RCL Vs Carnival

[kinggartk]

On 11/21/2018 at 5:30 PM, BNBR said:

 

By the way, this is also just simply untrue.  The shows are scheduled around early and late dining.  There are shows at 5PM sometimes and often the late dining takes a 10:30 show time while early might have an 8:30 show time.  With some shows actually being at 2:30 or so on sea days, too.  Do you happen to have your "Don't Miss The Show" schedule?  Because I think you just didn't pay attention.....   The shows are at all sorts of times to accommodate everyone.

Its not untrue at all.  The Elvis impresonator show was only available at 10:30 PM.  Come Fly with me was only Available at 10:30 PM.  I don't remember the other shows times at this point...but I do know we carried our cruise compass around with us all the time and found ourselves twiddling our thumbs everyday from 5:00-8:00 waiting for our MDR time.

[sparks1093]

On 11/21/2018 at 8:57 PM, BNBR said:

 

I'm not really picking at minor points.  The OP made 2 separate points about entertainment, and implied that it was pretty important.  I would agree.  Entertainment is a huge part of Oasis.  They have tons of shows and venues.  My issue is that their take on it is not really a matter of opinion, but kind of just, wrong.  This isn't just a "review"  - it's a discussion forum.  So you can expect responses that may not agree with the points.

 

I didn't challenge the lack of communication.  I would call that a minor point, personally, and I didn't feel communication was any different on Royal than Carnival.  But as for the shows, you can't claim lack of communication.  You get a "Don't Miss The Show" schedule right on your bed when you walk in the cabin.  And, of course, you can book your showtimes on the cruise planner easily before the cruise.  It's all right there on the planner before you ever even go.  And the OP claims they only have 1 showtime for shows.  That's just flat out false.  

 

The thing about reservations on Oasis, is that once you start booking times, you realize there aren't that many options (in a good way).  The way the shows are scheduled, overlapping, etc.  It's designed to move the crowds so not everyone is going to one show.  So when you factor in dining times and overlapping shows - it becomes really easy to just reserve for the shows that will fit your schedule.  If you miss it, who cares?  It's free to reserve.  If it works out, you can walk in with no line and have almost any seat in the theater.

 

You say you like to walk in right before a show starts, you can absolutely do that on Oasis.  Other than the small comedy club, you can walk in to just about any other show a few minutes before it starts and grab a seat.  And that was my point.  If you like doing that, you can do that.  So when you say "I don't like reservations, I like Carnival better" - it just makes no sense.  You can walk up 10 minutes before, without a reservation, and grab a seat all the same.  Having a reservation just means you can show up a little bit earlier and have prime seating choice.  I mean, really, how is that a BAD thing? Lol.

 

Anyways.  People read these threads and make real decisions.  Shouldn't we be accurate and correct false information?

 

Here is the schedule from Allure.  It's very similar but I can't find an Oasis example.  They leave this in your cabin for you.  Notice the show times.  It's not "only 1 show time at 10:30" - you can see Blue Planet and Mama Mia both have 5PM show times....  Oasis does similar.  Even the ice show has a 5PM offering.  Only the main aqua shows are later because they are designed to be at night/dark.  But you'll notice they also have a 12:15 dreamworks aqua show and also a 7PM ice show that is early enough for late dinner.  So yes, the OP's comments about show times are just flat out wrong.  Maybe OP can provide the show schedule if it differs from all the other Oasis class ships?

 

 

 

I could be reading it incorrectly but it looks like there are 3 days where there is nothing for late diners to do between 5 and 7 (I use 7 because that's about the time DW and I are heading to the cabin to get ready).

[kinggartk]

20 hours ago, NavarreCruiser said:

....  So back off a little and relax.

I could say the same to you.

[KmomChicago]

On ‎11‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 1:40 PM, robc1972 said:

Try one of the smaller RC, like Adventure for a more accurate comparison.

You will find a much different experience and its more the same size as the average Carnival ship.

For me I like the ship design and layout of those size RC better than Carnival.

I find the food in both the dining room and the buffet to be about the same on both.

Entertainment is a tiny bit better on RC.

 

Overall both lines are about the same. After itinerary, if the boat layout is a major deciding factor I would go RC, if price is a deciding factor Carnival wins.

 

We will be doing just this next year. The wowza Oasis class hardly compares to anything else; we will be on Adventure next year and I look forward to seeing how "different" it feels from Carnival.  After that cruise we will be 2 and 2 with each line.

 

But so far I agree with you - it seems RC also does a slightly better job keeping the ships in updated condition, but Carnival offers more ports of departure which is convenient and in general the cost is lower for similar amenities.

[Florida Paesano]

Thanks kinggartk.  Appreciate your observations, comparisons and review.   

[BNBR]

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

I could be reading it incorrectly but it looks like there are 3 days where there is nothing for late diners to do between 5 and 7 (I use 7 because that's about the time DW and I are heading to the cabin to get ready).

 

"Nothing"?  Come on.  There may not be a stage show between 5 - 7 every day.  Does Carnival offer this?  All 7 days?  There is certainly OTHER things to do between 5 and 7.  But that's not what OP implied in their original post.  OP said Royal only had shows at one time, 10:30.  I'd like to see the "Don't Miss The Show" schedule for that sailing.  Because I've sailed Oasis, Harmony, and Allure and all have been virtually identical with 5PM show offerings, including some early afternoon 12 - 3.  The claim was that Royal makes you go to 10:30 shows if you have late dining, but that's not fair to say, because the show schedules I've seen all have showtimes before dinner for the late seatings.    In fact, on the Allure, there is a full 5 ice shows that you could go to prior to late seating dinner.  From experience, Oasis had similar scheduling.

 

 

Edited November 23, 2018 by BNBR

[BNBR]

1 hour ago, kinggartk said:

Yes...wait in standby line and hope there is a seat available...that works great.  I don't like having to make reservations in advance...because I don't know what I'm going to feel like doing on the given day of my VACATION.  

 

THIS IS WHAT YOU DO ON CARNIVAL!!!! Lol.  You wait in line until they open the seating.  If you don't want to wait in line on Oasis (just like Carnival), head over 10 - 15 minutes before the show and walk in.  In my many Oasis-class sailings I have never once seen no seating available if you show up without reservations other than the comedy club.  So your claim is simply invalid.  I have shown up to shows plenty of times without reservations and never once could I not find a decent seat.  The Amber theater is rarely more than 30 - 50% full when standby opens up, and then it fills in.  We make reservations before the trip based on what we think we'll want to do, but almost always end up changing and just walking in to a different scheduled show without a reservation.  

 

I also find your comments funny about making reservations in advance difficult because it's your "VACATION" - I mean, you must absolutely hate having dinner reservations every night you have to deal with.  I'm surprised you don't do MTD.  Have you ever booked an excursion? Reservation, times, the horror!!!!!

 

And again, that's not even a great comparison because with shows - you DON'T NEED RESERVATIONS.  You can walk in 10 minutes before and virtually always find a seat.

[dmdiver]

When we went on Oasis, we received plenty of emails encouraging us to make show reservations.  Of course, we didn't, since we had no clue what we would be doing on board.  We were also sailing with friends, so we would have had to get on the phone with them to decide what to choose.  So, we decided just to wing it.  We got to see the aqua show.  Hubby & I got to see one comedian by waiting standby.  Ice shows were always full.  Production shows were full.  We stood at the back of the theater to watch a bit of the Abba show, but no place to sit, so we left.  

 

So, if we ever go on another RCCL ship that large, we will likely be making reservations although I still don't know how people figure out when they want to do things when they haven't even boarded the ship.  

[sparks1093]

35 minutes ago, BNBR said:

 

THIS IS WHAT YOU DO ON CARNIVAL!!!! Lol.  You wait in line until they open the seating.  If you don't want to wait in line on Oasis (just like Carnival), head over 10 - 15 minutes before the show and walk in.  In my many Oasis-class sailings I have never once seen no seating available if you show up without reservations other than the comedy club.  So your claim is simply invalid.  I have shown up to shows plenty of times without reservations and never once could I not find a decent seat.  The Amber theater is rarely more than 30 - 50% full when standby opens up, and then it fills in.  We make reservations before the trip based on what we think we'll want to do, but almost always end up changing and just walking in to a different scheduled show without a reservation.  

 

I also find your comments funny about making reservations in advance difficult because it's your "VACATION" - I mean, you must absolutely hate having dinner reservations every night you have to deal with.  I'm surprised you don't do MTD.  Have you ever booked an excursion? Reservation, times, the horror!!!!!

 

And again, that's not even a great comparison because with shows - you DON'T NEED RESERVATIONS.  You can walk in 10 minutes before and virtually always find a seat.

I've never stood in line for any Carnival show but it would seem that even if one makes a reservation on Royal that one would still need to stand in line if you care about where you sit since the seating will be first come, first served for those with reservations. You generally make some very good points but your way of belittling people is very off-putting.

Edited November 23, 2018 by sparks1093

[sparks1093]

44 minutes ago, BNBR said:

 

"Nothing"?  Come on.  There may not be a stage show between 5 - 7 every day.  Does Carnival offer this?  All 7 days?  There is certainly OTHER things to do between 5 and 7.  But that's not what OP implied in their original post.  OP said Royal only had shows at one time, 10:30.  I'd like to see the "Don't Miss The Show" schedule for that sailing.  Because I've sailed Oasis, Harmony, and Allure and all have been virtually identical with 5PM show offerings, including some early afternoon 12 - 3.  The claim was that Royal makes you go to 10:30 shows if you have late dining, but that's not fair to say, because the show schedules I've seen all have showtimes before dinner for the late seatings.    In fact, on the Allure, there is a full 5 ice shows that you could go to prior to late seating dinner.  From experience, Oasis had similar scheduling.

 

 

The OP said "I like that Carnival has their shows scheduled to work around MDR schedules.  If I have late dinning, I can go to the early show.  If I have early dinning, I can go to the late show.  RCL seemed to only have shows at one time (10:30).  We had 8:00 dinning and found ourselves with not much to do from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM.  On carnival...we would have been seeing a show during that time.  Carnival Wins." so they were concerned with doing something before dinner. I believe that Carnival does have something scheduled in the main theater on most nights, an early show for late seating and a late show for early seating.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

3 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

The OP said "I like that Carnival has their shows scheduled to work around MDR schedules.  If I have late dinning, I can go to the early show.  If I have early dinning, I can go to the late show.  RCL seemed to only have shows at one time (10:30).  We had 8:00 dinning and found ourselves with not much to do from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM.  On carnival...we would have been seeing a show during that time.  Carnival Wins." so they were concerned with doing something before dinner. I believe that Carnival does have something scheduled in the main theater on most nights, an early show for late seating and a late show for early seating.

 

are lip sync battles and the Hasbro game show considered 2 nights of the showroom entertainment or do they have other things in the main showroom those nights as well?

 

Bill

[sparks1093]

24 minutes ago, S.S.Oceanlover said:

 

are lip sync battles and the Hasbro game show considered 2 nights of the showroom entertainment or do they have other things in the main showroom those nights as well?

 

Bill

I said that they have something scheduled in the main theater and both of those things are scheduled (and I believe that when those are scheduled there is one other thing scheduled for that evening also). 

[kinggartk]

4 hours ago, BNBR said:

 

THIS IS WHAT YOU DO ON CARNIVAL!!!! Lol.  You wait in line until they open the seating.  If you don't want to wait in line on Oasis (just like Carnival), head over 10 - 15 minutes before the show and walk in.  In my many Oasis-class sailings I have never once seen no seating available if you show up without reservations other than the comedy club.  So your claim is simply invalid.  I have shown up to shows plenty of times without reservations and never once could I not find a decent seat.  The Amber theater is rarely more than 30 - 50% full when standby opens up, and then it fills in.  We make reservations before the trip based on what we think we'll want to do, but almost always end up changing and just walking in to a different scheduled show without a reservation.  

 

I also find your comments funny about making reservations in advance difficult because it's your "VACATION" - I mean, you must absolutely hate having dinner reservations every night you have to deal with.  I'm surprised you don't do MTD.  Have you ever booked an excursion? Reservation, times, the horror!!!!!

 

And again, that's not even a great comparison because with shows - you DON'T NEED RESERVATIONS.  You can walk in 10 minutes before and virtually always find a seat.

I spent more time waiting in line on this recent Oasis cruise for shows I had reservations for than I have ever spent on Carnival for a show.  I had reservations for the Ice Show and had to wait in line to get in.  I had reservations for the Aqua Show and had to wait in line to get in.  I did NOT walk right in for these shows.   I had reservations for both and still had crappy seats.  If I had no reservation, I would have either been left out all together or been left standing in the back watching.

 

I obviously offended you in some way...with my personal opinion.

[wsyrob]

Thanks to the OP for the review. I have my first Carnival cruise coming up in Feb.

 

I have been on Oasis twice and had problems scheduling shows. What happens is they fill up and those times are not presented to you on the website. Didn’t see any shows my first Oasis cruise due to the only available times being during our dining times.

 

The second one I got on the website earlier and was able to book most of them

[Nic6318]

10 hours ago, BNBR said:

 

THIS IS WHAT YOU DO ON CARNIVAL!!!! Lol.  You wait in line until they open the seating.  If you don't want to wait in line on Oasis (just like Carnival), head over 10 - 15 minutes before the show and walk in. 

 

Hi

 

You have made this suggestion before. "This is not what they do on Carnival". What I tried to inform you is that you don't ever have to wait in line for a show on the Carnival ships. The only time you would have to wait is if you were wanting to go to one of the comedy shows and the previous show was still going on. 

 

Before the shows, the theatre is open...you just go sit down...first come first served. The same for the comedy club. The venue is not closed before the show. You can enter and sit down any time before the show, again first come first served. You can also show up just before the show, or during the show. You just walk in and sit down, any time, no reservations needed. As I said before, it is probably better to have a reservation system on a ship like the Oasis just because there are so many people on the ship.

[Mikew0805]

11 hours ago, BNBR said:

 

THIS IS WHAT YOU DO ON CARNIVAL!!!! Lol.  You wait in line until they open the seating.  If you don't want to wait in line on Oasis (just like Carnival), head over 10 - 15 minutes before the show and walk in.  In my many Oasis-class sailings I have never once seen no seating available if you show up without reservations other than the comedy club.  So your claim is simply invalid.  I have shown up to shows plenty of times without reservations and never once could I not find a decent seat.  The Amber theater is rarely more than 30 - 50% full when standby opens up, and then it fills in.  We make reservations before the trip based on what we think we'll want to do, but almost always end up changing and just walking in to a different scheduled show without a reservation.  

 

I also find your comments funny about making reservations in advance difficult because it's your "VACATION" - I mean, you must absolutely hate having dinner reservations every night you have to deal with.  I'm surprised you don't do MTD.  Have you ever booked an excursion? Reservation, times, the horror!!!!!

 

And again, that's not even a great comparison because with shows - you DON'T NEED RESERVATIONS.  You can walk in 10 minutes before and virtually always find a seat.

 

NO This is not what you do on CCL or any Voyager/Vision/Radiance/Majesty Class ship on RCI either. One can show up early enough (30-45minutes in most cases) to get good seats without a reservation. 

 

I do not like the reservations either. I do not want to show up at the last minute and get what seats are not taken. I want to show up 30 minutes before the show I want to see, and get the seats that I like, get drinks, and get settled. So I agree with the OP... I don't like the reservation system either.

 

The only time I spent time waiting in lines for a show, was WITH reservations, on the Oasis. 

 

 

[S.S.Oceanlover]

8 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

I said that they have something scheduled in the main theater and both of those things are scheduled (and I believe that when those are scheduled there is one other thing scheduled for that evening also). 

 

Thanks Sparks for the update.

 

Appreciate it.👍

 

Bill

[NavarreCruiser]

13 hours ago, Nic6318 said:

 

Hi

 

You have made this suggestion before. "This is not what they do on Carnival". What I tried to inform you is that you don't ever have to wait in line for a show on the Carnival ships. The only time you would have to wait is if you were wanting to go to one of the comedy shows and the previous show was still going on. 

 

Before the shows, the theatre is open...you just go sit down...first come first served. The same for the comedy club. The venue is not closed before the show. You can enter and sit down any time before the show, again first come first served. You can also show up just before the show, or during the show. You just walk in and sit down, any time, no reservations needed. As I said before, it is probably better to have a reservation system on a ship like the Oasis just because there are so many people on the ship.

 

I can tell you from my extensive Carnival experience (for which I am totally mocked) that Carnival often does not have the theater open until shortly before the show and significant lines often form.  And Royal will frequently bring on "Fly-on" entertainers, something that Carnival also used to do a lot, but now pretty much does only on journey cruises.

Edited November 24, 2018 by NavarreCruiser

[coltsfan1976]

I agree with most of what you said on your review.  We were on the Oasis in October.  One thing i,ve been telling people is I think the dinner service we had on the Oasis was the best we have had on any cruise ship.  It seemed like they had more waiters per person ratio then Carnival.  I told my wife if I would pay a little more for my Carnival cruises if I could get that same service.  One thing that I could not stand on Royal was when i got a frozen drink they blended it then poured it in the glass with the shot already in the glass.  You had to take your straw to mix everything together.  Would I book another Royal cruise again? sure but I prefer Carnival more and will keep booking them for now.  I may try a NCL soon though.

[Cheezus]

2 hours ago, NavarreCruiser said:

 

I can tell you from my extensive Carnival experience (for which I am totally mocked) that Carnival often does not have the theater open until shortly before the show and significant lines often form.  And Royal will frequently bring on "Fly-on" entertainers, something that Carnival also used to do a lot, but now pretty much does only on journey cruises.

 

I was thinking the same thing.  I love Carnival, but some of these comments are coming off as cheerleading.

 

15 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

 

NO This is not what you do on CCL or any Voyager/Vision/Radiance/Majesty Class ship on RCI either. One can show up early enough (30-45minutes in most cases) to get good seats without a reservation. 

 

I do not like the reservations either. I do not want to show up at the last minute and get what seats are not taken. I want to show up 30 minutes before the show I want to see, and get the seats that I like, get drinks, and get settled. So I agree with the OP... I don't like the reservation system either.

 

The only time I spent time waiting in lines for a show, was WITH reservations, on the Oasis. 

 

 

 

Is it me, or does your comment not make any sense?  If you want to show up 30 minutes before and settle in, that's exactly the point of a reservation.

[sparks1093]

19 minutes ago, Cheezus said:

 

I was thinking the same thing.  I love Carnival, but some of these comments are coming off as cheerleading.

 

 

Is it me, or does your comment not make any sense?  If you want to show up 30 minutes before and settle in, that's exactly the point of a reservation.

Except with a reservation you still have to show up that early and you have to wait in line if you want to make sure that you have a good seat. The only time I've ever seen the doors to the theater closed was when they were rehearsing or holding a private function. It still boggles my mind that cheerleading is a pejorative term. 

[Mikew0805]

2 hours ago, Cheezus said:

 

I was thinking the same thing.  I love Carnival, but some of these comments are coming off as cheerleading.

 

 

Is it me, or does your comment not make any sense?  If you want to show up 30 minutes before and settle in, that's exactly the point of a reservation.

It makes sense. I want to do that without an advanced reservation. I do not want to plan going to a show until that evening. Then I would like to walk in 30 minutes before and get settled.  Make more sense now? Can't do that on Oasis class. Either have a reservation or wait until all the reservations are in, and they open up seating just before show time.

 

[Cheezus]

2 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

It makes sense. I want to do that without an advanced reservation. I do not want to plan going to a show until that evening. Then I would like to walk in 30 minutes before and get settled.  Make more sense now? Can't do that on Oasis class. Either have a reservation or wait until all the reservations are in, and they open up seating just before show time.

 

 

Fair enough.  Though Carnival doesn't have popular shows or anything comparable to Oasis. You need reservations because the shows are popular and worth seeing. Carnival has the best comedy, and on our last cruise, the line wrapped practically around the entire promenade.  The idea of a relaxing, show up early and get settled in experience is not what would come to mind in that case.  With the main theater, the shows are so bad you can wander it at any point and get a good seat because nobody goes. 

 

Our experience on Harmony, we had no problem just showing up for shows we made reservations for. And when we went, we walked right up, scanned our card and walked in to a theater with tons of great seats and drink service.  It was great.  Same for the comedy show. Very nice experience and refreshing compared to the massive line on Carnival.

 

I like the freestyle approach, too. But anything worth doing on a cruise ship will be crowded. Reservations solve that issue.