RCCL Serenade of the Seas or CCL Victory?

I already have the Serenade booked and have a sweet hump cabin. BUT just noticed that they replaced the Destiny with Victory out of San Juan. The itineraries are almost the same, except RCL has a sea day and Victory ports overnight in Dominica. I could save a couple of hundred on CCL and could probably get a good cabin location. Any thoughts?

PS. I am also posting this on the CCL board.

Speaking from personal experience, Carnival can be a good fit but, you need to go with the right mind-set. Carnival has worked long and hard to try to shed the party image of years gone by and, I think they're doing a pretty good job.

I have sailed Carnival Victory and these are my thoughts about the ship:

• The decor, well, it's not my taste but, did I let it deter the enjoyment of my cruise? No.
  
• Believe it or not, I found Carnival's food, slightly better than Royal Caribbean. Now, I know, food is highly subjective, so that's why I'm saying that's my personal taste.
  
• Fellow passengers, well, this where the differences begin to show. We met some very nice people and we met types we'd never normally associate with other than being stuck on the same cruise ship. Where the kids any rowdier or louder than they are on a Royal Caribbean ship? No. Was the dress code any more relaxed or not followed on Carnival vs Royal Caribbean, no, not really. I think my biggest grip was a couple of loud mouth, know everything types that we had to listen to every dinner as they were seated directly behind us. However this could have happened on any cruise line so I can't really hold Carnival responsible for that one.
  
• I found the entertainment about the same on both lines but, I do believe Carnival has a slightly better system as shows ALWAYS follow dinner, even if there is only one show for the evening, it's a late show. That's just one of my personal quirks, I like the shows after dinner, not before hand.
  

So I hope this helps with your decision and, I"m sure others will be posting their experiences too. Regardless of what you decide, have a wonderful cruise!

I've sailed on both ships and Serenade gets my vote hands down. The Victory, like the rest of the CCL fleet is very gaudy in decor. The primary color used is Emerald Green- it's everywhere. Overall, I find the service, ship amenities, entertainment and overall atmosphere on RCI better than CCL. If money is an issue and you can save $$ by taking CCL, then that's a personal decision for you to make. Personally I prefer RCI over CCL.

txwildflower2002 wrote:

I already have the Serenade booked and have a sweet hump cabin. BUT just noticed that they replaced the Destiny with Victory out of San Juan. The itineraries are almost the same, except RCL has a sea day and Victory ports overnight in Dominica. I could save a couple of hundred on CCL and could probably get a good cabin location. Any thoughts?

PS. I am also posting this on the CCL board.

We've sailed Carnival a few times but, every time we vow never again, we always hope it will be a different experience than the last time but it never happens. As stated above the ships are gaudy, and, overall RCI beats them in just about every department. So unless cost is a huge issue, I'd stick with Royal Caribbean.

I'm staying with the serenade!

You want a good and wonderful ship, TAKE THE SERENADE OF THE SEAS.