The Flow Rider

Boogie Boarding on the Freedom of the Seas

One of my favorite features when we sailed on Freedom was the flow rider surf simulator.  I unfortunately didn't give it a try until the last sea day so I only got a half dozen chances at it, but it sure was fun.  Once it was your time to go you rode until you wiped out.  To speed the line along the crew would encouraged everybody to attempt tricks such as barrel rolls, surfing on the knees and front flips.  After a few attempts most people would wipe out and the next person in line got their chance.  The crew would even offer some advise to would be tricksters on how to perform the trick with out wiping out.  I will go ahead and warn you if you plan on participating during a sea day expect to wait in line for upwards of 30 min for your turn.  There was also several times during the cruise that they changed from boogie boarding to surfing.  I did not get a chance to surf, but dropped by a couple times to watch and the wipe outs themselves were quite entertaining.  The line also moved quicker as most people could not stay up right for very long and less people were willing to try surfing I assume because falls looked a little more painful.  If you are looking to try a little surfing action on your next cruise check out the RCI Freedom Class and the Oasis Class ships as they are the only ships in the world with one of these simulators.

Cruise Service Carnival vs Royal Caribbean

Freedom of the Seas from Coco Cay Island

Just a little background to get us started.  I have been on three Carnival cruises and just got off of my first ever Royal Caribbean cruise.  I will be posting a full review later, but wanted to quickly touch on one very touchy subject and that's service.  Reading the various reviews around the internet and forum post at places like cruise critic you would be lead to believe that Royal Caribbean is hands down a much better experience.  Well from our trip on the Freedom of the Seas I would have to disagree.  Now don't get me wrong we had a wonderful time and met some amazing crew members, but we also had just as many so so encounters as well.  I wanted to highlight a few things in this post that each of the cruise lines excel at so that you can feel more informed when you are making your next cruise decision.

Royal Caribbean Strengths (Freedom of the Seas)

•     Quality of the ship
• This ship is hands down the most beautiful ship I have sailed on.  It really is a floating resort.  There is so much to do on the ship it's hard to squeeze it all in.  I will post a more detailed review of the ship later so you can see some of the exciting venues this ship has to offer.
•  Language (How well the crew spoke English)
• Now this was a surprise as almost all cruise ships are registered outside the U.S. and have predominantly all foreign crew members.  This ship was no different, but what was different is how well the crew spoke English.  For most of the crew English is a second language and I usually have some difficulty understanding them on Carnival ships.  In all three cruises with Carnival I have at some point been frustrated trying to communicate with crew members when I order food or drink.  This trip was not like that at all and I was able to clearly communicate with just about everyone I encountered on the ship.  Only sailing on one of Royals Caribbean’s ship I can't speak for the entire fleet but on this ship it was something I noticed on the very first day and it defiantly made the cruise more enjoyable. 

    
 

Carnival Strengths (Triumph, Fantasy, Conquest)

•     Service
• One constant thing that I have read and experienced with Carnival is their excellent room stewards.  For many people having a good room steward can really change the cruising experience.  On Carnival they always seem like Ninja's; I hardly ever see them, but when I come back to the room the bed is made, I have a towel animal, and tomorrow’s fun times.  They also seem to immediately know my name.  On Royal Caribbean the room steward just seemed to always be in the hall.  Every time I left or entered the hallway there he was with his cart hogging half the hallway.  On RCI you also had to put a marker inside the key card slot for him to know you needed your room cleaned.  Which was not a big deal, but on Carnival it always seems like my room steward had a sixth sense and felt a disturbance in the force when I left the room and it was dirty.

       

•     Steak House (Extra Charge Venue)
• I have been to the Point Steakhouse on the Carnival Conquest and Chops Grille on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas.  Both venues are $30 per person extra and offer a more intimate dining experience.  The food is prepared to order instead of mass produced and the wait staff provides more personalized service.  The reason I give the nod to Carnival is the overall quality was much like going to a high end steak house.  Actually a couple months after our cruise on the Carnival Conquest me and my wife went to Ruth Chris and both walked away disappointed because of how good everything was at the Point Steakhouse.  So what’s better you ask.  Well for one Carnival uses aged beef so the Filet that we had on Carnival was more tender and flavorful.  Also on Carnival the wait staff works in teams; so as soon as you sit down and order your drink they start taking away wine glasses, filling water glasses and the bread starts to fly around the table.  It’s one of those WOW factors you would expect from a venue like this.  The desserts are also to die for I am a huge cheese cake fan and the slice of cheese cake that comes with your meal at the point is big enough for 3 and it was some of the best tasting cheese cake I had ever had.  Chops Grilled didn't offer cheese cake and their "specialty" was a Crème Brule it tasted good, but didn't seem fitting for the venue.  Now I know this segment was waited heavily towards Carnival so I want to make sure I say that if you are sailing on either Carnival or Royal Caribbean and you enjoy Steak and Lobster that you check out the specialty steak house.  You will enjoy yourself on either line.

 

What I have tried to do in the blog is give a couple of strengths that each line has over the other.  I personally walked away from this cruise completely happy with what Royal Caribbean has to offer, but completely confident I would be sailing with Carnival again as well.  There are so many new and exciting ships that have either just started sailing or are about to be sailing that being loyal to one brand doesn't seem possible.  I look forward to sailing on Royals new mega ship the Allures of the Seas and Carnivals newest ship the Carnival Breeze.  I even hope to check out NCL's the Norwegian Epic and Norwegian Breakaway.  With regard to the mainstream cruise lines each line has their strengths and weaknesses and as long as you go with an open mind and have fun attitude I'm confident you will enjoy yourself.