Royal Caribbean vs Carnival

[TinkerBabe]

Originally Posted by duchy

Aren't the drink packages only for one person though ?

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They certainly are, I just mean that we stay up later and drink more (from our own individual packages) when we are with friends, compared to when it’s just the 2 of us 😀

[Cloverlady]

Originally Posted by mick

We've done two Carnival out of Florida to the Caribbean and two RCIs to the Med - one from Rome and one from Southampton.

We are by no means cruise experts but didn't find a massive difference between the two. Carnival maybe a tad more informal but saying that we never ate in the premium restaurants on any of the ships as we prefer buffet dining anyway.

We always have balcony cabins as well and can't say we noticed any difference between the size, comfort or steward's service.

One minor advantage to us is that (when we cruised anyway) RCI had coffee making facilities in the cabin which Carnival didn't.

Mick

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I like this post
We are sailing with RCCL next week and then Carnival in October - both for the first times.

We've only sailed with MSC before which we loved (and Thomson/Marella which we weren't that keen and won't do again) so hoping both of RCCL and Carnival match up to MSC!

Guess we'll find out about RCCL next week!...

[mick]

Originally Posted by Cloverlady

I like this post
We are sailing with RCCL next week and then Carnival in October - both for the first times.

We've only sailed with MSC before which we loved (and Thomson/Marella which we weren't that keen and won't do again) so hoping both of RCCL and Carnival match up to MSC!

Guess we'll find out about RCCL next week!...

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It was 2005 and 2007 when we did Carnival and, clearly from differing views on here, things can change in the intervening years - for the better or worse. Comparative costs were never on our radar to be honest. RCCL were 2009 and 2011. We also did Emerald Princess to the Caribbean in 2013 and to the Canaries in 2014.

We are extremely casual cruisers and if we cruise again we would be more interested in itineraries to be honest rather than the boat. After six cruises we would never say "We'll never cruise with xxx again" or "We'll only ever cruise with yyy again".

Done most of the major Caribbean islands but still need to do the Dutch A B C islands.

Mick

[Cloverlady]

Originally Posted by mick

It was 2005 and 2007 when we did Carnival and, clearly from differing views on here, things can change in the intervening years - for the better or worse. RCCL were 2009 and 2011. We also did Emerald Princess to the Caribbean in 2013 and to the Canaries in 2014.

We are extremely casual cruisers and if we cruise again we would be more interested in itineraries to be honest rather than the boat. After six cruises we would never say "We'll never cruise with xxx again" or "We'll only ever cruise with yyy again".

Done most of the major Caribbean islands but still need to do the Dutch A B C islands.

Mick

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Ah yes Mick, maybe I was a bit harsh about Marella, I think I mean wouldn't cruise on that particular ship again as it was old and tired, but would maybe consider their Discovery, Disc 2 and Explorer!
As for the other companies we are slowly working our way through all the cruise lines!

[mick]

Originally Posted by Cloverlady

Ah yes Mick, maybe I was a bit harsh about Marella, I think I mean wouldn't cruise on that particular ship again as it was old and tired, but would maybe consider their Discovery, Disc 2 and Explorer!
As for the other companies we are slowly working our way through all the cruise lines!

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Joan's brother doesn't understand why we only cruise on larger ships. They always go on Fred Olsen boats and have done some interesting stuff like joining a portion of a world cruise maybe between Sydney and Singapore.

We met them last year in Tampa when they were on a Southampton to Caribbean cruise. Sorry but we don't fancy crossing the north Atlantic in February. The Bay of Biscay in June was bad enough.

Mick

[Cloverlady]

Originally Posted by mick

Joan's brother doesn't understand why we only cruise on larger ships. They always go on Fred Olsen boats and have done some interesting stuff like joining a portion of a world cruise maybe between Sydney and Singapore.

We met them last year in Tampa when they were on a Southampton to Caribbean cruise. Sorry but we don't fancy crossing the north Atlantic in February. The Bay of Biscay in June was bad enough.

Mick

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I've heard that about The Bay of Biscay!
Methinks I would need more than the 'seabands' for that!

[mick]

Originally Posted by Cloverlady

I've heard that about The Bay of Biscay!
Methinks I would need more than the 'seabands' for that!

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Wouldn't like to deter any would-be cruisers to the Med from the UK but sometimes honesty is best. They had to close the pools because the water was sloshing out on to the deck.

Mick

[Omega1]

Originally Posted by mick

Wouldn't like to deter any would-be cruisers to the Med from the UK but sometimes honesty is best. They had to close the pools because the water was sloshing out on to the deck.

Mick

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Rough seas can occur anywhere at anytime really - it is potluck. We've had two really calm transatlantic crossings and dead calm rounding Cape Horn.
The worst was from Mexico up to San Francisco - for two days Mrs Omega didn't get out of bed - the stewards brought extra pillows to place lengthways down the bed to prevent us rolling out. We had a balcony cabin on deck 11 and when we hit a big wave the water going higher than our balcony. I got to the buffet in the evening - it was deserted, just a handful of very green looking waiters. They didn't just close the pools, they drained them! It was a roller coaster of a ride.