Carnival or RCCL

[buzz&woody'smom]

As the other thread said the other day I feel as if I am cheating on DCL BUT my best friend and I are in desperate need for a mommy's weekend away from our very young children. We want to leave from Florida and sail on RCCL or Carnival but a nice ship not a old yucky one. We are used to DCL and the quality. Please give us your opinions on which ports and ships. We are looking for a 3 or 4 day out of Port Canaveral or Tampa maybe ???

Thanks!!!

 

[thebecka]

RCCL is definately my second choice after DCL. I wasn't thrilled with my Carnival Cruise and thought it was more of a booze cruise than a relaxing vacation...but I do know some folks who swear by Carnival.

 

[buzz&woody'smom]

Which ship? Are some newer than others?

 

[Euphscott]

We preferred Royal Caribbean to Carnival.
As a point of reference we sailed the second sailing of the Radiance of the Seas and the second sailing of the Carnival Conquest.

As far as service and food went, they were about equal. However, the general atmosphere of RCI were more to our liking - a little more sophisticated and generally more along teh lines of how we felt on Disney. Carnival is the Fun Ship line - they try hard to be that - but defining "Fun" is different things to different people.

Not knowing any more info than you provided, I'd select based on the price and itinerary. Without a special set of circumstances, the products will be quite similar for a short haul cruise.

 

[thebecka]

We went on Voyager of the Seas and are planning to go on the Navagator of the Seas. The 'Mega" liners are wonderful. Look at how many tons the ship is or what features they have - RCCL Mega liners have the Rock Climbing Wall, Ice Rink and the ever so yummy Johnny Rockets.

 

[4u2dream]

The Carnival Cruise line is definately more of a " Party " type cruise. They don't call it the fun ships for nothing. If you can only go for 3 or 4 days the ships will be older type ships. Check out this site for their ships and schedules. http://content.onlineagency.com/c/3/3832/5074_3832.htm The RCCL is definately more of a elegant, more prestigous type cruise line. If you want to be pampered and R&R I think you would enjoy the RCCL. Tough decision, but I think if you check out schedule, prices and compare with your interests in mind, you will be able to make a intelligent decision. We have done a cruise on each, we would prefer to stay with DCL, personally, but if we had to decide between CCL and RCCL, we would go with RCCL, for the sake of past experiences. Good Luck!!

 

[Buschfan]

You aren't going to get the newest ships on 3 and 4 nighters. Cruise lines put their older ships on the short hauls as the cabins are usually smaller and more appropiate for fewer nights. Balconies on these ships are few or none. You are looking at mostly 10 year old ships which I don't feel are too old.

Carnival has the only short cruises out of Tampa. Port Canaveral has Royal Caribbean and Carnival. I suggest you look at the 360 degree pictures that are on many cruise sites to help you decide. Carnival interiors can be overly colorful to put it nicely. I would personally steer you to Royal Caribbean, but many folks like the neon interiors of the older Canival ships.

 

[Bev J]

Another vote for Royal Caribbean, we have sailed with them 5 times and always had great service, food and wonderful ships to enjoy. Go to their website and see what is available during some times of the year they are repositioning ships so they offer 5 days cruises on some ships and have had some go out of Tampa. Only Soverign of the Seas sailes out of the same port as disney, but next year Marinier of the Seas is supposed to sail from there also. You will not be disapointed with RCCL.

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by thebecka
I wasn't thrilled with my Carnival Cruise and thought it was more of a booze cruise than a relaxing vacation....

Thats how I felt about our Carnival cruise,...we really didn't care for anything about it...nothing special with the service or food either..

 

[alexandrew]

Carnival is definitely at the lower end of the mass market spectrum (except for Legend, which my TA says is a very beautiful, very upscale ship, with great service and amenities)

 

[Gillian]

We're looking at Royal Caribbean too. Sailed them once, on an older ship, and were wowed by the service & food. We'd like to try one of the newer mega ships (Voyager, Explorer, Navigator, & one other) or the brilliance or radiance, which are also new but slightly smaller (no ice rink, LOL). But we want a 7 night.

If you go to their website www.royalcaribbean.com you can plug in the month you want to go & see what's available. Look under FInd a cruise. The run 3 or 4 days cruises out of port canaveral on the Sovereign of the Seas. Nassau & their private island, similar to Disney.

Sovereign of the Seas info

More Soverign of the Seas info


Also check Cruise Critic for reviews.

Hope that helps!

 

[zurgswife]

As a mommy heading out with 9 other mommy's for a 4 day Carnaval cruise.....i hope it is not as bad as all of you are suggesting.....

I'll post when I get back...

I've never cruised before so I hope that helps that I haven't any preconscieved expectations....

 

[Gillian]

Just figured out something else!! Go to the main RCI page & choose a port of departure from the pull down menu on the upper right side. Choose Fort Lauderdale. They also run 4 day trips on the Enchantment of the Seas, which is newer.

Zurgswife, I'm sure you'll have a great time on Carnival, especially with a group of adults!