How does Carnival compare to DCL?

[TXDCLfan]

You can usually tell the popularity of a certain product by the number of units that are bought each week. I would guess the Carnival probably loads about 50 passengers to DCL's 1 every week, month or year. Because of the passenger counts I think that one of the most popular cruise lines is the Carnival fleet of ships. Numbers talk and opinions walk.

keep on walkin Edd

 

[jdb in AZ]

Carnival has a lot more ships than DCL, so of course they have more passengers each week. It's o.k. to prefer other cruise lines to DCL -- that will make it easier to schedule our next Disney cruise.

 

[bdink921]

We've sailed DCL and CCL. Our CCL was a 7 nighter with 4 ports and we really had a blast. I went in with really low expectations and Carnival exceeded them on all counts -- and then some. I looked for the negative things you hear people see on CCL and didn't find any of it to be true (at least on our cruise). Food, service and staff all around were great. The only downside was that DS (10 at the time) did not enjoy the kid's club too much -- said it was too babyish. We cruised in the summer and got such a good price that we were able to get our Disney fix at WDW for 3 nights. We all agree that was our best family vacation to date and we would definitely sail Carnival again.

That said, we have no real preference when it comes to cruise lines -- whatever ship/itinerary looks good to us at the time we want to sail.

 

[BigDisneyOE]

Thanks to everyone who contributed. I wanted opinions from previous travellers on both lines who are on the Disboards, which is what I got. I'm not too interested in stats as I used to be a HoD of Business Research and can pull down those from many different places and they are, in the main, slanted or sample sizes are non-comparible. I just wanted real life opinions from those who've done both lines. I'm really happy with the mixed opinons and thank everyone for their help and contributions.

 

[moobear67]

We went on a carnival cruise in June and loved it. The crew was extremely nice, the food was great, there were lots of families on the ship, the kids activities were fantastic, and believe it or not, I did not see one drunk person the whole cruise. It was one of the best vacations we ever had. What I would recommend is that you figure out which Carnival ship you would want to sail on, and then go to Cruise Critic and research that particular ship. Each ship has it's own "personality" in terms of who sails on the ship with you (for example you get mostly southerners on a cruise out of Charleston, SC versus New Yorkers on a cruise out of NYC), the reputation of the crew, and of course the time of year (spring break brings more partying college students versus summer which brings more families. If you sail during the school year, you get less children and more seniors, etc...).

 

[Edd]

Another fact based on numbers. Carnival has built and put into service approximately 11 ships while DCL has put into service only three ships in the same amount of time. DCL has one new ship coming out in the next 6 years and Carnival has planned three new ships in that period of time. Numbers seem to be more of a reality than some opinions I noticed lately.

 

[woody73]

Carnival Cruise Lines' parent company is Carnival Corporation, which operates 11 cruise lines brands worldwide:

• AIDA Cruises, Germany
• Carnival Cruise Lines, United States
• Costa Cruises, Italy
• Cunard Line, United Kingdom
• Holland America Line, United States
• Ibero Cruises, Spain
• P&O Cruises, United Kingdom
• P&O Cruises Australia, Australia
• Princess Cruises, United States
• Seabourn Cruise Line, United States

The combined brands of Carnival Corporation control a 51.6% share of the total worldwide cruise market.

Source: Wikipedia

Woody

 

[twindaddy]

Carnival Cruise Lines' parent company is Carnival Corporation, which operates 11 cruise lines brands worldwide:

• AIDA Cruises, Germany
• Carnival Cruise Lines, United States
• Costa Cruises, Italy
• Cunard Line, United Kingdom
• Holland America Line, United States
• Ibero Cruises, Spain
• P&O Cruises, United Kingdom
• P&O Cruises Australia, Australia
• Princess Cruises, United States
• Seabourn Cruise Line, United States

The combined brands of Carnival Corporation control a 51.6% share of the total worldwide cruise market.

Source: Wikipedia

Woody

You would think with so much of the market share, they could provide a better experience than being a drunken party barge that many describe. Or many that is what they figure the Carnival brand is, while Princess would be the old fart brand ECT (my mom just got off Princess, and in reading her navigators, it sure seemed to be)

 

[Maximus68]

Not even close. Don't waste your time. Disney is a class unto itself.

 

[Edd]

Carnival provides a lot better class of cruising than DCL could ever provide. Drunkedness on the Carnival ships is the figment of a Disney loyalist's mind, as I have seen drunkedness, in equal degrees, on the DCL ships also. Disney Cruise Lines is in a class all by itself. To much money for the value received. That is the class.

I have cruised on the two small ships, Magic and Wonder, and found them to be boring and crowded. Absolutely unacceptable for the money spent. Don't get me wrong the ship is really nice and the crews are very friendly, but all the other ships and cruise lines either compare or exceed the Disney cruise standards.

 

[lovethedream]

Thanks to everyone who contributed. I wanted opinions from previous travellers on both lines who are on the Disboards, which is what I got. I'm not too interested in stats as I used to be a HoD of Business Research and can pull down those from many different places and they are, in the main, slanted or sample sizes are non-comparible. I just wanted real life opinions from those who've done both lines. I'm really happy with the mixed opinons and thank everyone for their help and contributions.

Well..... What did you decide?????

 

[lovethedream]

Carnival Cruise Lines' parent company is Carnival Corporation, which operates 11 cruise lines brands worldwide:

• AIDA Cruises, Germany
• Carnival Cruise Lines, United States
• Costa Cruises, Italy
• Cunard Line, United Kingdom
• Holland America Line, United States
• Ibero Cruises, Spain
• P&O Cruises, United Kingdom
• P&O Cruises Australia, Australia
• Princess Cruises, United States
• Seabourn Cruise Line, United States

The combined brands of Carnival Corporation control a 51.6% share of the total worldwide cruise market.

Source: Wikipedia

Woody

Woody, all that mattered to me, in the end, is what ship did I have the most fun on. For me, that was our 2 DCL cruises. Carnival was second with RCCL bringing up the rear.

 

[lovethedream]

You would think with so much of the market share, they could provide a better experience than being a drunken party barge that many describe. Or many that is what they figure the Carnival brand is, while Princess would be the old fart brand ECT (my mom just got off Princess, and in reading her navigators, it sure seemed to be)

So far, the two times I have seen somebody that had toooooo much to drink was on our Carnival cruise. The first was in the hall by our stateroom and that one was no big deal, but we did have an "encounter" in another part of the ship with someone that had a bit much to drink that kind of spoiled the evening.

Even taking that into account, I would still take a Carnival cruise over a RCCL cruise. We have been discussing future cruises and RCCL really does not even come up in the conversation. Carnival and DCL seem to be the top two at the moment and the one cruise we currently have booked is with DCL.

We tend to favor the smaller ships!

 

[woody73]

Woody, all that mattered to me, in the end, is what ship did I have the most fun on. For me, that was our 2 DCL cruises. Carnival was second with RCCL bringing up the rear.

That's a good perspective.

I've sailed on all the mass market cruise lines, except Carnival (DCL, RCCL, NCL, HAL, Princess, and Celebrity).

I hope to sail Carnival one day, to see for myself how it compares.

Woody

 

[Rob_Misses_Fla]

My family and I just got back from our 4th DCL cruise and loved it. It is meant to be a family cruise, and comes with a Di$ney price tag. We have sailed on CCL back in 2005, it was much less expensive, and I got what I paid for.

I booked CCL directly with a telephone agent, so I would expect that she knew what the details of that cruise would be. Well, it was June 2005 on the Inspiration. What I did not learn until on board, was that it was mostly chartered to a group of high school seniors (800+). I'm not sure of the policies or legalities, but once we were in international water they let them drink and go crazy, I'll spare the details. It was absurd! And, as far as dining went, the food was just okay, service was bad and the staff had horrid body odor.

All that said, there are people who that type of cruise will appeal to, we weren't. I'll stick with DCL, and will be back with them in Feb 2012.

 

[Maximus68]

It's like comparing White Castle to a fine Italian restaurant. Of course it 50:1 booking. For 500 bucks you can go awAy for 3 weeks on Carnival. And they throw in BOZO THE CLOWN!!!

 

[Euphscott]

Comparing Carnival to DCL is nearly impossible to do without more details. Carnival is a huge mass market line and their products are quite varied from the older ships to their newer.

I would argue that the newer Carnival ships are on par with Disney in many ways - and in some instances better than Disney (their food, their bedding, entertainment options...). However, much of the decision has to come down to what you want from your cruise. I'd recommend you go find a good travel agent that can help you take a look at what you want to do, what is important to you, and then hopefully find a good match.

I absolutely love DCL and if you nailed me down, it would be my favorite line. But I have sailed on Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival in addition to DCL - and I've not once had a bad cruise experience. Each line has quality products and you can have a great time on any and all of them.

Happy hunting and hopefully you find the cruise that fits you best!

 

[Euphscott]

You would think with so much of the market share, they could provide a better experience than being a drunken party barge that many describe. Or many that is what they figure the Carnival brand is, while Princess would be the old fart brand ECT (my mom just got off Princess, and in reading her navigators, it sure seemed to be)

Having sailed Carnival 4 times and Princess 3 times, those would not be true stereotypes at all. They both are great products and when you factor in the cost savings versus DCL - very much a wonderful vacation!

 

[Maximus68]

So you are telling me that the same people that stay in the grand Floridian . Contemporary,polyenesian...are the same people taking Carnival cruises? I HIGHLY doubt it. To me you, cannot compare the 2. It like comparing those hotels to the ALL star sports. So it's the same people right? Sorry. I didn't see any outta control drunks on DCL. ITS FINE FOR 22 year old couples. They can afford it. They wouldn't know the difference anyway.

 

[disneyfan888]

Some responses are saying if you have kids then go to Disney. Well be don't have any children yet and Disney is the only way we cruise. Carnival is not our style. Whether you have children or your the big kids on vacation no one will treat you better than Disney. Of course if you do have kids, no one will cater to them better than Disney. We have a nephew who we will be taking on the Disney Cruise as a graduation gift in 2 yrs. We asked him which cruise he wanted to do since it is his present and his one and only answer was DISNEY! I really don't think their is any comparison.