RCCL vs CCL? Help for first time cruiser! (switching from DCL)

[starvenger]

As far as the "party crowd" on Carnival... here was our experience last week: it was a short, inexpensive cruise, so we expected the party crowd, but were shocked. During formal dinner (early seating) a table of 8 20-something girls came in, obviously already drinking. I'm assuming it was a bachelorette party, because they had party favors with them. Specifically a hot-pink squirt gun shaped in the form of you-know-what. They started squirting it into each others mouth across the table - which caused an uproar from guests seated around them. Their response "It's only water!" (like THAT was the problem?!?). There were kids sitting at dinner around them too. The response of the staff? Round of shots! I think their waiter did at least 3 rounds of shots with them during dinner. Did I mention this was early seating at the formal dinner?

So if we were looking for an "Exhibit A" for the "Carnival is the party cruise line" theory, I guess we've found it.

We also like the way Disney disembarks better - Carvnival kept telling us where we needed to wait for our group to be called.

This is interesting, because I really hated the way Disney disembarks. So if Carnival is worse... I don't know what that means, actually.

P.s.: Look up the Carnival Vista and the Carnival Horizon.

These are definitely the two Carnival ships I've been eyeing. I saw the Mighty Cruise Ships episode featuring Vista and have been intrigued ever since.

 

[FlyingBelle]

This is interesting, because I really hated the way Disney disembarks. So if Carnival is worse... I don't know what that means, actually.

My experience with Disney is you can leave whenever you want after the ship clears. With Carnival you had to wait in certain areas of the ship until they called your group, and then you bottle-necked into a long winding line to exit the ship.

 

[starvenger]

My experience with Disney is you can leave whenever you want after the ship clears. With Carnival you had to wait in certain areas of the ship until they called your group, and then you bottle-necked into a long winding line to exit the ship.

Yeah I think that's kind of the old school way of doing things. On Harmony you could wait in your cabin or... pretty much anywhere except the disembark area and Windjammer, really. You had your assigned number and once it came up you were free to go.

I don't remember much about disembarking the Fantasy other than it was chaotic and it felt like we were getting dumped off of the ship. So probably not an impartial opinion there.

 

[mevelandry]

So if we were looking for an "Exhibit A" for the "Carnival is the party cruise line" theory, I guess we've found it.


This is interesting, because I really hated the way Disney disembarks. So if Carnival is worse... I don't know what that means, actually.


These are definitely the two Carnival ships I've been eyeing. I saw the Mighty Cruise Ships episode featuring Vista and have been intrigued ever since.

Carnival may be used as "party cruise" for 3 nights... but I think if you avoid those it won't be that bad. My experience for the 4 nights and 6 nights I've done so far was that the ship was quiet and "family friendly"...Or at least not a booze cruise.

I have two other Carnival cruises (4 and 5 nights) booked in 2018... I can't to see if they will be quiet as well.

 

[starvenger]

Carnival may be used as "party cruise" for 3 nights... but I think if you avoid those it won't be that bad. My experience for the 4 nights and 6 nights I've done so far was that the ship was quiet and "family friendly"...Or at least not a booze cruise.

Fair enough. Vista and Horizon do those longer cruises anyway so I'm not concerned about the whole "booze cruise" thing. I went through that whole phase when I was younger and now I am, as they say, too old for that sh...er, stuff.

 

[msjprincess]

Carnival may be used as "party cruise" for 3 nights... but I think if you avoid those it won't be that bad. My experience for the 4 nights and 6 nights I've done so far was that the ship was quiet and "family friendly"...Or at least not a booze cruise.

I have two other Carnival cruises (4 and 5 nights) booked in 2018... I can't to see if they will be quiet as well.

ITA

I love RCCL, but I wouldn't go on a 3 day RCCL cruise either. Especially at this time of year where some schools are on Spring Break.

 

[heaven2dc]

Yes, but MK without the M would just be kingdom. AKL without the A would just be kingdom lodge. They are abbreviations of actual names of existing places. DH without the D would just be your, well, husband. Just seems odd to go tacking on random letters to words for no valid or necessary reason. I certainly don't do that in the real world, so why on forums? As far as shortening words, DW is only two more letters than wife. And it takes me all of two seconds to type out husband.

Is this your first time reading posts on the Disboards? If not, I'm just curious if this is the first time you've noticed this.

 

[supernova]

Is this your first time reading posts on the Disboards? If not, I'm just curious if this is the first time you've noticed this.

I've read the boards. It just doesn't make a bit more sense no matter how many times I see it. Ridiculous, pointless, useless abbreviation.

 

[mrswillson]

I've read the boards. It just doesn't make a bit more sense no matter how many times I see it. Ridiculous, pointless, useless abbreviation.

Is this really necessary? As it has nothing to do with the questions I asked, I don't understand why this is still persisting. How other people choose to abbreviate on the boards doesn't affect you at all, and this is argumentative just for the sake of it.

 

[supernova]

Is this really necessary? As it has nothing to do with the questions I asked, I don't understand why this is still persisting. How other people choose to abbreviate on the boards doesn't affect you at all, and this is argumentative just for the sake of it.

Quite possibly, yes.

 

[Hrhpd]

My experience with Disney is you can leave whenever you want after the ship clears. With Carnival you had to wait in certain areas of the ship until they called your group, and then you bottle-necked into a long winding line to exit the ship.

We just got off the 4 day Liberty last month. We also had FTTF and carried our luggage off with us - didn't put it out the night before. We were instructed that with FTTF we could just disembark anytime we wanted, no need for any waiting. We grabbed our suitcases when we were ready and headed downstairs and off the ship. It was SO easy.

That was our first cruise so have nothing to compare it with. We have the CCL Sunshine booked for the holidays and RCL Harmony booked for June 2019. We got hooked

We can be rather snobby about our lodging and had been warned that CCL was cheap seats. We were quite pleased with our cabin, the cleanliness and the food was fine. The steakhouse was some of the best steak I have ever ordered.

But I do want to try a larger ship for comparison, so going to try Harmony. I booked the Harmony because I want to see the new CocoCay. The beaches and new waterpark looks like a wonderful place to spend a day.

 

[Marchand63]

I've read the boards. It just doesn't make a bit more sense no matter how many times I see it. Ridiculous, pointless, useless abbreviation.

Is this really necessary? As it has nothing to do with the questions I asked, I don't understand why this is still persisting. How other people choose to abbreviate on the boards doesn't affect you at all, and this is argumentative just for the sake of it.

Let me see if this works - Black.............................your turn

You say nothing about the question asked just come back to argue a point that you must know is used since you have over 2000 posts, did you just notice this?

 

[chainkid]

Carnival cheap, basic cabins , food cafeteria with not much ambiance, entertainment spotty, embarkation terrible.
RCCL more expensive, small cabins , food is well presented and dining rooms are far superior to carnival for ambiance, entertainment poor, embarkation very good
Disney expensive, nicer cabins, more food choices, great entertainment and well orchestrated embarkation but did I say super expensive.

 

[Denise W]

Carnival cheap, basic cabins , food cafeteria with not much ambiance, entertainment spotty, embarkation terrible.
RCCL more expensive, small cabins , food is well presented and dining rooms are far superior to carnival for ambiance, entertainment poor, embarkation very good
Disney expensive, nicer cabins, more food choices, great entertainment and well orchestrated embarkation but did I say super expensive.

Actually I think the entertainment on RCCL is superior to DCL because RCCL uses live musicians/bands/orchestras, while DCL has singers singing along to a pre recorded track. I also think RCCL has more food choices than DCL. I enjoy all three lines.
Denise

 

[starvenger]

I think it's all kind of subjective when it comes to food and entertainment. I haven't been on Carnival though, so I can't tell you whether unlimited Donkey Sauce is a good or a bad thing.

Cabins and decor are subjective as well, but less so.

 

[mevelandry]

Carnival cheap, basic cabins , food cafeteria with not much ambiance, entertainment spotty, embarkation terrible.
RCCL more expensive, small cabins , food is well presented and dining rooms are far superior to carnival for ambiance, entertainment poor, embarkation very good
Disney expensive, nicer cabins, more food choices, great entertainment and well orchestrated embarkation but did I say super expensive.

Could you name the ships? Because on Carnival the experience can be very different from one ship to another.

P.s.: On a fun ship 2.0, especially the new big ships there are much more food choices on Carnival than DCL!

 

[chainkid]

I was on the 11 day repositioning cruise for the Carnival Vista last year. I have sailed on the Fantasy before that.
RCCL sailed on Song of America to Bermuda, Nordic empress out of San juan, Mariner of the seas out of Cape Canaveral, Freedom of the seas out of Miami and jewel of the Seas out of Boston.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Carnival cheap, basic cabins , food cafeteria with not much ambiance, entertainment spotty, embarkation terrible.
RCCL more expensive, small cabins , food is well presented and dining rooms are far superior to carnival for ambiance, entertainment poor, embarkation very good
Disney expensive, nicer cabins, more food choices, great entertainment and well orchestrated embarkation but did I say super expensive.

Included food on Carnival: MDR, buffet, Guy's Burgers, Blue Iguana Cantina, pizza, deli, mongolian wok, Cucina del Capitano
Included food on Disney, MDR, buffet

Hmm, I see a very big discrepancy. But don't forget all that soda you can drink

 

[starvenger]

Well, let's not sell Disney short here. Dream and Fantasy have the food court with 3 distinct(ish) areas or boiler bites on Magic and Wonder. It's still less free options than on Carnival or RCI though.

 

[mevelandry]

Included food on Carnival: MDR, buffet, Guy's Burgers, Blue Iguana Cantina, pizza, deli, mongolian wok, Cucina del Capitano
Included food on Disney, MDR, buffet

Hmm, I see a very big discrepancy. But don't forget all that soda you can drink

Don't forget some Carnival ships also have Pig & Anchor included. And Jiji Asian Kitchen is free for lunch too.