CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[cruiser21]

That's exactly what I did. 4 nights at the Polynesian and then a week on the Magic. Now it's hard to settle back into real life.


If someone is spending 50k on a cruise, I doubt they are buying a Kia Sorrento to drive around in. Different strokes for different folks.

I think no matter how wealthy you are you'd have to say 50k is pretty extreme. Some people really love the mouse. I think there's nicer suites on other cruise lines for a lot less money.

 

[cruiser21]

Agreed! We would look at other cruise lines for sure. My mom is actually sailing on the Norwegian Bliss to Alaska next month with 3 friends so I can’t wait to hear about it. I think it’s the last Alaska sailing of the year and she got a great deal. She’s definitely not a “cruise snob” but she’ll be candid about the ship and service so can’t wait to hear the review.

This is a brand new ship. She's not slumming it by any means. Disney does a great job of maintaining their ships, but the Wonder is starting to show her age.

 

[RedSox68]

I think no matter how wealthy you are you'd have to say 50k is pretty extreme. Some people really love the mouse. I think there's nicer suites on other cruise lines for a lot less money.

And that "lot less money" will allow you to take an extra cruise or vacation.

 

[Ben E N]

I think no matter how wealthy you are you'd have to say 50k is pretty extreme. Some people really love the mouse. I think there's nicer suites on other cruise lines for a lot less money.

Yes, a fool and his money are soon parted. I have no idea how much money my mother in law inherited, but I know she could afford to take us all on a Disney cruise, but is smart enough to realize the lack of value in it. Her father taught her that financial responsibility, and I am glad it was passed on to my wife as well. Its why I posted the price differences, we have all been able to discuss what else could be done with that money.

 

[RedSox68]

Just curious -- since it was discussed earlier that we're not allowed to discuss NCL too much on the boards, is there a place I can do a trip report when we return about the Escape? Or is that discouraged also.

 

[belle032]

This is a brand new ship. She's not slumming it by any means. Disney does a great job of maintaining their ships, but the Wonder is starting to show her age.

Exactly! Brand new ship but thousands less than a DCL for the same itinerary. I love Disney as much as anyone here, but if I can cruise 3 times and take a WDW vacation in one year vs. 1 DCL cruise, I know what I’m spending my money on.

 

[RedSox68]

Exactly! Brand new ship but thousands less than a DCL for the same itinerary. I love Disney as much as anyone here, but if I can cruise 3 times and take a WDW vacation in one year vs. 1 DCL cruise, I know what I’m spending my money on.

 

[cruiser21]

Just curious -- since it was discussed earlier that we're not allowed to discuss NCL too much on the boards, is there a place I can do a trip report when we return about the Escape? Or is that discouraged also.

I've read at least one NCL trip report in the trip report section. If you do a search on NCL you will see that NCL is discussed a lot on these boards. I think it would be impossible to keep this board all DCL all the time. There's way too many experienced cruisers on this thread that are branching out due to cost or they want an itinerary that DCL doesn't offer.

 

[Pens Fan]

Just curious -- since it was discussed earlier that we're not allowed to discuss NCL too much on the boards, is there a place I can do a trip report when we return about the Escape? Or is that discouraged also.

I've never gotten the impression we weren't allowed to discuss NCL on here. I posted a thread about a year ago comparing our NCL cruise to the DCL ones we'd taken. There were a lot of others who posted their experiences on it as well. No one "official" had any issue with it, and it stayed fairly active for quite a while. You just have to ignore the "I only want to talk about Disney" posters. Honestly, I don't think there are that many of them anymore. More and more, you are seeing people open themselves up to new cruise lines. Whether it's because of pricing, itineraries, or just the plethora of new exciting ships out there, I think a lot posters are interested in hearing about what's past the Mickey curtain.

I'd love to read about your Escape cruise. That's one ship we'd love to try out some time. I love this thread as well, and we don't even have any plans to be on Carnival in the near future (though maybe some day!!). It's fun to read about new ships and places.

 

[mevelandry]

Yikes I did not know the splendor did away with the adult pool.
I'll have to look into that.
I cruise both lines. I love both lines.
My DW prefers Disney.... I want to cruise more...so I really like Carnival. For my Disney veranda cabin rate, similar sailing, similar season, I can sail w/ carnival twice or get a super suite and really live it up.

80 Days till I sail on the Fantasy again.

From what I understand Carnival received lots of backlash for that, so the adult pools are now "kids friendly" on peak times but remain "adults only" the rest of the time.

Are you sailing on the Disney Fantasy or Carnival Fantasy?

 

[mevelandry]

Just curious -- since it was discussed earlier that we're not allowed to discuss NCL too much on the boards, is there a place I can do a trip report when we return about the Escape? Or is that discouraged also.

I may have seen a thread or two about NCL... Maybe on those threads?

 

[cruiser21]

To be honest with you the only reviews or trip reports I read are the ones that involve another cruise line. I've been on all the Disney ships multiple times. The Disney reviews don't interest me. I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels this way.

 

[martinm]

From what I understand Carnival received lots of backlash for that, so the adult pools are now "kids friendly" on peak times but remain "adults only" the rest of the time.

Are you sailing on the Disney Fantasy or Carnival Fantasy?

The Disney Fantasy! In 2013 I was onboard and we joined the FE group. I bought gummy wrist bands but did a poor job proof reading... The band reads Disney Fatasy 7-27-13

Still have mine Cant wait to get back onboard.

 

[martinm]

This is a brand new ship. She's not slumming it by any means. Disney does a great job of maintaining their ships, but the Wonder is starting to show her age.

I love the wonder but you don't have to look to hard for spots that need help.

 

[RedSox68]

I love the wonder but you don't have to look to hard for spots that need help.

I felt that way when we sailed in 2007! Noticed a vast difference between the Wonder upkeep and the Magic -- but then again the Wonder gets more of a beating rotating sailings in a week's time.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Agreed! We would look at other cruise lines for sure. My mom is actually sailing on the Norwegian Bliss to Alaska next month with 3 friends so I can’t wait to hear about it. I think it’s the last Alaska sailing of the year and she got a great deal. She’s definitely not a “cruise snob” but she’ll be candid about the ship and service so can’t wait to hear the review.

I have a couple of friends who did Bliss last month. They are veteran cruisers who typically sail RCCL and Cunard, they both absolutely loved Bliss, said it was a great ship and had awesome service. That’s what I’d be going on if we were going back to Alaska. Plus flying to Seattle is about half the price of flying to Vancouver.

 

[mevelandry]

Hi guys,

Almost done preparing the itinerary.

We picked YTD, there are no speciaty dining on our ship* and there are usually no show hours set in stone. I noticed that since we are staying on the ship in Nassau and going to HMC and Grand Turk, outside of the "All Aboard" time, there was not much to add to the schedule.

You know what that means, right? We have to go with the flow. No overplanning this time.

Which is a breath of fresh air compared with DCL where I had to stay up until midnight to book a cabana, palo brunch, meeting characters, etc... Rush to clean up after the beach so we could make it in time for dinner...


I had previously booked a cabana in Grand Turk (and almost booked one in HMC as well) but cancelled it because we want to be free to explore on our first visit there.

Cabanas in both destination were easily available. They don't seem to be that popular even though they are much more affordable than Cabanas at Castaway Cay.


So in the end, the only "events" appearing on my schedule on port days are:

-Wake-up & breakfast

-Arrival time (to destination)

-All aboard time


And on a sea day:

-Wake-up & Brunch


I kept empty spots to write down activities when I receive the Fun Times...

It feels weird compared to the overplanning. Preparations for this trip is so relaxing!


*Even where there is specialty dining on the Canival ships, reservations. are quite easy to get.

 

[braysmommy]

I've been meaning to post about our Carnival Horizon cruise this pat May. Our first non-DCL cruise. It was myself, DS11, and my mom. We were on the transatlantic to NY.

Things we liked:
Food option at breakfast and lunch are sooo much better.
Family Harbor area was very nice in the morning to grab coffee ect.
Water slides
PRICE...

Things we didn't like:
Pool was not heated! Brr
Dinner in main dining room. Seemed repetitive but quality of food was on par with DCL
Evening shows: I realized it wasn't going to be Disney but the quality of magicians ect were not that great. Also, the seating was horrible and not enough
Family programming: A lot of times it seemed like there wasn't a lot to do. Wish during the day they would show a movie on outdoor screen but only at night.

Also we had a family harbor cove balcony to start....avoid these rooms at all cost! We were moved out of family harbor area on day 5 due to the noise. Our room was under the main prep kitchen and there is zero insulation which is a bit shocking on a new ship. It would start at 5:30 AM and would not stop most of the day. My son woke up thinking we had hit an iceberg. I will say Carnival guest services was amazing handling this. They showed us a new room and helped us move and I thought that would be it. The next morning they called to see how we were and took charges from specialty dining off our account and gave us a very large credit.

 

[mevelandry]

I've been meaning to post about our Carnival Horizon cruise this pat May. Our first non-DCL cruise. It was myself, DS11, and my mom. We were on the transatlantic to NY.

Things we liked:
Food option at breakfast and lunch are sooo much better.
Family Harbor area was very nice in the morning to grab coffee ect.
Water slides
PRICE...

Things we didn't like:
Pool was not heated! Brr
Dinner in main dining room. Seemed repetitive but quality of food was on par with DCL
Evening shows: I realized it wasn't going to be Disney but the quality of magicians ect were not that great. Also, the seating was horrible and not enough
Family programming: A lot of times it seemed like there wasn't a lot to do. Wish during the day they would show a movie on outdoor screen but only at night.

Also we had a family harbor cove balcony to start....avoid these rooms at all cost! We were moved out of family harbor area on day 5 due to the noise. Our room was under the main prep kitchen and there is zero insulation which is a bit shocking on a new ship. It would start at 5:30 AM and would not stop most of the day. My son woke up thinking we had hit an iceberg. I will say Carnival guest services was amazing handling this. They showed us a new room and helped us move and I thought that would be it. The next morning they called to see how we were and took charges from specialty dining off our account and gave us a very large credit.

I wonder if they repeated the same mistake they did on the Vista with the seating in the main lounge? If they did: yuck. I despise that concept and I think everyone complained about it on the Vista.

What shows did you see?

You remind me that I should mention that dive-in movies only happen at night.

Have you and your kid tried the Thrill Theater? Rope Course/sports deck? Did he go to the club?

Glad Carnival helped you (and were generous) with the noise problem. This is not the first time I've heard about that problem. Hopefuly this is something they will fix in the future.

Where was your room situated? (My observation so far is that unless you are completely aft or fwd, there is a lot of noise).

Which specialty dining restaurants have you tried and how were they?

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I wonder if they repeated the same mistake they did on the Vista with the seating in the main lounge? If they did: yuck. I despise that concept and I think everyone complained about it on the Vista.

What shows did you see?

You remind me that I should mention that dive-in movies only happen at night.

Have you and your kid tried the Thrill Theater? Rope Course/sports deck? Did he go to the club?

Glad Carnival helped you (and were generous) with the noise problem. This is not the first time I've heard about that problem. Hopefuly this is something they will fix in the future.

Where was your room situated? (My observation so far is that unless you are completely aft or fwd, there is a lot of noise).

Which specialty dining restaurants have you tried and how were they?

Liquid Lounge is exactly the same on Horizon as it is on Vista, not the best at all. Maybe they’ll fix it on Panorama.

One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard about Family Harbor area on both ships is galley noise from above. It seems to be more of a problem where the suites are located.