Add me to the list of DCL cruisers that loved the Carnival Vista

[trvlgirlmq]

Ok back to cruising....I keep checking on CC and CCL website of when they will release Horizon dates/itineraries, and still nothing....pretty late for them, especially since she's scheduled to launch in March of 18. I can't schedule her till Fall/Winter 2018 and then it will be between DCL Wonder or CCL Horizon.

Horizon should be ready to book early December (I believe once Vista is in Miami permanently). John Heald mentioned it when someone asked on his social media page. About 6 weeks to go and we should have all the details. I can't book until I see how my year end bonus goes and it's not looking good for us with the fact we are adding on to our building and that is a huge financial project for the company

 

[Ofinn]

Wao, I did Mediterranean Cruise with Disney and all the tours too,, I think it was about $1000 per person

Wow. We visited 7 ports and I dont think we spent 1000 dollars between the 4 of us. Im glad we did it on our own. Not only does it save money, but I feel like I see more and my kids get a better understanding of the culture.

 

[Ofinn]

Horizon should be ready to book early December (I believe once Vista is in Miami permanently). John Heald mentioned it when someone asked on his social media page. About 6 weeks to go and we should have all the details. I can't book until I see how my year end bonus goes and it's not looking good for us with the fact we are adding on to our building and that is a huge financial project for the company

The Horizon itineraries will help determine what I do next year. Im pretty sure DCL will have to drop the price on their Baltic cruise, but it still wont come close to the price of a Baltic cruise on Carnival. Im really hoping for a Horizion Baltic or British Isles.

 

[akmata]

It's great you can afford to cruise Disney that often without using discounts. I've honestly never paid more than 5k for a DCL cruise. I've been really lucky with the GT and interline rates over the years. It was easy with the old website to watch cruises and see what cruises weren't selling. It was actually kind of fun. With the new awful website forget it. I don't even look anymore.
The San Juan cruise was great. I may do that again next year because those are always discounted, same with Galveston, New York, repositioning cruises and some European cruises. I still have options if I want DCL, but I've gotten over the urge to spend the big bucks to go back on the Fantasy or Dream. After sailing on the Vista I've decided I can get my mega ship fix with Carnival.
I think the best way to overcome the boredom is to visit new ports. Spreading your wings out of Florida will help with that. San Juan, Alaska, TA all sound good. I was even excited for our Galveston cruise just because I'd never been to Galveston. Changing things up definitely helps.

I know I will kick myself later for not booking our San Juan cruise next year using an interline rate, but we are traveling with other family, so we booked now. In the future, I want to look more into the interline rates.

 

[Ofinn]

I know I will kick myself later for not booking our San Juan cruise next year using an interline rate, but we are traveling with other family, so we booked now. In the future, I want to look more into the interline rates.

There's a bunch out right now. You really have to flexible to take advantage of those. They normally aren't released until 1 or 2 months before the cruise. The New York sailing surprised me, but DCL priced those so high. They actually lowered the prices in 2017. If we hadn't been on the Vista this month I would have taken advantage of it and sailed out of New York.

 

[akmata]

There's a bunch out right now. You really have to flexible to take advantage of those. They normally aren't released until 1 or 2 months before the cruise. The New York sailing surprised me, but DCL priced those so high. They actually lowered the prices in 2017. If we hadn't been on the Vista this month I would have taken advantage of it and sailed out of New York.

I wish we could be more flexible, but the kids in school prevent that right now. We used to take them out for a week in the fall, but after last year, they asked us to not do that anymore. They had too much school work to make up later, and they felt they missed too much. Now we just have to be flexible during winter and spring break. I'm just glad that my husband can finally hold spring break off though (well, at least next year).

 

[Ofinn]

I wish we could be more flexible, but the kids in school prevent that right now. We used to take them out for a week in the fall, but after last year, they asked us to not do that anymore. They had too much school work to make up later, and they felt they missed too much. Now we just have to be flexible during winter and spring break. I'm just glad that my husband can finally hold spring break off though (well, at least next year).

My dh just started a new position, and I think he's going to lose a lot of the flexibility we have enjoyed over the last few years. The interline rates on DCL are still quite a bit higher then booking full price on most other cruise lines, and there are very few DCL itinerary's that interest me anymore. Of our 13 cruises I believe only 4 have been with interline rates. The rest have been GT rates. The best prices I'm gotten have been on the Vista with no discounts.

 

[KashasMom]

Thanks for your review. I love WDW more than I love DCL so I have no problem trying other cruise lines/ships. We had an absolutely amazing 13 night Baltic on RCI this past summer. It was so port-intensive that we could have been on a tug boat and not noticed! That is my rationale for NOT sailing DCL on any port-intensive cruise - really not worth the money! And quite honestly I am so sick of the Caribbean/Bahamas.

With 2 upcoming Disney cruises in our future, my daughter has informed me that she is done with the princesses. She has never been a fan of the kids' clubs on DCL and I'm not cool with 3-12 year olds in the same club. My daughter had a bad experience and I'm sure she won't go back.

I LOVE that you didn't experience any harassment for an "excellent" review. On one of our Fantasy cruises we got the speech so often I hated going to dinner.

DCL service can vary just like on any line. There are some memorable crew members and some not so great. We've seen all the Disney shows ON Broadway and I can comfortably say, NO the shows on the ship are NOT the same quality. I think it's really ME that has to go see the characters in the shows. Other than the characters, I can skip the shows!

Food was okay on DCL. My favorite were Mickey Bars, which probably doesn't speak very well of the food.

That's not to say that we haven't enjoyed our Disney cruises. We have, especially our Very Merry Time (Christmas) cruise. I just cannot justify $6,000 for the 3 of us to go to the Caribbean (we travel on the school calendar).

A note about the smoking - I totally agree. Smoking was so widespread in all our Baltic ports. It was horrible!

My daughter and I booked the Allure of the Seas while my husband is traveling. She loved the Oasis so I know she's going to love the Allure. I like the Oasis/Allure because the shows are appropriate for her - the Ice Skating Show, the Aqua Show, Mama Mia, Blue Planet, and Headliner. I think they have better options for her then NCL although we really enjoyed the Breakaway, Getaway, and Epic.

Now, after reading this thread, I'm going over to Carnival and MSC to poke around for 2018 (our 2017 vacations are ALL planned out). I was planning to take a break from cruising in 2018 but you have all tempted me!

By the way, for anyone interested in doing excursions on your own the "free" walking tours (esp. in Europe) are fantastic. Well worth it!

 

[Ofinn]

Thanks for your review. I love WDW more than I love DCL so I have no problem trying other cruise lines/ships. We had an absolutely amazing 13 night Baltic on RCI this past summer. It was so port-intensive that we could have been on a tug boat and not noticed! That is my rationale for NOT sailing DCL on any port-intensive cruise - really not worth the money! And quite honestly I am so sick of the Caribbean/Bahamas.

With 2 upcoming Disney cruises in our future, my daughter has informed me that she is done with the princesses. She has never been a fan of the kids' clubs on DCL and I'm not cool with 3-12 year olds in the same club. My daughter had a bad experience and I'm sure she won't go back.

I LOVE that you didn't experience any harassment for an "excellent" review. On one of our Fantasy cruises we got the speech so often I hated going to dinner.

DCL service can vary just like on any line. There are some memorable crew members and some not so great. We've seen all the Disney shows ON Broadway and I can comfortably say, NO the shows on the ship are NOT the same quality. I think it's really ME that has to go see the characters in the shows. Other than the characters, I can skip the shows!

Food was okay on DCL. My favorite were Mickey Bars, which probably doesn't speak very well of the food.

That's not to say that we haven't enjoyed our Disney cruises. We have, especially our Very Merry Time (Christmas) cruise. I just cannot justify $6,000 for the 3 of us to go to the Caribbean (we travel on the school calendar).

A note about the smoking - I totally agree. Smoking was so widespread in all our Baltic ports. It was horrible!

My daughter and I booked the Allure of the Seas while my husband is traveling. She loved the Oasis so I know she's going to love the Allure. I like the Oasis/Allure because the shows are appropriate for her - the Ice Skating Show, the Aqua Show, Mama Mia, Blue Planet, and Headliner. I think they have better options for her then NCL although we really enjoyed the Breakaway, Getaway, and Epic.

Now, after reading this thread, I'm going over to Carnival and MSC to poke around for 2018 (our 2017 vacations are ALL planned out). I was planning to take a break from cruising in 2018 but you have all tempted me!

By the way, for anyone interested in doing excursions on your own the "free" walking tours (esp. in Europe) are fantastic. Well worth it!

I was just looking at your signature. You have a very impressive cruising history. I'm guessing you really like cruising. I'm like you with the Caribbean I'll go if I get a good price like I did on the Vista, but not going to break the bank to go.

 

[KashasMom]

I was just looking at your signature. You have a very impressive cruising history. I'm guessing you really like cruising. I'm like you with the Caribbean I'll go if I get a good price like I did on the Vista, but not going to break the bank to go.

I do like cruising. My mother hooked me on it as a young child. I love being out in the middle of the sea/ocean. Sometimes I just need an easy vacation and cruising the islands fits the bill. My daughter (7) could stay at the pool/beach for 7 days so not a huge amount of planning is necessary. I didn't find anything for 2018 but only because the itineraries haven't been released yet. Would like to do a British Isles, Norwegian Fjords, or Greek Islands. Happy Cruising!

 

[cyclenut]

We recently returned from a cruise on the Carnival Breeze and I will say that we were very impressed. I felt the service was not up to what we've become accustomed to on Disney and the decor was still very cheap hotel. We were in a deck 7 Jr. Suite so I felt like it should have been completely amazing. It was nice, but it didn't blow me away. I agree that having the bed by the window was a bit odd. It seems that is standard for Carnival? I love that with Disney I can pull the curtain and let other sleep while I go out on the balcony. I also didn't like the door to the balcony on Carnival.

That said, the pool and poolside food area was really amazing. Much better than anything I've experienced with Disney. The shows were sub-par in my view. Great theme and very good special affects, but the talent was just a bit above mediocre. Maybe I've become spoiled by seeing a few shows on Broadway, but I've come to expect top talent in these types of shows and it just wasn't. Good, but not great.

I also loved the poolside movies in the evening, but a word of caution for those really interested in the movie. It is outside on the pool deck and there are two bars right there. It can get a bit loud and for us, it drowned out the dialog a bit during some scenes. Imagine the bartender making a blended margarita while the actors on screen are trying to whisper to each other. If you are looking for a movie going experience, skip it. If you just want some casual entertainment, go for it. Ironically we watched Zootopia one night.

The main dining room food service and quality was borderline poor at times and pretty good at others. Very hit and miss. They just don't focus on food quality as much as they should, from what I could see. They had small cups of ice cream that had obviously been re-frozen and therefore full of ice crystals rather than smooth ice cream. The pork chop I had on one night was overcooked and by the time I got it, it was room temperature. Inedible. Other dishes were very good.

In all we found Carnival surprisingly good but we had low expectations. It was a great vacation experience and a very good value for the money, but it didn't match Disney's level of service or overall quality. Not for us.

 

[momof2n2]

We recently returned from a cruise on the Carnival Breeze and I will say that we were very impressed. I felt the service was not up to what we've become accustomed to on Disney and the decor was still very cheap hotel. We were in a deck 7 Jr. Suite so I felt like it should have been completely amazing. It was nice, but it didn't blow me away. I agree that having the bed by the window was a bit odd. It seems that is standard for Carnival? I love that with Disney I can pull the curtain and let other sleep while I go out on the balcony. I also didn't like the door to the balcony on Carnival.

That said, the pool and poolside food area was really amazing. Much better than anything I've experienced with Disney. The shows were sub-par in my view. Great theme and very good special affects, but the talent was just a bit above mediocre. Maybe I've become spoiled by seeing a few shows on Broadway, but I've come to expect top talent in these types of shows and it just wasn't. Good, but not great.

I also loved the poolside movies in the evening, but a word of caution for those really interested in the movie. It is outside on the pool deck and there are two bars right there. It can get a bit loud and for us, it drowned out the dialog a bit during some scenes. Imagine the bartender making a blended margarita while the actors on screen are trying to whisper to each other. If you are looking for a movie going experience, skip it. If you just want some casual entertainment, go for it. Ironically we watched Zootopia one night.

The main dining room food service and quality was borderline poor at times and pretty good at others. Very hit and miss. They just don't focus on food quality as much as they should, from what I could see. They had small cups of ice cream that had obviously been re-frozen and therefore full of ice crystals rather than smooth ice cream. The pork chop I had on one night was overcooked and by the time I got it, it was room temperature. Inedible. Other dishes were very good.

In all we found Carnival surprisingly good but we had low expectations. It was a great vacation experience and a very good value for the money, but it didn't match Disney's level of service or overall quality. Not for us.

So would you do again? I'm confused by your review.

 

[mevelandry]

I am starting to believe that it's hit or miss when it comes to service ... on any cruise line.

We've had two DCL and one Carnival cruise and with the exception of the specialty dining on DCL (Palo and Remy), we have never found the DCL staff to be "amazing" as described on Disboards... While we remember the name of most staff members we encountered on the Carnival Victory because they were great.

 

[Love2Cruz]

Yeah, I haven't been "blown away" by the CM's on DCL either, they were good, nothing wrong, but not better than my experiences on CCL or MSC. They may get some special Disney customer service training, but the crew are from the same countries that get hired from the whole cruising industry as a whole....they will all be good if they want to keep their jobs and send money back home. Most of them actually do some moving around. Some of the servers I spoke to on Carnival worked in RCCL, Celebrity Princess..he says when contracts are up, they can move around. I find all the staff on cruise lines that I have had the opportunity to encounter to be very good to outstanding.

 

[blondietink]

I agree with other's assessments. After reading how AMAZING the crew on DCL was supposed to be, we were disappointed that they did not stand out as exceptional at all on our Wonder cruise. Left us wondering what all the fuss was about. We were only comparing to Carnival's crew which were outstanding compared to the DCL crew. Just our observations.

 

[KashasMom]

So would you do again? I'm confused by your review.

My take was that they wouldn't. I think she forgot the word not in the beginning of her post...I will say that we were NOT very impressed

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I agree with other's assessments. After reading how AMAZING the crew on DCL was supposed to be, we were disappointed that they did not stand out as exceptional at all on our Wonder cruise. Left us wondering what all the fuss was about. We were only comparing to Carnival's crew which were outstanding compared to the DCL crew. Just our observations.

As a sort of comparison I checked a late May 2018 Fantasy sailing for my family of 4. The least expensive inside was $7108.00 and that does not include gratuities. My last Breeze cruise (June 2015 8 days vs 7 on DCL) in a balcony was $3420.00 including prepaid gratuities. Now, I don't know what these DCL crew members are like but for an extra $3688.00 and a day less vacation stuck in a windowless room they would have to be pampering me like a frickin queen. I would also expect my meals to be fine dining with a chef like Alain Ducasse or Christian Constant not banquet quality by some guy from India.

My family certainly enjoys Disney movies, theme parks, merchandise, etc but there is just no reason for that amount of distance in pricing for what I am perceiving as the same quality of vacation. If people think they need to pay this to get a good vacation then I feel sorry for them. Heck, the only reason we are staying on property at WDW next year is because we have free dining otherwise I would never pay those inflated rates either.

 

[mevelandry]

As a sort of comparison I checked a late May 2018 Fantasy sailing for my family of 4. The least expensive inside was $7108.00 and that does not include gratuities. My last Breeze cruise (June 2015 8 days vs 7 on DCL) in a balcony was $3420.00 including prepaid gratuities. Now, I don't know what these DCL crew members are like but for an extra $3688.00 and a day less vacation stuck in a windowless room they would have to be pampering me like a frickin queen.

Wow. That is a lot of money. :/

 

[cyclenut]

So would you do again? I'm confused by your review.

It's all about value and expectations. The price was so much lower that despite the shortcomings it was worth it. You get what you pay for and Disney has a lot to offer for the additional premium, but if you can find an inexpensive Carnival cruise, I think it can be worth the price. I would not pay a premium for it.

 

[momof2n2]

It's all about value and expectations. The price was so much lower that despite the shortcomings it was worth it. You get what you pay for and Disney has a lot to offer for the additional premium, but if you can find an inexpensive Carnival cruise, I think it can be worth the price. I would not pay a premium for it.

Ok. Cool.
We did NCL getaway this past May. It was 50% (yes, 50%) The cost of DCL for us to get connecting balconies on NCL versus comnecting insides on fantasy. Our trip was amazing. Food was fabulous. Only thing lacking was evening entertainment which was fine because we are more early-bird than night-owl.