Our family has been on several cruises out of NYC with Carnival, and Norwegian, and now RC. We were told that Royal Caribbean is more expensive, but would be a total upgrade to the other more moderately priced cruise lines. We were really ready to be blown away by an this amazing cruise line. After this five day cruise, quite frankly I really didn't see any difference in all three.

Food on RC was "ok", not terrific unless you paid extra for the specialty restaurants. Service was fine, but no better than Carnival or Norwegian. Drink prices were the same. We found there to be LESS activities available during the evenings on RC than on other cruise lines...less comedy shows, musical reviews, game shows etc. On our five day cruise there was a fantastic production of Saturday Night Fever during the last night, but few other options on the first four nights of the cruise, in fact NOTHING on the first night out of NY. We have four children aged 22-8 and found the camp activities less engaging on RC than on the less expensive cruises...in fact the teen clubs on RC were dead, where on Carnival they were lively and hopping. The spa and fitness center on RC were basically the same as on the less expensive cruises, the on board shops, photographers also the same. Cabins, pool, and public rooms all the same. The only real difference that we noticed was perhaps the "class" of passengers on RC were a bit more fancy and refined than on the less expensive cruises.

So, the bottom line......for the extra money, was Royal Caribbean really an upgrade? My conclusion is definitely not, unless the class of passengers is an issue for you, I would save the money and use it for a cabin upgrade on one of the less expensive cruise lines.