Is RCCL different?

[wcdive]

My hubby and I just did our first cruise early this month on the Carnival Valor and I will NOT go on Carnival again. I really hope RCCL is better, and we are thinking of trying them over spring break. We chose Carnival only because I wanted the itinerary for scuba diving and RCCL did not have the itinerary I wanted during the limited dates I could go.

The boat had a cheesy decor, like they went cheap but tried to be 'upscale', and I hated how you had to cut through things like the cigar bar or a dining room (or go up to another deck) to get to the other side of the ship on some decks. It also seemed much smaller and much less 'grand' than I had anticipated.

Our room (which I paid a pretty penny for and supposedly got an 'upgrade') was on the bottom deck all the way aft and looked like a bad Holiday Inn and you could hear loud engine noise at all hours, although I have to say the linens were surprisingly nice - very luxurious feeling!

The elevator area closest to our room stunk of garbage the whole trip - I think the garbage was kept right down the stairs that were right there. Made me nauseous every time I was waiting for the elevator, which, when you're on the bottom deck, takes a while.

There was nothing to do on the ship except gamble or drink, and you couldn't even lounge in the pool because it was TINY!! My hubby and I thought the main pool was the kiddy pool! I couldn't believe they had such a small pool for 4000 people! The 'shops' consisted of 3 (yes, 3) shops, and 2 of those had nothing but jewelry, and the third had some alcohol and overpriced Carnival-emblazoned 'resort wear'. If I want to shop at Kay Jewelers or K-Mart's clothing section I can do that at home! I had a good idea of what was on the ship, but I thought we would find at least something, anything to do on the 'fun days' at sea.

The food was my biggest dissapointment. It was cafeteria quality and sparse. I am not a gourmet type, nor am I a huge eater and would have been perfectly happy with TGI Fridays type food. I was really looking forward to eating what and when I wanted because we don't eat out much at home and my hubby and I thought there would be a large variety of food to chose from at dinner time, so we did not bring many nice clothes to wear to the dining room. I'm on vacation to scuba dive - I just wanna wear flip-flops!! Well, the fish-n-chips, grill (hamburgers, hot dogs, fries), and oriental station all closed at 6pm, so your only choice was the lousy buffet which was terrible all seven nights, or pizza. We caved and went to the dining room, but the food was barely any better and it took FOREVER to eat - since they have 'seating times' they try to serve all the appetizers at once, then all the main entrees at once, then, if you want desert, you have to first suffer through some lame Conga dance that they try to get everyone to do. So, 2 hour dinner to escape the buffet. Which wouldn't have been so bad if the food was worth the time. Then, if you want any food later, your only choice is pizza. Oh, and the '24 hour ice cream station' was a soft serve machine that was constantly dirty and out of bowls. Not what I had pictured. And the chocolate buffet that I had so eagerly anticipated was a big letdown - all of the stuff tasted like sugar free desserts!

Overall, the vacation was still great solely because our diving was FANTASTIC!!! We loved Roatan so much that I have already booked a week stay with the dive resort that we spent the day diving with. The staff (the ones who didn't work on the Lido deck) were also great. If there is a next cruise, I think it will be through RCCL and I'm sure I'll stay busy on the sea days with the rock climbing and ice skating and surfing..... THAT sounds like fun to me!

I loved the idea of a cruise but was very dissapointed and was wondering if the issues I had were different on RCCL. My main let down was the food and lack of things to do on ship. Is this also true with RCCL?

[CRUZBUDS]

I'm sorry you were disappointed in your vacation. You may want to try to do more research before your next cruise or there's a very good chance you'll be disappointed again -- cruising is not for everyone!

 

Five weeks from tomorrow Serenade of the Seas in a hump cabin to Hawaii! :D

[MakinGold]

Hmmm...

 

I would say that a lot of your complaints might follow you on RCI, but it's hard to say. The food choices are not terribly different, though I've seen those who claim their favorite (on both sides) is much better. I've always found the WindJammer buffet to be very nice, though, and I think RCI has a better room service selection.

 

Pools will still be somewhat small, but I haven't been on the Valor, so I don't know the exact comparison.

 

I think the decor on RCI is better, but that's a personal preference thing for many people, too.

 

I do enjoy the things like rock climbing and ice skating. I haven't had a chance to try the Flowrider yet . . .

[wcdive]

The main reason I was so dissapointed was because I was on the Carnival board constantly for a couple months beforehand and it seemed like it was going to be fabulous!

[Sue L]

We gave Carnival three chances and then came over to RCCL and we love it. The ships are beautiful and elegant. All ships no matter the lines you will find shops with the logo emblazoned over it, etc. Most cruise ships do not have huge pools, though the ones on RCCL seemed to keep everyone happy. On many of the RCL ships there is an adults only pool area, and it is wonderful. Royal Caribbean does do two seating times, but thankfully none of the dancing waiters each night. On Rcl the waiters do sing one or two nights, but it is short and sweet. No red, white or blue, thank goodness.

 

The Windjammer buffet is very nice but I have never tried it for dinner and they offer room service that will have many of the dining room options during the dinner hours, except for some of the items like lobster.

 

If you don't want to dress,etc and have flexible dinner times you might want to try NCL as that is what they promote.

[lvtotrvl1]

I am also sorry you did not have a good time...however, I think you will have complaints with RCCL also. As the poster above said..cruising is just not for everyone. It is a mass market product (especially RCCL's larger ships. Pools on most every ship are very small. If you don't like the main dining room the specialty restaurants or buffet are your only choices on any ship.

 

You might look into an all-inclusive at a nice dive area.

[Cruising89143]

The main reason I was so dissapointed was because I was on the Carnival board constantly for a couple months beforehand and it seemed like it was going to be fabulous!

 

Cruising continues to change. The food at one time was very, very good but over the years it has declined in quality due to the fact that most ships now serve over 3000-4000 guests within a few hours. IMHO the food is equal to what I would find at a Marriott or Hilton banquet. It is mass produced. Not great but then not bad either. I have a feeling that the ones that think the food is five star would also think the same thing about TGIF or Chili's.

 

IMHO no one can touch RCI when it comes to the ships themselves. I have some photos of both Carnival and RCI ships in my link below. Take a look for yourself and you be the judge. I cruised with Carnival for many years and they are good for what they offer but IMHO RCI is a step above in many areas.

[firefly333]

I was thinking the same thing as another poster, maybe cruising is not for you or the run of the mill cruising ship. Maybe you need to go on a more upscale ship....but then the pool wouldnt be any bigger?

 

The Voyager ships DO have a nice promenade of shops....but of course some of them are bars and some will be carrying cruiseline merchandise. Some of us like that cheesy stuff....that why they carry it.

 

I would check out one of the more upscale cruiselines from all the questions. Also, if that slight vibration in the aft bothers you, dont get another low cabin in the aft?? Get a mid ship hump cabin on a newer ship.

 

Im not sure cruising is really for you from what Iv read. RCI is some different, but it will have things in common with Carnival as well.

[sharpie13]

We've tried four different cruise lines and each has provided a different flavor. There are limits to what ammmenities you can put on a ship, however, based on the line and itinerary you will experience differences. I wouldn't let one bad experience discourage you from cruising. It just means you haven’t found your niche yet.

[Ephraim]

...The boat had a cheesy decor, like they went cheap but tried to be 'upscale', and I hated how you had to cut through things like the cigar bar or a dining room (or go up to another deck) to get to the other side of the ship on some decks. It also seemed much smaller and much less 'grand' than I had anticipated.

 

I found that the ship design was extremely efficient. You can walk from stem to stern on every floor.

 

 

Our room (which I paid a pretty penny for and supposedly got an 'upgrade') was on the bottom deck all the way aft and looked like a bad Holiday Inn and you could hear loud engine noise at all hours, although I have to say the linens were surprisingly nice - very luxurious feeling!

 

Rooms always depend on the price you pay. I have been on the bottom deck once in an oceanview and in the middle on a balcony. The rooms were nice and we didn't hear any noise except when the balcony door was open, since we could hear others on their balcony.

 

The elevator area closest to our room stunk of garbage the whole trip - I think the garbage was kept right down the stairs that were right there. Made me nauseous every time I was waiting for the elevator, which, when you're on the bottom deck, takes a while.

 

It always depends for elevator traffic. I can't say that the traffic was horrible at any time that I was on the ship. When we were on a ship in Spain it appeared that a number of people didn't know how to use an elevator and ended up running up and down on the elevator because they didn't get off. But that was abnormal. Never waited an enormous time for an elevator except when re-boarding after being on shore... when everyone else is waiting.

 

There was nothing to do on the ship except gamble or drink, and you couldn't even lounge in the pool because it was TINY!! My hubby and I thought the main pool was the kiddy pool! I couldn't believe they had such a small pool for 4000 people! The 'shops' consisted of 3 (yes, 3) shops, and 2 of those had nothing but jewelry, and the third had some alcohol and overpriced Carnival-emblazoned 'resort wear'. If I want to shop at Kay Jewellers or K-Mart's clothing section I can do that at home! I had a good idea of what was on the ship, but I thought we would find at least something, anything to do on the 'fun days' at sea.

 

I can't say that I have ever been bored on a ship. I'm not a shopper, so while I walk through the shop and look a bit, I'm not really interested in spending on anything. My life is sort of full and there is little that I really need. The pools on ships are usually small, but usually there is more than one pool and people are spread between them. The only thing I can say is that Princess was the only line I have been on that had freshwater pools, which I prefer. But the pools are nice enough.

 

The food was my biggest disappointment. It was cafeteria quality and sparse. I am not a gourmet type, nor am I a huge eater and would have been perfectly happy with TGI Fridays type food. I was really looking forward to eating what and when I wanted because we don't eat out much at home and my hubby and I thought there would be a large variety of food to chose from at dinner time, so we did not bring many nice clothes to wear to the dining room. I'm on vacation to scuba dive - I just wanna wear flip-flops!! Well, the fish-n-chips, grill (hamburgers, hot dogs, fries), and oriental station all closed at 6pm, so your only choice was the lousy buffet which was terrible all seven nights, or pizza. We caved and went to the dining room, but the food was barely any better and it took FOREVER to eat - since they have 'seating times' they try to serve all the appetizers at once, then all the main entrees at once, then, if you want desert, you have to first suffer through some lame Conga dance that they try to get everyone to do. So, 2 hour dinner to escape the buffet. Which wouldn't have been so bad if the food was worth the time. Then, if you want any food later, your only choice is pizza. Oh, and the '24 hour ice cream station' was a soft serve machine that was constantly dirty and out of bowls. Not what I had pictured. And the chocolate buffet that I had so eagerly anticipated was a big letdown - all of the stuff tasted like sugar free desserts!

 

Food is always a question of personal choice. There is one night on RCL cruises where I found little that I liked and we actually left the dining room and went to the buffet instead for sushi. But overall, RCL quality is usually higher than Carnival. Remember though that all cruise lines need to feed people for about $10 to $12 a day. There are a lot of people who thing that Carnival's food is excellent. I'm not one of them. I think their food is fancy, but fancy isn't tasty. What I can say about RCL's food is that they used a lot less commercial foods than I have seen on both Carnival and Princess. For example, RCL uses fresh eggs to make the omelets. The hamburgers were clearly made by hand on RCL (and commercially prepared on Carnival and Princess).

 

RCL does not have a place for food open 24 hours. If you really want food late in the evening you will likely need to order from room service. They had a midnight buffet only one night. Food was constantly available from like 5:30AM till about 10PM, but after that, service was more limited. They had a soft serve machine in the buffet for self service. I always found all areas well maintained.

 

The served everyone at the same time. Entrees, then the main meal and then the dessert. (Sorry, the word entree means appetizer in Canada. I have no idea how the word "to enter" in French became a main meal in the US.) The only night that they had a special show was one night where the waiters sang. Not every night.

 

I loved the idea of a cruise but was very disappointed and was wondering if the issues I had were different on RCCL. My main let down was the food and lack of things to do on ship. Is this also true with RCCL?

 

Again, choice in these matters are always personal. But you won't find me on a Carnival ship unless Carnival really offers me something incredible and I can't refuse. I one and only cruise on Carnival was so memorable that we stopped cruising after it. It's not just the company, for me it's also the customers. I would rather pay more and be on a Princess or an RCL ship.

 

That's not to say that RCL is infallible. We boarded the Voyager of the Seas and the room was filthy. We quickly got someone to look at the room and within an hour they had cleaned the room from top to bottom. They shampooed the carpet, replaced the linens and brought new pillows.

[MrPete]

Except for the pool, the things you are complaining about exist on RCCL too. On the Voyager class ships, you can't get through on decks 2 and three, like you can't get through on decks 3 and 4 on Carnival.

 

The rooms are better on Carnival, as well as the food. The ship overall on RCCL is better.

 

We found everything else to be on par. Except for the price.

[wcdive]

I did book an all inclusive dive vacation for over my Christmas school break and am very excited! I liked the idea of cruising because you get to see many different ports and I LOVE the ocean.

The vibration in our cabin didn't bother me so much as the noise - just engine noise that seemed to amplify when your head was on the pillow! And I talked to a lady in the elevator one night and she said she paid just over half of what I paid for her balcony room, and she did not book much earlier than I had. Well, at least now I know where NOT to book a cabin and I know what is NOT a good price!

I know it sounds like it, but I'm really not very picky at all, I'm more of a go-with-the-flow type of person, so I think I will give cruising another shot.

Thanks for the info guys!

[firefly333]

Just to add.....almost every cruiseline, lower and aft you will feel vibration when the ship is pulling into and out of ports for about 20 minutes from the stablizers. It isnt because of the particular ship you were on.

[Cruising89143]

RCL does not have a place for food open 24 hours.

Depends on ship. The Voyager and Freedom class ships have the Cafe Promenade that is open 24/7 with the exception of about an hour to clean.

[lvtotrvl1]

I did book an all inclusive dive vacation for over my Christmas school break and am very excited! I liked the idea of cruising because you get to see many different ports and I LOVE the ocean.

The vibration in our cabin didn't bother me so much as the noise - just engine noise that seemed to amplify when your head was on the pillow! And I talked to a lady in the elevator one night and she said she paid just over half of what I paid for her balcony room, and she did not book much earlier than I had. Well, at least now I know where NOT to book a cabin and I know what is NOT a good price!

I know it sounds like it, but I'm really not very picky at all, I'm more of a go-with-the-flow type of person, so I think I will give cruising another shot.

Thanks for the info guys!

 

I find it difficult to believe that what the woman told you 1/2 the price that you paid is true, if you booked at around the same time...As a new cruiser I will say that many many people have been known to lie about what they paid (why? don't ask me?). Normally, if you book about the same time, the prices anywhere are close. They may have had a military, senior , resident or past passenger rate. Enjoy your dive vacation..I'm sure you will love it...and all-inclusives are great!!!

[gnparend]

WCDIVE

You will find on RCI most of the cruisers prefer casual dress (slack & Collar shirt & 2 formal nights. There is loads of threads which debate the issue. There was also a survey on another thread and 65% or more have this preference. In our years of cruising our unofficial and nonscientific (disclamer so i don't get flamed) Carnival lends itself to a younger more fun loving casual cruiser. RCI lends itself more to a mature group (DINK's Dual Income No Kids the empty nesters or those who leave the kids at home). But that has been changing slowly to more family's. Subsequently there is an area on the ship called the Solarium which is Adults only which I don't recall ever seeing on CCL.

 

I think the quality of food on RCI is good to excellant. There are two specialty restaurnt (Italian and Steak) on Voyager & Freedom class. The main dining room menu have a suggested menu for dinner and there is an alternative menu each night which includes such items as NY Strip, Chicken , Fish etc.

 

If you choice is to cruise in a more relaxed atmosphere (Flip Flops and Bathing suit with T-Shirt to dinner) there are cruises called "Barefoot Cruise" which are priced higher because of marketing and capacity.

 

If you are still looking to crusie on the larger lines try RCI and make your own opinions. The responses you are getting here , look at the ships they sail, are usually very narrow. A few of the people on this thread alone who sail a lot of CCL will try to sway you to CCL, the others will try to sway you to RCI.

 

We think RCI is our preference for cruisng but you & hubby need to really make you own choice. Unfortuately for you guys, probably because it didn't pay, the cruise lines no longer put together dive programs. Time was the dive shops on board had an Itinerary just for divers at each port of call. RCI still has the dive shop and will give you advise.

 

Our signature has an album of the Freedom which will give you a small peek into the ship decor etc.

[Roboat]

I read through all the responses and I have to say I am happy to see the helpful and savvy replies in the RCCL forum. Very nice to see no flames for newcomers with questions. :)

Hey, RCCL IS different! ;-)

[Big Thunder]

If your primary reason for vacation is to go diving you would be much better off booking a weeklong dive vacation than going on a cruise. Very limited time in port etc... I love to cruise and yet I am yearing for a weeklong dive vacation to either Cozumel or Roatan. I have an upcoming cruise and so far I have a two tank dive scheduled for cozumel and thats it. But having said that I still love to cruise!

 

I think you will find RCCL ships more elegant than Carnival. Food wise I would agree that it is presented nicely but it is not 5 star dining experience. Chops and Portofinos are definetly a step up from the dining room however.

 

Tp,

[royalcruz]

Cruising isn't for everyone. I much prefer RCCL to Carnival, and prefer Celebrity to RCCL. I went on the Carnival Liberty once this year and will never go on a Carnival cruise again. But I think the food is better on Carnival than the others, which serve bland food. The activities offered are similar. I didn't like Carnival because there were no lounge chairs in the shade anywhere near the pool deck, the lounge chairs were terribly uncomfortable, and there was thick cigarette smoke everywhere we went. The dining room performances were pretty offensive on Carnival, but it seems unfortunately RCCL added more dining room "entertainment" recently. We go in the dining room for formal dining, but then get interrupted but these silly antics. It doesn't make sense to me.

[brn2crz]

I found that the ship design was extremely efficient. You can walk from stem to stern on every floor.

 

 

 

Not exactly true...But almost.On Voyager class...On whatever floor Ice rink is on..You have to go up one floor,through the Promonade,then down...

That might not be exactly right..But close...But other than that...yes.RCI ships flow wonderfully....

[Boo Boo]

Hi

 

I agree with everyone else - cruising MAY NOT be for you...

 

I haven't been on Carnival because - to be perfectly honest - the line doesn't appeal to me. I have been on RCCL a couple of times (Mariner and Monarch) and am off again in a few weeks (Liberty). I also really enjoyed Princess (not too keen on HAL, Disney was good but probably more suited if you have kids...).

 

To address your main points:

- RCCL is - in my opinion - elegant and classy (from the photos that I have seen, Carnival is not to my taste at all).

- Sometimes it is difficult to cut through bits of the ship (ships can be so big these days, it can take some time to get oriented).

- There is smoking on RCCL ships and we are both non-smokers and I am asthmatic (so smoke bothers me). To be honest, though, smoke hasn't been a problem for us on RCCL ships (but maybe we have been lucky or just happened to stick to less smokey places...).

- Rooms can really vary a lot... I can vouch for RCCL's JSs and GSs and we are going to stay in an OS this cruise - all great rooms. Don't know so much about the inside/oceanview/balcony cabins... What I can say is that cabins will DEFINITELY be smaller and (depending on ship) may well be less luxusious than many of the 4* hotels on land. Space is at more of a premium on ships and if you want more space you definitely pay for it...

- As you say, some cabin locations are better than others - we like higher floors midship personally, but you do tend to pay more for them.

- To be perfectly honest, the shops on all cruise ships I have been on have been very poor: I wouldn;t cruise for the shopping! They are mainly for duty-free, gifts and emergency toiletries...

- The pools are, again, relatively a LOT smaller and a LOT more crowded than hotels on land. When we cruise we tend to stick to the adult only pool (we are just two adults) and go early (before 11am) or late (4pm onwards) on see days - then I get to do some lengths in an uncrowded pool :)

- we tend to eat dinner in the dining room or the speciality restaurants, so can't comment on the other dinner options. Food in the speciality restaurants has always been good. The main dining room food probably doesn't compare to many good restaurants on land, but it is still good (no complaints and I am pretty picky...). Considering the food is VERY mass produced, it is very good: couldn't imagine many kitchens feeding a few thousand people within several hours as well. Dinner in the dining room normally took us an hour (for 3 or 4 courses).

- We have always eaten well on cruises: I could never complain about food being sparse. I think that RCCL has 24 hour room service, but we have never used room service.

- We have always had plenty to do on RCCL ships. On a typical sea day, I will grab a coffee and some fruit, go to the gym early, then go for breakfast, then got for an hour or so by/in the adult pool, then maybe play some table tennis and/or basketball, then have some lunch. Then do things like mini golf. rock climbing, roller-skating and bingo in the afternoon. Maybe another swim late afternoon (when the pool is less crowded), then get ready for dinner (we have early seating). Maybe have photos taken, dinner, then walk around and enjoy the promenade, spend a bit at the casino, have a drink in the bar at the top of the ship (with the nice view) and then a fairly early night (we go to bed fairly and get up fairly early). We are not big "show people" - we go to the ice shows and maybe look in on a few other things. We do like cookery deminstrations though. We often do port intensive cruises, so probably only have a couple of sea days anyway...

 

Cruising isn't for everyone, but it works for us. RCCL definitely try to cater for the younger and more active... which sounds like it might appeal to you :). In my opinion, the RCCL ships are elegant and classy. If you try them, though, pick you cabin carefully. Plus I think that you might want to rethink your dining strategy - maybe try the speciality restaurants and the dining room more (you might get better food out of it - if food is your thing...).

 

Good luck in whatever you decide. I agree it can be all too easy to get "bowled over" by other people's enthusiasm (like for the Carnival cruises)... What is right for some is not right for others (would be a very boring world if we were all the same!): so it is important for you to sort through all the opinions and information and work out what is right for you :)

 

Edited to add, definitely checkout other lines too... I haven't been on them, but these "barefoot cruises" (http://www.windjammer.com/) that people are mentioning may be more your thing...

 

Happy vacationing! :)

 

Boo

[wcdive]

BigThunder, if you're looking for somewhere to dive, dive, dive in Roatan, CoCo View seems fantastic. We stopped in Roatan on our cruise and spent the day there and fell in love with the place! I have already booked a week long dive trip there for Dec! Check out their website cocoviewresort.com and go to scubaboard.com and you will see how many 'CoCo Nuts' there are!

[love2cruiseseattle]

I would suggest if you do go with RCCL look at a Voyager class or Freedom class ship. Those are the larger ships and have more things to do, ice skating, rock climbing wall, minature golf, inline skating, sports courts, etc. I would talk to a TA that specializes in cruising to help you select a ship and a good cabin. We usually do a balcony midship around the 8th or 9th deck and have been pleased. The food in the Windjammer (buffet style) is hit and miss, but the dining room has always been pretty tastey when we have cruised.

Good luck.

[Kellie Poodle]

Not exactly true...But almost.On Voyager class...On whatever floor Ice rink is on..You have to go up one floor,through the Promonade,then down...

That might not be exactly right..But close...But other than that...yes.RCI ships flow wonderfully....

 

I'm booked on Voyager on deck 2 (midship #2590) for a Feb. cruise. I have a printout of the deck plan and it appears that the corridor does have bulkheads and is not continuous. We will have to use the aft elevators. Not a big deal, as we are about equidistant between elevator sets. DH needs the elevator, but I prefer taking the stairs so I can work off the yummy desserts:)

[nimbex1970]

You NEED a RCL large ship like the Mariner or larger!:D I've found everything you've said to be true to our experiences with Carnival... but I enjoyed the dinning room and ordered a steak if my food was questionable. Hate the buffets... yuck! We lounge by day and party by night (not serious drinking, just partying and meeting people) and find this easier to meet like minded people on carnival.

 

RCL IS classier, relaxing decor, GREAT buffets and constant activities... ice skating, dance class, putt-putt, roller blading, a game (card) room, cool kids areas... a basketball court/volleyball/dodgeball/ everything you can think of sports deck and the fun never stopped... we never relaxed our last cruise and the teens LOVE it... after begging them to join us again after they hated carnival last round (well only oldest hated it).

 

it's apples and oranges, we almost didn't book because of the price difference but I'm so thrilled with RCL. Still love carnival, but am not looking yet to book with them for a bit;) However if I chose Carnival, we would still love our vacation, we love to cruise!