Royal Caribbean vs Carnival: Cabins

I love cruising! I’ve been on three cruise lines (Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Princess) and a total of 9 cruises. There’s something to love about them all, and each has its Loyalist!

Over the next few weeks, I will give you my perspective on two of my most traveled cruise lines, Royal Caribbean and Carnival.  I am comparing the smaller ships with a capacity of about 2100 guests (double occupancy).  This is not an in depth analysis, but my spin on the two cruise lines. I’ll start with cabins.

My favorite cabin is an ocean view.  I like this type of cabin because the price is generally pretty good, and you get an outside view without the premium price of a balcony.  After all, how much time will you spend in your cabin?  The ship is your resort and port days are opportunities for excursions.  However, the time in your cabin should make you feel comfortable and like you are on vacation.

So let’s compare the two cruise line standard ocean view cabins.  In general, Royal Caribbean’s ocean view cabin is about 154 sq. ft while Carnival averages 185 sq. ft.  Royal Caribbean does have larger ocean view cabins if you are willing to pay.  On Carnival, the view is easily accessible, with an open floor layout and more spacious bathrooms and showers.  On Royal Caribbean, the cabin layout, bathroom and showers feel cramped.  In addition, some Royal Caribbean beds are not high enough to slide your luggage under expanding the cramped feeling.

 

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Royal Caribbean Ocean View Cabin – 154 sq. ft.

 

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Carnival Oceanview Cabin (Sunshine) – 185 sq. ft.

 

My husband and I prefer the Carnival cabins.  What’s your favorite cabin type and why?  Can’t wait to hear from you!

 

Between The Dashes

July 2017 – Western Caribbean Cruise On Carnival Cruiseline

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In July 2017, we decided to go on a cruise with our daughter who lives in Chicago. When other family members heard about it, the number of attendees grew.  As the cruise drew near, some dropped out, but in the end, there were a total of 8 of us across 4 cabins.

We picked a 4 day Western Caribbean cruise going to Key West and Cozumel, roundtrip from Miami, FL on the Carnival Victory.  The cruise was amazing! The ship was renovated in 2015, and the ship and cabins were roomy and well decorated. Continue reading

9 Aug 2015 – Caribbean Cruise – May 2015

We enjoyed our December 2014 cruise so much we decided to go on another one!  But this time, we cruised on the Carnival Pride (see the ship below – ship capacity for 2,124 passengers).  The Carnival Pride is an older ship and is smaller than the Quantum of the Seas which has a capacity of 4180 passengers.

Carnival Pride

Carnival Pride

Our itinerary:

Day 1 – Depart Baltimore, MD

Day 2 – At Sea

Day 3 – At Sea

Day 4 – Grand Turk

Day 5 – Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Day 6 – Freeport, Bahamas

Day 7 – At Sea

Day 8 – Arrive Baltimore, MD

Cruise Map

Cruise Map

 

This cruise was so different from our first.  We did not have to travel for 6 hours by bus to get to our departure port – only 90 min with traffic!  We were able to board as soon as we arrived which was a lot earlier than our boarding passes indicated – nice! Continue reading