CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[PrincessTrisha]

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!

By summer 2019 the Carnival Panorama (their brand new ship) will also be sailing from Florida. Any of the ships you mention are great ships with a lot of the Carnival bells and whistles so I think you'd be happy on any of them. My recommendation would be to look at price and ports.

Your parents are really nice to be doing this for the family.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Do any of the balconies open up like they can on Disney?

I know they do on Vista and Horizon but don’t know for sure about the Dream class ships, (although I’m about 90% sure those do).

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

By summer 2019 the Carnival Panorama (their brand new ship) will also be sailing from Florida. Any of the ships you mention are great ships with a lot of the Carnival bells and whistles so I think you'd be happy on any of them. My recommendation would be to look at price and ports.

Your parents are really nice to be doing this for the family.

Actually, Panorama isn’t sailing until fall of 2019. When she does get to the US, she’ll be home ported in Long Beach, doing Mexican Riviera and possibly Hawaii cruises. 7 night Mexico cruises have been confirmed, but longer Hawaiian cruises are just speculation at this point.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I know they do on Vista and Horizon but don’t know for sure about the Dream class ships, (although I’m about 90% sure those do).

You can open balcony dividers on Dream, Magic, Breeze also.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Actually, Panorama isn’t sailing until fall of 2019. When she does get to the US, she’ll be home ported in Long Beach, doing Mexican Riviera and possibly Hawaii cruises. 7 night Mexico cruises have been confirmed, but longer Hawaiian cruises are just speculation at this point.

I was thinking the Horizon and wrote Panorama. The poster mentioned the Vista, Breeze and Magic - I meant to say that the Horizon will be sailing from Florida by that time. It has the Dr Seuss waterpark and some other new features (some announced, some which will be announced closer to the inaugural sailing).

 

[mevelandry]

Do any of the balconies open up like they can on Disney?

Yes they can open them up.

 

[mevelandry]

You can open balcony dividers on Dream, Magic, Breeze also.

I think you can open them on the Victory as well. I remember the maintenance lady having a "key" to lock and unlock them.

 

[RedSox68]

Good point. And it is hard to define, that's probably why I bailed! So now I will give it a go... at the risk of offending, and this is just my perspective.... but for me the biggest area is with the kids. And I think my kids picked up on this on their own when they tried Carnival especially. I have never said anything negative to them about dcl. The kids on Carnival are a lot nicer. The kids on DCL (just my opinion) tend to be more self-centered. There was an interaction with a server in the dining room where one of our kids was whining about something and the server was going to run and fix it and I stopped her. I said something like, no, please don't give him what he wants (I don't remember what it was but it was something ridiculous). And the server said you are the first parent on dcl I have encountered to say that. She said dcl parents treat their kids like little princes and princesses. Well, that is not us. We are old school. Lol.
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.

We found this too the first time my DD went to the kids club. She was treated horribly and wouldn't go back. The next year she was older and went to the teen club, same thing -- it seemed liked they all knew each other already and she was left out of most things -- so didn't go back. I actually had a kid say to me once "get out of my way, my parents paid a lot of money for this cruise"!!! Never ever had that on any of the other lines we have cruised on. Just personal experiences, some but not all of the kids on DCL act very privileged and it's sad.

 

[mevelandry]

You've clearly not cruised on other lines. Water and lemonade, comfortable furniture under a tent - I've seen these frequently on many cruise lines on their dock (including Carnival ships).
(...)

I could swear they put a shaded seating area when I sailed on the Carnival Vista... I thought that was cool. I should have taken pictures.

 

[RedSox68]

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've been on some truly beautiful ships on other lines, and have been greeted onboard with Mimosas and drinks (free) upon boarding and many beverages when returning from port, also had free cookies delivered to our room and some NCL ships hand them out as you leave the ship on debarkation day. We've had lots of amenities on other lines, too, including some nice repeat cruiser gifts.

I understand the loyalty to the Disney ships, they are beautiful and an industry standard for class, but if we want to see as much of the world as possible, we had to look elsewhere -- their pricing is just way out of our comfort zone now.

 

[mevelandry]

We found this too the first time my DD went to the kids club. She was treated horribly and wouldn't go back. The next year she was older and went to the teen club, same thing -- it seemed liked they all knew each other already and she was left out of most things -- so didn't go back. I actually had a kid say to me once "get out of my way, my parents paid a lot of money for this cruise"!!! Never ever had that on any of the other lines we have cruised on. Just personal experiences, some but not all of the kids on DCL act very privileged and it's sad.

I would love to know what you replied.

I, for myself, would have lost it.

 

[RedSox68]

I would love to know what you replied.

I, for myself, would have lost it.

"Well, aren't you special" (re: Dana Carvey as the Church Lady).

 

[mevelandry]

"Well, aren't you special" (re: Dana Carvey as the Church Lady).

(I'm looking for a high-five emoticon but can't find one.)

 

[robinb]

Huh... Good for you? (I'm confused.)

Not trying to argue with you here (because this is a zen thread) but I'm just trying to understand where we are going with this...

Most participants to this thread now alternate between DCL and other cruise lines. In many cases, it's not a question of wallet but a choice/a preference.

Also, we did not simply judge other ships from the dock: we tried them and found value in them.

I just wanted to make sure that I am welcome on this thread. I do not intend to sail on DCL. It's really way too expensive IMO. I could afford it if I wished to, but I don't want to spend 2-3 times more to sail with The Mouse. I guess I won't say "never" (although I did type out the word and then deleted it) because I have a daughter who may have kids in the next 10-15 years and I won't totally discount being that grandmother that pays for a DCL cruise. I enjoy reading about the differences between the two cruise line and I don't mean to bash DCL over price because it does looks wonderful .

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I just wanted to make sure that I am welcome on this thread. I do not intend to sail on DCL. It's really way too expensive IMO. I could afford it if I wished to, but I don't want to spend 2-3 times more to sail with The Mouse. I guess I won't say "never" (although I did type out the word and then deleted it) because I have a daughter who may have kids in the next 10-15 years and I won't totally discount being that grandmother that pays for a DCL cruise. I enjoy reading about the differences between the two cruise line and I don't mean to bash DCL over price because it does looks wonderful .

No worries. I have never sailed DCL because I can't afford it! We have an 8 night Carnival cruise in a balcony and 6 nights at Pop! with 5 day tickets, all excursions, food, etc and we are paying the same as a 7 night cruise in an inside room on Fantasy. So 2 weeks for the price of 1 on DCL. The ships do look nice and we love Disney but we get our fix at WDW. Plus I won't ever sail a ship that doesn't have anytime dining. I don't want to sit with strangers or be told when to eat.

 

[mevelandry]

I just wanted to make sure that I am welcome on this thread. I do not intend to sail on DCL. It's really way too expensive IMO. I could afford it if I wished to, but I don't want to spend 2-3 times more to sail with The Mouse. I guess I won't say "never" (although I did type out the word and then deleted it) because I have a daughter who may have kids in the next 10-15 years and I won't totally discount being that grandmother that pays for a DCL cruise. I enjoy reading about the differences between the two cruise line and I don't mean to bash DCL over price because it does looks wonderful .

Of course you are welcome on this thread.

I'll speak for myself, I'm uncomfortable with a certain type of comments: interventions from people who have no intentions to ever try Carnival and just come on the thread to post condescending messages about the line/Carnival cruisers when they have never been on a Carnival cruise.

To me, it's like giving a 1/5 note on tripadvisor to a restaurant you've never eaten at, just because you did not like the color of their marquee... aka totally absurd.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

To me, it's like giving a 1/5 note on tripadvisor to a restaurant you've never eaten at, just because you did not like the color of their marquee... aka totally absurd.

Or because you "heard" from your neighbours friend at work that the food wasn't that good.

 

[skittlesfirehawk]

Then I am not sure what you are contributing here if you have never cruised on Carnival and don’t plan on it in the future.

I never said didn’t plan on it. I’m pretty sure after this cruise my bf is gonna wanna try another cruise line. I’m used to Disney and like Disney and what I’ve heard has made me weary.

 

[skittlesfirehawk]

How many times have you cruised on DCL?

4 times

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I never said didn’t plan on it. I’m pretty sure after this cruise my bf is gonna wanna try another cruise line. I’m used to Disney and like Disney and what I’ve heard has made me weary.

I would suggest that instead of bashing other CL and praising DCL that you really read through this thread and others on the RCCL board to get a better picture. I would not take my children on a ship that wasn't safe, clean and family-friendly. Many people have spent a lot of time contributing to this thread and have a lot of combined experience on all the cruise lines. If you want to live in the Disney bubble that is of no importance to me but don't comment until you have first-hand experience about something.