We will never take another royal caribbean cruise even if it is free. We have sailed with them three times. I have sailed with carnival twice. We are going another carnival cruise next jan. I am 44 and my son is now 19. We have been sailing by ourselves throughout his life. We don't drink, we spend about $20 a piece in the casino (not gamblers). He doesn't really like to sit out at the pool. Why we don't like royal caribbean, they don't have enough activities to keep you busy, i.e. trivia contests, games and such. We were so bored. Carnival always has something going on. I found the food on both were comparable, the rooms comparable. I also did not find that there were "more" people partying. We were able to sleep on all of our cruises, carnival and rc. We even went to the nightclub one night on carnival and I felt that there weren't that many people in there. Anyway, if the ship is going to the ports you want and the price is right, go for it.