As a gift, I am going to send my parents on a cruise. I have never been myself. So I was wondering if anyone could give me a little guidance. I can either send them on Carnival in a balcony room or on RCL in a lower inside state room. Both cruises are out of NY to Canada for 5 nights. I have read much of the history on this board, and I haven't the foggiest...which is better...
a balcony on Carnival-Victory or an inside on RCL-Voyager of the Seas?

How old are your parents?
MY PERSONAL preference over the 2 choices you have given is a DEFINITE YES to RCL..it is more upscale than Carnival.....


Carnival is Neon Glitz and glitter..

RCL is more elegant-crystal chandeliers and brass...

Thanks for the response. My parents are 61 and 57. My father My father has no interest in going, he is a couch potato and may even stay at home. If he does go I would think he'd prefer a ship where there is a lot a space and he doesn't feel crampt. I was also considering getting them a handicapped room as my father has a bad knee and the extra bars in the bathroom would do him well. He is a large man, and this may sound strange, but the #1 thing I THINK he would want is a large bathroom, in particular a large toilet bowl, and a lot of room around it. As I said he is a large man and he needs all the extra room he can get.

A suggestion...book a room near the elevator so that your father does not have to walk far. Tell your cruise agent of his difficulty, does he walk with a cane or is he too proud? When we cruise and as I said we are older than your folks...we ask our agent for a room near an elevator and mid-ship...Trust me...your folks are not old...and as much as I hate to say it.. go for RC rather than Carnival and try to book a smaller ship. A for the bathrooms..they are all small, I've never heard anybody talk about how big bathrooms are. Which ports are included...we've done Canada twice..last time..was when we were scheduled to go to Bermuda..instead we went to Bermuda North..lol...Halifax (wonderful city), St. John, Bar Harbor, Boston (30 minutes from our home) and Newport (an hour from our home)..

ParrotMom offers some good advice on stateroom selection. Another thing to think about is the size of the rooms. Balcony cabins on the Victory are 185 sq. ft. with a 35 sq ft. balcony. Inside cabins on Voyager are 160 sq ft. For us (ages 71 and 67), that's claustraphobic.

Bathrooms onboard are notoriously small unless you get a mini-suite or larger. So make sure you check that out. For more info on cabin sizes and cabin layouts, go to www.cruisestateroom.com. You can compare cabins on different ships.

We have cruised both and my opinion is Carnival delivers more for the money. The food we had on the Destiny was significantly better that our Med. cruise with RC. Supposedly RC conveys this image of greater elegance and people may become enamored with that. However from our experience Carnival was more for the money. We paid about $400.00 more pp for our RC cruise and frankly the quality of food was 2nd tier compared to what Carnival served. The shows on RC were better however. I don't know about crysal chandeliers vs. glitz, no offense, but I do know about tough sirloin vs. lobster, filet mignon, chateaubriaund, beef Wellington, prime rib, etc. Again no offense to RC patrons but Carnival delivered the goods. JM2C. Larry.

Speaking as a "white haired" our experience on RCI last year was a huge disappointment in their food and entertainment.. I can't even begin to tell you.. But, I think that his parents may not feel comfortable on a Carnival..Our experience on a Carnival was bad service..decent food and excellent shows. and a definite party ship. the RCI ship we were on was absolutely gorgeous (Brilliance of the Seas) but that was it. We had indifferent service at meals other than our set time. entertainment was no better than a talent show (compared what we have seen in Carnival at one time or NCL) and food just okay.

sgibson123--

From my own experience, I personally LOVE Celebrity...I know that was not on your list, but they are the upper end of the company that owns RCL..

You MAY want to look into one of their cruises..in particular, the CENTURY is an awesome ship in both service and food quality...

I just wanted to say thank you for the advice. I just booked my parents on Carnival for July 2005. Thank you all very much.

-Scott

Good luck Scott. Hope they enjoy it.

As a married couple the same age as your parents (58/61) we are taking Carnival this New Years from Cape Canaveral to the Bahamas for a few days. We are in a balcony mini- suite. I'm sure we'll have a great time! It was my dh's suggestion!

I was really hoping you would say you picked the Carnival ship over RCL. I've done both. Cabins on Carnival tend to be larger than on other lines. I happen to like all the fun and activity on Carnival. My dh is more of a couch potato and I'm sure he will spend time on our balcony just soaking up the scenery and smoking a cuban cigar or two!

We went on RCL a few years ago for a New Years cruise and also had a good time. Our room was smaller, by quite a bit, than the one we'll have this time with Carnival.

My own personal preference is for a balcony over an inside cabin, no matter which line I'm cruising with!! I can't stay in an inside cabin. It's too confining and you never know what time it is because there's no sun or moon out the window! LOL (NO windows at all!)

I'm sure they will LOVE their trip. What a graet present. Can I (we) be adopted???

Just recently sailed on the Carnival Victory and will help your folks on the Carnival ship you choose. It's an incredible ship and I don't think the party atmosphere is disruptive to whatever lifestyle your parents enjoy. Being a white hair had nothing to do with the personality of the people,..it was as quiet, as fun or as reserved as you want it to be. Stay in touch because I experienced my first time cruise and did a lot of preliminary research,...some of which now I don't think was even necessary,...I had great advice from this website saying just go and have a good time,....and I did! Contact me if I can help in anyway.