I feel like I am cheating...

[Stephieann]

I have done 4 about to do my 5th DCL cruise, well family is wanting to do one together and not everyone can afford to do DCL so I am off to do Carnival (which i said i would never do). We will be on the Carnival Dream (at least its a Dream..LOL). I am just hoping I don't get my expectations to high on it being like DCL......and getting let down and ruin my vacation...I have a lot of time to research......

 

[nzdisneymom]

I have done 4 about to do my 5th DCL cruise, well family is wanting to do one together and not everyone can afford to do DCL so I am off to do Carnival (which i said i would never do). We will be on the Carnival Dream (at least its a Dream..LOL). I am just hoping I don't get my expectations to high on it being like DCL......and getting let down and ruin my vacation...I have a lot of time to research......

We did carnival dream over Christmas in 2011 and liked it so much we are doing it again. Let me find a link to our trip report on cruise critic to share with you.

Here it is: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1543345

 

[LenaN4fun]

I like carnival. I've done 6 carnival and 3 disney cruises to date. My next disney cruise is this sept and my next carnival is booked for sept 2014. My kids def prefer disney over carnival and because of that reason alone we will continue to search for deals to keep boarding disney. But if there isn't a deal presented then carnival gets my money because there is def more bang for the buck in my opinion.

 

[ktb2002]

I have done numerous Carnival cruises as well, twice on the Dream. 1 major difference to some is no free soda (you can take your own), and the only alcohol you can take is a bottle of wine per person over age 21. My son likes both cruise lines, however he prefers Disney right now. But I just took a Carnival this spring as a moms only trip, and we had a great time.

 

[Spurr002]

Well just hope that the Dream doesn't have the problems in port like she did earlier this year, and Carnival had to fly everyone out of the Virgin Islands back to Florida!

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

You feel like you are cheating? Perhaps you are and in a dirty hotel on the dark side of town... did not care for my CCL Dream in Feb. When debarkation day came, it was the first ever cruise I was absolutely fine and happy to get off of. The ports were wonderful. The service and cruise was the worst I have ever ever had. Our waiters shushed me when I went to ask for tea. I gave up and poured my own coffee in the MDR breakfast twice right off the waiters beverage station since literally no one was around. We had to take our desert to go or we never were going to make it to the family comedy show (we don't go to cussing comedy shows) so no coffee and desert which I love after dinner. On days they didn't have comedy, they would literally be flicking the lights off and on like GET OUT so they could prep the second seating, but we were still being served that's how behind they were. I waited in lines for everything. Lines for elevators, debark, embark, gift shop, hot dog, omelet station, ice cream machines? I can't ever remember waiting for the self serve ice cream...

This wasn't peak season. It was last week of Feb in to Mar 2. The drink sales, let me take your photo lady!!! As you walk down the promenade and most especially the aggressive bingo in your face since you are a captive audience holding your seats 30 min before the show, buy bingo cards!!! All the time, it was so all about the money every where you turn. I'm really sick of the smoke everywhere and making you walk thru the casino as the promenade to get to your show from dinner.

Trust me, as a Gold VFIP I have cruised CCL every year for yrs and I have had some super duper fun cruises. This yr the cutbacks are being felt by everyone. Read the cruise critic board. You will see posts like this from me but you will see a lot others too about crowds and service cut backs. The are understaffed and miserable and can't communicate with you and if you try to smile at them like thankful for their hard work, they won't even make eye contact with you. I've never felt so guilty for being on a 'luxury' vacation. They had a great sushi bar on the Conquest last yr, no sushi bar any more this yr and no one bring up taste bar because its just stupid. They close off the orange juice at 10:30 and go to tea so people can't mix their own stuff. They have always policed your bags and they have famous bacon police at breakfast buffet.

I did have some positives. Our entertainment staff was hilarious and the Legends auditions and show a big highlight. They had old time wild west photos and costumes that our whole group got in that were so much fun. The ports were nice except we had to all aboard Nassau before 2 which stunk for tours so BL was out until we came back with DC.

Ugh. You get what u pay for. I may never cruise CCL again, not without saving my well earned money for a fantastic DC or two first. If so, I will Never Never cruise on the Dream.

Two Dream cruises back to back within 5 weeks of each other. Talk about a contrast. And 1.5 weeks after we got off it, Mom called to say it was stuck due to mechanics in St Maarten and they were flying people back and cancelling the cruise after.

Never again.

 

[ilovetexas]

I have done 4 about to do my 5th DCL cruise, well family is wanting to do one together and not everyone can afford to do DCL so I am off to do Carnival (which i said i would never do). We will be on the Carnival Dream (at least its a Dream..LOL). I am just hoping I don't get my expectations to high on it being like DCL......and getting let down and ruin my vacation...I have a lot of time to research......

sounds like you already did....

 

[dbenlee]

We have cruised DCL 5 times and CCL 7 times. We always remind ourselves that it is apples and oranges. We try not to compare the two. Obviously we enjoy cruising CCL well enough to go back. Its like going on a land vacation that isn't Disney related. You can still have a lot of fun as long as you remember that it is not Disney and don't expect Disney. I always say to go on the other cruise lines and relax and enjoy the vacation, the ports and the aspects of the non Disney ships that aren't included in the Disney experience.

 

[moosecrouse]

I was always against cruising but a few yrs back my sister &BIL decided to switch up yearly WDW trip & cruise.
I decided to bite the bullet & join them cause i love spending time with my nephews. After the 2nd day I was a DCL convert. 3 trips down & 4th booked for next Aug (plz DCL come back to NYC!).
With most of my friends married & having kids I decided to venture on my second solo trip in Oct & am sailing on the Breakaway. Bit on the pricey side but much cheaper then DCL as a single. I realize its a new ship working out its kinks but with the early reviews I've been reading I have really scaled back my expectations. Going in hoping for the best but expecting the worst and it just doesnt feel right.
In a way a guess it kinda feels like I'm cheating. I was seduced by something
younger & more exciting when I know in the back of my mind I would be more then happy with what I'm familiar with. Lol
Guess I'll go with philosophy of any week of vacay is better then a week at work.

 

[LenaN4fun]

Well just hope that the Dream doesn't have the problems in port like she did earlier this year, and Carnival had to fly everyone out of the Virgin Islands back to Florida!

Iits funny that this trip trip was mentioned on several of these posts, but let me tell you that I know several people personally that were on this cruise and they said they l had a great time after the ship got stuck because carnival went all out comping everything and treated them light gold. Everything on the ship was working still so they thoroughly n joyed themselves.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

I've sailed 3 times on the Carnival Dream - love that ship.

Some things to look forward to:

Giant Waterslides

Anytime Dining (if you choose)

Tasting Bar in the evening

Pasta Bar, or Burrito Bar or Mongolian Wok or Deli for lunch

Serenity Area for Adults

Comedy Club in the evening

Superstar Kareoke in the evening (where you get to sing with a live band)

Hot tubs, hot tubs, hot tubs (they are everywhere on that ship!)

Comedy brunch on seas days (the comedy's a little odd because they can only do 5 min sets but the food is great! Try the diablo chicken or the bacon mac n cheese!)

Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

Incredibly soft, comfortable and luxurious bedding (I've never slept better than on that ship with those fluffy duvets)

If you want alcohol on board, you can also pre-order from Bon Voyage (full bottles). It's more than you would pay at the liquor store but much less than buying per drink. You need to call to order (only the wine is available on the website).

 

[amyh13]

Cruised the Dream for spring break this year and had a GREAT time.

 

[MoxieandPixie]

You don't have to feel like you are cheating. We go on RCCL sometimes and we really like them. I have never been on Carnival. NCL was a Loooooong time ago! My mother will be on her 12th cruise with us in less than 3 weeks...second DCL cruise. She isn't too picky b/c a bad day cruising is still better than a good day at work! She enjoyed one Carnival cruise and greatly disliked her second. Treat it like children...just because you have more than one you can't expect them to be the same. Enjoy them for what/who they are!

 

[Rogillio]

We've cruised DCL 9 time and took our first CCL cruise last month. We had a good time. It was not Disney and we missed the shows and the Disney atmosphere and attention to detail but we were on vacation and always have a good time on vacation!

For us, vacations are about family time. No working, no cooking, no cleaning, no internet, no FB, no email, no lawn to mow or house to vacuum or garbage to take to the curb. Every night we sat down together as a family and had dinner and good quality family time. We took shore excursions to Mayan ruins and rode 4 wheelers in the jungle.

I love our DCL memories and am so glad we cruise with Disney when the kids were growing up. But now that they are older our focus on vacations is different.

 

[chateau]

Met that ship and picked up some of her passengers in March... she'll likely be in good sailing condition after a work over.

 

[Silstone]

Curious to hear how your trip goes. Would love to save some $$ and attempt a different line, but DH (who used to be anti Disney until we did our first cruise last year) won't allow us to board anything BUT Disney. I agree with one post; different cruise lines is like different land parks. But there have been many parks that I've visited only once. WDW parks-enough to not need a map or time schedule or restaurant guide.

 

[Rogillio]

Curious to hear how your trip goes. Would love to save some $$ and attempt a different line, but DH (who used to be anti Disney until we did our first cruise last year) won't allow us to board anything BUT Disney. I agree with one post; different cruise lines is like different land parks. But there have been many parks that I've visited only once. WDW parks-enough to not need a map or time schedule or restaurant guide.

Good point. We enjoyed Busch Gardens but that was a one-and-done visit.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Btw, I had never done a Disney cruise at all when I went on the CCL Dream, so it's not a case of having Disney to compare it to and being let down. It was a case of having CCL to compare it to and being disappointed! When we went on the DCL Dream 5 weeks later, we had our 'eyes opened up' to the incredible experience Disney cruising was always said to be.

But I just wanted to clarify that it wasn't a case of thinking "I won't like it as much as Disney" since I hadn't been on Disney. MY Carnival Dream didn't even meet Carnival expectations...

Its kinda like going to your local water or amusement park. Its fun and at least you aren't at work. But it's not exactly free either (try buying snacks) and it can't in anyway shape or form compare to WDW. I'd still rather go to my local water park any day of the week then get on the CCL Dream again...

They dont even have comment cards any more. I'm sure I know why. They aren't going to like what they read.

 

[Rogillio]

Btw, I had never done a Disney cruise at all when I went on the CCL Dream, so it's not a case of having Disney to compare it to and being let down. It was a case of having CCL to compare it to and being disappointed! When we went on the DCL Dream 5 weeks later, we had our 'eyes opened up' to the incredible experience Disney cruising was always said to be.

But I just wanted to clarify that it wasn't a case of thinking "I won't like it as much as Disney" since I hadn't been on Disney. MY Carnival Dream didn't even meet Carnival expectations...

Its kinda like going to your local water or amusement park. Its fun and at least you aren't at work. But it's not exactly free either (try buying snacks) and it can't in anyway shape or form compare to WDW. I'd still rather go to my local water park any day of the week then get on the CCL Dream again...

They dont even have comment cards any more. I'm sure I know why. They aren't going to like what they read.

But it was cheap, right?!

On our CCL cruise evertime we saw something sub-par compared to DCL my wife and I would joking say and wink, "I still can't get over how much cheaper CCL is than DCL!" And we'd both chuckle. We had a lot of fun with it.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

But it was cheap, right?!

On our CCL cruise evertime we saw something sub-par compared to DCL my wife and I would joking say and wink, "I still can't get over how much cheaper CCL is than DCL!" And we'd both chuckle. We had a lot of fun with it.

Well its still cost us $1200 just to get on the ship in interior late Feb, and then add the tipping (unfortunate, but we won't remove it even with terrible serving but didn't add it on top of it) and all the cokes and any drinks my honey got. Probably $1500 just to Carnival alone (not talking tours and island stuff.) Going to look at a 4 Day DCL Dream WITH verandas, included soft drinks and inclusive Castaway Cay for less than $1400 including taxes. With one Sea day vs 3 on CCL yes, but a better deal all ways around as far as I'm concerned. Veranda and my own drinks and Castaway Cay with a few less sea days to kill (on CCL anyway, there is only so much trivia or bean bag tosses one will go to...)

We still had to drive 14 hrs there and back and that takes gas and oil change and frankly mental determination. I want to feel like my vacation was well spent, not thankful to be home like I was...

Basically, not that cheap, not to me. Not when I compare the incredible entertainment, 3 different great dining rooms, the impeccable serving staff I had, my own stocked bar, the food, non alc beverages, ice cream and snorkeling and transport at CC, movies on demand in the rooms, a full shower tub and not the metal bar and curtain that 'separates' your shower from your bathroom... in theory but just gets water every where instead, no I'm not convinced that a CCL for 7 interior beats a 4 day veranda with DCL. We always choose off season and out of hurricane season, so it might be different in summer, but I never chose summer.

Yay! I had to leave Bahamas at 2pm, had the privilege of serving my own drinks in the MDRs, ate 4 lil baby shrimp as an appetizer and had to order several, paid to have house sitters watch my dogs for longer, and was quite happy to be home after all of it (island tours notwithstanding as those were great)

What a bargain.