My history of cruising

I went on my first cruise when I was 15. My mom and aunt were cruise enthusiasts after they discovered all the luxuries aboard. They made it a tradition to cruise every year in November during Thanksgiving break and when I was 15, I was able to join them. Since then, I have been on a total of 4 cruises through vacation, bachelorettes, or graduation presents. Each of them was great, and what I loved most is just being on the ship and exploring. As with any company, you start building points and it’s hard to get away and explore other competitors. I kept hearing about Royal Caribbean being so great and you kind of have this Carnival vs Royal Caribbean loyalty among cruisers.

When I set out to plan our next cruise, I was very open to the options. I searched cruises to Alaska, European Cruises, and a variety of cruise lines from RC, Carnival, Norwegian, Celebrity etc. When it came down to it though, I really just wanted to get away. Ultimately, we chose RC because it had a stop in Honduras, my home country, and I had not been in 25 years! Also, they had a special with a balcony for two people for a total of $1,600. Affordable and a quick get away? We were in.

 I’ll start with this. I’m not going to do a deep dive on this regarding the ports we stopped at. The ports we stopped at were Costa Maya, Mexico, Roatan, Honduras, and Cozumel, Mexico. All of these are popular among the cruise lines and you can do just about the same excursions for each. So, I will stick to an in-depth overview of RC vs. Carnival regarding the Check In/Out Process, Food, and Activities, Shopping and Shows below!

 THE CHECK IN/OUT PROCESS

 Royal Caribbean

Checking In with RC felt a little confusing for Ben and I as new cruisers to this line. We took our own suitcases on board with us to avoid waiting for them to be delivered. RC has an app you can watch to track your check-in progress and we were able to complete the majority of the safety check in with the app, but we had a safety overview to complete once on board. This is where it was confusing. We took our suitcases to our rooms and were never really instructed on where to get our safety briefing. On our tv screen it said we had 15 minutes to get the briefing done, which only stressed my husband out. We ventured out and asked someone where to go and they guided us to the main dining room where all we were told was “Oh, if there is an emergency, you come here”. We said okay, and that was that, only to hear over the boat-wide intercom minutes later that if this safety check-in was not complete, you would be tracked down and kicked off the ship, as the boat could not leave until every passenger had this completed.

 Checking Out was even more confusing. Through the app I requested a late check out of 9:30 am. The night before we were leaving, we saw everyone’s luggage outside their doors with their tags on them. When we got to our room, we had instructions for check out and no luggage tags. I repeat, no luggage tags and our information sheet also said our check out was 8:00 am. This was disappointing because I had wanted to grab breakfast one last time. I know, first world cruise problems. The instructions felt vague on how to exit as well. We ended up just kind of leaving on a whim after the first announcement, which was not clear to hear, followed down the stairs and hopped off. We saw people stopped with their luggage in the main dining rooms, and again, total confusion here. We found cruise friends though who informed us we should have had luggage tags in our room and that we were, in fact, not crazy. Ben and I checked that room everywhere. I will chalk this up to maybe an attendant who was off their game. For an on the whim exit though, I will say it was smooth but met with confusion.

Carnival

 Checking In with Carnival has it down to me when it comes to the check in process. Now, this is me speaking pre-technology days. The last Carnival cruise I went on was in 2019 and to my knowledge there was no app, just instructions via email. When you check in with Carnival you have the same options to have your luggage delivered to your room or take it up. Then you chill in your room until the announcer calls your floor to come out and put an actual safety jacket on to go over what you would need to do in case of an emergency. This, to me, makes it tangible to know where to find a jacket and forces everyone to pay attention. So, for me, I prefer check in with Carnival.

Checking Out with Carnival is vague for me but what I can remember has always been smooth. Similar process with the option to have tags or no tags. The experience that I did like which is more of tradition is that when I traveled with my mom and aunt, we always got breakfast that last day to enjoy everything to the last minute.

FOOD

Breakfast French toast — Veggie Pot Pie — Prime Rib— Royal Caribbean Chocolate Cake

 The Main Dining Room

 Royal Caribbean                   

The food on Royal Caribbean absolutely CRUSHED it compared to anything I remember with Carnival. Due to health issues of my own, I have adopted an 80% vegetarian diet and have to limit my meat intake. I am always worried when traveling internationally what my options will be. Our first meal in the buffet was met with pure joy from my side as I saw not just plain steamed veggies but actual vegetarian options and a variety of them. We had Indian curries, a veggie stew, tons of fresh fruits, and more! This made my little veggie heart so happy. Each night on the main dining room there were always multiple vegetarian options to choose from. For my meat-eating comrades traveling with me, they loved the food as well. Let’s just say, we all started new health kicks upon our return because there was no lack of good food!

My only two cons from the food experience would be that there was no teatime on RC! I might be alone in this, but the coffee drinkers have a whole drink package you can pay for. Through Ben’s package though, I was able to get a London fog here and there.

   Additional Restaurants You Can Pay For

RC has 4 additional restaurants you can dine in outside of the main restaurant. You do have to pay for this but it’s a set price and the employees can offer you a discount. Cruise Tip – The longer you wait to make a reservation, the bigger discount you can receive. For Ben and I, we received a 30% discount on our total, but I heard on Day 5 and 6 50% discounts were being offered. I included the discounts and ratings by couple of each restaurant below --

  Giovanni’s Table  (Italian) – 7/10

Mainly because our server Ricky was so energetic and fun. The gnocchi was good and Ben’s steak was cooked well. However, the food in the dining room was just as good. So, I would take a pass on this portion next time. Also, the restaurant was enclosed, offering no views of the ocean. The other 3 restaurants are served where you have a viewing of the sea. Received 30% discount from offer of server at breakfast one morning. - Ben and Adriana

Izumi  (Asian) – 10/10

The baked snow crab and salmon dynamite roll is worth of 9 of the 10 points rated on. The waiter also gave great tips on how to enjoy sushi more. To try it without soy sauce first and to also put the ginger they provide in the soy sauce. This was a game changer. Great view at dinner, too! Received 25% off from supervisor waiter the first night.  - Jeremy and Delayne

Chopped Steakhouse – 8/10

                  Best crab cakes I ever had in my life. My wife gives it a 5 because the steak was rare rather than medium. The food took a long time to receive, so by the time we got it, we didn’t want to wait even longer to have it corrected, which I’m sure they would have. Received 40% off from breakfast in the Windjammer (the buffet section). - Darren and Stephanie

Carnival

 The food on Carnival is good. Maybe it was because I was younger and didn’t have the health lifestyle I follow today, but I don’t remember if there was a vegetarian section. But for the 4 cruises I took on Carnival compared to this recent RC trip, I think majority rules in RC’s favor of food.

                  The 24-Hour Pizza

Royal Caribbean

The pizza bar here is served by a designated waiter. Now, this could very well be a post-covid thing, but it’s a free for all grab in the buffet otherwise. And this pizza bar is on a completely different floor than the buffet. Pizza taste is okay.

 Carnival

Carnival has the pizza located right by the pool deck, which is a prime spot for me. Also, before 2020, it was self-serve. I remember going down at midnight and enjoying the breeze from the ship and was so happy going to get a slice for myself. On the pizza bar, I think Carnival takes this one. And it’s also the same floor as the buffet, which just makes sense to me.

ACTIVITIES, SHOWS & SHOPPING

Royal Caribbean

The app with RC is GREAT for keeping up with shows and building out a calendar. My top two favorite activities on the ship were the Silent Disco and Laser Tag! Both were complimentary and the laser tag blew away our expectations. In case you don’t know what a silent disco is, it’s where each participant gets their own set of headphones and you dance to the music instead of in the loud club atmosphere. At our disco, our headphones had two channels. One played new age music, and the other played 70s music. It was a great way to be inclusive of generations and my whole group loved this.

My only con on RC is that there are activities here and there that you had to pay for. I don’t necessarily remember this on Carnival. I was highly interested in doing the ship tour but it was $125/person! It felt a little high for an on-boat adventure. I did end up taking the kitchen tour, which was $50 and offered brunch afterwards with complimentary mimosas.

I got what I consider my first big girl watch on RC! Before this cruise I had begun researching brands and prices waiting to see what the ship would have to offer. Of course, the staff was very knowledgeable. What I appreciated about my first watch buying experience was that my watch isn’t considered high-end luxury compared to the slew of other watches and brands on the ship. But our sales professional, Minesh, was so helpful! When I committed to the purchase of my watch he even gave Ben and I champagne to celebrate my purchase, which is an experience I will always remember. To me, this was a great sale. He knew I wasn’t even close to the biggest purchaser in that store, but he still made me feel special. When I got off ship and had time to research my watch, I felt great about my purchase and deal. With no taxes on board and a discount, I have zero regrets. RC wins the watch department.

Carnival

So, in the middle of writing this article, I learned that Carnival does indeed have an app for passengers on board, and the one couple I surveyed about the Carnival app versus the RC app gave it to Carnival for having a better user experience.

Back to comparing shows and activities --I will say I do not remember paying for one show or activity on Carnival. I will also say, the overall vibe of Carnival feels a bit more energetic. Each ship has their own director in charge of booking entertainment and scheduling. And maybe I have a tad bit of bias because I know one cruise director over on Carnival is a Baylor Bear :)

My mother is a jewelry connoisseur. If I am ever going to purchase any piece of jewelry, I call her to get the run down on if I am getting a good deal. I think in another life she was a gem expert. That being said, I have spent plenty of time in the jewelry shops of Carnival perusing jewels. Carnival, compared to this recent RC ship, has better jewelry options when it comes to diamonds, tanzanite, sapphire etc. On my last Carnival cruise I saved up to get a set of diamond earrings and I still wear these weekly to this day. I can tell you I have yet to have find a similar deal as I did in 2019 on that cruise. Diamonds International is kind of the standard jeweler and both can be found on both cruise lines. I always trust any purchase from them.

SUMMARY

So, there you have it. My breakdown of Royal Caribbean vs. Carnival by Check In/Out, Food, Shows and Activities. To give it a fair chance, I think I need to try Carnival again later this year for more accurate comparisons without the varying degrees of years separating my memory. I would love to try the Carnival app now and see if their food game has stepped up, and then I may be more inclined to give them the overall win. But for now, I’d say RC for food, and Carnival for everything else. Another ship that is HIGHLY loved by the RC Faithful is the Celebrity ship. I have friends and have met strangers who rave about this ship. Guess I just need to cruise more to get a better analysis ;)

 So, until my next venture, Happy Sailing to everyone going out this summer!