CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[mevelandry]

WOW, nice avatar! Lookin' good.

Awwww... Thank you very much.

(Where do I send the cheque?)

 

[tampabrat22]

I will have to go back and read through all 104 pages on this thread but for now I just wanted to say that I love both Disney & Carnival cruise lines! We have sailed on Disney twice, Royal Caribbean twice and Carnival 16 times. We have sailed during Spring Break, Halloween, Thanksgiving and around Christmas. I am always defending Carnival because they do have a bad reputation with some people, but the most vulgar and drunken crowds I have every witnessed were on Royal Caribbean. Drunks, obnoxious people and people displaying way too much "public displays of affection" than we ever needed to see. On our few Carnival spring break cruises the crowd was younger and lively but nothing too bad. Either way, everyone has a preference but I love seeing this thread and hope it opens more people to trying Carnival, because they really are The Fun Ships!

 

[mevelandry]

I will have to go back and read through all 104 pages on this thread but for now I just wanted to say that I love both Disney & Carnival cruise lines! We have sailed on Disney twice, Royal Caribbean twice and Carnival 16 times. We have sailed during Spring Break, Halloween, Thanksgiving and around Christmas. I am always defending Carnival because they do have a bad reputation with some people, but the most vulgar and drunken crowds I have every witnessed were on Royal Caribbean. Drunks, obnoxious people and people displaying way too much "public displays of affection" than we ever needed to see. On our few Carnival spring break cruises the crowd was younger and lively but nothing too bad. Either way, everyone has a preference but I love seeing this thread and hope it opens more people to trying Carnival, because they really are The Fun Ships!

Welcome! Among those 104 pages you will find interesting reviews. I like what this thread has become with time. In the beginning, there were some arguments between some hardcore DCL fans and us but please be patient as the thread is now zen and we like it that way.

It's sad that Carnival still has a bad reputation because my experience has been the opposite.

It's my third Carnival cruise so far (two more Carnival cruises to come and two RCCL. Unfortunately no plans to go back to DCL for now as nobody around me is interested in paying those prices).

I still haven't witness anything shocking or disruptive drunk people. Au contraire, we've had a fantastic experience every time.

At this point my husband and I will be sailing on one of the oldest ship (Sensation) and while we know it won't look brand new, we are now very confident that we'll have a great cruise.

You are right, they really are the fun ships!

P.s.: We are interested in your reviews and experiences if you wanna share.

 

[mevelandry]

I can't remember if I told you about this but when I cruised on the Victory, I had a chat with one of the waiters near the Aft Pool and he was telling me how he liked working on small ships and how they had more time to give to the guests on small ships.

On Carnival, I have only sailed on the Victory and the Vista. I honestly did not feel a difference as everybody was extremely nice and friendly on both.

As I am about to sail on a smaller ship, I wonder if those who sailed on different sizes of ship have noticed a difference?

Thanks in advance.

 

[cruiser21]

I will have to go back and read through all 104 pages on this thread but for now I just wanted to say that I love both Disney & Carnival cruise lines! We have sailed on Disney twice, Royal Caribbean twice and Carnival 16 times. We have sailed during Spring Break, Halloween, Thanksgiving and around Christmas. I am always defending Carnival because they do have a bad reputation with some people, but the most vulgar and drunken crowds I have every witnessed were on Royal Caribbean. Drunks, obnoxious people and people displaying way too much "public displays of affection" than we ever needed to see. On our few Carnival spring break cruises the crowd was younger and lively but nothing too bad. Either way, everyone has a preference but I love seeing this thread and hope it opens more people to trying Carnival, because they really are The Fun Ships!

Do you have to pay for a lot of the extra stuff on Royal? Someone just told me that by the time you pay for all the extras it cost as much as Disney. My first thought was all that extra stuff is optional and DCL doesn't have rock walls, ice rinks etc...so it's not like your getting that stuff for free on DCL. I try to wrap my brain around people's logic, but sometimes it's hard. Yes everything is included on DCL...but wait what is there besides a pool, slide and mini golf. I think sometimes people will come up with the most illogical reasons how other cruiselines are comparable in price. Even so far as to calculate room size down to the square inch.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Do you have to pay for a lot of the extra stuff on Royal? Someone just told me that by the time you pay for all the extras it cost as much as Disney. My first thought was all that extra stuff is optional and DCL doesn't have rock walls, ice rinks etc...so it's not like your getting that stuff for free on DCL. I try to wrap my brain around people's logic, but sometimes it's hard. Yes everything is included on DCL...but wait what is there besides a pool, slide and mini golf. I think sometimes people will come up with the most illogical reasons how other cruiselines are comparable in price. Even so far as to calculate room size down to the square inch.

I have only once paid for anything extra on Carnival and that was some chocolate covered strawberries. All the cruise lines provide food, entertainment, etc that is included. They also all offer paid extras. I don't feel the need to pay for anything over my cruise fare at this time. Most of the extra pay stuff on ships can also be found on land so I don't feel left out or cheated because they want to make a profit from something. I don't believe for one minute that adding a bunch of extra stuff on RCCL or CCL or NCL will ever come up to the base price of DCL.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I can't remember if I told you about this but when I cruised on the Victory, I had a chat with one of the waiters near the Aft Pool and he was telling me how he liked working on small ships and how they had more time to give to the guests on small ships.

On Carnival, I have only sailed on the Victory and the Vista. I honestly did not feel a difference as everybody was extremely nice and friendly on both.

As I am about to sail on a smaller ship, I wonder if those who sailed on different sizes of ship have noticed a difference?

Thanks in advance.

I have been on small ships (Elation, Fascination) and the biggies (Breeze, Vista). I have noticed that dining room service can be a bit more chaotic and slower on the big ships. It has never affected our vacation or experience in a negative way. The staff on all our cruises has always been great.

We leave tomorrow for Miami and then board Vista on Saturday!

 

[mevelandry]

Do you have to pay for a lot of the extra stuff on Royal? Someone just told me that by the time you pay for all the extras it cost as much as Disney. My first thought was all that extra stuff is optional and DCL doesn't have rock walls, ice rinks etc...so it's not like your getting that stuff for free on DCL. I try to wrap my brain around people's logic, but sometimes it's hard. Yes everything is included on DCL...but wait what is there besides a pool, slide and mini golf. I think sometimes people will come up with the most illogical reasons how other cruiselines are comparable in price. Even so far as to calculate room size down to the square inch.

I agree with you as from what I see as I am slowly preparing my first RCCL cruise (and the preliminary planning I had done when I was supposed to sail on the Anthem), my impression is that what is not included on RCCL (north star, indoor skydiving, skating rink, etc.) don't even exist on DCL anyway!

As for the square footage of the cabins... I would probably sleep in a closet if they charged me half the price of a cabin so I am not very influenced by "bigger cabin" defence. LOL

 

[mevelandry]

I have been on small ships (Elation, Fascination) and the biggies (Breeze, Vista). I have noticed that dining room service can be a bit more chaotic and slower on the big ships. It has never affected our vacation or experience in a negative way. The staff on all our cruises has always been great.

We leave tomorrow for Miami and then board Vista on Saturday!

Lucky you! Have a great cruise!

 

[mevelandry]

SURVEY

Are you interested in a ROLL CALL section a the beginning of this thread?

A) Yes!!! I like to send wishes to people before their cruise and read their reviews.

B) I'm fine with or without it.

C) I don't care about other people's cruises and reviews and I don't want to give you my dates either.


P.s.: As you can imagine, I would vote A.

 

[hdrolfe]

I'd vote A as well. I think it would be fun to see who is going when and on what ships

 

[daisyx3]

I have seen some price posts lately, and I just wanted to add to that. My DH and I are booked on the 3 night Fantasy this July and this will be our DCL grand slam trip. Next June I booked a 6 night caribbean cruise on the Carnival Horizon in a Havana Cabana (meaning no one under 12 allowed in that area until at least 7PM) for the same price. So double the nights, newer room category, same $. I hope to still be on here to report the differences at the end of next June (and of course on the Fantasy cruise mid July).

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Sure, I would participate so A.

 

[SonyaShay]

Do you have to pay for a lot of the extra stuff on Royal?

I am still in early stages of research for Royal but from what I can tell there is not enough extras to jump to the cost level of DCL. There are more restaurants for a cost but you don't have to eat in those. You do pay for sodas but it isn't that much for a length of cruise package. You are going to pay for spa services on either line so that doesn't come in to play, unless there are people comparing costs of services. And from what I have seen the prices of adult drinks seem to be a little lower than DCL (this might not be the case across the entire fleet but from what I have spot checked it is valid).

I am excited to try a new line but nervous at the same time.

SURVEY
Are you interested in a ROLL CALL section a the beginning of this thread?

A) Yes!!! I like to send wishes to people before their cruise and read their reviews.
B) I'm fine with or without it.
C) I don't care about other people's cruises and reviews and I don't want to give you my dates either.

P.s.: As you can imagine, I would vote A.

If it is there I will participate

Totally out of subject...

I just retired my cat's avatar. Now you have to deal with my castaway-cay-way-too-happy face!

I have a feeling I won't be able to recognize my own replies for a while.

I am having a hard time remembering it is you with this new photo!

 

[cruiser21]

I have only once paid for anything extra on Carnival and that was some chocolate covered strawberries. All the cruise lines provide food, entertainment, etc that is included. They also all offer paid extras. I don't feel the need to pay for anything over my cruise fare at this time. Most of the extra pay stuff on ships can also be found on land so I don't feel left out or cheated because they want to make a profit from something. I don't believe for one minute that adding a bunch of extra stuff on RCCL or CCL or NCL will ever come up to the base price of DCL.

I wanted to challenge the guy on it, but people get so defensive about dcl I think they lose the ability to do simple math. I think one thing that contributes to it that cruises are paid for so far in advance they forget what they actually paid. The just know when the walk on the ship there will be very lfew extra charges. They lose sight of the fact that the paid double or triple up front. People love all inclusive. I think the easiest way to remedy that is to put enough on your onboard account to cover all the extras you want to do.

 

[mevelandry]

I have seen some price posts lately, and I just wanted to add to that. My DH and I are booked on the 3 night Fantasy this July and this will be our DCL grand slam trip. Next June I booked a 6 night caribbean cruise on the Carnival Horizon in a Havana Cabana (meaning no one under 12 allowed in that area until at least 7PM) for the same price. So double the nights, newer room category, same $. I hope to still be on here to report the differences at the end of next June (and of course on the Fantasy cruise mid July).

What type of cabin do you have on the Fantasy? ... Because while I haven't tried it for myself, I have heard that Havana Cabana were pure heaven and I've watched it from the Aft Pool on the Vista: nice and quiet place. I'm curious to see how you think they compare.

 

[mevelandry]

I wanted to challenge the guy on it, but people get so defensive about dcl I think they lose the ability to do simple math. I think one thing that contributes to it that cruises are paid for so far in advance they forget what they actually paid. The just know when the walk on the ship there will be very lfew extra charges. They lose sight of the fact that the paid double or triple up front. People love all inclusive. I think the easiest way to remedy that is to put enough on your onboard account to cover all the extras you want to do.

I think I know who you are referring to.

When someone says: "I want Disney & cruising at the same time and I'll pay the price they ask for." I'm perfectly fine with it. No other cruise line can give you Mickey. That is incontestable.

I only have a problem when someone criticizes other cruise lines (when they have not tried them) in order to justify their choice to sail with DCL. It doesn't make any sense to me.

When someone uses weird arguments like calculating square ft in a similar room category (when we all know that for the price you pay for that cabin on DCL, you can pretty much get a bigger cabin, a suite or some extra perk on another cruise line...!) I honestly don't know what to make of it.

***

On side note, I always buy some "cruise cash" in advance in order to cover my expenses before a cruise. That way, everything feels "included" while I am cruising.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

So we had a $50 OBC for our room and now it looks like some of the port taxes/fees were refunded to us. We now have $97 plus change in OBC. We aren't big spenders on board but I could go for an extra mocha chocolate getaway!

 

[mevelandry]

So we had a $50 OBC for our room and now it looks like some of the port taxes/fees were refunded to us. We now have $97 plus change in OBC. We aren't big spenders on board but I could go for an extra mocha chocolate getaway!

Pssstttt! If you like Mocha... I recommend the Ghirardelli Mocha Frappe they have at the Café.

 

[jenf22]

I wanted to challenge the guy on it, but people get so defensive about dcl I think they lose the ability to do simple math. I think one thing that contributes to it that cruises are paid for so far in advance they forget what they actually paid. The just know when the walk on the ship there will be very lfew extra charges. They lose sight of the fact that the paid double or triple up front. People love all inclusive. I think the easiest way to remedy that is to put enough on your onboard account to cover all the extras you want to do.

I'm all about the math and don't get why people are so defensive about it. We're sailing Royal in October for 7 nights in a balcony room, 2 adults, 1 child for $2300. But, but... DCL's room is 20 sq ft bigger! But... soda is free on DCL! Seriously people. If you want Disney, just say it. We'll have characters on Allure. And for $10pp we get a character breakfast. We didn't have a character breakfast on the Magic or Fantasy. And DCL is FAR from all inclusive. We've had the biggest last day bills on DCL. Sorry for the rant