DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DISNEY AND CARNIVAL.
ok, both ships had some things we liked better than the other ship, so here goes,
I am trying to be factual to our experiences,not just what we like or dislike. But my personality does come into play, I cant help it.
Boarding process: Carnival
Carnival we were told to go and park in the parking garage because at 11:00 a.m. they were still debarking from the ship and that someone would tell us when we could drive around and drop off luggage and check in,
Parking spots were very small and we had a full size truck which was hard to find a spot we could get into. Most of the garage was filled due to another ship they had cruising from the port on a previous day.
we did find a spot and waited for an hour and nobody came to say anything to us, so we decided to carry our luggage to the drop off area since we didnt want to loose our parking spot and people were looking for spots.
There were 6 of us , so quite a bit of luggage and we did manage to get to the terminal which was a fair walk in the heat and humidity, We did find a porter there to take our bags across the street and into the terminal.
We then proceeded to go inside to check in. First part was quick but then they make you stop and fill out the Bahamas form, 2 pens for 25 people, then you are split two directions to check in according to your room number. we went a different way than our family which caused some problems because we were all on the same credit card accept one adult.
They did put us at the same check in spot where the lady had to redo our cards 4 times to get us right. I guess she was having a bad day, 5 or 6 others check in during the time she took to get us checked in,
You cant take any family photos in the terminal anywhere. Disappointing.
Finally down the walkway and onto the ship and of course the boarding photo. once across the gangplank people were standing around not sure where to go?? We saw an open door down the walkaway and proceeded there and yes we were to enter there, They took our cards and checked us on and took a photo to show up on our records.
Lobby was crowded and a bar on our left, seats full of people on our right with a narrow path to the other side of the room. Nobody to show us where to go?? Greg finally found a CM to tell us the direction of the elevators and what deck lunch was on.
DCL Boarding differences:
Bahamas papers filled out at home, saves time.
can go to any check in window and keep family together even with different room numbers
can take family photos in the terminal
quick check in process
No second photo at boarding
You are greeted individually as you enter the ship and explained where lunch is being served and where to go to find it and they will answer any other questions you may have.
No congestion by the door caused by people buying drinks.
DISNEY WINS BOARDING PROCESS
Food was great on the ship.
Both ships tie on that point
Service in the dining room:
Carnival we had a good waiter but very impersonal,
Drink server only asked one person if they wanted a drink from the bar, that is where you order pop from too. Never asked the other 5 of us if we wanted a drink.
Waiter brought water and iced tea if you wanted but had to ask for it.
Upon arrival (2nd night) Nobody to greet us and show us where our table was. we missed first night(read report for details). I asked one person at the desk where our table was, he pointed off to the right and said over there. No numbers on tables. So I asked a waiter there where our table was, explaining we were sent to that side of the dining room to find it. He pointed to the far left side and said I think it is over there. and then left us. So i proceed to go out of the door back to the far left side of the restaurant and found another waiter and asked him which table was ours. he pointed to the far wall and said it's over there against the wall. Ok, there are about 25 tables against the wall with no numbers and so how do I tell which is ours. Your the 3rd person I've asked to help. He just shrugged his shoulders, so I gave him a look that said 'show me the ### TABLE. He finally walked us over to the table or at least within 3 tables of it. Waiter never acknowledged us by name.
Disney Dining:
Every night you are greeted by name and taken to your table. wait staff calls you by name and remember how you like your food cooked.
drink server is back many times to check on your beverages for everyone!! Offers to get you more of everything or something idfferent if you dont seem to like what you have.
Dining room: Disney wins hands down
Buffet set up: Carnival:
food is very good.
Huge area, 2 large sides to the buffet. Mnay smaller places to get other foods around the buffet.
Pizza 24 hours, deli sandwiches, hot dogs stand, burgers, chinese food, italian foods, mexican food, all day long,plus the buffet. Nice selecion of sugar free desserts for DH. upper seating too with fish and chips stand and other sea foods.
No pop, just lemonade, coffee, one type tea, orange juice, apple juice ice water, milk and chocolate milk.
food was very good and well prepared.
CM's in there hardly ever smiled, they were polite if they spoke to you. very clean. but many CM's had their hair messy, shirts partially untucked, employees were eating i n the buffet with guests off to one side too.
Buffet on Disney: food is just as good, but not nearly the selection or seating arrangements.
more selection of teas and of course pop . CM's are nicer and clean cut and sharp looking.
Carnival has better set up and over all selection of food in the buffet.
Service, Disney is best .
Crew member in general:
On Carnival we saw many with dirty uniforms, untucked shirts, spiked hair with earrings on males, tongue studs, arguing between CM's, cussing in front of guests, reprimanding a CM in front of a room full of people which was unprofessional in my opinion. We saw crew smoking while on duty around the ship.
we were only greeted 2 or 3 times the entire trip. At photo shop we bought 4 different times and were only greeted and thanked one time!!
Boarding no one said welcome aboard, as we left no one said thankyou or come again or good bye. CM who took our cards to clock us off the ship was chatting to another CM so never said a word just grabbed our cards , put them into slot and handed them back.
The customs agent was the only smiling friendly person we saw.
Cruise director was very friendly and so was his assistant, but we only saw them at events on the ship.
Room host was excellant but didnt speak much english. He did take extra good care of us.
Maries room host removed mints that they were saving. WHY??? Didnt he have enough in his cart already?? taking candy from a kid??
Disney:
CM's start greeting you the second you step onto the ship.
EVERY CM says hello as you walk down the hallways. Even the Captain will stroll the hallways and stop and say hello.
They are neatly dressed, no funky hairdos and NO cussing or smoking in front of guests you are always greeted and thanked in the stores around the ship.
when you leave there are several CM's to say good bye and ask you to return again. For us the Captain was always there to say farewell too, but we always are among the first off, so he may not be there all the time. You felt at home while there and like you were going to be missed onc eyou leave, even though you know they wont remember you.
Attitude of CM's on board Disney wins hands down. We never felt welcome on Carnival. Disney you feel like you are at home there.
Rooms:
We had a room with a verandah.
Room lay out was better than disney. it was 100 square feet smaller but you never noticed. 3 large closets, one was all shelves, floor to ceiling, several small drawers, TV was much larger, drawers under the couch. One bathroom, not split and no tub just a shower, but for just 2 people it was great because it was so much larger and more room in the shower and you could sit on the toilet without hitting your knees on the wall in front of you. if you have small kids and want the little tub this isnt for you.
Balcony was smaller but did hold 2 chairs and a table. all have clear plexi glass for a great view. Bed was very comfortable and when you arrive your cooler is locked. you have to have room host unlock it. It is filled with pop, beer and mini bottles of hard liquor. You will be charged if you drink any of this and it will be replinished daily if you choose to drink it.
We removed part of it so we could put our own beverages in it to keep cool, they do lock it up the last night at bed time, so must have your stuff out by then. Carnival does allow you to bring some pop on board, so we did.
Disney has split baths so if you have more people this is better. Balconies are larger, frig is empty and ready for your use. Beds are comfortable. Plenty of storage for luggage.
We have to give this one to Carnival for the layout of the room, for us it was much better than Disney.
Ease of finding your way around.
Carnival: Ok, one deck #5 the Promenade is the only inside deck you can go from one end to the other of the ship without zig zagging through restaurants or up and down different stairways on the inside of the ship. This is a beautiful area of the ship. all the shops and the casino are there, lots of seating to sit and enjoy, many of the clubs are also here so they are easy to get to.The decor is awesome here and in the lobby 2 floors down. In the center the ceiling changes colors and glass elevators go wayup for a spectacular view.
However they often set up photo stations among the chairs on this deck which means people and photographers block the walkway and you have to fight your way through. Also you can't use your own camera where they have the backdrops set up at. They also have tequilla tasting there which really blocked the hallway. Teen club is nearby so in the evenings the area is filled with teens so you cant find a seat to relax is you want at one end, the other end is across from the casino,Smokey smelling.
Here is the bad part of sitting across from the casino, seats are non smoking but 8 feet away in the casino you can smoke and you can smell it really strong when you sit there or walk by the area.
If your a smoker it's no big deal but for us non smokers it is not so good. I dont mind the smoking there, but it should be glass enclosed to keep the smell in or have a better ventilation system. Children walk this all the time too. It is very hard to go from end to end inside without walking through here and it its dinner time you cant get through the restaurants, so you are stuck.
upper decks are a pain, later for that.
Disney,
you can walk the length of the ship on almost every deck easily at any time, inside or upper decks. all these areas inside are non smoking areas.
decks are different story, I will address later.
Kids clubs:
12 to 14 year olds.
Didnt open until 2:00 p.m. and closed by 11:00 p.m.
they had a couple of dances and then had video games from 5 to 7 at night with foos ball and air hockey. No real structured events most of the time. Just sit and chill out until 5 to 7 at night. Counselors didnt interact with kids, just talked among themselves so the kids were left up to finding ways to entertain themselves.
Andy votes Disney is 100 times better than Carnival.
Teen Club:
Decor of club was great with a soda fountain.
It varied in hours some but generally opened at 1:00 but closed around midnight.
They did use the fountain once to make all the kids virgin drinks and every so often they would play music to dance by for 30 minutes.
On the few structured events they had if less than 10 kids showed up they would cancel it. Even if the event could easily be done with less kids. very disappointing.
Counselors never asked kids their names or said much to them. They just sat off to the side and chatted among themselves 95% of the time.
Ana never heard their names or had them say one word to her, so she quite going most of time the last few days, She juste looked in to see what was happening. Usually the club was empty and then teens were just hanging out together in the promenade area of the ship.
Ana did meet a couple of nice girls to hang with, but none of them liked the club or the counselors.
Ana says Disney is so much better and friendlier that she cant even begin to compare the two. It is like a sweet watermelon comapred to a persimmon. you can guess which is the melon and which is the persimmon.
Don't know about the club for younger kids.
They do have a mascot on the ship, Funship Freddie. Most younger kids were afraid of him.
see photo in trip report.
Pool for toddlers was really tiny. It looked like a colored planter box. we did see a few toddlers and parents using it a couple of days, but honestly only 3 or 4 at a time can fit and that was tight.
Disney wins on kids clubs according to my grandkids.
Arcade on board was AWESOME!!! Much larger than Disney and more choices for the kids. It takes up one large room behind the teens club. This does cost extra.
Arcade, Carnival wins hands down.
Debarkation:
This is a nightmare on carnival. Please read the above report for details.
Disney easy walk off the ship anytime after they say we are cleared. Must be out of room by 9:00 a.m. CM's to say thankyou, please come back again, Captain says farewell at least when the first people are getting off.
Luggage is set in area by room and color, so easy to get luggage, walk through customs and your done.
Even the times it was packed in the atrium to gwt off it never took more than 35 minutes total
Disney wins this hands down.
Upper deck areas:
Carnival has 3 upper deck areas although 2 of the upper decks are just smaller areas you can stand up on for the view. These are small areas. One has the entrance to the slide, the other has a small jogging track and a basketball area. One also had kids clubs in it.
The main outside deck , deck 9 has the buffet and pools and hot tubs.
There is a tiny bit of shade with chairs and tables next to the buffet, but all the rest is in direct sun.
There is a small jogging path on one upper deck too.
Seats are tiered and take up almost all the deck area. Because of the tiered seating you have several sets of mini stairs to go up and down to get across the deck area, It is a pain in the rear!! Pools are small too. The pool at the aft end behind the buffet had a roof they could close for bad weather so you could still use it. the pools are salt warer and really hard on the eyes and skin. Since you have to sit or lay in direct sun they do have several cold water fountains and several places to shower off that are NOT close to the pool area. 2 ping pong tables on the upper deck in the wind.
Front of ship has lots of plexi glass windows to stop some of the wind at the front of the ship which is nice, accept they are cloudy and dirty looking weven when clean due to the weather and salt air. it is NOT a good view and you cant take a picture through it either.
There are places along the sides where there is no plexi glass to take a picture.
Decl 3 has outer deck but you can only walk 1/3 of the length of the ship there.
deck 4 has a nice deck but you cant go out there. I t says for emergencies only.
Disney,
Outer deck 4 is jogging / walking deck with shuffleboard and you can go all the way around the ship for your walk.
Deck 9 has lots of shaded tables and chairs and buffet and food places. You can walk 3/4 of the way around the deck. pools and hot tubs are located here too.
Disney has one pool and 2 hot tubs for adults only and they enforce this.
also pool tables and foos ball located here.
deck 10 has lots of sun, basketball and you can walk all the way around. Plenty of loungers and tables and chairs.
Disney wins this one for decl space, size of pools, adult only areas, ease of navigating the decks.
Photographers:
Carnival: they do a great job. Set up their backdrops in the flow of traffic on decks 4 and 5 and some times near the lobby on deck 3 but there they are out of the way.
You are NOT allowed to use your own camera there.
No package picture deals
8x10 was $21.99 5x7 was $8.99 4x6 was $7.99
Pictures are so crowded they over lap them when set out so only one person shows so hard to spot your photo.
Carnival take triple the amount of photos Disney does.
CM at desk, never greeted us,no smile, no thankyou. we were there 4 times purchasing photos,
Disney:
Take good photos
backdrops are out of the way better, although you can get a line in the lobby , but they ropw it off so people can still get past easily.
You can buy a package deal to save money
CM's are always smiling, they greet you and thank you.
Pictures are displyed with full photo showing so it's easier to find your photo.
you can use your own camera to take photos after photographer is done.
Disney wins this too.
Elevators and stairways.
Carnival has several glass elevators in the mid ship plus front, midship and aft has elevators that number from 4 to 8 at each place. Besides the stairs by each elevator they have small stairways around the ship to go to various places so you can spread out to get places. Carnival holds more people on their ships so they really need all these elevators. No trash cans by elevators. small ship on wall for directory but hard to read.
Disney: Has stairways and elevators front, midship and aft but not as many as Carnival.
Disney has 3 glass elevators in atrium.
Trash cans by all elevators. Directory in each elevator. Drink of the day posted in elevator.
Carnival wins on elevators because they have so many, but for directories and ease of reading them Disney wins. so this is kind of a tie.
Entertainment on board:
Carnival: evening shows were pretty good but you have the same 2 singers all week. The man was flat, he couldnt hit the high notes. The woman was great and dancers were good too. But at the welcome aboard show they did wear the skimpy vegas showgirl costumes. The only thing they really revealed was the naked butt with a gold g-string over the crack. it didnt offend me, but this was a family show with lots of kids in the audience. I know today kids see much worse on TV and I am old fashioned, I know but if I had young kids I would not of wanted them to be there. I think they should of warned us in the caper paper.
The comedian, magician, hyptonist were all very good. The adult only shows were very funny, although they didnt check ID of some very obvious young teens, see report for details.
One family show later in the week did feature a spoof on The Full Monty which was very funny and we lal enjoyed it, but this was a family show and if I had young kids I would not of wanted them to see this. I think Carnival should of posted a warning in the Caper about the content of this show for parents of young kids.
I do realize most young kids have seen more than this on TV and most people dont think anything about this. I am a person with old fashion values by todays standards and I would NOT of wanted my young kids to see this. I am not saying to not have it, but warn people who may choose not to have their kids see this.
It was a funny show and very entertaining, but not for young kids. Just my opinion.
Cat compare the Casino since Disney doesnt have one. I thought the amount of tables and slots were fine and it was very pretty with the decor in there, but as I stated in kmy report they needed to have it enclosed so the smoke wouldnt filter into the main walkway or have a better ventilation system.
extra speciality food places.
Carnival had much more food choices for places other than main restaurants.
There was a deli, pizza place, hot dog place , hamburger place, coffe shop, milk shakes, fish n chips , daily themed special place, chinese food place, evening sushi bar, 4 places to get ice cream and frozen yogurt open 24 hours,deck 5 has place that offers different foods or speciality drinks each day, plus the buffet area which was almost open all day.
2 late night buffets and one mexican late night buffet, plus a chocolate extravaganza one day.
Disney does have burgers and pizza, chicken sandwiches,coffee shop and more but they are not open as long as these places.
quality is the same but carnival is open later and has more of a variety than Disney.
Carnival wins on this one.
Restaurants:
Carnival only has 2 main restaurants and they are huge!!! very pretty but lousy service over all. wait staff not helpful or very friendly. very crowded tables. food was very good.
Disney:
You have 3 different restaurants for you to try, friendly staff and they greet you each day. food is good.
Disney wins by a huge amount on helpfulness and friendliness of wait staff alone!!
Characters:
Carnival has Fun Ship Freddie
Disney: well everyone knows all the characters they have for the kids.
Disney wins this one.
Cleanliness:
Carnival ship was pretty clean but no trash cans to use accept 3 on upper decks. I fyou hav e aocld and sneeze into a tissue youwill be carryin until you go to an upper deck or go back to your room. This may sound petty but I looked for trash cans many times during the week and wound up carrying a dirty tissue aor a couple of hours.
NO hand sanitation stations at restaurants or kids clubs.
Disney: has hand sanitizing stations all over the ship and at the gangplanks. waste baskets by every elevator and on all decks.
Disney wins for sanitation
I know there are more things to compare, but I dont have a month to post.
We had a good time on Carnival and it is a beautiful ship. But for what we look for in service and entertianment Disney is for us.
If you are big into drinking at 20 different bars and gambling then this is the cruise for you. It is a party ship and we are not big party people.
Please dont misunderstand, I am not knocking Carnival, it is great for many people, just not for us. We are too spoiled by Disney. we did have a good time.
if you have any questions please ask and I will try to answer them.
Please let me know what you think.
Kathy
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the hairy sheet comment...
Can't wait to do it again some day! 
(I spotted Studio Sea right away. I thought to myself, KATHY! You posted the wrong picture, silly! 
)
And not happy way to begin or end a trip.
Sorry we won't be there to celebrate.
