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What makes Royal special?


mared1
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26 minutes ago, asalligo said:

OP's concerns are valid and the same as my own. I finally decided I just have to try it and am on my first RCCL cruise in 76 days. Since I booked my cruise though I keep coming across items I have always accepted as free and included which appear to be missing or for a fee on RCCL. I am going to try to keep an open mind and evaluate each point individually though. There has to be some reason people are paying more for this cruise line experience. 

 

Valid?  Bring a robe.  Ask your cabin steward for ice and wine glasses.  These are not REAL issues, lol.

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54 minutes ago, Sobro said:

 

I would like to see a list of those items.

Ok, issues I have come across. Now keep in mind, I am not saying any of this matters enough to even consider not trying RCCL, but these are still things I have noticed and lends credence to the OP's post. 

Guys Burgers and Blue Iguana are free on Carnival and on RCCL Johnny Rockets is a charge. I do not even care for Burgers on a cruise, but many do. 

Internet $4 dollars a day starting versus $15 a day

Buffet is always open even though not stocked all night. I can still get a coffee or a soft serve Ice cream at 4 am, both have room service, but who wants to wait an hour. 

Midnight chocolate buffet!

Faster to the Fun. I love this feature, but if RCCL loads fast enough, I doubt I will care. 

That's all I can think of now, but it seems like I have come across many things that are either more expensive or missing. 

 

Now what I am hoping is better on RCCL. 

The clientele!

Shows. Cruise with the same line long enough and you have seen them all already.   

Food, although most appear to say it is about the same quality. 

 

 

 

Edited by asalligo
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7 minutes ago, asalligo said:

Guys Burgers and Blue Iguana are free on Carnival and on RCCL Johnny Rockets is a charge. I do not even care for Burgers on a cruise, but many do. 

Internet $4 dollars a day starting versus $15 a day

Buffet is always open even though not stocked all night. I can still get a coffee or a soft serve Ice cream at 4 am, both have room service, but who wants to wait an hour. 

Midnight chocolate buffet!

Faster to the Fun. I love this feature, but if RCCL loads fast enough, I doubt I will care. 

That's all I can think of now, but it seems like I have come across many things that are either more expensive or missing. 

 

Now what I am hoping is better on RCCL. 

The clientele!

Shows. Cruise with the same line long enough and you have seen them all already.   

Food, although most appear to say it is about the same quality. 

 

Guys and Blue Iguana are practically an extension of the buffet and no way comparable to Johnny Rockets or Sabor.  Just completely different.  It's like saying the Carnival MDR is free but Chops on Royal is an upcharge.   Obviously one is a specialty restaurant, the other is not.  Guys is a counter serve burger spot like Wipeout Cafe or the buffet.  Johnny Rockets is a sit down specialty restaurant with full service.

The shows are not comparable at all to what you are used to.  Especially if you do Oasis-class which has several shows in the aquatheater and ice rink.

Carnival has social for $4/day.  Yes.  But their regular unlimited internet is more expensive than Royals and Royal's is multitudes faster... you can stream Netflix on Royal, for example.  So yes, if all you want is social it's cheaper on Carnival, but not if you need full internet.

I do wish Royal had FTTF, I'm a big fan of that, too.

I sail both lines.  But Royal has a much better product with Oasis-class, by miles.  However, Carnival is often much cheaper and sometimes I prefer the better deal when it's a substantial price difference.  So I have Magic booked for one of our 2019 cruises and we'll have a great time.  But we fully know it's not even close to Oasis level and try not to compare.

Edited by BNBR
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2 hours ago, BNBR said:

Johnny Rockets is a sit down specialty restaurant with full service. 

 

In fairness, and this is coming from a guy who pretty much only cruises on Royal, it shouldn't be an upcharge restaurant. It's just burgers. They're not even out-of-this-world burgers. They're fine.  There's also a JR where I live, so it's not even like the ship is the *only* place you can get it.

 

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6 minutes ago, Eslader said:

 

In fairness, and this is coming from a guy who pretty much only cruises on Royal, it shouldn't be an upcharge restaurant. It's just burgers. They're not even out-of-this-world burgers. They're fine.  There's also a JR where I live, so it's not even like the ship is the *only* place you can get it.

 

 

I would disagree about it being an upcharge restaurant.  I think it totally fits in with what specialty restaurants are.  You can get a burger at the MDR, wipeout, buffet, etc. Right next to Johnny Rockets is the Boardwalk Doghouse which is complimentary and offers quite a robust menu of different hot dogs, toppings, and sides - counter serve.  If you want more than that, it's an upcharge.  And just like NCL charges for Margaritaville, Royal charging for Johnny Rockets seems perfectly reasonable.

What I would say is that the upcharge is too high.  I think it should be $7.95 or so.  Over $10 is a bit much.  We did Johnny Rockets last week and the burger, while not outstanding, was actually quite good.  Super hot, right off the grill, prepared well.  We also had chili cheese fries, grilled cheese sandwhiches for the kids, onion rings, etc.  The onion rings were awesome.  All of which was served right out of the kitchen and piping hot.  We thought it was worth the money, even if I think it's maybe a tad overpriced.  It was a great meal.

I also think you have to embrace the concepts if you want to truly enjoy it.  The kids played on the playground on the boardwalk, we then wandered over and had lunch on Johnny Rockets, which included really good sundaes (we did shakes throughout the week), then we spent some time on the carousel, too.  It was a great time on the boardwalk and Johnny Rockets fits right in with the experience.

One thing I was VERY surprised about was Sabor.  Many times they were absolutely full and on a wait.  I couldn't believe it considering their high upcharge.

But on NCL Escape, they changed Margaritaville from a la carte to a high upcharge and it was a total ghost town the entire cruise.

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11 minutes ago, kimcruiser said:

I'm loving this post because I will be on the Mariner of the Seas in February and its another way to get info on Royal Caribbean. 

 

A lot of people swear by the Voyager class ships.  Hopefully you'll love it, too.  It's the first ship class that Royal introduced the Promenade on as well as Studio B (Ice rink/theater).  Not sure of your compass, but on Allure last week they had How To Train Your Dragon on ice, it wasn't listed on the cruise planner so you had to find it on the compass.  It was a "can't miss" for sure.

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2 minutes ago, kimcruiser said:

Awesome! Compass is the daily paper correct?

 

 

That's right.  You should also get an entertainment schedule that shows you all the shows by venue.  At least we got on on Allure last week first day.

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2 hours ago, asalligo said:

Guys Burgers and Blue Iguana are free on Carnival and on RCCL Johnny Rockets is a charge. I do not even care for Burgers on a cruise, but many do. 

 Internet $4 dollars a day starting versus $15 a day

Guy's/Blue Iguana are much better offerings on Carnival than anything Royal has that's comparable, especially given that they're included.   I found the quality of both to be a step above buffet offerings and loved that they were a quick in and out.   Johnny Rockets is not a grab-and-go restaurant and our experiences with it were godawful.   Carnival does have a point in their favor on these quick serve options, though the Boardwalk Doghouse is pretty good on ships that feature it.   

Carnival's Internet vs. RCCL's VOOM is like comparing apples and rocket ships.   CCL's internet, even "premium", is only marginally functional.  Remember 2002?  It's about like that.    VOOM on RCCL is almost normal, modern connectivity.  

That being said, I find the clientele and experience on RCCL to be significantly different.   I know not everyone will agree, but if Carnival is the WalMart of cruising, RCCL is more like the Target, or even maybe Kohl's.   It's still a mass-market, mid-range line, but...there's a difference.   

Edited by Pearlieq
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20 minutes ago, Pearlieq said:

Guy's/Blue Iguana are much better offerings on Carnival than anything Royal has that's comparable, especially given that they're included.   I found the quality of both to be a step above buffet offerings and loved that they were a quick in and out.   Johnny Rockets is not a grab-and-go restaurant and our experiences with it were godawful.   Carnival does have a point in their favor on these quick serve options, though the Boardwalk Doghouse is pretty good on ships that feature it.   

Carnival's Internet vs. RCCL's VOOM is like comparing apples and rocket ships.   CCL's internet, even "premium", is only marginally functional.  Remember 2002?  It's about like that.    VOOM on RCCL is almost normal, modern connectivity.  

That being said, I find the clientele and experience on RCCL to be significantly different.   I know not everyone will agree, but if Carnival is the WalMart of cruising, RCCL is more like the Target, or even maybe Kohl's.   It's still a mass-market, mid-range line, but...there's a difference.   

 

I thought Guys was OK. I also think it's by far the most overrated food at sea. They had trays of burgers, slap on a bun and you go put toppings on it.  Whoopie.  It was a decent burger but nothing special. I'd call it a decent fast food style burger and nothing more. 

We had a great experience at Johnny Rockets.  Service was awesome and the food was all on point.  It was a more complete experience that we were happy to pay for. 

But yes, as for buffet/counter serve burgers Carnival has royal beat by a mile with guys. 

I do love the boardwalk dog house and actually like it better than guys, personally. I'd say it's on par in a different way. 

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11 minutes ago, BNBR said:

I do love the boardwalk dog house and actually like it better than guys, personally. I'd say it's on par in a different way. 

 

Agree 100% . The Boardwalk Dog House is one of the best quick service options I've found on a ship and a very unique offering.  I like good fast-food burger by the pool every once in a while, but it's so cool to have something different and a bit elevated!   They've got a winner with that one.   

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royal doesn't have anything that compares to mongolian wok or carnivals italian restaurant , they are both free for lunch.Also carnival doesn't tell you to hurry up and eat when you are at breakfast.

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I don't go on cruise ships for food, necessarily.  Having a lot of decent options is part of the experience, but the food itself, you will always find better at good local restaurants.

It's more about the experience.

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11 hours ago, Pearlieq said:

 

Agree 100% . The Boardwalk Dog House is one of the best quick service options I've found on a ship and a very unique offering.  I like good fast-food burger by the pool every once in a while, but it's so cool to have something different and a bit elevated!   They've got a winner with that one.   

I expect that I'll have a dog or two there when we're on Anthem. Guys is a good burger made better because it's included in the fare. I wouldn't pay extra for one. We ate at Johnny Rockets on the way to our last cruise and it was a good meal. I doubt that I'd waste money on a ship getting it.

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I used to be loyal to royal and have recently been exploring other options. Before a few years ago, I only sailed on Royal and a few Carnival ships. Royal of course has had way better ships since the Voyager class. But then things started to slip. Food is just not at the quality it used to be and they aren't modernizing (or at least they tried on Quantum class and failed). With that said and just the general lack of enthusiasm, I looked elsewhere. 

Norwegian for me offers many things that Royal lacks. I love their waterfront area, coupled with good bars and unique, good quality drinks that you just can't get on Royal. Norwegian's food, in my opinion, is a step above as well. Depending on the ship, all shows are hit or miss. Overall, Royal gets my point for entertainment, as they offer way more headliners and things like that. Especially if you're on an Oasis class, entertainment is superb. Royal also wins with pool areas...no pool in the adults area on NCL is unforgivable. Finally, Norwegian still has deck parties that are so fun...something I miss on Royal, combined with outdoor bars that are still open past the pool closing. I couldn't believe, on Anthem, that no outside bars were open in the Caribbean past 8/9. HELLO! We are in the Caribbean for a reason. 

Celebrity is also a nice option, as I found the food and service to be a step above Royal, as it should be, as well as tasteful ships. If I want a really dirt cheap getaway, I'll look at Carnival, because I know I just want to have fun, eat and drink and they are good for that. But for consistency...even if that consistency is not what it used to be, and because of my status, I'll look at Royal. 

I'm excited for Royal Amplified and hope they continue exactly what they did on Mariner for the rest...pending that everything works well. At least that gives a couple new bars and fun things to do. 

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