Carnival vs. Royal Caribbean

[cgvmer]

My family and I have done 3 cruises all with Royal Caribbean. The boats I have been on had full equipment rentals for the duration of the trip with no requirement to dive with the boat.

This summer there were 21 people in our party everyone had a blast.

We started with RC for the simple reason they run trips out of NJ and I'm glad they we chose them

 

[segundo3000gt]

thanks for all of the responses guys. i think the idea is that we want to go on a trip that allows us to do some diving but we don't want this trip to be a "dive trip". at some point we'll probably do a live aboard but for this one i think we want to enjoy multiple aspects of what a caribbean trip would give.

it sounds like either cruise line would be a good value and a good time. i think the RC ones i was looking at were about $100 more so i could look at the tradeoff there. it makes sense that the people on carnival might be a little younger if the prices are a little lower. my concern is that there are enough fun things to do on the ship during the day. i went on a disney cruise and the food and service were awesome but i got bored because all there was during the day was a basketball court and it was difficult to find anyone to start up games. RC seemed impressive because the boat i looked at had basketball, mini golf, rock climbing, ice rink, pools, etc. carnival didn't seem to have as many of these things but maybe i just haven't been able to find the right information.

 

[BTravlin]

Don't forget the casinos!!! Must love pain though since shipboard casinos have all the odds tweaked further in their favor. Not like you can go next door to Harrah's!

 

[skbdogman]

I'm trying to get a small group together to do a scuba cruise. Does anyone have any comments on Carnival or Royal Caribbean? It seems like Carnival is cheaper. Reviews I've found online hint that the service and food is better on Royal Caribbean. Any help would be appreciated.

I'm leaving on my 7th cruise in 5 days. Unfortunately, they have all been RC so I'm not going to be able to give you a good comparison of the two cruise lines. I know several other divers who like Carnival just fine, but all have said that RC is better for service and food. My wife is a travel agent specializing in cruises and her choice is RC as well.

I've dived in Grand Cayman, Cozumel, USVI, Belize, Roatan, BVI, Jamaica and St Marteen, while on cruises with RC and have never been disappointed. One time in GC we had a fairly large boat, like 20 people, but we also had three divemasters. So for the most part, no cattle boats. It will cost slightly more to dive through the cruise line, but unless you have a sense of adventure, diving with the cruise line ensures that you get back to the boat! And if the excursion is a little late, they will wait for you as well. Not the case if you book an excursion on your own.

For us as a family, cruising is a good balance between a dive vacation and just a great vacation. There is something for everyone to do, even the kids who stay busy all day in the kid's club!

One day I'll sneak away to do a week long liveaboard!

 

[dwardtxusa]

Depends on what you want. If you take kids and want a party sceen then go Carnival. If you want a relaxing more upscale cruise go Royal. If you want it even nicer go Celebrity or Holland America. Cost aren't that drastically different. Check out Discount Cruises, Last Minute Cruises, Cruise, Cruise Line, Cruise Vacation we always get good deals there.