CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[Club Disney Chandler]

Matt was the CD for our first Carnival cruise and we thought he couldn’t be topped. Our next cruise, he was pulled at the last minute and we had Chris Williams aka The Flying Scotsman and we loved him! He quickly became our favorite, he’s actually a performer and has an amazing voice. I think he’s on The Magic right now but will hopefully move to Horizon, now that Mike Pack is going from Horizon to Mardi Gras.

 

[mevelandry]

In other news: Imagination is being sent to scrap, which makes her the 3rd Carnival cruise ship (Fantasy Class) to be removed from the fleet.

100% expecting Fascination to be scrapped as well.

 

[hdrolfe]

I follow a couple CD's on facebook, one from Carnival and one from RCL. The Carnival one (Cookie) seems to be doing ok and posting fun stuff, I think he is living with some other CD's. The Royal one is not doing as well, he's had to take a job as a Door Dasher and is now also working at a grocery store. I wonder how the different cruise lines are taking care of their employees, if they want them to return to the ships when this is over or have them move on to new careers. I feel bad for all the people who work on the ships, from the cleaning staff to the CD's and such... hopefully the cruise industry will survive.

Honestly though I rarely really notice the CD, I did the two I follow but that's 2 of my 5 cruises so the other 3 must have been forgettable.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I follow a couple CD's on facebook, one from Carnival and one from RCL. The Carnival one (Cookie) seems to be doing ok and posting fun stuff, I think he is living with some other CD's. The Royal one is not doing as well, he's had to take a job as a Door Dasher and is now also working at a grocery store. I wonder how the different cruise lines are taking care of their employees, if they want them to return to the ships when this is over or have them move on to new careers. I feel bad for all the people who work on the ships, from the cleaning staff to the CD's and such... hopefully the cruise industry will survive.

Honestly though I rarely really notice the CD, I did the two I follow but that's 2 of my 5 cruises so the other 3 must have been forgettable.

OMG, I totally forgot about Cookie! He is a crack up, he and Matt were the CD’s last year when we were on Vista. Matt was going on vacation at the end of our cruise so Cookie shadowed him the whole time, that guy is hilarious. This whole discussion about CD’s really cements my decision about next cruise has to be Carnival.

 

[mevelandry]

OMG, I totally forgot about Cookie! He is a crack up, he and Matt were the CD’s last year when we were on Vista. Matt was going on vacation at the end of our cruise so Cookie shadowed him the whole time, that guy is hilarious. This whole discussion about CD’s really cements my decision about next cruise has to be Carnival.

Cookie is great! He was our CD on Liberty.

I don’t know if any of you ever had Schwartz or Kevin Donohue but they were also pretty amazing.

For some reason, whenever I’m on another cruise line, I always forget who the CD is. Their role is so toned down by comparison.

 

[Camilo]

I just heard that. The guy was a superstar. Pretty sure he's going to be on tv or something.

We sailed with him, on the Vista.
I thought he was good, fun, but nothing amazing, I don't see the big deal about him on the forums.

I liked Jaime more, from my CCL Dream, in 2011 and, back then, she wasn't even a CD, she was filling in for someone else for 2 cruises only, so no experience at all. Not sure if she's still around or doing that.
Good luck to Matt....

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We sailed with him, on the Vista.
I thought he was good, fun, but nothing amazing, I don't see the big deal about him on the forums.

I liked Jaime more, from my CCL Dream, in 2011 and, back then, she wasn't even a CD, she was filling in for someone else for 2 cruises only, so no experience at all. Not sure if she's still around or doing that.
Good luck to Matt....

Jaime Dee is still a CD for Carnival but I don’t know what ship. It looks like her and several other Carnival CD’s are working at one of the Margaritaville Resorts while not cruising, maybe the one on Grand Turk???

 

[mevelandry]

Just took advantage of the 50$ UDS per person to book promo. Booked an 8 nights to Aruba, Curaçao, Amber Cove and La Romana cruise on Carnival Horizon for Fall 2022.

Extremely excited!

 

[belle032]

Just took advantage of the 50$ UDS per person to book promo. Booked an 8 nights to Aruba, Curaçao, Amber Cove and La Romana cruise on Carnival Horizon for Fall 2020.

Extremely excited!

Ughh awesome! That's the itinerary we're looking to do next! So it's a sailing for this year? I just can't pull the trigger yet, especially when Florida is on our NY quarantine list.

 

[hdrolfe]

Just took advantage of the 50$ UDS per person to book promo. Booked an 8 nights to Aruba, Curaçao, Amber Cove and La Romana cruise on Carnival Horizon for Fall 2020.

Extremely excited!

2020? Like this fall?

 

[mevelandry]

Ughh awesome! That's the itinerary we're looking to do next! So it's a sailing for this year? I just can't pull the trigger yet, especially when Florida is on our NY quarantine list.

Ah. Apologies. I meant to type 2022. I was so excitwd I couldn't type correctly. LOL

 

[mevelandry]

2020? Like this fall?

I just corrected it. I meant to type 2022.

I'm optimistic we'll start sailing soon but not THAT optomistic.

 

[hdrolfe]

I just corrected it. I meant to type 2022.

I'm optimistic we'll start sailing soon but not THAT optomistic.

I will have to look at that... I didn't know we could book into the end of 2022... but will I want to cruise or will Disney be open and back to "normal" by then. Hmm

Found one that goes to Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao on Horizon April, 2023... hopefully that is far enough in the future? Put a hold on it while I think about it

 

[mevelandry]

I will have to look at that... I didn't know we could book into the end of 2022... but will I want to cruise or will Disney be open and back to "normal" by then. Hmm

Found one that goes to Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao on Horizon April, 2023... hopefully that is far enough in the future? Put a hold on it while I think about it

I keep hearing that the ABC islands are among the best caribbean islands one can visit.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Just took advantage of the 50$ UDS per person to book promo. Booked an 8 nights to Aruba, Curaçao, Amber Cove and La Romana cruise on Carnival Horizon for Fall 2022.

Extremely excited!

That’s the itinerary we did on Vista, except we went to Grand Turk instead of Amber Cove, it was AWESOME! I’m so excited for you. What kind of cabin did you book?

 

[ronandannette]

In other news: Imagination is being sent to scrap, which makes her the 3rd Carnival cruise ship (Fantasy Class) to be removed from the fleet.

100% expecting Fascination to be scrapped as well.

Do you have any idea if another ship will take it's place out of LA and if so, which one? We loved that 4 day Catalina/Ensenada itinerary and took it several times when RCCL used to sail it. We never did book it on CCL because the ships didn't appeal.

 

[belle032]

Do you have any idea if another ship will take it's place out of LA and if so, which one? We loved that 4 day Catalina/Ensenada itinerary and took it several times when RCCL used to sail it. We never did book it on CCL because the ships didn't appeal.

The Panorama sails the longer 7 day itineraries, but it might be the Radiance that takes over for the Imagination. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong!) Which, if so, would be a very nice upgrade I would think!

 

[mevelandry]

That’s the itinerary we did on Vista, except we went to Grand Turk instead of Amber Cove, it was AWESOME! I’m so excited for you. What kind of cabin did you book?

I booked a basic inside cabin for now but if money is on our side and I can find a good rate, we will most likely try to upgrade to Cloud 9 Spa or a Balcony (why not both if we can afford it?)

I’m ecstatic about the ship. I loved Vista so much (it is still my favorite ship so far) and Horizon looks just as great or even better.

We were originally supposed to go to Amber Cove (& Grand Turk) in 2019 but changed the trip after not liking Grand Turk very much during a 2018 cruise... All my research is done about Amber Cove and we are extremely happy we’ll get to go after all.

I’m just not sure what to do at La Romana. We are not very adventurous and I heard the place isn’t super safe so I will study that port a lot in order to make the best choice of excursion/activity.

 

[mevelandry]

Do you have any idea if another ship will take it's place out of LA and if so, which one? We loved that 4 day Catalina/Ensenada itinerary and took it several times when RCCL used to sail it. We never did book it on CCL because the ships didn't appeal.

I’m not sure about short cruises (I think those will leave from San Diego on Carnival Miracle) but a brand new ship Carnival Panorama will do 7 nights departing from Long Beach.

 

[mevelandry]

Do you have any idea if another ship will take it's place out of LA and if so, which one? We loved that 4 day Catalina/Ensenada itinerary and took it several times when RCCL used to sail it. We never did book it on CCL because the ships didn't appeal.

The Panorama sails the longer 7 day itineraries, but it might be the Radiance that takes over for the Imagination. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong!) Which, if so, would be a very nice upgrade I would think!

After verification...

@belle032 is correct. Carnival Radiance is supposed to take over for shorter cruises departing from Long Beach.

Carnival Radiance is a re-imagined Carnival Victory (which was already much better than Fantasy Class, IMO). There will be exciting changes on that ship. I would not hesitate to recommend Panorama or Radiance.