Carnival V.S. Royal Caribean?

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Zef H

Actually both lines are very similar. You have chosen two very good cruise lines for families. Both have very good children's programs.

All of the Carnival ships have a water slide. None of the Royal Caribbean ships have a water slide. The two newest Carnival Ships (Carnival Liberty and Carnival Freedom) both have a very large outdoor TV screen for watching movies or sports during the day or night.

Typical water slide on Carnival ...
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Carnival%20Glory/Sundeckstretch.jpg

The outdoor movie screen ...
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Carnival%20Ships/Libertyscreen.jpg

All the Royal Caribbean ships have rock climbing walls (none of the Carnival ships do). Also, the largest of the Royal Caribbean ships (the Voyager and Freedom class) also have ice skating and miniature golf. In addition, the Voyager class ships have an inline skating track, while the Freedom class ships have the Flowrider (a surfing simulator) and a miniature water park known as the H2O Zone.

The H2O Zone ...
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Freedom%20OTS/MWP-1.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Freedom%20OTS/MWP-2.jpg

Flowrider ...
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Freedom%20OTS/IMG_1804.jpg

Ice skating ...
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Freedom%20OTS/IMG_2432.jpg

Based on my experience, Carnival's food is slightly better than Royal Caribbean's. The service, entertainment and activities on both is about the same.

KhymmNYC

I will say Royal Carribean. I just took my first Carnival cruise and my last. I just think Royal Carribean has better overall service.

meowpuppy

Royal Carribean, hands down! Carnival is kind of low-rent, the passengers, staff, and accomodations. We took a Carnival cruise last year out of Puerto Rico. They hadnt fully booked the trip so they offered a huge discount to local Puerto Ricans. I dont want to seem rascist but the P.R. passengers were extremely loud, boisterous, and rude! At table in the formal dining room, the Ricans seated at a nearby table would actually make animal noises at the top of their lungs! Their kids were climbing the rails of the deck and their parents werent even monitoring them!! My previous experience on a Carnival ship was not much better, the staff is American and act as though they cant be bothered serving you.

Oh, and the food! Carnival has just basic good food. You know, burgers and pizza for lunch. Royal Carribean has a more varied and delicious selection of cruise fare! Lobster, grilled scallops, steaks, yum!

Royal Carribean is a superior line. Or, you might look into Princess! Most of the cruise lines offer extensive activities for kids, tweens and teens!

Irene W

Royal Caribean. I Would give the food 10/10
Entertainment is good too.
and the rc ships have more to do and the kids love going onboard!!

Just T

Royal Caribbean is by far the better choice, especially given the fact that you have kids. I would recommend one of the freedom class ships. go to royalcaribbean.com & take a look, you will like what you see.

To put this in perspective, Carnival cuts corners and Royal Caribbean does not.

Royal Caribbean all the way!!!

ctelly22

I have cruised royal caribbean and carnival, and royal caribbean is a lot better. The food and service are better than carnival. Also royal caribbean has a better variety of onboard activities and they don't charge for every activity, like carnival does. If kids don't want to go to the kids club they can go to the various onboard activities like ice skating lessons, dance lessons, movie theater, rock climbing. The only thing good about carnival is the price, but you get what you pay for. Even various cruise agents I have talked with don't recommend carnival. The quality and service are extremely low and they nickel and dime you for everything on the ship.

3kids4me

I just booked a cruise with RC...YES they do have a waterslide!!! My kids are 1-8 so I had to choose the best one and from what I hear Carnival has more "partiers" than RC. Didnt really want my kids around that, not saying you cant party on RC but after all carnival is called the FUN SHIPS. I have traveled on RC before and loved it!!!!!!!!

Royal Caribbean is more upscale therefore is my preference.

beatjugglez

this site might have an answer:
http://allcruiselines.info

MomSezNo

Go to CruiseCritic.com, click on "Boards" at the top of the page. Then go to "First Time Cruisers" for lots of tips for newbies. Go to the RC and Carnival boards to get an idea of what each is like. When you've decided on your cruise, go to the "Ports of Call" boards for info about places you'll visit, and go to the "Roll Call" board for your particular sailing.

Carnival is a good line for first-timers and is pretty good overall. Never been on RC, so I can't comment.

Have a great time, whatever you decide on!

trustnoonekmc

I have cruised both RC and Carnival. Both lines are good, although I think Carnival is a little more "fun" and RC is a little more "upscale". I recieved excellent service on both ships, and the activities and food were very similar.

You didn't say how long of a cruise you were taking, or how many staterooms you were getting. My biggest complaint with the older RC ships (those used for 3&4 days) is that the standard staterooms are MUCH SMALLER than carnivals (even on the same sized ships). However, I have heard that the newer, larger RC ships have larger, more comparible staterooms. If you will have more than 2 in a room, this is definately something to check out. I could not even imagine putting more than 2 people in a Sovereign of the Seas standard cabin.

People can have a bad cruise experience on either ship. Most people have awesome cruise experiences on both ships. Some people are die hard RC fans, and others are die hard Carnival fans. Other people don't care either way. If it were me, I would say shop around for the best price and itinerary to meet your needs, then narrow it down from there.

Finally, I believe if you rent out 6 or more staterooms on Carnival, you get a group discount.

For more great tips, be sure to check out Cruisecritic.com

shhhhhhhhhhhimhiding

I have been on both lines and prefer Carnival. I found their food, services and accommodations superior to RCL. I have taken my 3 kids (10-17) and 2 Carnival cruises and have utilized the Camp Carnival service and have been ecstatic with them. The kids can join in as many activities or as few as they want. You will find as many answers saying RCL is the best, its all personal preference although Carnivals' staterooms are larger.

Julie T

We have taken our kids on both lines and they prefer Carnival.

The 24x7 pizza is my teen daughters favorite feature.
Carnival has more ice cream stations than RC.

Carnival also designates certain clubs as pre- and teen areas until about 10:30 pm. The kids like having their own place to hang out.

I was unhappy with the service on the RC. We purchase the soda fountain package and it seemed that anytime we approached a bar to get a soda, they served us last even if other patrons arrived after us because we were getting soda. That is not the case on Carnival. They are happy to serve the sodas.

It could have been the particular ship because it is old and about to be taken out of the US market, but the RC ship, the Rhaposody of the Seas had plumbing problems and most of the public restrooms were stopped up during our entire journey.

We have taken large family groups with many aged children and they all really enjoy Carnival.

Tips for cruising with teens...get a set of the 2-way radios to keep in touch while on board. The teens get freedom and the parents have piece of mind....no missed check-ins or running around the ship looking for each other.

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