Now that I have experienced Carnival, our next cruise will be with Royal Caribbean. I'm not saying that I will never cruise with Carnival again, I just want to experience a different cruise line. I have many friends that have cruised on both and they all say it's just personal preference.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We purchased the faster to fun and it was well worth it. We did not stand in the long line. We were able to bypass that and we were checked in and walking on the ship within 10 minutes of arriving to the port.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Our assigned dining room was the Golden Olympian. We did the your time dining which was perfect for us because we usually don't eat dinner at a specific time. On the first night the food was excellent. Service was fast and friendly. The second night the food was not so good. Everything I ordered was bland and the service was slower and not so friendly than the night before. On the third night I had my reservations for Diamond's Steakhouse and it was well worth it. Not only was our waitress friendly and fast but extremely helpful and knowledgable. The food was amazing. I ordered the crab cake for an appetizer. For the main course I did the surf and turf which came with lobster tail and filet mignon. Everything was cooked to perfection and the steak was juicy and flavorful. For dessert I ordered the chocolate sampler which had 5 different flavors of chocolate. That was delicious. I highly recommend the steakhouse. For lunch most days we ate at Guys Burger Joint. The burgers and fries were delicious. Service was quick but not to friendly. For breakfast each morning we did the buffet on the Lido deck and it was good as well. Loved the omelet station! Very friendly and fast service. For my late night cravings I would just go to the Pizza Pirate which was delicious as well.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We played BINGO and had a blast! We also participated in the Motown's Trivia game with Donkey and had so much fun! The pools and adult only areas were always way too crowded so we didn't do any of those.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
One of the reasons we chose this cruise was Chris Tucker was the comedian on board. He did an amazing job. Funny as always. Donkey was hilarious!!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our room steward was B. She did an amazing job. Our room was always neat and clean. She made sure we had everything we needed. We would see her in the halls and she would stop us to make sure we needed anything.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship was well maintained and very clean. The layout and design were nice as well.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We chose an aft balcony room. It was well worth the upgrade. The room size was perfect for the two of us. The room and bathroom was well maintained and very clean. The balcony had 2 chairs with a small and table as well as a lounge chair to lay on. My only complaint would be that the balcony had no cover so we couldn't stay out there to long during the day because the sun was shining right down on us and it was hot!!!! But otherwise I would stay in the exact same room again.
Ship tip
The one piece of advice I would give is not to purchase alcohol rather it be at the port or on the ship. I knew they take it away and don't give it back until the morning of disembarkation but i didn't know it would be a catastrophe! We had a specific time to meet in the dining room in preparation to exit the ship. Since we purchased the faster to fun, we were told to meet with the VIP members at 645AM. Well we had to be in the night club at 6 am to pick up the alcohol. When my fiancé arrived at 550am there was no staff there. When the staff did arrive to unload the alcohol it was a mess. There was not enough staff helping and the staff that was there looked confused and lost. A lot of people were getting upset because they had flights to catch. Some people were missing packages. Needless to say we missed out 645am disembarkation time. My advice to Carnival is to just deliver the packages to the rooms the night before disembarkation!! Since it was my fiancé who wanted the alcohol, I told him never again!!
Nassau was ok. We spent the day at the Breezes Resort and Spa. It was nice. We ended up just getting a cabana and relaxing on the beach. We were informed when we arrived that the water sports had been closed down due to the currents caused by Hurricane Maria. We really wanted to jet ski. It was an all inclusive resort so we ate and drink as much as we wanted too. The cabana came with our own personal butler which was nice because we didn't have to move or lift a finger and he would bring the food and drinks to us. His name was G and was fast and friendly. As time went on we did see other people jet skiing but none was from our resort so I don't know what that was about.
Chris Tucker performed and was funny as usual. Had a great time. Only complaint is that we had to cut our Nassau excursion short to be back on the ship to get ready for dinner and for the comedy show at 8pm. Wish they would have started the comedy show later since we were not due to leave Nassau until 10pm.
Since we missed our 645AM time to depart the ship with the VIP due to the poor handling of the alcohol packages, I say it was poor. I believe if we would have made the 645AM time we would have had a more faster and organized disembarkation.
Now is the time. Since we’ve built up to platinum we don’t want to start over with another cruise line. So doing it now and seeing who you like best is smart then you can start with your loyalty
RCCL is good but I don't believe between the two there is much difference. A matter of preference. It's always good to mix it up. Loyalty points are overrated.
I agree with Gil, try different lines! I did Royal Caribbean first and my next cruise was on NCL - we loved them! Since I haven't been on that many yet and am just starting out, I will continue to book based on itinerary and what ships I find interesting, no matter the line. Maybe someday down the road I'll settle down into loyalty with just one or two. :)
You are wise to try different lines just starting out. Once you start accumulating loyalty levels, it is harder to change. Good luck on your next cruise.
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