1/6/07 Eastern-Live DCL/Carnival Comparison Report

[HollyTyler]

Tons of people watching the football game on the jumbotron last night:

 

[mruhaak]

The room I looked at was for ages 2-5 and the next group was 6-8, but I didn’t bother checking that one out. It was one room about the size of 2 of my staterooms combined. Against the walls were all sorts of containers and shelves of basically baby toys. There’s nothing for the older kids of that age group to climb on and nowhere for them to really run. My son would be absolutely miserable after what he’s used to on DCL. Granted, I realize Disney caters to kids and Carnival isn’t geared towards kids’ interests, but I just wasn’t expecting such a major difference in the kids’ clubs. So if I ever cruise with Carnival again, it will definitely be without my son again because there isn’t much to occupy him.

Wow... I definitely won't be taking my sons on this ship if that's the choice. Looks like a great ship for adults though.

Great pictures of San Juan! Thanks!

 

[HollyTyler]

Wow... I definitely won't be taking my sons on this ship if that's the choice. Looks like a great ship for adults though.

Great pictures of San Juan! Thanks!

I totally agree. Not a great set up for kids. The teenagers have a great club that is attached to the arcade, but I overheard a girl who looked to be about 11 telling her mom that she didn't want to come back from San Juan too early and be stuck sitting around bored on the ship. She said, "Why would I want to come back onboard where there's nothing for me to do?" I'm sure she'd have a blast on Disney!

 

[HollyTyler]

View from Paradise Point on St. Thomas. Our ship is the one on the far right.

 

[HollyTyler]

The bar up on Paradise Point. My friend Cindy is on the left.

 

[HollyTyler]

Here's me and my new boyfriend in St. Thomas:

 

[HollyTyler]

Greetings from the Caribbean!

 

[mruhaak]

He's quite handsome. But kind of skinny.

Hope you continue to have fun! I'm completely jealous as I sit here in the cold midwest!

 

[JanDave]

Hi Holly: Glad you had a great time at your port stops. I didn't realize you'd be at St. Thomas or I would have mentioned stopping at the 19th Hole -- a great little bar in downtown Charlotte Amalie. The bar itself holds about 8-10 people and you can't help notice all the police and fire badges from around the US behind the bar.

Yep, it has been a cold one in the midwest/Michigan.

Glad Cindy enjoys her St. Thomas souvenir.

Jan

 

[firemans wife]

Holly-I am really enjoying your report!! Can't wait for more!! Sounds like you are having a good time. I have never taken my kids on carnival. I have heard both good and bad things about their kids clubs. I think once you've been on Disney, nothing can compare. I prefer to take the kids on Disney and go on Carnival when its just DH and I. I think when the kids are older we may even try a RC or Princess cruise.

I will not be on the November 24th bannana head reunion cruise We will be going again in November of 2008. I think some of the bananna heads will be on that cruise also. Seems tooo far away!! DH and I may do a cruise by ouselves before that.

Jan-Looking forward to seeing you too! I willhave to drop you an email to see when we can get together.

Lorna

 

[suzannef]

Approaching San Juan:

Wow tha's beautiful. Is it some type of fort??

 

[HollyTyler]

Wow tha's beautiful. Is it some type of fort??

It is a fort, but I'm not sure of the name. I only know it was built by the Spanish. I didn't tour it but it was so beautiful that I just had to take pictures of it. It sure makes a striking sight when approaching port.

 

[birkner]

It is a fort, but I'm not sure of the name. I only know it was built by the Spanish. I didn't tour it but it was so beautiful that I just had to take pictures of it. It sure makes a striking sight when approaching port.

Was it San Cristobal Fort?

 

[HollyTyler]

I stood on deck and watched as we left St. Thomas. Carnival Glory was still docked and as we pulled out and around it, the Liberty blasted its horn 4 times in a row, then the Glory did the same 4 long horn blasts. Then they each did one back and forth a few times and everybody on both ships was on deck waving. It sure made me miss Disney's horn! Then after a while, I got to watch the pilot jump onto the pilot boat, the pilot waved at our ship and the captain blinked the deck lights back at him.

The show tonight was some sort of singer/entertainer with an orchestra. I didn't go because that didn't even sound good to me. I'm glad I skipped it because I overheard lots of people talk about how lousy it was. I even spoke to a couple in the elevator who were talking about how they were going to go get pizza instead of going to the show because they aren't happy with any of the shows so far. Tomorrow's show is big band music. I'll be skipping that too. I like seeing plays or musicals, which they haven't had yet. I suppose that's tied to my Disney addiction. Well, at least they had a comedian and ventriloquist one night. That helps.

Instead of the show, I hung out in the hot tub watching Independence Day on the jumbotron. There was nothing to do after that though (I've had enough of the casino.

Stopped for frozen yogurt before heading down to our room. And that's when I noticed another difference: the Liberty doesn't have any outdoor seating for the buffet restaurant like Disney does! And the buffet is 2 levels instead of 1.

 

[HollyTyler]

Was it San Cristobal Fort?

It might be. I actually didn't even know it was there until I saw it on our approach. Unfortunately, I didn't really check the excursions out very well ahead of time because I knew I didn't want to do any this trip---just hang out and relax for a change.

 

[wendygirl]

subscribing ... thanks for all the info and pics. Looks and sounds like you are having a wonderful time! Enjoy!

 

[HollyTyler]

I discovered another way Carnival doesn't compare to Disney. The breakfast buffet is pretty sad. Up to this point, I had been eating at the abbreviated version of the buffet they set up near one of the pools, which consists of an omelet bar, pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, bagels, cereals, and yogurt. I thought I'd try the real buffet this morning because I was craving fresh fruit. The only difference in the full buffet is that it has a few fruits: brown & spotted bananas, cantelope, honeydew melon, and grapefruit. Now if I remember correctly, Disney has way more types of fruits and I know they have tons of other kinds of hot foods, such as breakfast sandwiches, a few different kinds of eggs, and lots more that I can't think of right now. The main point is that the breakfast buffet here is pathetic.

I have some more pictures of parts of the ship that I'll post later closer to evening. Right now Antigua is calling me, so I must go explore!

Jan: sorry to hear it's so cold back home! I guess I took the warm weather with me. I'll try to bring some back home again.

 

[HollyTyler]

So we arrived in Antigua around 7am today and after breakfast I wandered around off the ship to see if there's anything I just had to buy. I didn’t stay off the ship very long. “Hey, pretty lady, I have pretty dress I made just for you.” “Hey, I have just your size in all shirts, come see.” “I have pretty jewelry just for you…you come buy.” AAACCKKKK! Get me back on the ship! I couldn’t help thinking they’d put a voodoo hex on me or something if I ticked them off. Just that type of atmosphere. After being surrounded by about 7 vendors at one point and feeling slightly trapped, I got the heck out of dodge and back on the ship. Didn’t spend one red penny.

I had much more fun on the ship. The slide is only open on port days from noon to 5, so I took full advantage of that opportunity! What a blast! Kept doing it until my legs wouldn’t do the climb anymore. I discovered that the pools and slide are salt water. This was my first time in a salt water pool and I wasn’t happy at first, until I saw how fun it is to just float forever with no effort to stay up at all. And each pool has fresh water showers in the corner in case you need to wash the salt water off your face.

You can get towels near the pool to use, but each guest is provided with huge, thick, blue beach towels to use during the trip. They’re in the room at the beginning of the cruise and each day the room steward replaces the used ones with fresh ones. They’re great towels and can be bought for $22. Also, I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but the towels in the bathroom are much thicker and softer than Disney’s (sorry to say). And each guest is given a nice thick bathrobe to use during the stay. That’s a nice touch, even though I don’t use it. I don’t hang out in the room long enough to bother.

 

[HollyTyler]

Pulling around Carnival Glory as we left St. Thomas last night.

 

[HollyTyler]

Our towel frog last night: