Bloody Mary goes from around 10 bucks with grat included to $14.16 in what seems like overnight, I call that more than just "a little more" but hey, at least Im not over there trolling the RC forum complaining about it every.single.day like some losers do here when it comes to Carnival. If Carnival can sell an even better Bloody Mary four dollars cheaper, why cant Royal? Oh thats right, they have to pay for those new monstrosities someway :) Ive seen nothing improved on RCI over the last 5 years as I dont sail on brand new ships. Ive seen a lot of cutbacks in food quality and other services though. Yes, that is MY opinion of which I will voice from time to time especially when there are anti Carnival trolls here trying to blow smoke up my ass on all things Royal Caribbean. The reason my posts are Carnival vs Royal is because thats the only two I have experience with. My apologies if there is a problem with that.

 

Actually with the Bloody Mary, it's really the other way around. The reason Carnival sells it cheaper is that, generally, their clientelle won't pay the $14 for a Bloody Mary, whereas Royal's will. If Carnival could sell it for the same price, they would. If people on Royal don't pay for it at that price, the prices would come down.

 

As mentioned by others, all cruise lines are doing cutbacks. It's that or raise the base fares more. All cruise lines have their strengths and weaknesses as well, much of that based on how they're trying to attract and keep, and what those people want (or at will tolerate in some cases)

[ryano]

Actually with the Bloody Mary, it's really the other way around. The reason Carnival sells it cheaper is that, generally, their clientelle won't pay the $14 for a Bloody Mary, whereas Royal's will. If Carnival could sell it for the same price, they would. If people on Royal don't pay for it at that price, the prices would come down.

 

As mentioned by others, all cruise lines are doing cutbacks. It's that or raise the base fares more. All cruise lines have their

 

So you are freely admitting that Royal intentionally gouges its guests because "hey we know they will pay it!" Got it :)

 

I use to order Bloody Marys and other mixed drinks on Royal Caribbean all the time and never paid over 10 bucks for one. Suddenly in what seemed like overnight, they raised the prices on ALL their alcohol 40-50% and started measured pours resulting in weaker drinks for a lot more money but also tacked on an extra 3% gratuity on each drink for the cutback :rolleyes: Yeah, that left a terrible taste in my mouth and I remember the uproar on the forum over there too. I could go on and on over what I noticed on my last Royal cruise vs the one before that in only about three years but I wont do that.

 

I just choose to leave and take my business elsewhere, for now. :) You know, vote with ol wallet thing. Their ships are beautiful, their entertainment is second to none. Thats about where it stops for me though as far as being "better"

[ILoveStThomas]

My DW and I have cruised with Carnival 5 times and have not cruised any other lines.

 

I don't particularly like change--I like to stay with things I'm familiar with. So I'm wondering how other cruise lines compare, especially thinking of (1) dress codes (for dinner as well as just roaming about the ship), (2) entertainment (including which lines don't do karaoke) (3) anything else that might be starkly different on other cruise lines.

 

Thanks in advance

 

 

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Man,you all need to get out more and expand your horizon! Try other cruiselines and see for yourself.I did and have never looked back!!!

[Gloworm2]

FLSteve11 I totally agree with you

 

 

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[FLSteve11]

So you are freely admitting that Royal intentionally gouges its guests because "hey we know they will pay it!" Got it :)

 

I use to order Bloody Marys and other mixed drinks on Royal Caribbean all the time and never paid over 10 bucks for one. Suddenly in what seemed like overnight, they raised the prices on ALL their alcohol 40-50% and started measured pours resulting in weaker drinks for a lot more money but also tacked on an extra 3% gratuity on each drink for the cutback :rolleyes: Yeah, that left a terrible taste in my mouth and I remember the uproar on the forum over there too. I could go on and on over what I noticed on my last Royal cruise vs the one before that in only about three years but I wont do that.

 

I just choose to leave and take my business elsewhere, for now. :) You know, vote with ol wallet thing. Their ships are beautiful, their entertainment is second to none. Thats about where it stops for me though as far as being "better"

 

I admit Royal does smart pricing if they can get people to pay that. I don't think it's gouging. From living in NY, Miami and now near Ft Lauderdale, it's actually pretty reasonable pricing compared to the places I've drank in regular pubs and restaurants. Carnival doesn't do it not out of the goodness of their heart, but because the people who generally sail them won't pay it. I haven't noticed weaker drinks when I sailed them last year, they were pretty strong. (Not counting the past guest parties, where generally they're not that strong on any line).

 

For regular drinkers, it doesn't even matter as they just buy the drink packages anyway, so individual price of drinks don't mean a lot. For the frequent (Diamond and up) cruisers they get free drinks in the evening, so it doesn't matter a lot to them either, as that's when they'll get their drinks. For everyone else they're just buying a couple of drinks and the price difference is negligible.

 

Every forum has an uproar over cutbacks going on. They've been going on for years. You've only noticed it only on Royal so far because that's the line you sailed on multiple times. I've seen it on Royal, Carnival, Celebrity, Norwegian, as I've sailed on all of those quite a few times. But then, the price of the cruises has gone down as well in general, so it's all relative. Disney is the only line I haven't noticed it on, but you pay a lot more to sail on them.

[Ladyinflight]

I have cruised Carnival 6 times, NCL 4X, Princess 2X, Costa 1X, RC 4X and have not found any real difference in any of them. I know a lot of people are snobbish in regards to Carnival but, I have never had a problem on any of their cruises. Will be going on my first Celeberty TA in October and from some of the experiences I have had, thus far, dealing with their personnel, I don't think they are going to be any different from the rest.

 

I am not dedicated to any cruise line just to cruising and make my decision on the ports, price and incentives. We are doing a 60 day around SA on Princess in January so, that should be interesting.

 

Having worked in mental health for years, I know what to waste my time and brain on and what to let just let roll off.

 

A cruise is what you make it and don't let yourself get too stressed:)

[Aquahound]

When a Bloody Mary goes from around 10 bucks with grat included to $14.16 in what seems like overnight...

 

This didn't click with me the first time I read it. Are you saying RCI adds over a 40% gratuity now? Seriously...it's been 3 years since I've cruised with them, so I really don't know what their drink prices are now, but there's still gotta be something wrong with your numbers. How does $10 become $14 with the tip? :confused:

[Tatka]

This didn't click with me the first time I read it. Are you saying RCI adds over a 40% gratuity now? Seriously...it's been 3 years since I've cruised with them, so I really don't know what their drink prices are now, but there's still gotta be something wrong with your numbers. How does $10 become $14 with the tip? :confused:

 

 

 

It is 18%, just like others, but from what I remember umbrella drinks with gratuities are about $14

[ncornelius307@gmail.com]

My first cruise was a 3 day with Carnival Sensation. It was a nice first experience. I enjoyed the food in the dining but the buffet not so much. I also enjoyed the comedy. After that for the past 3 years we did Royal. We first tried a ship the same size and age as Sensation and loved The food on that ship better but I don't recall the entertainment. I also tried larger and newer with Royal and the food got worse each year. This year on the Freedom was by far the worse in regards to food. We are now booked with Carnival in 2019. I like the ice shows on Royal but looking forward to the comedy shows on Carnival. I would say it's hard to say which is better.

 

 

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[Tapi]

After becoming platinum on Carnival a few years back, I decided to see what other cruise lines have to offer. Ever since I made that decision, I haven't repeated the same cruise line two times in a row. This has truly been one of the BEST cruise line related decisions that I've made. I truly enjoy exploring new ships, destinations, and what sets each cruise line apart.

 

I've also learned that there's not necessarily one cruise line that is better than the other. Each one excels at something and makes them special. This is what I've learned:

 

Carnival: Best for an unpretentious, care free, and budget minded cruise experience.

 

Royal Caribbean: Best for impressive ships and top notch professional entertainment.

 

Holland America: Best for those looking for a more traditional, subdued, and sophisticated cruise experience. Lots of educationally enriching opportunities.

 

Princess: Best for those looking a more upscale experience as well as higher quality cuisine without spending substantially more.

 

MSC: Best for those wishing to immerse themselves in a more culturally diverse experience aboard stunningly beautiful ships.

 

Without knowing specifically what you love about Carnival, it's hard to tell you which cruise line will be good for you to try. I do recommend that you try as many as possible to figure that out. Don't let fear of the unknown or blind loyalty to one cruise line keep you from trying new things. And surprisingly, most of the sailings on the cruise lines mentioned above have been more economical than similar cruises on Carnival.

 

 

 

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[Tatka]

Tapi, what a terrific post.

Agree with you completely.

Are you going to try Celebrity and NCL soon?

I want to see how you view them. :)

 

I almost wanted to try Carnival again just to re-evaluate my feelings toward this line.

[momof3cruisers]

I've sailed Carnival, Royal, NCL, Holland, Princess, and MSC next year. Carnival is the worst with the worst food so don't settle on the worst. Try NCL ..... good prices with the youngest ships. You'll get perks when booking unlike Carnival. NCL's freestyle cruising means you eat when you feel like it and no having to dress up ever if you don't want to. Try the NCL Escape .......We loved it.

Food is so subjective. And I am sure service differs on every ship. Just sailed NCL Pearl in Jan. We (party of five women not picky) had several items in the dining room that we didn't like at all. The fish everytime was just bad. Esp the fish and chips. And service was appallingly slow. We literally sat and looked at our food for twenty minutes on the waiter's station. One night, we had a great waiter but never got his station again which was a bummer.

 

In the last few years, I have sailed RCL, NCL, Princess and Carnival.

 

Royal, sailed the Allure. Had a great time. Loved the pool options esp since we had kids. They like the rock climbing wall but missed having a slide. We had a large party so had two different waiters. One was phenomenal, the other was a complete ass. We were traveling as guests of someone else, if it had been my personal travel we would have moved from his table immediately. We didn't love the food. Some bar waiters were great, others were not. Drinks were good, but quite a bit more expensive than Carnival. The family activities were excellent. Lots of interactive games etc. We thought it was a bummer that you had to buy popcorn for the movies, but loved the 3D movies in a big theater. Have to buy ice cream on the Boardwalk, have to pay for....long lists of things. Our room steward really liked to leave my boys' beds unmade. Like everyday. Even when we complained. Other one, had phenomenal waitstaff, and a ninja stateroom steward. Also great food. Can't remember the ship.

 

Princess, awesome dining room service and food. Really classy in both areas. Buffet was sooo bad. Slimy lettuce in the salad bar, taco bar we couldn't tell what a few things were....like is it beans, is it meat? Bad room steward. Pretty ship, great entertainment.

 

NCL, I pretty much covered above. I will say that while bar waiters were great, friendly and doing their best, service was impossible. We were in one of the lounges where there were games and tons of activities very often. The place would be virtually full and there would be one bartender and one waiter. They did have a lot of fun and variety in activities and entertainment. We enjoyed that a lot.

 

Carnival. Always had good food, had more good waiters than bad. Usually do anytime dining. We like Guy's, Taco place, etc as options for meals. Had one iffy stateroom attendant. Overall, better service from bartenders etc. bad main show entertainment, other than the Breeze's fly on acts, good comedy. Have felt the cruise director staff has been more involved in guest fun and activities than on other cruise lines.

[Moonarino]

7 Carnival, 3 RCI, 1 Celebrity:

 

For me, just about everything depends on the specific ship (crew, service, age, size, etc), far more than the general brand.

 

I find Carnival more crew-friendly (and therefore more helpful) than either RCI or Celebrity. And after sailing Oasis twice and Allure once, the novelty of the hugeness of the ship tends to wear off... and the Johnny Rockets milkshakes are not at all what they used to be. Just sayin'. On my second Oasis cruise (5.5 years later, after loving the first one) the only thing that didn't disappoint was the brewed coffee. The lido cafe was a zoo( actually the worst-ever), the ship was noisy and crowded, service was as anemic and chilled as any I've ever experienced... to me it seemed like RCI was(/is?) depending more on reputation (past glory) than on trying to offer a truly enjoyable 7-day cruise. Again, just sayin'.

 

Entertainment? Personal past favorites were Triumph (2008) and either Allure or Oasis (can't remember which at the moment).

 

Celebrity: I do want to try them again. I sailed on Eclipse when she was just a few months old, beautiful ship, although the decor was a little too "crystaline" (bland/cool) for my taste, and I remember in particular a lady from Ukraine who on the morning of Day 4 or 5 sat for 45 minutes playing the most beautiful piano, just off the atrium I believe. Food was only so-so, but I thoroughly love the lawn club and aft bistro.

 

Just for the record on decor: My favorite ship decor to date is Carnival Breeze; understated-cheery, tropical, loved the seating variety in the lido cafe; not so chintzy-glittery like older CCL ships. On the other hand, my second time around on Breeze's sister ship, Dream, was a thorough let-down. Like I said up front, so much depends on the specific ship, how well it's managed and how well it's kept up.

 

Food: I've sent entrees back to the kitchen just as often on RCI and Celebrity as I have on Carnival. And as a whole I definitely prefer CCL's menus (more choices).

 

Dress codes? Since Oasis was my most recent cruise and my freshest memory, I'll just say that I personally saw no difference at all in how people dressed for dinner on Oasis than on any other ship I've been on.

 

Some (most?) of the above is essentially a response to some of the negatives others have posted, e.g., "everything is better than Carnival". I suppose that poster was just trying to be "helpful"... or whatever...

 

... It is a fact of life as they struggle to keep the ships full ... and protect revenue. We will continue to cruise both (and probably other lines) until we think we are not getting our money's worth. ...

 

Yep.

 

PS (edit): In case I didn't make the point well enough, for me it's always a question of which ship I want to try as opposed to which brand. They're all different in a few small or some very big ways. For example, Carnival Conquest is not at all my favorite ship, but the live music (several nights) was fantastic, the best ever. My fondest memory of a week on RC Allure was the classical guitarist soloing in Central Park, but that cruise was the worst for passenger rudeness (e.g., elevators) of all my experiences.

Edited June 13, 2017 by Moonarino

[Tatka]

Decor is one thing that really turns me off with Carnival. No with Farcus gone it is probably better, but I still cannot get awful decor of Miracle... even though it had a nice design.

[kcdancerkc]

Never say never:cool:

 

I said I would never be on a cruise with blaring movies on deck, but princess had the itinerary we wanted, so I gave in.

 

Besides that nuisance, it was fantastic!

 

We here don't realize sometimes, life is short and many cant or wont cruise. So itinerary, date, price, then ship or line in that order.

 

Even now I want nothing to do with a mega ship but you never know.

 

NCL was the worst food, I actually lost weight! But i think the Bahamas trek gives you more limited options.

 

So if I wanted vanilla ice cream only in my life, I would miss out on many other flavors!

 

Keep an open mind....life is a journey,

 

and the most fun we ever had was a decade ago in our 40s....on HAL

 

:cool:

[ryano]

This didn't click with me the first time I read it. Are you saying RCI adds over a 40% gratuity now? Seriously...it's been 3 years since I've cruised with them, so I really don't know what their drink prices are now, but there's still gotta be something wrong with your numbers. How does $10 become $14 with the tip? :confused:

 

Nothing wrong with my numbers, just the delivery of my message. RCI went up on ALL their alcohol about 40-50% a couple years ago and they added 3 more percent on the gratuity per drink. There was a HUGE uproar on the forums about it. The cruise with RC prior to 2015, a bloody mary was around 10 bucks with grat included. That same bloody mary now is 14.16 (12.00+18%) and they are now measured pours resulting in significantly weaker drinks. We also noticed a drop in staff resulting in slower service for everything.

 

Basically, since you have cruised with them, they have RAISED the price on pretty much everything but quality and service has took a nose dive. Chops is 39.00 pp now and my last Chops meal, my food reminded me of eating at the Sizzler. Carnivals steakhouse is one of the best meals Ive ever had. I could go on and on but you would just think Im whining. Maybe I am but at least I voted with my wallet lol. Im not over there at the RC trolling, bitching and complaining about it trying to steer people to another line though. We have several of those here.

Edited June 13, 2017 by ryano

[ryano]

It is 18%, just like others,

 

Carnival drink gratuity is 15%, or at least it was last May. Its not the extra 3% I care about as they deserve their tip. Its the 50% raise in alcohol AND the extra gratuity yet drinks are significantly weaker now and service is way slower. Basically pay, more get less with RCI now. Same thing with their steakhouse and pretty much everything else. They have to pay for those 2 billion dollar resorts at sea somehow

[Aquahound]

After becoming platinum on Carnival a few years back, I decided to see what other cruise lines have to offer. Ever since I made that decision, I haven't repeated the same cruise line two times in a row. This has truly been one of the BEST cruise line related decisions that I've made. I truly enjoy exploring new ships, destinations, and what sets each cruise line apart.

 

I totally agree with this statement. My last 6 cruises, starting with the most recent, have been on Carnival, NCL, Celebrity, HAL, Princess and RCI. I used to be a points chaser...sticking with one cruise line (RCI) until I became Diamond Plus. Then, like you, I branched out. I have found that I enjoy new experiences so much more than loyalty, and a lot more than the sameness that comes with always returning to the same brand.

[AmberTeka]

Well, you cannot base your opinion on one ship/cruise. Otherwise I'd say, that Carnival is only serving iron steak. :)

Even on the same ship chefs change and quality changes.

In my experience of 6 Princess cruises food exceeded in quality and variety all cruise lines with an exception of Celebrity (but there were more seafood choices)

 

Sorry I mis spoke We are Platinum on Princess. We have sailed the Regal Princess, the Caribbean Princess more than once, The Star Princess more than once and the Crown Princess more than once.

Previous to the Regal.............We had no issues with the Food. they did hire a New chef for the Entire Line. Have not been on Princess since 2016. We have been on HAL and are booked Carnival.

[cruzeluver]

I am right in line with Tapi and Aquahound on this one.

 

Not pledging allegiance to any one cruise line has been one of our best vacation decisions. I would be bored to tears sailing the same line over and over and over again. Variety is the spice of life! There are differences between the mass market lines (some more blaring than others). We choose Carnival when budget is particularly tight or we just need a basic getaway. Food is actually quite good, entertainment ranges from ok to awful, service is friendly if unpolished. We will only consider Sunshine or Dream class.

 

Royal's ships are more impressive from a design standpoint and have more "wow" factor, but food overall may be just a hair below Carnival. Entertainment is far, far superior with actual live musicians in the main theater and not relying on passengers to be the entertainment.

 

Celebrity is several steps up across the board. Service is far more polished, food is leaps and bounds ahead. Solstice class ships are a marvel while Millennium class are warm and comfortable. Only issue with them is occasional boredom on sea days.

 

We will be trying MSC for the first time in January and so far have been very impressed with pre-cruise service. The ship we have booked (MSC Seaside) looks incredible with new design features. Also love the idea of a less homogeneous clientele.

[EBFURR]

I totally agree with this statement. My last 6 cruises, starting with the most recent, have been on Carnival, NCL, Celebrity, HAL, Princess and RCI. I used to be a points chaser...sticking with one cruise line (RCI) until I became Diamond Plus. Then, like you, I branched out. I have found that I enjoy new experiences so much more than loyalty, and a lot more than the sameness that comes with always returning to the same brand.

 

We have never made it to D+ but have been D for a while. We just finished up our first Carnival cruise and although the weather was horrible we liked the ship, the food options, and the overall experience. We are kind of sorry we did not branch out sooner. The popular conception in that Carnival is cheaper than RCI but we do not find that to always be true. We like to go on the shorter 4 days sometimes as a quick escape. We are close to Charleston and Norfolk so we can drive in with no flight or hotel costs. We find that the Carnival 4 & 5 days out of those ports are always more expensive than the equivalent RCI cruises out of FLA. Supply and demand I guess. After our experience on Carnival we will be more flexible when booking our cruises by checking other lines for the same dates to see where the deals are. We still like RCI and have two booked with them right now, but we are more willing to branch out in the future.

 

To your point though, it is tough to give up those balcony discounts and other perks. We have to figure that in when comparing cost and value.

[ryano]

 

To your point though, it is tough to give up those balcony discounts and other perks. We have to figure that in when comparing cost and value.

 

I will say that Royal Caribbeans C&A program is leaps and bounds better than anything Carnival offers their VIFP guests for sure. Especially once you get to Diamond of which Im still 50 cruise days away from lol. Platinum right now.

[bar1068]

Nothing wrong with my numbers, just the delivery of my message. RCI went up on ALL their alcohol about 40-50% a couple years ago and they added 3 more percent on the gratuity per drink. There was a HUGE uproar on the forums about it. The cruise with RC prior to 2015, a bloody mary was around 10 bucks with grat included. That same bloody mary now is 14.16 (12.00+18%) and they are now measured pours resulting in significantly weaker drinks. We also noticed a drop in staff resulting in slower service for everything.

 

Basically, since you have cruised with them, they have RAISED the price on pretty much everything but quality and service has took a nose dive. Chops is 39.00 pp now and my last Chops meal, my food reminded me of eating at the Sizzler. Carnivals steakhouse is one of the best meals Ive ever had. I could go on and on but you would just think Im whining. Maybe I am but at least I voted with my wallet lol. Im not over there at the RC trolling, bitching and complaining about it trying to steer people to another line though. We have several of those here.

 

Hmmmmmm...I won't dispute your numbers, but I'll share this. Not disputing anything or any cruise lines, just sharing experience.

 

We cruised last month on RC's Anthem of the Seas, had a very enjoyable cruise, only second time RC.

 

Though shouldn't need to, a little extra in the "tip jar" can help this. We purchased RC's beverage package prior to the cruise. They combined the beverage package with an internet plan at a cost we felt was reasonable. To date, I don't think Carnival offers these type of pre-cruise discounts yet.

 

Measured pours? Carnival and NCL doing this as well.

 

The beverage package on RC covered drinks up to a cost of $13, and I believe that was the cost including the inflated 18% gratuity. Only once did we go over that with glasses of wine in the MDR. All other drinks that we had "fit" under that $13 cost per drink. Now, if the $8-$11 martini's, scotches//bourbons/whisky's/vodka's we had neat or over rocks used to cost $4.50 - $5.50...that is before my time. Our first RC cruise was in 2010, and couldn't say what drinks cost then. Now if RC added water or something to the gins/vodka's they made our martini's with, we certainly didn't notice, same with the brown liquors I enjoy. And, more than a couple of times, I was able to order doubles...getting to know a couple of bartenders of course helps with that...and even the service....only time service was slow was at the bionic bar!! But, we don't drink bloody mary's...had a few ok fruity mixed rum type drinks that were not bad, and were under $13. So all in all, especially with the beverage package, could not complain.

 

Now Chops on the other hand, I'm with you on that. We both felt quality was not that of Carnival's Steakhouses. We ordered very similar menu items that we tend to get on Carnival, all were good, but a step below. After booking this RC cruise, I was like, no way I'm paying their higher cost for Chops, but, again, a reduced cost was offered prior to the cruise, which brought the costs inline with what I was used to with Carnival. Had I a weak moment and paid their higher costs for what we had, we would really have been disappointed.

 

I could go and on, but won't. We enjoyed the Anthem though and all of it's "unique" options, including our virtual balcony! And we would not hesitate to cruise that ship again, or any other RC ship, paying an appropriate cruise rate, or a rate that fits what we want to pay for a cruise. Our cruise fare last month was in our targeted price range, and again, similar to what we've paid for some of our Carnival cruises. We didn't feel like overall we were overcharged for what we paid, but, getting those pre-cruise discounted items helps.

[ryano]

 

Measured pours? Carnival and NCL doing this as well.

 

Every bar I went in on Magic free poured my drinks. Of course that may have had to do with very generous tipping but even that didnt work on Royal. That was just one small reason of many of why I was disgruntled with Royal though. This past cruise on Freedom of the Seas was just over the top with price hikes on everything, nickle and diming, mediocre service and just an overall feeling of paying more but getting less. All my RC cruises before that were top notch and pretty much perfect.

 

Anthem of the Seas is an awesome ship from what Ive seen and heard. I love the Quantum class

[sparks1093]

I totally agree with this statement. My last 6 cruises, starting with the most recent, have been on Carnival, NCL, Celebrity, HAL, Princess and RCI. I used to be a points chaser...sticking with one cruise line (RCI) until I became Diamond Plus. Then, like you, I branched out. I have found that I enjoy new experiences so much more than loyalty, and a lot more than the sameness that comes with always returning to the same brand.

 

I am loyal only to my wallet and when we are booking a cruise it's the primary consideration. If another cruise line that we haven't tried is close in price to the lowest one then we would probably give them a try. I was just looking at booking an Alaska cruise the other day and surprisingly for the time frame I was looking at Princess came in lowest (CCL at that time is only offering 14 day itins to Alaska out of Long Beach), Celebrity was second lowest, followed by NCL and RCI, which was most expensive (does anyone really think that RCI is worth $1300 more than Princess?). Should Carnival ever stop meeting our needs then we would likely stop cruising rather than spend substantially more with any other line.