CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[mevelandry]

There is life after Disney! Kids are adaptable too. I'm all about the best bang for my buck and DCL is just not it when I can still go to the same islands, eat good food and have fun on any cruise.

We have an 8 night Southern booked 4 people, balcony on deck 8 June 2018 and our base fare is $3989, taxes, port fees and prepaid gratuities add about $925. With the Carnival Early Saver program I can get price drops in my category until 2 days before sailing (already had 4 since booking). I've priced DCL for summer and I have never seen anything for an inside, much less a balcony, under about $8000 before gratuities are thrown in.

Go, try something new.

I would also add that if there is one ship that I think a DCL fan could like among all the Carnival Ships, it's the Vista. It is very colorful and full of activities for everybody.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I would also add that if there is one ship that I think a DCL fan could like among all the Carnival Ships, it's the Vista. It is very colorful and full of activities for everybody.

Totally agree. We were on a Med cruise so didn't get to do everything on the ship and this time we have 3 sea days and plan to do all of the things we missed.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I guess I'm just a little DIsney brainwashed because it's hard for me to imagine another cruise line catering to kids as well as they do. But those pools and slides look much better than anything Disney has!

My kids are a little older than yours but they greatly like the Vista better than the Fantasy. If they are bored in the Vista I'd be shocked, she's an amazing ship!!!

 

[Neptune's Fork]

I would also add that if there is one ship that I think a DCL fan could like among all the Carnival Ships, it's the Vista. It is very colorful and full of activities for everybody.

Does it not sail during the summer? I went to the Carnival site to see what the prices were for a Vista cruise and saw every date up to May, then every date from September on, but nothing in the summer months.

 

[mevelandry]

Does it not sail during the summer? I went to the Carnival site to see what the prices were for a Vista cruise and saw every date up to May, then every date from September on, but nothing in the summer months.

I know she's relocating to Galveston at some point and will be replaced by the Horizon in Miami (which will be similar + Dr. Seuss waterworks. Saw the plans. Looks awesome.)

 

[cruiser21]

Does it not sail during the summer? I went to the Carnival site to see what the prices were for a Vista cruise and saw every date up to May, then every date from September on, but nothing in the summer months.

It moves to Galveston. The new ship the horizon will move to from NYC to Miami. I'm not sure wher the Breeze is going.

 

[mevelandry]

I guess I'm just a little DIsney brainwashed because it's hard for me to imagine another cruise line catering to kids as well as they do. But those pools and slides look much better than anything Disney has!

I'll quote my husband (when we decided to try Carnival last year):

"We'll try it... And if it ends up being a mistake then at least it won't be an outrageously expensive mistake".

 

[Neptune's Fork]

I'll quote my husband (when we decided to try Carnival last year):

"We'll try it... And if it ends up being a mistake then at least it won't be an outrageously expensive mistake".

So what was his verdict?

 

[mevelandry]

So what was his verdict?

Oh my husband doesn't want to go back to DCL. He says his heart belongs to Carnival now. The entertainment offered by Carnival suits him better (comedy shows, sports, sports related activities, casino --he likes poker-- etc.) and the prices being lower, we have extra money to spend.

I have to mention that we came back home from the Carnival cruises without any charge on the credit card.

Even better: I came back home with enough non-spent money to cover my part of our next cruise. (Which will be on a fresh out of dry dock --and according to John Heald new Fun Ship 2.0-- Carnival Victory going to Key West. Been pushing back the cruise to Key West for 2 years and it's been on my bucket list forever!)

I am still a fan of DCL and could sail DCL in the future although I would have to stick to 3 and 4 nights with my friend that are into Disney.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

So what was his verdict?

Oh my husband doesn't want to go back to DCL. He says his heart belongs to Carnival now. The entertainment offered by Carnival suits him better (comedy shows, sports, sports related activities, casino --he likes poker-- etc.) and the prices being lower, we have extra money to spend.

I have to mention that we came back home from the Carnival cruises without any charge on the credit card.

Even better: I came back home with enough non-spent money to cover my part of our next cruise. (Which will be on a fresh out of dry dock --and according to John Heald new Fun Ship 2.0-- Carnival Victory going to Key West. Been pushing back the cruise to Key West for 2 years and it's been on my bucket list forever!)

I am still a fan of DCL and could sail DCL in the future although I would have to stick to 3 and 4 nights with my friend that are into Disney.

My husband also does not want to go back to DCL. And he absolutely loved DCL originally. He would probably still go on it if I really wanted to, but I am very ambivalent on DCL now. He is not partial to Carnival, but now that he has tried other cruise lines he thinks DCL is a rip off. He was especially shocked by how much better the food is on other lines.

 

[cruiser21]

I'll quote my husband (when we decided to try Carnival last year):

"We'll try it... And if it ends up being a mistake then at least it won't be an outrageously expensive mistake".

Vacations are supposed to fun, relaxing and easy to pay for. I see a lot of people stress over every detail of their vacation. I have feeling a lot of that has to do with the monetary investment they are making. Taking a Disney cruise is a big investment for a family. We'll probably do one more Disney cruise with the 4 of us. I may do a cruise here and there with my younger son, but for the most part the cost to cruise DCL for 4 people is just beyond what I want to pay anymore.

The Vista doesn't look too risky. It looks like a beautiful ship.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Vacations are supposed to fun, relaxing and easy to pay for. I see a lot of people stress over every detail of their vacation. I have feeling a lot of that has to do with the monetary investment they are making. Taking a Disney cruise is a big investment for a family. We'll probably do one more Disney cruise with the 4 of us. I may do a cruise here and there with my younger son, but for the most part the cost to cruise DCL for 4 people is just beyond what I want to pay anymore.

The Vista doesn't look too risky. It looks like a beautiful ship.

I think you are right that a lot of people fret over every vacation detail with DCL because at DCL pricing they want to maximize as much as they can. (I do not have the personality for this and we very much wing our vacations.) For us it is not primarily affordability, there are just other things we want to do with our money. I think a lot of people get to that point, where they realize it is just more than they want to pay for what they are getting. This is much different for people who have access to the heavily discounted rates DCL offers to certain groups in the population. And I think many of the DCL cheerleaders on DISboards have access to those low rates.

 

[mevelandry]

My husband also does not want to go back to DCL. And he absolutely loved DCL originally. He would probably still go on it if I really wanted to, but I am very ambivalent on DCL now. He is not partial to Carnival, but now that he has tried other cruise lines he thinks DCL is a rip off. He was especially shocked by how much better the food is on other lines.

Are we married to the same man?

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

There is life after Disney! Kids are adaptable too. I'm all about the best bang for my buck and DCL is just not it when I can still go to the same islands, eat good food and have fun on any cruise.

We have an 8 night Southern booked 4 people, balcony on deck 8 June 2018 and our base fare is $3989, taxes, port fees and prepaid gratuities add about $925. With the Carnival Early Saver program I can get price drops in my category until 2 days before sailing (already had 4 since booking). I've priced DCL for summer and I have never seen anything for an inside, much less a balcony, under about $8000 before gratuities are thrown in.

Go, try something new.

I guess I'm just a little DIsney brainwashed because it's hard for me to imagine another cruise line catering to kids as well as they do. But those pools and slides look much better than anything Disney has!

One of the reasons we hesitated to start gravitating away from DCL was because we were worried we were shortchanging the kids. Our Carnival cruise was the first non DCL cruise where the kids liked the kids club more than DCL. We were definitely surprised. Cheapest cruise line (excluding MSC lol) = happiest kids. We really were very, very surprised. Who knew that kids were less susceptible to marketing than adults!!

 

[mevelandry]

Vacations are supposed to fun, relaxing and easy to pay for. I see a lot of people stress over every detail of their vacation. I have feeling a lot of that has to do with the monetary investment they are making. Taking a Disney cruise is a big investment for a family. (...)

It is. DH and I can't imagine booking a 7 nights on a Disney Ship... We would have to be ready to sail only once a year, which we are not: we want to travel 2 to 4 times a year.

 

[mevelandry]

I think you are right that a lot of people fret over every vacation detail with DCL because at DCL pricing they want to maximize as much as they can. (I do not have the personality for this and we very much wing our vacations.) For us it is not primarily affordability, there are just other things we want to do with our money. I think a lot of people get to that point, where they realize it is just more than they want to pay for what they are getting. This is much different for people who have access to the heavily discounted rates DCL offers to certain groups in the population. And I think many of the DCL cheerleaders on DISboards have access to those low rates.

Yeah. Military rates and Florida resident rates sound great (+ I can imagine the money you save on hotels and flights when you don't need to fly!)

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Are we married to the same man?

I did not see your husband's face but they do look about the same size! Mine is not a huge eater but he loved the food on the Vista. We generally do not drink so it wasn't the bars that he liked.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Yeah. Military rates and Florida resident rates sound great (+ I can imagine the money you save on hotels and flights when you don't need to fly!)

Plus interline rates

 

[mevelandry]

I did not see your husband's face but they do look about the same size! Mine is not a huge eater but he loved the food on the Vista. We generally do not drink so it wasn't the bars that he liked.

Mine love the Funship and Punchliner drinks. Ok, me too. I can't have more than one drink a day but they taste good!

 

[kaseyC]

One of the reasons we hesitated to start gravitating away from DCL was because we were worried we were shortchanging the kids. Our Carnival cruise was the first non DCL cruise where the kids liked the kids club more than DCL. We were definitely surprised. Cheapest cruise line (excluding MSC lol) = happiest kids. We really were very, very surprised. Who knew that kids were less susceptible to marketing than adults!!

My DDs first non DCL cruise was in 2010 on the NCL Epic’s inaugural TA crossing. 7 nights -Southampton to NYC. No ports, all sea days. That’s when we learned the girls are cruisers...they just love to cruise, period! Extremely liberating because now most of our cruises are based on itinerary except spring break cruises where the goal is to sail anywhere warm. We have and will continue to sail DCL when it works for us but I’m way over the pay double or triple in some cases (since we sail in Concierge suites) for DCL.