Cruised RCCL only now maybe CCL

[Toddcan]

And how many cruises have you taken with Holland America? See, I am giving more money to the Carnival Corporation so that they can continue to build more party barges.:)

 

Dinner at 4pm, lights out by 8:30? No thanks :D;)

 

The fringe of society thank you for supporting their cruising habit.

[mojitodiva]

I am also jumping ship! :) I'm a diamond with 15 cruises with Royal however the summer rates for Royal are way too high. I can save over $1,000. by going on Carnival Liberty/Glory/Freedom or 9 nites on the Caribbean Princess.

 

The diamond status gets me a coupon book which I don't use much in it and the CL which I don't drink and all I have is a piece a cheese.

 

There might be something lacking on Carnival that I am used to on Royal however it won't be worth over $1,000. :p I'm very easy to please while cruising and I'm not picky.

 

Also need a change getting tired of the Promenade, Quest and the Village People. :eek:

 

Will cruise again on Royal when/if the rates come down.

 

I did enjoy all my Royal cruises however money talks...:D

[ken_nyc]

Freedom's D1 and D2 balconies are 214 sf.

 

I agree....it can no longer be said that Carnival's rooms are bigger.

 

As long as you are comparing apples to apples.

[Aquahound]

So, your assertion that Carnival's rooms are no longer bigger must come with a caveat that you are using the largest (and most expensive) RCI cabins.

 

I understand and respect what you are saying, so I am not arguing with you....just debating. ;)

 

Does Glory have a larger size balcony room? I know about the Cat 9 rooms, but from what I understand, those are to Carnival as Junior Suites are to RCI. BTW, Freedom's JS is 317 sf. How big is a Cat 9 on Glory?

 

If not, the average size of a balcony room on Glory is 185 sf. The average of Freedom is 194 sf.

[nosmothj]

When I started this I was comparing Freedom of the Seas to Carnival. I went with the cheapest inside cabin and cheapest balcony with out my Diamond discount. $2200 Cdn for the 5 of us is a lot of money. Only having cruised RCCL I am not quick to jump ship however really looking at the options.

I would imagine in the end money will talk! For the the money we save my wife and I can almost go on a second cruise.

[Clarkk W Griswald]

Having just returned from our first Carnival cruise after several RCI cruises, we've decided not to cruise Carnival again. It had nothing to due with room size, it had everything to due with service. In my opinion (and no one has to agree with me) there is no comparison to the great service we've always received on RCI, and the lacking service on Carnival. We had a great time on this cruise, (never had a "bad" cruise) but I just felt the overall morale of the staff was terrible.

Sometimes, you really do get what you pay for.

[OHCruisin]

I must be lucky. I do sometimes compare to Carnival/Princess for the same travel period and similar ships and quite honestly I've never seen a significant savings. At most I've seen $100-$150. Not worth switching to me for the benefits I receive as Diamond (I can drink that much in wine in the CL:D). Of course I never travel during the high priced summer months. But either I get really lucky on my choice of cruises or I'm a really good bargain hunter. Maybe both.

 

I've sailed Carnival once and wasn't impressed, but if I found such significant savings as some of you are seeing, I might have to rethink giving them another shot. I'm sure they've made a lot of improvements since 2001.

[GXmanDC]

That is a lot of cash. I know you like RCI, but if you go with CCL just have an open mind and enjoy your cruise. It won't be the same, but it could be cool to try something new.

 

I haven't had the urge to switch over, the discounts don't apply to the cruises I want.

 

Also, RCI is not saying they are better than CCL with the prices, they just refuse to match the deep discounts. They'll mark down unsold cabins just prior to the cruise as they usually do, IMHO.

[bubbadog]

We also booked a carnival cruise,because the price difference,it is our first ccl cruise ,so we will see,but like you said 1,000$ difference in price is very hard to overlook,and i am seeing alot of others following suit:rolleyes:

[coxswain]

Yip i agree bubbadog.

 

 

 

 

 

jj....

[bthom70]

Having just returned from our first Carnival cruise after several RCI cruises, we've decided not to cruise Carnival again. It had nothing to due with room size, it had everything to due with service. In my opinion (and no one has to agree with me) there is no comparison to the great service we've always received on RCI, and the lacking service on Carnival. We had a great time on this cruise, (never had a "bad" cruise) but I just felt the overall morale of the staff was terrible.

Sometimes, you really do get what you pay for.

 

 

SHHHHHHH,

There are those on these boards that will flame you for speaking any ill will about CCL.

Watch your back..

 

We had similar CCL experiences and prob won't go back to CCL for a long time, RCCL is a much better fit.

[jamscckmc]

Have been on most lines except for Costa and Carnival. Seriously looking at Pride now that it will be out of Baltimore, which is just an hour drive for us. Grandeur out of Baltimore has always been overpriced, especially for an older ship. maybe the prices will come down now that there is competition. Did the Crown Princess out of NY in 2007. Similar 9 night itinerary on EOS. Got a full suite for the price of a JR on EOS. That ship is really overpriced. Checking out Oasis for summer 2010 but the prices are ridiculus. Love RC but I always look at date then itinerary then cost and alot of the time RC loses out due to cost. Princess is very nice and comparable to RC. The newer ships have MUTS, which I enjoy and I would never climb a rockwall or get on the flowrider.My daughter has been on several RC cruises and has yet to climb or skate, so now those things are not as important when I book. Would like to get my D+ but the concierge lounge isn't really worth it. I would have to drink ALOT to make it cost effective after tipping the concierge.