Rcl or carnival??? Help!!!!!!!

Comet Cruiser · #1 (**permalink**) March 15th, 2010, 08:54 AM

Hi there everyone!

I haven't been on the boards for a while, but do check in now and then and see how everyone is doing

We have ALWAYS gone on Royal Caribbean for all of our 6 cruises, and now we are considering going on Carnival Liberty in January 2011. My friend and her hubby want us to come with them, but I'm just not sure what to do. The price is quite a bit lower on Carnival than on Royal of course, but I LOVE ROYAL CARIBBEAN!

I was wondering if anyone could give me pros and cons to both cruiselines, that might help me make up my LIBRA mind.....trying to make decisions is NOT my strong suit!

Thanks everyone and have a wonderful day!!
Comet Cruiser
Gail

venice · #2 (**permalink**) March 15th, 2010, 11:00 AM

I'm going on the Carnival Liberty on October 23rd (it's a full charter Capital Jazz Cruise), so I'll let you know when I return

go ahead and book it with your friends...i'm sure you will love the ship

Mike M · #3 (**permalink**) March 15th, 2010, 01:02 PM

Carnival will have more of a "wild" decor on their ships. The activities will be similar but perhaps a bit more active. The hairy chest and "maybe" a few more pool games. Carnival's standard cabins are larger and IMO the food on Carnival is far better than my last four Royal Caribbean cruises. Service is equal.

I don't think you will really notice much of a difference other than the decor of the ship. You may even like Carnival more the Royal Caribbean.

Carnival is higher on my "favorites" list than Royal Caribbean.

Take care,
Mike

skymaster · #4 (**permalink**) March 15th, 2010, 04:34 PM

I have to agree with Mike. He's pointed out the major differences, and unless you're into climbing rock walls, ice skating on a postage stamp, or perhaps, shopping in the mall, I think you'll truly enjoy Carnival. I too am a former RCI sailor, and very rarely did Carnival, but the last 15 cruises or so have all been Carnival. IMO the biggest difference you'll notice, is the extra money in your bank account after you've paid for the cruise.

Have a GREAT cruise aboard "Liberty".

"SKY"

Trip · #5 (**permalink**) March 15th, 2010, 08:11 PM

We enjoyed the Liberty in October,and loved it..great food and entertainmant....in fact the dr food was so good, as well as tablemates, we cancelled our alternative restaurant......also check out the Freedom, you get an extra day...a good thing!

Travelnut · #6 (**permalink**) March 15th, 2010, 10:32 PM

Just got back from sailing on Carnival for the 1st time. We chose the Freedom because of the extra day. The ship was wonderful, our cabin was great,,,and the food was just fine. Only thing we could find wrong was the casino was NOT friendly,,,Oh well,,,not many of them are,,,

Actually we were expecting allot of kids/noisy cruise. Quite the opposite,,,very quiet,and relaxing. There were lots of kids onboard but we never saw/heard them. Camp Carnival does a great job.

TravelMike · #7 (**permalink**) March 16th, 2010, 01:41 PM

Hello all, I have been on RCI Radiance class three times and Carnival four times. I enjoyed them both very much. I like the Radiance class ships very much loads of glass. I am not a foodie but I liked the food on both lines RCL might be a little more fancy. On the last Carnival trip I learned the value of a good waiter. We did a B2B and the second week we had the same food, but what a difference the waiter made. Food not hot, end cuts rather than center cuts of meat, slow service. This was a real eye opener. I think you will find Carnival a little more fun and less fancy on formal nights. The bottom line both are very good I would base my selection on the ports visited. Mike