CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[mevelandry]

Horizon. Looks like a nice itinerary and while St Kitts was nice it wasn't that fabulous. Unless you haven't been to San Juan?

Who is replacing Breeze in Port Canaveral??? I like cruising from there, or Fort Lauderdale is nice too. Haven't been from Miami yet. I'm not sure I'd enjoy cruising from New York itself, it's cold to start (since I tend to cruise in winter) so you can't take advantage of the pools until you get further south, unless you have a ship like RCL Anthem with the covered pool area.

Never been to San Juan. Really interested in St. Marteen too.

But I am also extremely interested in Aruba and Curaçao. Argh!!!

And Bermuda! (I find that the Carnival cruises to Bermuda are a little bit too expensive. I know I've had a better price with Royal (which I stupidly cancelled over a cruise to Grand Turk last october).


New York is not that cold in September and October (I live in Canada, so NYC is actually a bit warmer)... I really don't mind.

I love NYC. It's one of my favorite places in the world + we can save a lot of money by travelling by bus over there.

 

[belle032]

Decisions... Decisions...

St.Marteen-St.Kitts-San Juan-Grand Turk (Carnival Breeze)? (I know I didn't like Grand Turk very much but ... it's free. LOL)

OR

Aruba-Curaçao-Amber Cove-La Romana (Carnival Horizon)?

Price is similar.

We just did that 1st itinerary on the Conquest in September and it was great. I’d recommend an excursion in St. Maarten though. It’s definitely still rebuilding and you could tell. We didn’t enjoy it as much as we could have because we weren’t prepared.

Even so, I’ve heard amazing things about Aruba and Curaçao so I’d do the Horizon itinerary. Plus, newer ship to check out!

 

[mevelandry]

We just did that 1st itinerary on the Conquest in September and it was great. I’d recommend an excursion in St. Maarten though. It’s definitely still rebuilding and you could tell. We didn’t enjoy it as much as we could have because we weren’t prepared.

Even so, I’ve heard amazing things about Aruba and Curaçao so I’d do the Horizon itinerary. Plus, newer ship to check out!

I think that as soon as we see prices for RCCL Bermuda, we'll be able to make a decision.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Also I love Fort Lauderdale. But then, there are also Bermuda cruises from NYC... We could avoid plane tickets...

If I lived up there, I'd definitely be cruising out of nyc a lot. But I am always looking to cut costs...

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I think that as soon as we see prices for RCCL Bermuda, we'll be able to make a decision.

Ncl also does Bermuda out of NY. If you can travel off season, you can get great prices with them.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Aruba and Curacao for sure! So beautiful.

Also, I am not normally a ship excursion person but the one we did to Isla Catalina from La Romana has been one of my very favorite beach experiences. Just incredibly clear, beautiful water, soft, white sand and a lovely breeze.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I would love to do the TA on Legend but it has like 11 sea days and that is just too many. Especially on a smaller ship with no bells and whistles.

We did debate for about 2 hours last night and have decided to switch our 12 day Radiance itinerary to the 12 day Legend. The Legend goes to Dubrovnik which has been my mom's number 1 bucket list place since seeing it on some travel show eons ago. I am giving up Dive In movies, ropes course and more food choices. Dubrovnik had better live up to it's exalted reputation

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I would love to do the TA on Legend but it has like 11 sea days and that is just too many. Especially on a smaller ship with no bells and whistles.

We did debate for about 2 hours last night and have decided to switch our 12 day Radiance itinerary to the 12 day Legend. The Legend goes to Dubrovnik which has been my mom's number 1 bucket list place since seeing it on some travel show eons ago. I am giving up Dive In movies, ropes course and more food choices. Dubrovnik had better live up to it's exalted reputation

You're also giving up the new chicken place. Lol.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Officially booked on Legend to Mediterranean! Only 580 days to go.

Our itinerary is:
Barcelona
Sea Day
Livorno (Florence)
Civitavecchia (Rome)
Naples
Sea Day
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Kotor, Montenegro
Corfu, Greece
Messina (Sicily)
Sea Day
Marseille, France
Barcelona

 

[mevelandry]

Ncl also does Bermuda out of NY. If you can travel off season, you can get great prices with them.

They always seem to charge double than RCCL though.

 

[mevelandry]

Officially booked on Legend to Mediterranean! Only 580 days to go.

Our itinerary is:
Barcelona
Sea Day
Livorno (Florence)
Civitavecchia (Rome)
Naples
Sea Day
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Kotor, Montenegro
Corfu, Greece
Messina (Sicily)
Sea Day
Marseille, France
Barcelona

I'm crying out of envy. Congratulations.

 

[mevelandry]

My husband is taking a few steps back now. Our beloved cat just costs us a whole cruise in health care (those vet bills can be cruel).

But I'm more optimistic so if the price is low, I might book (regardless) and just try to make it work.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Officially booked on Legend to Mediterranean! Only 580 days to go.

Our itinerary is:
Barcelona
Sea Day
Livorno (Florence)
Civitavecchia (Rome)
Naples
Sea Day
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Kotor, Montenegro
Corfu, Greece
Messina (Sicily)
Sea Day
Marseille, France
Barcelona

That's an awesome cruise. Really amazing. I have also heard that Croatia is beautiful.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

They always seem to charge double than RCCL though.

That is good to know. I should look at them more.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Decisions... Decisions...

St.Marteen-St.Kitts-San Juan-Grand Turk (Carnival Breeze)? (I know I didn't like Grand Turk very much but ... it's free. LOL)

OR

Aruba-Curaçao-Amber Cove-La Romana (Carnival Horizon)?

Price is similar.

Horizon! Curaçao is awesome and I really enjoyed Aruba too. I loved that itinerary on Vista. We were actually considering it again on Horizon for 2020 until the Radiance itinerary came out and we decided to do the Transatlantic instead. Bucket list item checked off.

 

[mevelandry]

My husband seem to have changed his mind and now came up with:

CARNIVAL FASCINATION
San Juan > St. Thomas > St. Maarten > St. Kitts > St. Lucia > Barbados > END: San Juan

Not a super fan of that class... but the itinerary sounds amazing!

So many choices!!!

 

[hdrolfe]

My husband seem to have changed his mind and now came up with:

CARNIVAL FASCINATION
San Juan > St. Thomas > St. Maarten > St. Kitts > St. Lucia > Barbados > END: San Juan

Not a super fan of that class... but the itinerary sounds amazing!

So many choices!!!

Good thing is so many ports, less time on the ship if you aren't keen on it. You could go with RCL out of San Juan (will it still be Freedom of the Seas then? That was a fun ship, we've been on it twice!).

 

[mevelandry]

Good thing is so many ports, less time on the ship if you aren't keen on it. You could go with RCL out of San Juan (will it still be Freedom of the Seas then? That was a fun ship, we've been on it twice!).

Do you think the prices would be similar?

 

[hdrolfe]

Do you think the prices would be similar?

I imagine RCL would be more, but the ship is also better. They also do an Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao with another island (St Thomas most often I think). You get an extra sea day but the ship is really quite nice. No water slides, but rock climbing, skating, nice pools, flowrider.

Or Celebrity usually has a ship there too, not their newest but not their oldest I don't think. Price somewhere between the two.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Carnival Mardi Gras coming 2020!

Not sure I like the name.