beachdreams

Just another IMHO to throw in here. I have been on RCCL, Carnival, HAL, Norwegian and Princess. Of these, I prefer RCCL and Carnival the best. I hated HAL and Norwegian and found Princess to be very very nice but too quiet for me - not a big negative for most people.

Between the two, I prefer Carnival for two reasons (food and room size). I liked RCCL's activities and shows better but I found I preferred the better food and larger room over RCCL's pluses. I found that both offer great service.

I always find it humerous that so many act as if Carnival is a redneck/lower level vacation. I have never experienced that. We always book the verandah level balcony rooms and they are very nice in size. The food is wonderful (not TGIF either as I am not a fan of TGIF). For some reason people just seem to strongly oppose Carnival. I guess to each their own. I will continue to travel with Carnival because I like it.

crazyb1

CARNIVAL... I have been on 8 cruises, 6 with Carnival, 1 on Norwegian, 1 and the LAST with Royal Carribean. People always say that RCCL is fancier, but they are the cheapest when it comes to their money that you'll find. Here's what I've found:
excursion beach towels at Carnival are huge, RCCL are little bitty things, when we sailed with RCCL we had to check in like normal, then go to the pursers office in the casine to get our "card activated" standing in line is not my cup of tea. and the WORST thing, my daughter had her hair done, two days later the beauty salon called and said they were running our of hair pins could she bring them back NASTIEST thing I've ever heard of!! Anyway, if you like laid back go Carnival. St Thomas is okay, Aruba is fine...our favorites are Barbados and Dominca...stay away from Martinque and St. Martin..not much to do...

Heidict

Aerowing- My husband and I are looking into the exact same thing you are. We are trying to decide between Carnivals Destiny and RCCL Adventure for the Dec 5th sailing this year.

From all the stuff I have read on the web, I have found that the Adventure has been getting much better reviews then the Destiny. As a matter of fact, I have had a hard time finding goods ones for the Destiny. Now I'm sure that the Destiny is a great cruise, but it seems that only the people who hated it have written a review.

So after a couple of months of research and talking to people my husband and I have settled on the Adventure, mainley because of the good reviews but also because we like the ports of call better, its a new ship with tons of stuff to choose from and of course because of JOHNNY ROCKETS! Now don't get me wrong. We are not basing our whole vacation because of a restaraunt. Just sounds like a great dining option, and have a Johnny Rockets near me, I know how gooooood they are.

But, the cruise is not booked yet, so nothing is set in stone and some unknown information may come my way and presuade me to book the destiny.

cosmicvagabond

IMHO I think that Royaal Carribean is better. Not "light years" as someone posted in this thread, but definately a noticeable difference. Ive cruised 4 times, soon to be five (Princess sun). But, as of the last we were on carnival (1999), we found it to be more of a drinkin and partying atmosphere. Thus the party ship reputation. Royal carrib. is a step up from that, a little more laid back, a little more upscale. It depends on what you want. My wife and I have found that we like RCCI the best of all our cruises, but we've only been on Carnival, RCCL, and NCL.

jacketwatch

FWIW we cruised on the Destiny last year and had no problems. The adventure of the Seas is a newer ship I think so hopefully the amenities should be better.

pattysuericia

From what I hear from absolutely everyone; there is no doubt but that the Royal Caribbean is far far superior by leaps & bounds!

Seaside8

Overall I would probably pick RCCL but I thought the food and entertainment were better on Carnival. I was 48 on my Carnival and I loved it. You would too...

jacketwatch

To the above poster: Absolutely everyone? Read the thread. Its as close as our last Pres. election.

Budman

pattysuericia, if you can't do Celebrity, then I would go for Royal Caribbean.

jacketwatch

Hello Budman. Hows the wine making going? We may be going to Napa valley in the spring. Any recommendatons? We both prefer sweet wines.

Budman

You will enjoy Napa. If you get a chance, visit its close neighbor, Sonoma.

I'm not a sweet wine lover -- they are usually dessert wines -- maybe you might enjoy some of the white zins -- Beringer's comes to mind.

Not to confuse sweet with fruity -- a lot of the dry red wines can be fruity.

Enjoy your trip & take a designated driver.

jacketwatch

Thanks Budman. Cheeers, Larry

jacketwatch

Maybe I need a designated speller too. I wonder what Dan Quayle is doing. LOL!

PumpkinEater

To the original poster (if you're still monitoring this stuff) - close you eyes and imagine a ship full of Budman's - ok now, open them and if you liked what you imagined, book Carnival.

Peter

josephz

I have only been on one cruise and that was Royal Caribbean. I found it disappointing, to where they did not deliver what their brochure advertised.

"Nightly midnight buffet" was on only one of the four nights and was limited to cold dishes.

"Daily lunch buffet" didn't happen. We had a menu of hot dogs, hamburgers, club sandwiches.

There was a dance floor as advertised, with a disc jockey, though, no band.

I found the food on a level with Denny's, but smaller portions.

I eventually got half my money back, but all-in-all, we wish we just hadn't gone.

I expect to go on a cruise again (but it will be on a different cruise line) and am benefitting from everyone's posts.

GBRBEB

We cruised Cunard, Carnival, Celebrity, Regency and Royal Carribean...

I am not a fan of Carnival and have been on the Destiny. IMHO Royal Carribean would be the better choice...

crazyb1

Actually ANY cruise is better than no cruise..really who cares about the food...I go for the new experiences..new islands and activities...new people to meet.of course the glorious water...and spending time with those you are going with..all that fancy looking food is like a decorated cake...looks beautiful..but not much taste..

lizette

I've been on 2 Carnival Cruises and 3 Royal Caribbeans. I do have 2 younger children, so those were the 2 that's recommended to me.

Between the 2, I honestly liked RCCL better overall. In my opinion, the food was better and the decor just classier than the bolder colors of Carnival. If you're young at heart, you'll probably like Carnival. Their shows were great. I did like the shore excursions that were offered by RCCL better than Carnival, but if I'm not mistaken, RCCL is more expensive, too.

I did enjoy both my Carnival, but maybe it depends on the destination, I much preferred the clientele at RCCL.

If you can't decide which one to take and is not too picky, I'd go with the itinerary and how old the ship is. I much prefer going to a newer ship than an old one.

I've also read on some of the other comments, and my parents have been to many many cruises and they absolutely rave about Celebrity. It's a higher class than RCCL (even though it's owned by the same company).

Hope this helped.

Liz

torpeedo

We have cruised Carnival 3 times ( Pride, Legend, and Glory). Cruised RCI once, Radiance. Hands down the Radiance was the most beautiful ship, very art deco. We felt that the food however was very lacking in choices at the dinner menu. General quality etc was mediocre. We did feel Carnival's food was much better in choice and quality. Cruise experience was pretty much even. Liked the clientele better on the Radiance but maybe that was because of the time of the year. We don't care for a bunch of pre teens running around the ship so we avoid spring break and normal vacation times like the summer season.
Since you have cruised Carnival, you have a pretty good idea of how they run their program. RCI's program is very similar. We have not sailed Destiny but we have heard that those devotee's love it. Since you have chosen the Destiny, I am positive you will just love your cruise. Great ports of call also. Aruba is a great port and caters to US tourists. Beautiful beaches. St. Thomas is big into shopping but also has some great beaches and scenery. We took the Trunk Bay snorkel tour to St. Johns and just loved it. One of the prettiest beaches we have seen.

SUNSHINE1223

We cruised on the Carnival Destiny 2 years in a row at Christmas time. The ship was nice and we liked most of the islands that it went to. Barbados was all of our favorite. Aruba was nice to go to Palm Beach for the day. Martinique we never got off the ship, I think they are not going there anymore ( not sure ). This past Christmas there were 14 of us traveling. My parents came along iwth my brother in laws mom, my sister and her whole family, my other sister and myself along with another family. We had some problems with our dinner time but they were helpful and had them changed. We used to stand outside picking table numbers from a bag so we didn't sit at the same place and had great conversations. Please note our tables were right next to one another. 2 tables of 4 and one of 6. The waiters used to wait to see who they got each night and were really good with service. We even saw our busboy from last year who remembered us and stopped on by. This coming year we are booking on Royal Caribbean. We are up to 18 people including us that we will know. We felt the cabins on the Carnival were fine. We had outside rooms on the main deck right in the middle. I had one niece and one nephew staying with me and my other sister had the other two. The mom and dad stayed next door.... we had a blast laughing and such.