Carnival Cruise or Disney World again?? Opinions/Advice!!!

[Razorback]

We have been to WDW the past 7 spring breaks. We love going and know what we are getting every year. We want to go again this year BUT we would like to go on a 7 day Carnival Cruise.

The problem is that we know what we will get out of Disney...a week of fun, good food and rides. We are not sure what we will get out of a cruise or if we will always regret not going to Disney.

I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

 

[minnie mum]

Not sure of the makeup of your group. Are there children? I know Carnival has the reputation as a 'party boat'. Not sure how their children's programs are. How about combining the 2 and doing a Disney Cruise. DH and I did this without kids a couple of years ago and had an absolute blast. And I know the Disney ships regularly win awards as best family ships. Just a suggestion.

 

[Razorback]

We have 2 adults and 2 boys ages 9 & 11. Vat Iva will cost about $2500 p,us excursions and tips. WDW will cost about $3500 plus souvenirs. Disney cruise is too high,...about $5500.

 

[PoohsFan1]

Does the Carnival Cruises have 3 or 4 night cruises? If they do, then why don't you do a short cruise and then go to Disney for a couple of nights afterwards. You get the best of both worlds then . We are sort of doing the same thing in January. We are taking a Royal Caribbean Cruise (7 nights) and then going to Disney for 6 nights afterwards. DH wanted to do something different, but of course I still wanted to go to Disney. We both won . If Carnival doesn't have the shorter cruise and you don't want to spend the $$ for a DCL, then I would be torn and maybe ask what the others in your party would rather do. Good luck deciding.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I've never been interested In cruising . Do know that this is a biased group FOR Disney.

 

[Maddies Mama]

I've been on 7 carnival cruises & have never encountered this party boat everyone talks about. I have, however, been on 7 family friendly cruises with great ports of call, great food and plenty of onboard activities. I cant speak for the kids club amenities for that age group, but i prefer camp carnival to DCL's nursery. Never used the oceaneers club on disney, so I'm not sure how that would compare. Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I'd try something new, since you've done the same thing for so many years. And really, if its not for you, stick with going to Disney in future years. You won't know until you try.

 

[KellyNY]

Definitely more relaxing then Disney. Cruise and Disney are so different but if you do not try you do not know if you like it or not. You were many times at Disney, just try something new and if you do not like, you do not like it Disney will not go anywhere. I would not do Disney cruise, more expensive and you do not know if you even like this kind of vacation to spend that much money.

 

[larryz]

Compromise -- go on a Disney cruise.

 

[pharmgirl69]

We went through this exact same dilemma. We went round and round. We had even planned out transportation and the stay before and after the cruise. But one day, I found myself on Disboards, then I found myself playing around with the cost of WDW. I found myself REALLY excited. My husband started then poking around the disney site. He said "you are right, I'm excited about Disney again too". We just didn't feel the same excitement when we were planning a cruise.

So to justify going to WDW again:
1) Our DD8 still wants to spend time with us. We are going to wait to go on a cruise until she hits her teens when she will have no interest in spending time with us and can go on a cruise and do the whole teen club thing

2) The prices were comparable.

3) My husband has no interest in the beach or swimming etc. His only motivation for a cruise is the casino and possibly a few excursions. At least we know all of us LOVE disney.

4) There are still tooooo many restaurants we haven't been to at WDW.

We even thought about doing a 4 day carnival and then going to *gasp*, the darkside for 4 days......still wasn't excited. My advice.....find your excitement. For us we didn't realize how much we would miss Disney until we started planning again. Maybe you will find your excitement planning a cruise and if you do...thats great too!

 

[BlovesC]

I would choose a day at work over another Carnival cruise, so my vote is for WDW.

 

[serene56]

Compromise -- go on a Disney cruise.

I could do three 7 day carnival cruises for the price of a disney cruise.

I wish I could afford it but I can since I like taking two vacations each year.

We sailed Carnival Pride with three of us in a balcony cabin for 1477. total.

We have cruised Carnival 15 times- have also sailed Princess and Royal.

Cruising is a differnt vacation then Disney. With Disney we gotta get up early and tour, tour tour.
Cruising is very relaxing. Carnival has kids programs
We saw our kids at dinner- dinner was mandatory for our cruises.
They had curfews etc. If you asked my kids what they wanted between the both- they would say a cruise.

Might I suggest a message board for cruising. - Here most people are all about Disney and will vote Disney. Same on a cruise board-- what ever line you post under those people will say their product is better.
www.cruisecritic.com

you will never know if you dont at least try it.

 

[larryz]

Well, I only recommend Disney cruises because I've been on one.

Admittedly, it's the only cruise I've taken, but we chose a Disney cruise as an alternative to a repeat of the multiple trips we usually took to WDW to celebrate life events, mainly birthdays.

What we liked about it was the lack of a casino, the subtle but ever-present Disney theming, the food, and the short itinerary (since it was our first, we wanted to make sure we were adaptable to cruising).

Turns out we're not -- the subtle motion of the ship, especially in weather, made members of the party ... uncomfortable, let's say. To be fair, one is overtly susceptible to motion sickness to start with.

We didn't even consider other cruise lines, knowing what we could expect from Disney. I'm not saying other cruise lines aren't good -- I'm just sayin' that we were looking for a specific level of experience, and found it at DCL.

And it worked for us. Everyone (despite the brief queasies) enjoyed it, and the next time we went back to WDW, everyone enjoyed that all the better due to the slightly longer absence from it.

 

[declansdad]

Carnival's reputation as a "party boat" is unfounded. Carnival provides good value for the money and the Camp Carnival is a great time for the kids.

Which of the cruises are you looking at? We did an 8 day cruise with Carnival last New Years and it was great. We are doing a 5 day with them this March. We would love to try a Disney cruise but it is hard to justify their much higher cost.

 

[Jeafl]

I've been on 7 carnival cruises & have never encountered this party boat everyone talks about. I have, however, been on 7 family friendly cruises with great ports of call, great food and plenty of onboard activities. I cant speak for the kids club amenities for that age group, but i prefer camp carnival to DCL's nursery. Never used the oceaneers club on disney, so I'm not sure how that would compare. Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I'd try something new, since you've done the same thing for so many years. And really, if its not for you, stick with going to Disney in future years. You won't know until you try.

I completely agree with this post, and we are die - hard Disney fans. In fact, we are leaving for WDW tomorrow!!

However, the people that claim Carnival is all "party boats" are often (though not always), people that have never been on it. We've done Carnival, DCL, Royal Caribbean, Princess and the now-defunct Premier Cruise lines and have loved them all.

We have found Carnival to be a good mix of ages. I do think that the shorter cruises, like the 3 and 4 day ones, are usually a younger crowd though.

I don't think you're going to get too many unbiased opinions on a Disney board though.

Having said that, my kids enjoyed the Carnival kids clubs when they were younger. I just asked my kids what they would choose and they all picked the cruise even though they are excited to go to WDW tomorrow.

 

[nkereina]

We've done a Carnival cruise before. It was very nice, lots of families. We would do it again. One thing to consider that a lot of first time cruisers don't think about is excursions at each of the ports. At a lot of the ports we went to, if we didn't have any excursions booked, we would have had nothing to do. For instance, Grand Bahama Island's port is in a shipping yard. There's no place to go in walking distance so you need to know where you want to go if you are going to take a cab somewhere. In Nassau, there are very few, if any, "public" beaches. They are all owned by hotels and require wristbands to be on their beach. You can usually book a day pass at the hotel to utilize their facilities but these are things you need to research in advance. Some of the ports in the DR are dangerous areas so you wouldn't want to just step off the ship and wander on your own - you'd want to be part of a tour or organized group. We are just two adults and we did three excursions on the Carnival cruise we did and we spent about $600 on those alone. They were worth it, but it's another cost to factor in when researching your ports. Kind of cancels out the fact that your food is paid for ahead of time on a cruise.

For a Disney cruise, same thing but with a much higher base cost than Carnival.

 

[BlovesC]

DH and I went on a carnival cruise last year and it was a bit of a rough experience for us. It was our first and only cruise ever, so we decided to start small with a three night trip. A lot of our friends and coworkers who swear by Carnival say this was a huge mistake, as they claim the short cruises attract folks who are less in it for the spirit of a 'vacation' and just want a cheap party.

The staff on the ship was FANTASTIC...each employee we encountered was as friendly as most Disney CMs on their best day. However I was horrified by how many other passengers treated them like indentured servants worthless of basic human respect. For three nights we were surrounded by loud, rude, and crude passengers who tossed garbage around carelessly and stumbled around spilling drinks. It was an odd experience for me, because on this board I've never created a thread creating about the behavior of others, and when I'm at Disney I rarely concern myself with the actions of others, I'm in my happy bubble. But on that carnival cruise, I couldn't help myself, the acts I witnessed got to me and affected my enjoyment of the trip.

We actually received a free voucher for a 5 night Carnival cruise a few months later when we purchased our first home, but we've yet to use it and it expires in a few months. Our experience was that bad! We are interested in trying a Disney cruise someday, because we're convinced it has to have more of a 'family' atmosphere...which may be odd seeing as how we're two 20-somethings with no kids, but I guess we prefer very un-adult vacations! For so many on the DIS boards to swear by Carnival, I'm guessing our friends were spot on and they really DO have some wonderful cruises, just perhaps in longer durations.

 

[sherreis]

A cruise is a great family vacation and you can create new family memories. I have had many friends do week long Carnival cruises with their children and they were quite happy. We've only taken 2 cruise and they were both Disney - they were great! However, with the prices of the 2013 Disney cruises - most likely, we'll try another cruise line for our next cruise.

Maybe, try the cruise next year and see what you think?

 

[nkereina]

I will say that a Carnival 3, 4 or 5 day cruise is different than a Carnival 7+ day cruise. The 7+ day cruises are on nicer ships with more to do, and a different clientele. The shorter cruises draw locals, "party-goers", younger people, etc. and their ships for the short itineraries are dates. I would say those ships are likely to have a worse experience. Carnival draws these people because they are cheaper than other lines.

 

[larryz]

We are interested in trying a Disney cruise someday, because we're convinced it has to have more of a 'family' atmosphere...

So, without meaning to start a Disney resort debate, let me suggest that an apt analogy would be that Carnival is the "Value" line while Disney is more the "Deluxe" cruise experience.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

My family is booked on our first cruise; Carnival Dream for May 2012. We have heard good things about cruising, it is budget friendly and the kids had a hand in choosing our itinerary. We really wanted to take a Disney cruise but the cost is prohibitive for us. The same Eastern Caribbean itinerary on a DCL ship was $1200 more and that was booking opening day. I can take that money and put it towards our annual Fall Break trip to WDW. We are all excited to try something new and if we don't like it WDW will still be there and still be a valid choice for us.