ROYAL CARIBBEAN VS CARNIVAL
 

My husband and I are considering taking a cruise (our first!) in April-May 2008 to the Western Caribbean. I was wondering what are the major differences in RC vs Carnival? I can say that we are not really concerned with who has the most extravagant on-board activities--we are more concerned with the actual ports visited, how clean the ship is, decent food, and a nice room. I hear the rooms on Carnival are smaller, but is it a significant difference?

Yes, there is a significant difference (DD size???): Carnival has a topless deck on every ship.

Actually the rooms on Carnival are bigger. Go to www.cruisecritic.com for extensive passenger reviews as well as professional ones. There was toplessness on the Splendour of the Seas, a RCI ship, for our Med cruise. Yawn.

RCI's newer (Voyager and Freedom class ships) have the most extravagant and spectacular show, public areas and events on the seas- they are something to see. If you want spectacular RCI has it. The ports - it doesn't make a difference really what ship you go on - offered shore excursions are virtually the same on all larger ships. I would suggest picking the ship based on other criteria.
Having said this, I am definetly not a fan of Carnival. They didn't get the name "Party Ships" for nothing. They generally have noisier and much younger guests. Unfortunatly, I have seen (on more than one occasion) very improper behaviour, brawls, and an awful lot of drinking. On one cruise (with my grandson there) a woman who was drinking too too much started to strip at the main pool...my 4 year old grandson's eyes started to bug out at this. Ok, so Carnival can't control stupid people BUT the thing that upset me most was that there were PLENTY of crew and staff (including security and THE CRUISE DIRECTOR who was running the spectical)who did absolutly nothing to stop this, get her covered or remover her from the stage. (She actually removed herself from the stage by falling off of it - and passed out, half naked on the deck NO CRUSE STAFF even tried to help her up).. This, by the way, was at 2 PM. Ok, this maybe is on the fringe of bad behavior but stuff like this happens more on Carnival than on other lines. Yep, I am a bit older so this stuff is not my cup of tea but my young adult kids didn't care for it much either and also prefer RCI (or at least the old RCI...)

Have not been too impressed with the food quality, service or selection on either but RCI tends to be a bit better compared to Carnival (though I did notice that the selection on the Freedom class ship was rather blah. Gotta run now but see my posting at www.thesavvyoldlady.com for a full report of my trips on the Liberty of the Seas and Princess earlier this month.

Hugs
The Savvy Old Lady

Wow, with the exception of the occasional woman discreetly sunbathing topless, I've never seen anyone cause a scene like that on a Carnival ship, or any other, for that matter. How unplesant! However, I have heard of participants in the Quest game on RCI getting down to their underwear.

BTW, Carnival no longer has "official" topless sunbathing decks--they are being replaced with adults-only sanctuary areas. From what I understand they will be similar to those on new Princess ships.

"BTW, Carnival no longer has "official" topless sunbathing decks"
What a shame. WILL NOT CRUISE WITH CARNIVAL ANYMORE!!!

:D :D

In my experience:

- Standard cabins larger on Carnival
- love Carnival's goodie basket, RCI has nothing in the cabins but a generic shower/shampoo soap that is nasty
- Suites larger and more luxurious on RCI
- Service and food better on RCI
- Specialty restaurants better on RCI
- Prefer dining room ambiance on RCI
- Nicer decor on RCI
- Cleaner ships or RCI
- staff more professional on RCI
- Carnival Glory was without doubt the most overcrowded, smoky, poorly laid out ship in my cruising experience (for a modern ship).

Whatever you choose,go with a newer ship.

For my money, with those two options, I would choose RCI without a second thought.

ROSWALT: My daughter and friend, my 14 year old granddaughter and myself just returned yesterday from a 7 day Med cruise on RCCL.Barcelona, Florence, Nice, Pisa, Monte Carlo, Naples, Sicily.
We had a dis-heartening experience and I'm just sick about it. RCCL booked our tour and our airlines and promised that if we booked everything with them they would take care of any problems we may have with luggage or travel.
When we arrived in Barcelona (Fri, 3:00pm)Iberian Airlines (which RCCL had booked) had lost all six bags of luggage. When we left Baltimore at the beginning of our trip we had been booked with British Airlines, which connected to Iberia in London, to go to Barcelona.(pre-hotel)
When we went to Iberia lost luggage counter they at first said they had no knowledge of any of our bags. We went back to the airport at 12:00 midnight at which time we found two of our bags just going around on the carousel. Then they let us file a lost luggage claim, and would send the luggage to us using the daily travel ports of RCCL. Luckily we had some extra changes of clothes in our carry-on bags. That what we lived in for a week, and with a little shopping for necessities.
We did receive one bag on Wednesday and have not received any other bags.Needless to say three of us never had any clothes,shoes, formal wear, etc,. at all.
At the Service counter on RCCL they promised each day that they were following up but to no avail. We check more than once a day.
The BIG worry is that there were many other people experiencing this problem every day on these cruises. Checking with the desk about thier lost luggage, but to no avail.

The Voyager of the Seas ship rooms were clean, cabin attendants were great, food was okay, lots of it and many activities to do.

The cities were having very warm weather, and lots of crowds at the shore excursion sites, but Rome and the other cities are not to be missed.
Wonderful memories and photos.

I saw your post and I just had to warn you about your luggage.
Other forums: Just go to Iberia Airlines Lost Baggage Claims and read other reports.

I hope you and your husband will be able to find a more secure way to take this trip.

Let me know if I can help with any questions about the sites.

Good luck, Crystal

Blessings to you

I went on one Carnival cruise to join a friend in a special event. As we were leaving I overheard someone sum up the Carnival experience very well:

"Carnival - the Wal-Mart of cruises."

The ship was shabby, food plentiful and frequently available but not great quality. The wait staff was actually excellent, very attentive (and I tipped them accordingly).

My bed shook the entire cruise (and I was alone!) - apparently located near the engines. The cabin had only one light, and that one flickered the entire cruise despite requests to fix it. The entertainment was forgettable.

Overall, I'd never do Carnival again. Have been on only two other cruises, so I don't have much experience, but enough to keep me off Carnival.

Connyank: What ship was that?

Personal preference is just that, a matter of opinion. Who you choose to cruise with is your choice and yours alone. Period. Personally I like to look at as much data or facts as I can B4 I make a decision. I have thought that Carnivals past reputation colors present and future opinions and again this is my opinion only. I looked at cruise critic which of course has scores of reviews for practically all ships at sea and totaled and averaged the latest reviews for Carnival and RCI of all their ships. RCI averages 4.44 vs. Carnivals ships with an average of 4.43.

Good point jacketwatch as usual. To the comments of Carnival being cheap, for my last cruise I was choosing between Carnival Conquest and Grand Princess, and Grand price was lower than Conquest.

Thank you ROSWALT. IMHO there is a huge gap in perception when it comes to reputation. For example US automakers suffered greatly in decades past due to the very real perception of a qualitative difference between their products vs. Japanese autos. Now the gap has lessened considerably but Honda and Toyota as well as Acura and Lexus still command more respect and more importantly a greater resale value. I sort of think reputation, at least in some cases last longer than what is actual today. Again JM2C. Larry. :-)

We cruised Carnival after having been on a few RCI ones, and knew nothing about the reviews or perceptions out there beforehand. (obviously we did not do our research - we got a great price and went!)

From even before we left port, we knew we were in for a lesser experience. The level of staff and attentiveness is worlds apart. They were scrubbing decks while we stood there waiting to sail out, and couldn't believe they were cleaning during our first 30 minutes on board...you'd have to have seen it to understand, but hoses running across the entire deck and buckets and such doesn't make for a picturesque experience.

We had lackluster food and there was a different vibe to the crowd and clientele. Part of that could have been sailing out of New Orleans versus our "usual" of Ft. Lauderdale/Miami, but we didn't have as much fun.

Sorry to hear that. For me though those numbers tell the story. After adding it up the Carnival reviews come from nearly 4000 passengers. 3892 to be exact. I didn't total it up for RCI but it would be about the same I assume. In any case it would be a moot point. That being said I will try to make my next cruise on one of those RCI Voyager class ships. Cheers, Larry. :-)

I HAVE READ WITH GREAT INTEREST THE COMMENTS - WE TRAVEL A GREAT DISTANCE TO JOIN CRUISES IN THE U.S. - IN AUGUST OUR FIRST CLOSER TO HOME CRUISE -WE BOARD THE CARNIVAL FREEDOM FOR TWO 12 DAY CRUISES OF THE MED.
THIS BEING CRUISE 9 AND 10.WITH THEM.
THE EXPERIENCES FOR US HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT POSITIVE. THAT'S WHY WE KEEP GOING BACK FOR MORE! I CANNOT COMPARE CCL TO OTHER CRUISE COMPANIES AS WE HAVE BEEN HAPPY WITH EVERY HOLIDAY EXPERIENCE SO WE HAVE CONTINUED TO CRUISE WITH THEM.
YES-SOME FOLK (ESPECIALLY THE YOUNG ONES)CAN BE BOISTEROUS - BUT THERE IS ALWAYS A QUIET SPOT TO BE FOUND IF WE WANT-
OUR VERANDAH CABINS HAVE BEEN CLEAN AND SPACIOUS- THE SERVICE AND FRIENDLIENESS OF THE CREW HAS BEEN EXCELLENT - AND WE CERTAINLY HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE STANDARD OF FOOD, EXCEPT THAT THERE IS FAR TOO MUCH.
I AM THERFORE SOMEWHAT SURPRISED AT THE OVERALL NEGATIVE COMMENTS - BUT TO EACH THEIR OWN - REALITY IS SOME FOLK WILL NEVER BE SATISFIED - NO MATTER WHAT - PERSONALLY WE CANT WAIT TO CRUISE ON CARNIVAL AGAIN....AND NO WE ARE IN NO WAY CONNECTED TO CARNIVAL -WE ARE JUST FOLK WHO ENJOY A HAPPY FUN ENVIRONMENT FOR A HOLIDAY.



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mcfam, it is great that you enjoy Carnival so much. HOwever, to imply that those that do not are "never satisfied" is inaccurate.

We all have different tastes and priorities. While I do not enjoy Carnival, I have friends that do. We jsut don't cruise together. I do not assume that they are more easily pleased, just that they really like what CCL offers in a vacation.

I prefer a more subdued ambiance onboard with more elegant service and as few families as possible. I also prefer smaller ships with few announcements and upscale decor, especially those with dress codes that are welcomed by passengers.

To each his own:)

I think it was in reference to the "overall negative comments" vs. a singular measured difference of opinion. Interestingly there is another cruise forum where I am a member and recently there was a thread inre to what folks there liked best about Carnival. It got alot of positive responses too. Sometime I think that here there is a bit of a Carnival bashing mentality or culture, no offense intended, just stating my opinion.

mcfam needs to stop shouting and turn off the caps. Methinks he/she protests too much, and too loudly. I can't read/listen to anyone who does all caps.