CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[mcd2745]

Last day of work before my vacation! In a week from now, I'll be boarding the Mariner of the Seas (we're staying at Universal for a few days before the cruise).

I'm very excited and I'm not gonna lie... As "budget friendly" cruise lines, I can't wait to see how RCCL and Carnival compare! I'm kind of expecting something in between Carnival and Disney Cruise Line when it comes to decor and entertainment.

I can't wait to write a "Triple Threat Match Review" when I come back

EDIT: We won the Royal Up bet and have just been upgraded to a "Spacious Panoramic Ocean View Stateroom". I'm so excited. I've always wanted to experience one.

We stayed in one of those on Freedom of the Seas (the largest, "wedge"-shaped room at the corner). It was great.

 

[quickcat]

Ok, I am currently on the Mariner of the Seas and you have a new RCCL fan in the house.

Can hardly wait to hear how you liked it! We are considering switching from the Dream to try out CocoCay.
Have fun! So jealous- it’s snowing here in Minnesota! Would love to be somewhere with palm trees

 

[lklgoodman]

Can hardly wait to hear how you liked it! We are considering switching from the Dream to try out CocoCay.
Have fun! So jealous- it’s snowing here in Minnesota! Would love to be somewhere with palm trees

My dd would LOVE to have snow right now, not me. We live in Ohio and it's still been in the 80s all week. I'm soooooo ready for cooler, Fall weather. My SIL lives in Albert Lea, MN. My dd always sulks when she hears about all the snow her cousins get every winter, lol! Oct. is too early for snow!!!

 

[mevelandry]

Can't wait to read your review. Our neighbors LOVE Disney and have done lots of Disney cruises. They did a RCCL cruise this summer and said they will never sail DCL again. Not sure which ship they were on, just know it was one of the really big ones with all the fun stuff.

Hi!

I'm with your neighbors.

We will most likely never sail with DCL again.

Everything that Carnival did not have and that I missed from DCL, Royal Caribbean has it (for 1/2 of the price).

So, for us, it will only be new ships from Carnival + RCCL ships from now on.

 

[mevelandry]

Can hardly wait to hear how you liked it! We are considering switching from the Dream to try out CocoCay.
Have fun! So jealous- it’s snowing here in Minnesota! Would love to be somewhere with palm trees

All I have to say is that for us, CocoCay > Castaway Cay or any other private island we have tried so far.

While it is a tiny bit smaller... It's a whole destination in itself.

They have EVERYTHING (lockers, showers, name it...). The waterpark ($) is great, the beaches are great (mostly sandy, surrounded by rocks that attracts lots of fishes so it's perfect for snorkeling as well), the Oasis pool is gigantic and very nice.

The food they serve there puts Castaway Cay to shame.

Also, the drink packages and the wifi work there (a bit spotty but we managed to make it work when we needed it).

My recommendation: Book a 4 nights that will do a "double dip" there.

If it wasn't for the fact that I have a girls trip booked that stops in CocoCay next year, I'd book another one right away.

Oh and the Mariner is a fantastic ship. Loved it.

 

[mevelandry]

My dd would LOVE to have snow right now, not me. We live in Ohio and it's still been in the 80s all week. I'm soooooo ready for cooler, Fall weather. My SIL lives in Albert Lea, MN. My dd always sulks when she hears about all the snow her cousins get every winter, lol! Oct. is too early for snow!!!

I live in Canada... I like snow at Christmas, hate it the rest of the year. LOL

 

[mevelandry]

FYI...

We have tried Go Port (Canaveral) as shuttles to and from the airport... It was really affordable (15$/pp each way). They were very well organized, fast and efficient. We won't use any other companies from now on.

 

[Mika02]

Hi!

I'm with your neighbors.

We will most likely never sail with DCL again.

Everything that Carnival did not have and that I missed from DCL, Royal Caribbean has it (for 1/2 of the price).

So, for us, it will only be new ships from Carnival + RCCL ships from now on.

So I did a ship tour for Disney Magic this past Sat and I'm quite torn between this and the Carnival Vista for the same time frame. Pricing is similar but you get 3 extra days on the Vista. I'm really tempted to jump ship for Spring Break. If I don't do it might do it for Christmas since I have my kids next year. I wished they had more things to do for 18 year old on Carnival even the Serenity Deck is 21 plus.

Question for the folks who have traveled out of Galveston. For anyone that arrived the day before Cruise departure did you stay near the Galveston port or near the Houston airport? If you stayed near the airport did you find it took a long time to get to port with Houston traffic?

 

[belle032]

Hi!

I'm with your neighbors.

We will most likely never sail with DCL again.

Everything that Carnival did not have and that I missed from DCL, Royal Caribbean has it (for 1/2 of the price).

So, for us, it will only be new ships from Carnival + RCCL ships from now on.

Wow, that's amazing. And those Coco Cay photos look so awesome! Definitely more and more tempted to give RCL a try. Can't wait to hear your review!

 

[mevelandry]

Wow, that's amazing. And those Coco Cay photos look so awesome! Definitely more and more tempted to give RCL a try. Can't wait to hear your review!

I plan to do a complete review very soon with lots of pictures. I'll post the link here.

But yes, if you like Carnival and Disney, I would recommend to give it a try. To me, it's the best of both worlds with a low price tag.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

A quick Valor review.

Size: It is a midsize ship and the usual Carnival design where you have to either walk through the casino to get places on Deck 5 or go up/down to get around. We just hold our breath and walk fast!

Pools: 1 aft for adults and 1 mid for everyone. This was a Fall Break week so it was pretty crowded. I didn't use the pools but most seats were occupied on our 2 sea days.

Food: Everything we ate was pretty good. We did MDR 4/5 nights. We are used to the menus so pretty much had our favorites. We always choose ATD and we ended up with 3 different wait teams. All were friendly and efficient and we had no complaints. We did Lido 1 night for dinner and there was an eclectic collection on the buffet. We never got to the pizza this trip but I did have tacos from Blue Iguana, a Guy's burger and a sandwich from the deli. We also did the Sea Day brunch once and MDR breakfast twice. I don't know why so many complain about Lido breakfast. There is literally every breakfast item you could want to choose from.

Entertainment: Saw 2 production shows and I still dislike them immensely. They are cheesy and the dancers/singers are never very good. We did spend every night at the Red Frog Pub listening to the house band Deep Blue Soul. People, they were put together by Carnival but the level of talent was amazing. The musicians could all be playing with some big names and the lead singers were phenomenal. Like, this group could stay together and go on the road. We had a blast and danced every night away. We also did the usual trivia and had lots of fun. I will say the CD was really annoying. His schtick got old fast.

Room: Our balcony cabin was on Lido deck. We were near the Atrium elevators and could hear noise when there was something big going on. It was only a couple of nights but I would definitely check my location and move away from the atrium area next time. We also had the usual rude door banging neighbors.

Boarding/Debarkation: Both the quickest ever. We had an 11:30-12 check in time and showed up about 11:15. We walked right through and into the terminal after parking the car. My mom uses a cane and after declining a wheelchair they still led us through the handicap line so she didn't have too long. Once we were checked in and made our way up the elevator they were already boarding out zone. We were literally on ship by 11:30! We did self assist when we returned and were off the ship and driving out of the garage at 7:30.

Ports:
Cozumel - We took a taxi to Paradise Beach. Spent a few hours lazy on lounge chairs, using the wonderful pool and snacking on nachos and quesadillas.
Progreso - We booked the Holy Guacomole, Salsa and Margaritas excursion through Carnival. We went to Kokomo Beach Club where we had a cooking class and made guacomole, salsa and 2 kinds of margaritas. After the class we had about 2 hours to use the beach and pool as well as enjoy the included buffet and 2 drink coupons that we were given. This was a really fun excursion and the beach was gorgeous.

We had a really great time. Can't wait for next years Mom/Daughter cruise.

 

[lklgoodman]

A quick Valor review.

Size: It is a midsize ship and the usual Carnival design where you have to either walk through the casino to get places on Deck 5 or go up/down to get around. We just hold our breath and walk fast!

Pools: 1 aft for adults and 1 mid for everyone. This was a Fall Break week so it was pretty crowded. I didn't use the pools but most seats were occupied on our 2 sea days.

Food: Everything we ate was pretty good. We did MDR 4/5 nights. We are used to the menus so pretty much had our favorites. We always choose ATD and we ended up with 3 different wait teams. All were friendly and efficient and we had no complaints. We did Lido 1 night for dinner and there was an eclectic collection on the buffet. We never got to the pizza this trip but I did have tacos from Blue Iguana, a Guy's burger and a sandwich from the deli. We also did the Sea Day brunch once and MDR breakfast twice. I don't know why so many complain about Lido breakfast. There is literally every breakfast item you could want to choose from.

Entertainment: Saw 2 production shows and I still dislike them immensely. They are cheesy and the dancers/singers are never very good. We did spend every night at the Red Frog Pub listening to the house band Deep Blue Soul. People, they were put together by Carnival but the level of talent was amazing. The musicians could all be playing with some big names and the lead singers were phenomenal. Like, this group could stay together and go on the road. We had a blast and danced every night away. We also did the usual trivia and had lots of fun. I will say the CD was really annoying. His schtick got old fast.

Room: Our balcony cabin was on Lido deck. We were near the Atrium elevators and could hear noise when there was something big going on. It was only a couple of nights but I would definitely check my location and move away from the atrium area next time. We also had the usual rude door banging neighbors.

Boarding/Debarkation: Both the quickest ever. We had an 11:30-12 check in time and showed up about 11:15. We walked right through and into the terminal after parking the car. My mom uses a cane and after declining a wheelchair they still led us through the handicap line so she didn't have too long. Once we were checked in and made our way up the elevator they were already boarding out zone. We were literally on ship by 11:30! We did self assist when we returned and were off the ship and driving out of the garage at 7:30.

Ports:
Cozumel - We took a taxi to Paradise Beach. Spent a few hours lazy on lounge chairs, using the wonderful pool and snacking on nachos and quesadillas.
Progreso - We booked the Holy Guacomole, Salsa and Margaritas excursion through Carnival. We went to Kokomo Beach Club where we had a cooking class and made guacomole, salsa and 2 kinds of margaritas. After the class we had about 2 hours to use the beach and pool as well as enjoy the included buffet and 2 drink coupons that we were given. This was a really fun excursion and the beach was gorgeous.

We had a really great time. Can't wait for next years Mom/Daughter cruise.

Sounds like a great time. We've only sailed Disney, so I'm used to how their MDRs work. On Carnival, can you just wait until dinner time and show up at whatever restaurant you'd like to eat at or do you have to make reservations beforehand. I'm assuming for the really fancy ones you need ressies, but how about the ones that are equivalent to the MDRs on Disney. I've booked a Jan 2021 cruise on Disney. I'm thinking once her Spring break finally gets announced I'll cancel it and book something either on Carnival or RCCL. Luckily I'll have a long time for research since her school system takes FOREVER to announce the calendars.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

A quick Valor review.

Size: It is a midsize ship and the usual Carnival design where you have to either walk through the casino to get places on Deck 5 or go up/down to get around. We just hold our breath and walk fast!

Pools: 1 aft for adults and 1 mid for everyone. This was a Fall Break week so it was pretty crowded. I didn't use the pools but most seats were occupied on our 2 sea days.

Food: Everything we ate was pretty good. We did MDR 4/5 nights. We are used to the menus so pretty much had our favorites. We always choose ATD and we ended up with 3 different wait teams. All were friendly and efficient and we had no complaints. We did Lido 1 night for dinner and there was an eclectic collection on the buffet. We never got to the pizza this trip but I did have tacos from Blue Iguana, a Guy's burger and a sandwich from the deli. We also did the Sea Day brunch once and MDR breakfast twice. I don't know why so many complain about Lido breakfast. There is literally every breakfast item you could want to choose from.

Entertainment: Saw 2 production shows and I still dislike them immensely. They are cheesy and the dancers/singers are never very good. We did spend every night at the Red Frog Pub listening to the house band Deep Blue Soul. People, they were put together by Carnival but the level of talent was amazing. The musicians could all be playing with some big names and the lead singers were phenomenal. Like, this group could stay together and go on the road. We had a blast and danced every night away. We also did the usual trivia and had lots of fun. I will say the CD was really annoying. His schtick got old fast.

Room: Our balcony cabin was on Lido deck. We were near the Atrium elevators and could hear noise when there was something big going on. It was only a couple of nights but I would definitely check my location and move away from the atrium area next time. We also had the usual rude door banging neighbors.

Boarding/Debarkation: Both the quickest ever. We had an 11:30-12 check in time and showed up about 11:15. We walked right through and into the terminal after parking the car. My mom uses a cane and after declining a wheelchair they still led us through the handicap line so she didn't have too long. Once we were checked in and made our way up the elevator they were already boarding out zone. We were literally on ship by 11:30! We did self assist when we returned and were off the ship and driving out of the garage at 7:30.

Ports:
Cozumel - We took a taxi to Paradise Beach. Spent a few hours lazy on lounge chairs, using the wonderful pool and snacking on nachos and quesadillas.
Progreso - We booked the Holy Guacomole, Salsa and Margaritas excursion through Carnival. We went to Kokomo Beach Club where we had a cooking class and made guacomole, salsa and 2 kinds of margaritas. After the class we had about 2 hours to use the beach and pool as well as enjoy the included buffet and 2 drink coupons that we were given. This was a really fun excursion and the beach was gorgeous.

We had a really great time. Can't wait for next years Mom/Daughter cruise.

Sounds like a great cruise. I too am always impressed by the musicians on carnival— really awesome- but not impressed by the production shows. We don’t really like watching shows so those do not matter to us. How were the cakes?

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

So I did a ship tour for Disney Magic this past Sat and I'm quite torn between this and the Carnival Vista for the same time frame. Pricing is similar but you get 3 extra days on the Vista. I'm really tempted to jump ship for Spring Break. If I don't do it might do it for Christmas since I have my kids next year. I wished they had more things to do for 18 year old on Carnival even the Serenity Deck is 21 plus.

Question for the folks who have traveled out of Galveston. For anyone that arrived the day before Cruise departure did you stay near the Galveston port or near the Houston airport? If you stayed near the airport did you find it took a long time to get to port with Houston traffic?

I would definitely do Vista over the Magic for the extra days. We cruised out of Galveston this past June and I would highly recommend staying close to the port the night before. We flew in the morning of our cruise, which I’ll never do again. It took us almost as long to drive to the port as it did to fly from AZ. That’s probably a little exaggerated but it was an almost 2 hour trip. They were doing some construction on the freeway and there was basically no where to go except through towns which traffic just sucked.

My 18 and 19 year olds love Vista, they both spent some time on Serenity, both just had hats and sunglasses on and kept to themselves and nobody said a word to them. It’s an awesome ship!!!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

So I did a ship tour for Disney Magic this past Sat and I'm quite torn between this and the Carnival Vista for the same time frame. Pricing is similar but you get 3 extra days on the Vista. I'm really tempted to jump ship for Spring Break. If I don't do it might do it for Christmas since I have my kids next year. I wished they had more things to do for 18 year old on Carnival even the Serenity Deck is 21 plus.

Question for the folks who have traveled out of Galveston. For anyone that arrived the day before Cruise departure did you stay near the Galveston port or near the Houston airport? If you stayed near the airport did you find it took a long time to get to port with Houston traffic?

Also, they can do the nighttime adult shows and casino.

 

[Mika02]

I would definitely do Vista over the Magic for the extra days. We cruised out of Galveston this past June and I would highly recommend staying close to the port the night before. We flew in the morning of our cruise, which I’ll never do again. It took us almost as long to drive to the port as it did to fly from AZ. That’s probably a little exaggerated but it was an almost 2 hour trip. They were doing some construction on the freeway and there was basically no where to go except through towns which traffic just sucked.

My 18 and 19 year olds love Vista, they both spent some time on Serenity, both just had hats and sunglasses on and kept to themselves and nobody said a word to them. It’s an awesome ship!!!

This is what I was afraid of I Googled and it was 1hr and 20 minutes without traffic. I will definitely look for a hotel near the port. I always come the night before or a few days before my cruise because I get anxiety lol. I know how that ride and traffic before a cruise can be scary lol we once stay in West palm and had to drive to Miami to our cruise on a weekday before a holiday traffic was terrible it was raining and I was trying not to freak out lol.

Omg thank you for your reassurance. I know my youngest 2 in the kids and teen club will have a ball but I'm worried my daughter who will be 18 and aged out of the teen clubs won't. Getting a Family Harbour room but I know although it says 24 hours sometimes it closes early so I don't want her to feel like she has no where to go since she's not a big pool person. I want to try a newer Carnival ship. I also have a deposit I put down on RCCL just have to choose a date and a ship. I would like to cruise way more often then I'm doing.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

This is what I was afraid of I Googled and it was 1hr and 20 minutes without traffic. I will definitely look for a hotel near the port. I always come the night before or a few days before my cruise because I get anxiety lol. I know how that ride and traffic before a cruise can be scary lol we once stay in West palm and had to drive to Miami to our cruise on a weekday before a holiday traffic was terrible it was raining and I was trying not to freak out lol.

Omg thank you for your reassurance. I know my youngest 2 in the kids and teen club will have a ball but I'm worried my daughter who will be 18 and aged out of the teen clubs won't. Getting a Family Harbour room but I know although it says 24 hours sometimes it closes early so I don't want her to feel like she has no where to go since she's not a big pool person. I want to try a newer Carnival ship. I also have a deposit I put down on RCCL just have to choose a date and a ship. I would like to cruise way more often then I'm doing.

I can verify that your youngest two will love the kids club on CCL. Ours do and have for 3+ years now. Our teen is the independent type and has never gone! (Well actually we have made him go on a few first nights but he walks in and out on us. Not even when he was younger, not on ccl or dcl, but he still LOVES cruising. Another thing he loves on CCL is dive in movies. In the evening if we want to find him, he is always up there under the stars (sometimes we are there too). He reads a lot too, gets coffee at the cafe, sits in the sun. Once we had friends on the same ship and he hung out with them some. There is someone who writes TR on dcl out of Galveston. It might be interesting for you to see the Galveston parts because she goes into a lot of detail. I will find the link.

Edit: here are a couple of links. She has at least one more of these if I recall. And I am pretty sure she stays at different hotels every time. If I recall, she stays in Galveston before and after, so if you are interested check the end of the report too!

https://disboards.com/threads/cass-rob-kira-christmas-on-the-wonder-get-the-fog-outta-here.3568293/
https://disboards.com/threads/cass-...-the-wonder-2018-third-times-a-charm.3727179/

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Sounds like a great time. We've only sailed Disney, so I'm used to how their MDRs work. On Carnival, can you just wait until dinner time and show up at whatever restaurant you'd like to eat at or do you have to make reservations beforehand. I'm assuming for the really fancy ones you need ressies, but how about the ones that are equivalent to the MDRs on Disney. I've booked a Jan 2021 cruise on Disney. I'm thinking once her Spring break finally gets announced I'll cancel it and book something either on Carnival or RCCL. Luckily I'll have a long time for research since her school system takes FOREVER to announce the calendars.

The MDR has 2 set seatings; early and late and would be about what you have experienced on DCL. The 3rd option is Anytime Dining where you can go to your assigned dining room anytime from 5:30-9:30. On 2 nights we did have a short wait of about 15 minutes. The other 2 nights we were seated right away. I know on a few of the bigger, newer ships you can make a reservation for what time you want to eat in the MDR but this ship did not have that feature.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Sounds like a great cruise. I too am always impressed by the musicians on carnival— really awesome- but not impressed by the production shows. We don’t really like watching shows so those do not matter to us. How were the cakes?

I hate to say it but we were not impressed with the cakes. I had read they were like the ones you get from the coffee place. I have had a couple and they are amazing. Sadly, every cake we tried was dry and tasteless. They all looked pretty though!

 

[lklgoodman]

The MDR has 2 set seatings; early and late and would be about what you have experienced on DCL. The 3rd option is Anytime Dining where you can go to your assigned dining room anytime from 5:30-9:30. On 2 nights we did have a short wait of about 15 minutes. The other 2 nights we were seated right away. I know on a few of the bigger, newer ships you can make a reservation for what time you want to eat in the MDR but this ship did not have that feature.

Thanks!!