Question for those who have sailed both RCCL and Carnival

[micdee]

Have decided to try the Serenade of the Seas only because I love the southern Caribbean itinerary and have already sailed the Destiny 3 times.

I know food is a personal opinion. What I want to know is, what will I not find on RCCL that Carnival has to offer (ex.24 hour pizza).

Thanks, Mickey

[img]http://www.agll06.ukgateway.net/MickeyKDMMtransp.gif[/img]


Triumph 7/01/00
Destiny 2/24/02
Destiny 2/02/03
Destiny 2/29/04

[Kviolasr]

micdee:
I have sailed both Carnival and RCCL, enjoyed both lines.

Regarding major food differences:

-You know about the pizza

-Carnival does a much better job with grill items like burgers, steak sandwichs, dogs, chicken sandwiches etc. You can walk up to the grill and get these items fresh. RCCL cooks them ahead of time and has them either in the buffet or in the Solarium area (depending on the ship).

-Carnival seems to have more pasta items on the dining room dinner menu.

-If you are skipping the dining room any evenings, RCCL does a nice job of "dressing up" the Windjammer buffet at night - ambiance is better than during the day. Don't remember Carnival doing this...

-Service in the dining room was a tossup, had good and great on both.

Hope this helps.

Kevin

Adventure of the Seas - 2004
Destiny - 2003
Splendour of the Seas - 2002
Sea Princess - 2001
Majesty of the Seas - 2000
Inspiration - 1998
Ecstasy - 1997

[micdee]

Thanks Kevin.
How about room sevice menu, does RCCL have more to offer?

[img]http://www.agll06.ukgateway.net/MickeyKDMMtransp.gif[/img]


Triumph 7/01/00
Destiny 2/24/02
Destiny 2/02/03
Destiny 2/29/04

[fgresko]

RCCL has a lot more on room service. Hot breakfast, and at lunch and diner any item on the main menu can be ordered for your cabin. I Thought RCCL service at the table was a little better all 3 times, but that will vary depending on your waiter. Have fun.

[Cruiser@Heart]

I have found the room service to be better on RCCL than on Carnival. Mainly because they offered a lot more. On our last cruise, we opted to not eat in the dining room and didn't want buffet after a long day of being out and about. We ordered what we would have eaten in the dining room that evening. It was great!

As far as waiter service in the dining room...that is a toss up because of individual waiters. If you get a good one...your experience is great, if you get a poor one....your experience tends to be lacking. As a side note though, my BEST experience in the dining room (and what set the standard I hold whatever cruise line I'm on) was on the now defunct Premiere Cruise line. Their food was great and the waiter service was fantastic. They really went out of their way to make the dining room a pleasant experience.

NCL Sunward 1992
Premier (Big Red Boat) 1998
Sovereign of the Seas 2000
Fascination 2001
Carnival Spirit 2002
Carnival Conquest 2003
Enchantment of the Seas 2003
Sensation 2004

[serene56]

Some things on the dinner menu from the dining room will be offered to you from Room service. (not everything is offered though) But on Royal you can get a hot breakfast delivered.
The menu from the dining room- breakfast-lunch and dinner is available to your during those dining hours. On carnival you can have a few choice options thats it. You can view the menu on your tv or in a book that will be located on your desk in your cabin.

I prefer CAnivals Pizza, burgers and hot dogs better. But Royals Promanade cafe has good pastries and sandwiches for when one is starving...lol

Althought there wasnt anything wrong with the towels I prefered Carnival's towels coz they felt softer. Both lines will charge if you dont give them back.

Going NOWHERE
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=000080&cdt=2004;10;22;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]



Miracle, February 13, 2005
Legend, October 22,2004
Voyager August 31,2003
Victory September 22,2002
Regal Empress,June 2001
Sensation,August 2000

[bthorn1108]

To Cruiser@Heart, I couldn't agree with you more. The best dining room experience I ever had was on the Premier Seabreeze. We sailed this vessel twice, prior to her demise, and on the second cruise we found out our waiter from the first cruise had been promoted to Head Waiter.

Unfortunately, I'm sure that the quality of the service and food they provided, coupled with the cheap prices they offered, is what contributed to their failure.

Beverly
Southward 1988, Britannis 1994, Dolphin IV 1995, Star Princess (old version) 1996, Sea Princess 1999, Seabreeze 1999, Rembrandt 2000, Destiny 2000, Seabreeze 2000, Triumph 2000, Norwegian Majesty 2001, Destiny 2001, Sensation 2002, Victory 2002, Destiny 2003, Vision of the Seas 2003, Triumph 2003, Voyager of the Seas 2004,

[yuyi64]

I concur with the comparisons already listed by the prior posters on this thread and I'll add a few of my own. Although we've been fortunate to receive great dining room service on both Carnival and Royal Caribbean, we found the portions to be larger on RCCL. We did not see any jeans or shorts for dinner on Royal (in the main dining room) and a larger percentage of diners on RCCL wore suits or tuxes on formal nights. We also saw fewer children on Royal and an older passenger average age in general. RCCL ships have more glass and natural light than Carnival ships and generally have a more subdued decor. Entertainment was about the same on both lines but the production shows were a little more "Las Vegas" on Carnival and more "Broadway" on Royal. Royal Caribbean's embarkation procedures were more efficient and faster than Carnival's. Overall, we have a great time on both cruise lines and base our booking decisions solely on price and itinerary.

[img]http://www.cruisemates.com/animated/Boatwht.gif[/img]

[GottaLuvCruising]

In our experience, there were fewer friendly people on RCI.

You will NOT receive one comment form per person; on RCI it is one form per stateroom.

[rocktheboat]

I hated RCCL, Hated the food, hated the small cabins. Carnival had better food and bigger cabins. Found the same things to do on both ships.

[jemingway]

RCCL has different souvenirs. Always a key component of a cruise. For those who have sailed both(kind of like for those about to rock)keep sailing both.

JV The 4 stages of cruising: planning, anticipation, experience and reflection.

[myshipcamein]

Fun..........seriously, the people are nicer on CCL than RCCL. Maybe its where you leave from. I found leaving from Florida there are more international people, but leaving from NYC the people are more fun.

[yuyi64]

I'm not sure which "people" you're referring to when you say that "the people are nicer on CCL than RCCL". Are you talking about the ship's crew or your fellow passengers? Either way, I have to disagree with you. We've found the ship's staff as well as the passengers to be equally friendly on both cruiselines. Yes, we've encountered a few jerks on both cruiselines (usually drunk passengers), but overall the crews and fellow travelers were very friendly on both lines.

[img]http://www.cruisemates.com/animated/Boatwht.gif[/img]

[airgirl]

I thought the food was better on RCCL overall. Tastier and fresher - but then I was on an Alaska cruise and I eat fish a lot.
THe fish choices on my only Carnival Cruise out of Galveston were stale and off - I even sent one dish back - something i never do. I am not sure if this was a fluke on that cruise. I am going on the Legend out of NY and will try the fish again to see if it was perhaps just that one cruise that had bad fish.
The meat dishes were fine.

maria stallings