Who Has The Better Cruise Line? Carnival Or Royal Caribbean?

Have you been on a cruise yet? I have to tell you, we didn’t cruise until my daughter turned 21. we thought they were too expensive, or that we wouldn’t like being out on the great big ocean. Wrong on both counts!

Cruising is the greatest thing in the world. You have the complete freedom to come and go as you like. For the same price as a decent hotel, you get a decent room, 3-6 square meals a day and the hotel travels to different places! As Lex Luthor says, “What more could anyone want?”

Now comes the great debate. Who has the better cruise, Carnival or Royal Caribbean? Let’s take a look at both in terms of food, comfort, entertainment, embarkation ports, etc.

Food

Carnival: Our meals were always excellent, even at breakfast. The wait staff knew our names the first night, and always sat us at their section. Lunch was either a very good buffet on the Lido deck. The portions were smaller, but had more flavor. Snacking was even excellent, with fresh made pizza always on hand. Coffee was always very good to excellent.

Royal Caribbean: The food was prepared quite well. Breakfast seemed to be more of a chore than a dining experience. Snacking between meals was not a pleasure. The pizza bar food tasted like it came out of a box. The Coffee and espresso bar had the most hideous snacks you could imagine. Beware the Willie Wonka Pie! Coffee was uniformly below average, unless you paid for it.

Edge: Carnival

Entertainment

Carnival: Every ship has a Comedy club, with shows just about every night. There is a big stage for a variety of shows. We saw a Magic show, a Juggling show and a Christmas show. All were terrific. Not much else happens besides these evening shows.

Royal Caribbean: Here we had a hideous musical production of Saturday Night Fever. There were a couple of comics, and they were very funny. There was a boring dance aerobatic show about the 4 Seasons. A good ice show almost made up for the seasons show. A Beatle Maniacs concert show was perhaps the best show I’ve seen on any cruise ship.

Edge: Royal Caribbean

Embarkation Ports

Carnival: We had to fly to Miami for one cruise, and take a mini-van taxi to New York City for the 2nd cruise. The flights to and from Miami were fun, as usual and without incident. They added several thousand dollars to the overall cost, however. Leaving the ship in Manhattan was an awful experience. We were forced to wait outside of the terminal for our taxi because there was another batch of passengers coming in. Standing on a street corner on December 22nd for over an hour really soured us on Carnival out of New York City.

Royal Caribbean: Our ship left out of Bayonne, New Jersey. Not the most scenic ride, but it had no bridges or tolls to pay. The embarkation line to get on board went quickly and quite painlessly. Getting off the ship and going through customs is never fun, but at least we’ve never been delayed for any reason. Outside, there was plenty of room to stand around and wait for your ride. It was a bit hectic, but not unpleasant.

Edge:
Royal Caribbean

Comfort

Carnival: Our room was a bit cramped both times, but manageable. We stowed all of our bags under the bed, and all of our clothes fit in the small dresser and closet provided. Our 2nd cruise had a balcony, but we hardly used it except to let some fresh air into the room. The beds were comfortable at best.

Royal Caribbean: We could barely move around unless one of us was on the bed. This stateroom was about the same as those on Carnival. Let’s face it. We only used the room on both cruise lines to sleep and to get cleaned up. The closet here was a bit roomier.

Edge:
Tie

The Ships

Carnival: The Glory was a wonderful ship. It was inviting and comfortable. It seemed to be more accommodating than the Splendour, our 2nd Carnival ship. The Splendour was garishly decorated, and felt a bit cramped. Both ships had their shops spread out on several decks, and there weren’t very many shops. The library was stuck into a space like it was an afterthought. Bathrooms on every floor, and more than 2 per deck. Getting around was easy as there were plenty of maps available everywhere. Plus the ships are laid out very well and it took 2 days at worst to know where everything was.

Royal Caribbean: The Liberty of the Seas was bigger than any ship we’d ever been on. I loved to explore when I cruise, and there were plenty of places to do so. The shops were all laid out on the 5th deck in a sort of brightly lit mall. Everything was here on one deck in the center of the ship. The good thing was having it all in one spot. But whenever there was a sale, and that was almost every day, you couldn’t get from one end to the other unless you went a deck up or down and cut across to your destination. You also couldn’t enjoy the other shops when 3000 people were trying to buy t-shirts at 50% off. The library was spacious and comfortable. Bathrooms were rarely where you wanted one. I usually had to run down a flight or two to find an empty bathroom. Getting around was easy. Each deck has several pedestals at each end of the ship telling you exactly where you were and where everything else was. In addition, each elevator station had an electronic touch board that gave you pin point directions on how to get to any other part of the ship. This helped a lot.

Edge:
This was a tough one, but I’ll go with Carnival.

Final Verdict.

After much careful thought, I’d have to say that our Carnival experience was a bit better overall than that of Royal Caribbean. But, disregarding the embarkation and disembarkation ordeals, I think that Royal Caribbean gives the best vacation for the money. Just stay clear of the 5th deck on sale hours.