Need help choosing Royal Caribbean

[Okie Cruisers]

Hello, we have sailed on the Golden Princess, Grand Princess, Sea Princess and Carnival Elation (which we did not care for). We were hoping that maybe someone on this board could tell us how RCI compares to the above, and especially the Rhapsody. We are thinking on sailing Nov. 5, 06 and were looking at the Rhapsody, but wanted some feedback from those of you who have sailed on above ships.

Things like: Food, condition of ship, cruise director, captain, service, size of inside cabins, beds, refrigerators in cabins or anything else that would be helpful.

Thank so much in advance for any info.

Ports of call do not make a diffrence to us.:)

[newchappers]

Hi

I've just got back from a cruise on Royal Caribbeans Legend of the Seas. We've done 9 cruises, 7 with P&O which I believe are very similar to Princess and 2 on Legend of the Seas. We are a family of 4 with 2 teenage sons. There are differences but our preference is Royal Caribbean. RC is slightly more informal than P&O. On some formal nights we chose casual dining in the Windjammer cafe and would wear smart but casual outfits. On P&O I wouldn't have felt comfortable doing this. Cabins are of a similar size and layout. Legend is 10 years old and does show it's age in places but was clean and comfortable. There were no tea/coffee making facilities in the cabins on Legend and fridges were only in balcony cabins and suites, but ice buckets were topped up twice a day. Quality of food was better on P&O, but still very good on Legend. More to do for the children on Legend and a slightly younger passenger. The captain and staff on Legend are the best we've ever known, happy, curteous and helpful.

Both cruiselines are fantastic, but for our family Royal Caribbean has the edge, however, if I cruised without the kids , I may prefer P&O.

[Okie Cruisers]

:) Thanks for the input. We enjoy dressing up on formal nights, is RCI not as formal or a bit of both? Did they have pool games and live music around the pools? How about sail away parties?

[superjerryw]

:) Thanks for the input. We enjoy dressing up on formal nights, is RCI not as formal or a bit of both? Did they have pool games and live music around the pools? How about sail away parties?

 

Royal Caribbean and Princess are almost the same in terms of formality, pool games, live music at the pool, etc. I have sailed on both cruise lines and the truth is that they are more alike than they are different.

 

I've been on the Grand and Golden Princess and I would say that they are comparable to the Radiance class of ship on Royal Caribbean. This would include the Radiance, Brilliance, Jewel and Seranade of the Seas. The cabins on RCI seems to be a little bigger than on Princess. Quality of food and entertainment is about the same on both cruise lines.

[producegirl]

Royal Caribbean and Princess are almost the same in terms of formality, pool games, live music at the pool, etc. I have sailed on both cruise lines and the truth is that they are more alike than they are different.

 

I've been on the Grand and Golden Princess and I would say that they are comparable to the Radiance class of ship on Royal Caribbean. This would include the Radiance, Brilliance, Jewel and Seranade of the Seas. The cabins on RCI seems to be a little bigger than on Princess. Quality of food and entertainment is about the same on both cruise lines.

We started out cruising on RCCL. Loved it until we ran into problems on Splendor of the Seas. Then we switched to Princess. We did the Regal, Crown, Sea and Caribbean Princess. I enjoyed the first 3 more than I did the last one. But, it is true, very similar are both lines. We are leaving on The Brillance next week and we never did this classifaction of ships on RCCL. So, we will be curious to see the difference between BOS and the Navigator or the Legend. Which, by the way, might be our all time favorite cruise.

[Okie Cruisers]

superjerryw, thanks for the post, the Golden and Grand are great ships and we really love sailing on them, so I'm so glad to hear that they are about the same. Dumb question, but is the Rhapsody one of the Radiance class ships? I have not taken the time to research all I should.

Anyway, we decided to go ahead and book the Rhapsody the first week of Nov. Thank you for your help to everyone.;)

[cmich068]

Rhapsody is a Vision Class Ship... it's older, basically smaller than a Radiance Class Ship.

 

It's still a great ship though.

[Okie Cruisers]

Rhapsody is a Vision Class Ship... it's older, basically smaller than a Radiance Class Ship.

 

It's still a great ship though.

 

Thanks, so is it smaller than the Golden? Not that it matters, just want to know.

[PhoenixCruiser]

Thanks, so is it smaller than the Golden? Not that it matters, just want to know.

 

Smaller and older. Another vote for Radiance Class ships here :D

 

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[2good2b]

We have our first cruise with Royal Caribbean coming up soon. We've been cruising on Princess lately and have NO problems with them...we just liked the itinerary for the Bermuda cruise on RCI. Anyway, my question is...do they furnish the robes on RCI like they do on Princess and do they bring the fresh fruit to your room each day like Princess? :confused:

[TexasMom2]

We have our first cruise with Royal Caribbean coming up soon. We've been cruising on Princess lately and have NO problems with them...we just liked the itinerary for the Bermuda cruise on RCI. Anyway, my question is...do they furnish the robes on RCI like they do on Princess and do they bring the fresh fruit to your room each day like Princess? :confused:

 

Just like Princess, you only get a robe if you request it. You can order fruit from room service or pick some up in the Windjammer.

[The Big Booper]

Questions about sizing of ships` -

 

Golden and Grand are each 109,000 GRT, wider and longer than the Radiance and Vision classes of RCI

 

Radiance class is 90,500 GRT

 

Rhapsody and Legend are both Vision class, however Rhapsody is 78,000 GRT and Legend is 69,500 GRT (shorter than Rhapsody, same overall styling and layout.

 

Rhapsody has lots of friendly Texans on board since it sails from Galveston.

 

RCI has nothing in between the Radiance class and the Voyagers (142,000 GRT)