CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[mevelandry]

I am really looking forward to my Carnival Magic western cruise in April (along with two nights at Disney!). I have two more I want to book, Horizon 6-night Western in early 2019 and Magic 8-night Southern in early 2020 after it moves to FLL. However I also wanted to get another full week at Disney before kiddo turns 10 at the end of 2019, preferably after Star Wars land opens (though perhaps that is crazy). I need to make more money... or win the lottery! If either Horizon or Magic were out of Port Canaveral we could get a fix by adding on a few days, but with them being Miami and Fort Lauderdale, I'm not sure it's feasible. What to do!

We want to do the Horizon because it goes to Ocho Rios (I know, not everyone is fond of Jamaica, I went there with my parents so many years ago and didn't climb Dunn's, now I regret that and have to go!). We could do a 5-night on Sensation instead, for less money of course, but that brand new ship just seems to appealing! And the 8-night on Magic goes to Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Aruba and Curacao. Sounds so amazing!

I had wanted to do a Star Wars cruise for kiddo, but I can do both the other ones for the same price as that one... I just don't know what to do. I want to take all the trips!

Ocho Rios can be creepy if you go "by yourself" (seriously... don't do that! Those vendors are something!) but if you stick to an excursion, you'll be fine. Ocho Rios backgrounds are absolutely breathtaking.

 

[skittlesfirehawk]

When you say your group, do you mean fb group? There are people who like fb- which is great. And people who do not like fb- which is also great. I am a big supporter of free association, so I have no issue with people forming groups before the cruise. No big deal. It just isn't us. I prefer more open groups.

Well it started here and went to fb

 

[cruiser21]

You sound like us. It isn't that we have not met anyone nice on dcl. We have, definitely.

One thing I bet you see a lot more of on DCL is stressed out, miserable parents. I chose not to work during the baby/ toddler stage. We couldn't afford to travel and now I'm glad we couldn't.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

As someone with no kids that has zero affect on me or my cruise. If you have observed anything else not kid related you think is “snobbery” I would honestly be interested to hear it. In 4 cruises I have yet to meet anyone nasty. There was one lady part of a couple who seemed to have her nose in the air but it was fine because after first night we never saw them and I just talked to others at the table. I loved my cruise group. We all hung out together at the sail away party and did a group mixology which was fun. I ended up hanging out with the leader of ours on castaway cay. A few saw me at check in on the terminal and said happy birthday to me.

DCL is one of the few lines where we don't tend to mention any more that we cruise on other lines as well. It's been met with a lot of attitude and "Aren't you glad that you can finally afford a DCL cruise." Which is funny since DCL was our first cruise line; but no longer our favoured line.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Well it started here and went to fb

Right, and this is an open forum. Like cruise critic, open forum.

 

[skittlesfirehawk]

Good point.
I think other things are clicky on dcl, again just my perspective, the fish extender thing for example, and all the FB stuff before the cruise. It sometimes becomes really obvious to me who is inthe FB group and who isn't. They stick together and get their kids to play together. Well, we are not FB people either. I do not get that on other lines at all. These are not things that make or break my cruise. Not at all. For me it is price. But it does feel very high school over there on dcl and much more grown up out beyond dcl.

I don’t understand this. You could join the Facebook groups and be apart of the “clique” but chose not to. I also don’t get how it’s any different than a family that’s crushing together.

 

[skittlesfirehawk]

DCL is one of the few lines where we don't tend to mention any more that we cruise on other lines as well. It's been met with a lot of attitude and "Aren't you glad that you can finally afford a DCL cruise." Which is funny since DCL was our first cruise line; but no longer our favoured line.

When at ports I see the envy in their eyes when they are like oh your on the Disney ship. Our ship just always looks better in my opinion and we get greeted with water and stuff while the other cruise lines don’t get that. I just count that kind of stuff as the “Disney difference”

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

When at ports I see the envy in their eyes when they are like oh your on the Disney ship. Our ship just always looks better in my opinion and we get greeted with water and stuff while the other cruise lines don’t get that. I just count that kind of stuff as the “Disney difference”

That makes me remember another example... on one of our dcl cruises the cd was making fun of other lines every time we pulled into a port. It just felt unnecesaary and mean.... and snotty. It made me wonder what dcl is so insecure about. Like I tell my kids, generally when other kids make fun of you, it is because they are jealous of something. Lol.

 

[skittlesfirehawk]

That makes me remember another example... on one of our dcl cruises the cd was making fun of other lines every time we pulled into a port. It just felt unnecesaary and mean.... and snotty. It made me wonder what dcl is so insecure about. Like I tell my kids, generally when other kids make fun of you, it is because they are jealous of something. Lol.

I think Disney in general has an air of we are better. I’m okay with that because I believe it.. that’s kinda rude of the cruise director. I mean I’m sure I would giggle though.

 

[cruiser21]

DCL is one of the few lines where we don't tend to mention any more that we cruise on other lines as well. It's been met with a lot of attitude and "Aren't you glad that you can finally afford a DCL cruise." Which is funny since DCL was our first cruise line; but no longer our favoured line.

Whenever the counselors ask my son what his favorite ships is he say's "The Breeze" he actually prefers DCL, but he thinks it funny to see the shocked look on their faces. Ok he's a little smart $%$#@. I have no idea where he get's it from.

People see my platinum lanyard and they'll ask me how many cruises I've been on. Sometimes I mention that I've cruised on Carnival and NCL and were very happy with their product. I've gotten shocked reactions, but I've also gotten looks of relief. Like I've given them an out....they don't have to spend all this money.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I don’t understand this. You could join the Facebook groups and be apart of the “clique” but chose not to. I also don’t get how it’s any different than a family that’s crushing together.

Because not all fb groups are open groups. I find the venue itself exclusionary... but this is just my opinion on it. I have very good friends who love fb. It is just a personal preference. As I mentioned it doesn't make or break my cruise experience. I have moved away from dcl primarily for price, but... it is one thing I do not like about dcl. If you like it, then it would go in the plus column for you.

 

[cruiser21]

When at ports I see the envy in their eyes when they are like oh your on the Disney ship. Our ship just always looks better in my opinion and we get greeted with water and stuff while the other cruise lines don’t get that. I just count that kind of stuff as the “Disney difference”

I've never gotten that reaction from cruisers on other ships or seen "envy in their eyes". Especially when you're docked next to ships like the Oasis, or Celebrity Eclipse and you're on the Magic. Honestly there's some pretty nice ships out there. I hope the Wonder doesn't have to dock next the NCL Bliss in Alaska. Those go carts on top of the Bliss are going to make the Wonder look pretty old and shabby. I think the kids on the Wonder would be jealous. I know my son would.

 

[mevelandry]

DCL is one of the few lines where we don't tend to mention any more that we cruise on other lines as well. It's been met with a lot of attitude and "Aren't you glad that you can finally afford a DCL cruise." Which is funny since DCL was our first cruise line; but no longer our favoured line.

What?!?!?! Someone told you that?

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I've never gotten that reaction from cruisers on other ships or seen "envy in their eyes". Especially when you're docked next to ships like the Oasis, or Celebrity Eclipse and you're on the Magic. Honestly there's some pretty nice ships out there. I hope the Wonder doesn't have to dock next the NCL Bliss in Alaska. Those go carts on top of the Bliss are going to make the Wonder look pretty old and shabby. I think the kids on the Wonder would be jealous. I know my son would.

I’ll be one of those people with the jealous look in his eyes!!! I wanted to go in the Bliss so bad this June but since my son is graduating high school we told him he could pick out whatever cruise he wants, on whatever line, and the Wonder won. I really love the look looks, (except the painted hulls, I hate those), of the NCL ships but we just haven’t but the bullet and tried them yet.

 

[mevelandry]

When at ports I see the envy in their eyes when they are like oh your on the Disney ship. Our ship just always looks better in my opinion and we get greeted with water and stuff while the other cruise lines don’t get that. I just count that kind of stuff as the “Disney difference”

Yeah, I totally understand. I had the same thoughts the first time I sailed on the DCL Dream: DCL sure has good looks... but the truth is you when you look at other ships that are docked, you only see their exterior and you don't get to experiment their activities or as I like to say, "their soul".

While we were on our 2nd DCL cruise, I was looking at Carnival and RCCL ships and I told my husband: "Maybe it's not THAT bad. We could give it a try. If it ends up being a mistake then at least it won't be an expensive mistake".

My third cruise --which lead to the creation of this thread-- was finally on Carnival Victory. Of course, we met the Victory with a mix of fear and excitement. At this point, I had done so much research on Carnival that I was definitely expecting something different and my mind/heart werte wide open. Once we were docked in Nassau, we had had so much fun already that I weren't even jealous of DCL's guests. We just waved at them when they left. LOL

Our third cruise was with Disney (Disney Wonder, not long after the dry dock) and we ended up missing Carnival a lot. I felt like we were only repeating cruise #1 and #2. :/

Our last cruise was on the Carnival Vista, which I ended liking more than the Dream (the Dream was still my #1 up until that day). Now my husband doesn't want to sail with DCL ever again.

We have three cruises coming in 2018 and 2019. We'll be trying NCL for the first time in March 2019. I'm very excited. Trying Carnival after DCL has definitely opened my mind to different experiences!

p.s.: I'm actually jealous of the NCL ships because of their designs. They look SO GOOD.

 

[mevelandry]

That makes me remember another example... on one of our dcl cruises the cd was making fun of other lines every time we pulled into a port. It just felt unnecesaary and mean.... and snotty. It made me wonder what dcl is so insecure about. Like I tell my kids, generally when other kids make fun of you, it is because they are jealous of something. Lol.

I would have had a chat with that CD if it was mine... LOL But you know. Competition. When your product is much more expensive, you have to find a way to sell it.

 

[skittlesfirehawk]

I've never gotten that reaction from cruisers on other ships or seen "envy in their eyes". Especially when you're docked next to ships like the Oasis, or Celebrity Eclipse and you're on the Magic. Honestly there's some pretty nice ships out there. I hope the Wonder doesn't have to dock next the NCL Bliss in Alaska. Those go carts on top of the Bliss are going to make the Wonder look pretty old and shabby. I think the kids on the Wonder would be jealous. I know my son would.

The last few times when we have talked to other cruisers and said how much we love dcl food and Palo they seemed upset at having to pay more for good food on the other ships where as with dcl it’s included. I’ve seen what looked like them repainting or washing the front of our ship while docked before.

 

[mevelandry]

I've never gotten that reaction from cruisers on other ships or seen "envy in their eyes". Especially when you're docked next to ships like the Oasis, or Celebrity Eclipse and you're on the Magic. Honestly there's some pretty nice ships out there. I hope the Wonder doesn't have to dock next the NCL Bliss in Alaska. Those go carts on top of the Bliss are going to make the Wonder look pretty old and shabby. I think the kids on the Wonder would be jealous. I know my son would.

I’ll be one of those people with the jealous look in his eyes!!! I wanted to go in the Bliss so bad this June but since my son is graduating high school we told him he could pick out whatever cruise he wants, on whatever line, and the Wonder won. I really love the look looks, (except the painted hulls, I hate those), of the NCL ships but we just haven’t but the bullet and tried them yet.

OMG! The Bliss is one of NCL's beauties I'm talking about!

 

[mevelandry]

The last few times when we have talked to other cruisers and said how much we love dcl food and Palo they seemed upset at having to pay more for good food on the other ships where as with dcl it’s included. I’ve seen what looked like them repainting or washing the front of our ship while docked before.

You like the food in the MDR? What did you get? Outside of the Chateaubriand steak and the Champagne pursettes, I'm not a fan. If I had to sail with DCL again, I would stick to Palo and Remy every night.

 

[iamporch]

I wasn't sure where else to ask this so hoping I can get some feedback here. My parents are taking the whole family on a cruise. Destination isn't priority. We are looking at summer 2019. Once prices are out we will look at Disney but we are also looking at other lines. We will need 6-7 rooms. 23 of us total. Kids ages go from age 4 to 18. Pretty much one of every age in between! Obviously if we choose Disney it will be a shorter cruise due to price. We all love Disney. My family and parents are the only ones who have every cruised before. I have only done Disney. May parents have done others years ago. Anyway what ships from Carnival or RCCL would you suggest? Looking more for pools/activities outside of kids clubs/shows/food.

Is there much of a difference between the Breeze, Vista and Magic for Carnival or are those similar? What about the Carnival Dream? That would be our 5 night option for Carnival but is the ship as nice as the newer ones?

For RCCL I imagine anything from the oasis class?

Between Carnival and RCCL which would you go with with kids of all ages?

Thanks for anyone who read!