CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[mevelandry]

thanks for the report.

One issue stands out for me though - I think Allen had frozen yogurt and not the ice cream. Carnival's soft serve isn't different than DCL's. The Frozen yogurt though is the one that seems a bit icy and not so creamy. If you don't look at the sign above the machine, it's easy to get the wrong one (I've done it many times myself).

Yes! I noticed that too on the Vista. The ice cream I had was just as good as DCL's ... but to be honest, I love them both (Yogourt & Ice Cream) even though they are very different.

 

[mevelandry]

I hope I'm replying to this quote correctly, I've never tried before <blush> i'll reply in itallics

Everything is in Italic but I have found your replies.


(Part regarding Balmoral Island edited/removed)

Do you remember the names of the comedians on your sailing? So far I never got female body parts jokes in a set. Don't think I'd love that very much.

I'm very happy you had a good experience. I can say trying Carnival after DCL really opened my mind to other experiences too.

 

[tigerchic89]

It was the signed and labeled VIP... but every DCL passenger was over there, and I did not see a single DCL towel on our side. I'm not complaining, I'm sure the DCL excursion costs more (I think I looked at the prices in the past). But I had read on a past DCL review of that excursion about walking around to the back of the island... well we couldn't get there b/c to the right was blocked off by the VIP area, and to the left was blocked off for only the stingray and dolphin excursion extras. The back was walled off by walls surrounding the pool and some new construction they are doing. And I will admit, we did not try very hard or ask anyone.. it was kind of like "hey do you want to try to walk around to see the other side? Sure, ok this side is roped off, that side is roped off, let's just just head back to the ship"

I threw away our fun times, I do not remember the comedian names. I was not offended or anything, I like raunchy movies like Bridesmaids and The Hangover.. I was just kind of rolling my eyes as I giggled during the show.....

 

[tigerchic89]

sorry one more thing about Balmoral..... I definitely think that we got what we paid for. I am glad that we booked it. If we had not, we would not have seen the ocean and beach up close. But, since I am in love with DCL, I was looking for the differences, so I noticed. I don't think that Balmoral slighted the carnival guests over th DCL guests, I think they sell a different product (at a different price). If we were to go ack, I might try Blue Lagoon instead, but Balmoral was cheapest so that's why I chose it 1st. I hope this helps explain and helps you make you choice for when you visit Nassau

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I know for me (not saying this is true for other people!) it is sometimes hard to separate out the emotional component of Disney. They do such an amazing job of getting you to have emotional experiences and associations in the everyday. The ice cream to me is a great example because it is one of the things I have compared also. And I am almost positive that it is the same crappy soft serve on both DCL and CCL. Iol. But the DCL soft serve area is so much cuter! And well... Disney. (It sounds like your beach visit was of lesser quality than the one offered by DCL). I still go soft for Disney, but the last couple of times we were on DCL (after trying other lines) I just felt ripped off and even though I love Disney, it ruined it for me. I am not worried about money at all on Carnival and it feels really liberating. Plus, I was shocked to learn my kids like it more than DCL.

 

[tigerchic89]

yes, off to NL, you summed it up nicely. It didn't help that our CCL itinerary mirrored DCL Wonder this trip... arriving at PC, I see the Wonder, eating lunch aboard carnival, I have a clear view of Wonder, during sail away.. oh look there's the Wonder. We wake in Nassau, there's 4 ships in port. Who are we parked next to and sharing a dock???? the Wonder. Which is fine, I actually loved looking at the ship, the Wonder is in the background of most of our pics.

Again, the carnival cost us about $800 after our OB credit... the same trip for the 2 of us on the Wonder would have been over $1800, and we could not justify it! After the cruise, I am happy with our choice.. my heart loves DCL but my head is happy with the +$1K in the checking account LOL

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Here's my 3 day trip report just off Carnival Liberty. It's long sorry, feel free to skip. It was a fun cheap trip but I still love DCL 100 times more.

I'm going to write up a trip report here, so just move on if that kind of thing bores you! In January, I was sick of the cold weather in Atlanta and wanted to go somewhere to celebrate our wedding anniversary. I started looking at vacations and we really struggled with taking too much time and money away from our family vacations, which are still our favorite way to spend. Allen figured out that he would already be in Orlando for work in March, My mom would already be in town to see Elizabeth's drama performance, and my flight to Orlando was super cheap.

I left Orlando on a Tuesday. Allen was already in Orlando. I planned for some ATL traffic getting to he airport, but it was worse than normal and it took me 2 hours to get to the parking shuttle spot. I went to check my bag at the self kiosk, and it wanted to charge me $25. I don't travel much so I'm confused, but we pay for that Delta AMEX so your 1st bag can fly free. So I stand in line to talk to someone. She says that since Allen is the primary cardholder I have to be traveling with him to get my bag free. But I can call AMEX later. Ok that was aggravating, charge my Delta AMEX the $25, so I can go. By this time the window for my bag has passed, but she says my bag is not "late" but it's ok she'll put it through it will make it.
TSA line, sign says 15 minutes. No problem, I check my phone, catch up on facebook, finish my water. I check the time and I've been waiting 30 minutes and I'm not even up to the screeners. Needless to say, I got to the gate 3 minutes late, and the plane had left without me. They put me standby on the next flight to Orlando (every hour), with no charge, I cleared no problem, grabbed lunch from Chipotle and even got a window exit row seat (yay!).
I land in Orlando and I’m happy to know that I should just be able to grab my bag that’s been waiting on me from the earlier flight. I don’t see my bag waiting so I assume that it also missed the early flight. All of the bags from my standby flight come off and I still have no bag. My bag has all of my favorite swim suits, shoes, stuff to wear on cruises, and all of Allen’s cruise clothes. My luggage was not a designer piece (a huge High Sierra rolling duffle in black), but this was the 2nd time that I’ve used it and I think it’s a good looking and could look like it’s full of nice things. I just *knew* that it had been stolen. AND I had to may $25 to check it.
To the lost luggage counter I went. My 1st time there, I had to wait behind 3 people.
I did not realize this, but apparently people use the lost luggage counter as an opportunity to go shopping to upgrade their luggage. I couldn’t understand all of the conversation as some was spoken in another language, but the customer’s luggage got snagged in a few spots and so the lady went to the back a few times and brought out 3 different suitcases for him to choose from. So he found one the he liked better than “his” and moves his stuff into his “new” suitcase. Sorry, I think that is so gross!!!
Ok it’s my turn. She looks up my bag and it shows that it did arrive on the early flight. Yes, I looked everywhere, it’s not in there. She asked if I was headed to Disney. I said, “I wish, not this time but I’m staying at an off property hotel.” So then she asked, “BY chance did you have a Disney luggage tag on it?". The last time that I used the luggage was on our Thanksgiving DCL Fantasy cruise. We drove that trip, but they give you barcoded luggage tags to get your luggage to your stateroom. I had not removed that tag. She called the Disney luggage area but they could not find my bag. She said that I could hand around the airport a few hours (!!), or come back later (we had no car), but she could not deliver my bag when it surfaced because it was a late check bag!

I leave her office kind of freaking out. I decide that my bag must be headed to the Fantasy (maybe I can find it and crawl inside!). I asked and found the Disney desk in the airport. Actually, I found the busses that are loading people to take them to their cruises or WDW resorts. And I start visually scanning the bus luggage holds looking for my black bag. I probably looked a little crazy stalking the luggage. So someone directed me away from the busses to the desk. I nice lady picked up the phone, called and said, ”Hi, do you have a bag down there for Harper? Yes. Yes. No bring it now to me because I also have to aske you something.” And within 3 minutes my bag was being rolled out by a Disney luggage guy. Magical.

I didn’t want to spend $80 on a car service or $60 on a cab and I’ve heard that Uber can be high and hard to use from the Orlando airport, so I booked a Shared Shuttle through Mears. One way was $23. I had to wait about 15 minutes to be picked up, but the van was clean and nice. It stopped at one resort and dropped 5 people, the took me to the Wyndham Grand Bonnet Creek.
Allen was staying here for work and I was able to get a key to his room. The room was nice and really large. It had a cute alcove with twin bunks that would be perfect for kids. When his meetings ended, we met his co workers in the hotel bar for happy hour. They had a work dinner event that evening, so they left and I ate dinner at the bar (which was *really* nice). The Wyndham Grand is part of 5 or 6 high rises that make up a complex the over look a lake. I took a walk around the lake and checked out the mini golf, pools, lazy river, ect. Then I headed back to the room, caught up on the internet and watched 3 Friends re-runs and fell asleep early (Isn’t this every mom’s dream???)
The next day, Allen had some meetings and then some work emails to return. I hung out at the pool. It was a windy and cold day, but in the sunshine it felt warm.
Around 3, I made Allen shut off his PC and we caught the free shuttle into Disney Springs (Downtown Disney). The hotel offers a free shuttle there, which I thought was awesome. But it only runs 3 times a day which was really not. A van picked us up, and it was kind of gross. There were 3 of us that got on at the Grand. Then it stopped at another Wyndham and picked up 3 more. There was no 3rd seat in the van so the 6 of us really had to squish into the 2 bench seats. So that part was kind of icky.
We walked around and grabbed a late lunch at the Mexican restaurant by Rick Bayless. It was good but expensive for what we got. We walked around and shopped some more. Then headed to the House of Blues where they had live music on the patio. We had a few drinks there and then headed for the return shuttle. The return shuttle was a pretty nice Coach bus. There were 5 of us on it, so I’m not sure what was up with the sketch van that took us there because the 2 rides were very different.

The next morning we needed to head to Port Canaveral. I could have hired a car service for $130. Or we could have spent $50-$80 getting back to the airport and then spend $40-$70 on a shuttle. Instead, we got an Uber ($10) to Avis in the Hilton lobby near DtD. Our rental car was $70 ish for the day. Allen thinks the guy was going to give him the red convertable Camero SS (?) but when Allen answered, “no I’m not traveling alone I’m with my wife” and he saw all of our luggage we got upgraded to an SUV instead of the intermediate that he reserved. We left the Disney area and stopped at McDonalds for breakfast. I had scoped out a Publix right off the turnpike near the port. We stopped there, picked up 2 bottles of wine, a 6 pack of Dr. Pepper, a 6 pack of LaCroix, some sunscreen and chapstick. We also refilled the car with gas.
We dropped the car at Avis and took the Avis shuttle to get to the port.
We looked into just extending a land vacation in Florida after his work conference, but nothing looked perfect. We didn’t want to do theme parks without the kids, the Florida beaches were not super cheap and the weather could still be cool, ect. So I looked into cruises. Of course I checked every DCL option and came close to booking one. But in the end, we decided to try Carnival as it was 1/3 the price. I read reviews on the Liberty and overall the Liberty got good reviews. So we booked a Carnival 3 night for $850ish (!!!) I decided against FTTF and against the Cheers! Package (glad I made both choices). I ordered 1 12pack of water which was the perfect amount.
I selected a check in time of 11:30-non, thinking that if we got there early we could check in. But after doing some reading, I decided we should arrive at the port around 1, then we could drop off our carry ons and heavy beverages as our room would be ready at 1:30, then we would go to lunch. Our Avis driver got us to the port area around 12:30 (right on schedule) the lines were long. As we were waiting in the traffic, she asked in broken English if we were ok walking with our luggage, which we were … “I make it easy for you”… she went though some other gates… I think she dropped up off at the pick up zone becuase the area was deserted. Anyway, we tipped her and headed up an empty escalator.
There was a long line and a short line. I thought that we could get in the short line since our port arrival time had already passed, but the short line was only if for the 30 minute window. So we got in the long line with all of the early and the late people. It did move pretty fast, and then I realized that we were checking in. I asked a carnival lady if we could still check our bags, and she said “Sure you can get out of line and go back downstairs”… so apparently we bypassed bag check and we were carrying on our luggage. Which ended up being perfect. The check in was quick and easy. Compared to DCL, it felt more like checking into a football game or concert than checking into a hotel. No desk, just little mobile scanners, etc. Not a big deal, just different.
We were on the ship by 12:50. Stopped by guest services (line was short, we were right there) to ask about the cost of upgrading our room, but none were available. Tons of elevators, never a problem getting an empty one. We took our luggage to deck 7 and were prepared to wait until 1:30. AT 1:10 Allen suggested that I just run and see if our room might be ready. They leave your key cards in a sealed envelope outside your door when the room is ready. Sure enough, ours was ready so we got all of our luggage, carryons, and drinks settled then headed to lunch.
We chose the Lido deck buffet. It was fine. Typical buffet food. DCL buffet on sail away day is much much better. We did not have Cheers, so we drank water. Allen tried the tea but hated it. The lemonade was okay, and the coffee was ok too, probably better than DCL free coffee. For desserts, I think I liked the carnival buffet desserts better. They had servers who sliced cheesecake and it was really good, so that was a +1 for Carnival. Allen tried the soft serve but didn’t like it, it was very “icy” and not creamy like DCL.
I loved our room location, Deck 7 right in the middle of the ship. 2 flights up to the open deck and buffet, 2 flights down to the casino and clubs, 3 flights down to the resturants. Our room was tiny. But fine for the 2 of us. Plenty of closet space. Colors were ugly, pinks and teals and oranges. It was clean. Bathroom counter was large, I think larger than DCL. The shower stall was tiny, I hated it. Our stateroom host Eva was awesome, we asked for extra towels, 2x daily service, ice, wine glasses and bottle opener. I had to do a load of laundry the 1st night as I had forgotten to pack a few things. $3 each on your room key.
We had Anytime Dining which we liked. We went around 7 each night and had to wait minutes the 1st night. We were seated alone. We bought the 3 bottle wine package so we had 1 bottle each dinner. The dinner meals were good, but we like DCL food better. Service was fine. We like DCL servers better. I found it very difficult to understand the servers’ accents. Even when they were from the same countries as our DCL servers.
For 2 adults, there was much more stuff for us to do. We went to the comedy show one night and it was okay. Pretty typical. We didn’t go back. We saw all 3 main shows we loved them. Very talented performers. And we liked the music. We went to the 10:15 show every night. I liked the big dual seats with drink and arm rests in the theatre. It was more comfy than the single seats. We went to the piano bar once and like it. We planned to go back but never made it.
We did spend a lot of time in the casino. It sucks that that allow smoking but it wasn’t too bad. I play craps and Allen watched. Of course, I think that I have mad dice rolling skills and that I am super lucky. Allen kept quoting me stats and probability theories. Whatever. I came out ahead $68. I played slots while waiting for the craps table to open and ended up losing $10. I wish DCL had a casino. We were able to buy used and cut decks of cards for the kids for $1 each.
Our only port was Nassau. We booked an excursion through Carnival to Balmoral Island ($80ish for both of us). The Ferry included a lot of waiting around getting there and back. And the water and sand were beautiful. But I think the set up there is very sketch. DCL had their own area so the DCL excursion may be nicer. But the food and drink prices were a rip off. And the sting ray and dolphin areas looked just.. very sad. I had heard that the ocean side of the island was beautiful, but we were kind of roped off from accessing anything other than our areas. Which was fine. I’m glad that we got to go to a beach area, and I didn’t expect much for $80, but nothing special about Balmoral!! It honestly seemed like they were trying to recreat Castaway Cay... and not too well!

We bought a few beverages in Nassau, (3 longnecks for $6), grabbed some gifts for the girls (3 leather bracelets/anklets for $10), and headed back into the port gates. The port officer stopped us and said that we had to finish our beer outside the gate. We were then approached by a man who offered to sell us something to enhance our beer-buzz, which we politely declined. Headed into port area and I decided that I wanted to have some braids in my hair. The prices were high ($4 per braid), but a nice lady told me that, "All prices are negotiable".. and that she's do my 4 full braids for $10. We shared the 3rd beer while she did my hair (and I prayed for a lice free experience!), I gave her $15 cash and we were back on the ship.

We went straight up to try Guys burgers. The line was 10 minutes long, and we each ordered the Ringer. Allen likes 5 guys better, I though Guys was pretty tasty, especially the fries. The next day we had tacos from Blue Iguana. They were good, but I think we've had better in Atlanta. We did not get to try the pizza as the lines were always 20-40 deep. We did not try the Deli, BBQ, sushi, or upgrade seafood. We also did not do the upcharge Steakhouse or Chefs Table. Sea day we found a space on deck near a satellite bubble that provided Allen's lounger full shade and mine full sun. There were some pretty raunchy on deck festivities.... we did not participate. We did share a bucket of beers, about $28 with tip for 4.

We carried off our luggage on the last morning, no lines, super easy. We hired a shared shuttle, Cortans, to take us to the airport. $20 each and it was nice and such a value.

Overall it was a great trip at for not too much money. I'm glad we went as we had fun. We wouldn't take our kids though

Thanks for the trip report. We’ve only gone on the Vista so far and absolutely love it, so do our kids, (teens). We’ee Booked on Horizon next year and Panorama in 2020 and I really want to try one of the 3 night cruises out of Long Beach on Imagination or Inspiration. My wife isn’t in agreement with that though, maybe after she reads your trip report she might agree to give it a try. Long Beach is only a 5.5 hour drive for us and the fares are pretty inexpensive so I’m willing to throw caution to the wind. Thanks again and I really think you’d enjoy the Vista class ships, and your husband would fall in love with the fresh homemade ice cream they serve at lunch time only in the dessert section of Lido, it’s fricking amazing!!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

yes, off to NL, you summed it up nicely. It didn't help that our CCL itinerary mirrored DCL Wonder this trip... arriving at PC, I see the Wonder, eating lunch aboard carnival, I have a clear view of Wonder, during sail away.. oh look there's the Wonder. We wake in Nassau, there's 4 ships in port. Who are we parked next to and sharing a dock???? the Wonder. Which is fine, I actually loved looking at the ship, the Wonder is in the background of most of our pics.

Again, the carnival cost us about $800 after our OB credit... the same trip for the 2 of us on the Wonder would have been over $1800, and we could not justify it! After the cruise, I am happy with our choice.. my heart loves DCL but my head is happy with the +$1K in the checking account LOL

You will love NCL. It is my husband's favorite line (so far). Their buffet is amazing. They have home made ice cream on the buffet every day. The flavors are usually different and I have seen up to 8 at once. My favorite was coconut! Their Deal or no Deal game show is a riot. Their guest services area is huge and never has a line (or if it does, it moves very, very quickly). If you buy a cruise next certificate it is $250 for $500 in credit towards your next cruise. You can buy multiple certificates. They are good for 4 years.

 

[mevelandry]

It was the signed and labeled VIP... but every DCL passenger was over there, and I did not see a single DCL towel on our side. I'm not complaining, I'm sure the DCL excursion costs more (I think I looked at the prices in the past). But I had read on a past DCL review of that excursion about walking around to the back of the island... well we couldn't get there b/c to the right was blocked off by the VIP area, and to the left was blocked off for only the stingray and dolphin excursion extras. The back was walled off by walls surrounding the pool and some new construction they are doing. And I will admit, we did not try very hard or ask anyone.. it was kind of like "hey do you want to try to walk around to see the other side? Sure, ok this side is roped off, that side is roped off, let's just just head back to the ship"

I threw away our fun times, I do not remember the comedian names. I was not offended or anything, I like raunchy movies like Bridesmaids and The Hangover.. I was just kind of rolling my eyes as I giggled during the show.....

Oh, ok. That's reassuring in a way. Didn't Carnival have a "VIP" option in their excursion?

 

[mevelandry]

sorry one more thing about Balmoral..... I definitely think that we got what we paid for. I am glad that we booked it. If we had not, we would not have seen the ocean and beach up close. But, since I am in love with DCL, I was looking for the differences, so I noticed. I don't think that Balmoral slighted the carnival guests over th DCL guests, I think they sell a different product (at a different price). If we were to go ack, I might try Blue Lagoon instead, but Balmoral was cheapest so that's why I chose it 1st. I hope this helps explain and helps you make you choice for when you visit Nassau

I just noticed there are many different excursions for Balmoral Island:

-NASSAU 360 & BEACH
-PRIVATE ISLAND BEACH DAY
-PRIVATE ISLAND BEACH DAY WITH LUNCH
-PRIVATE ISLAND BEACH DAY DELUXE
-VIP CHAMPAGNE CABANA AND BEACH
-PRIVATE ISLAND STINGRAY ENCOUNTER & BEACH
-PRIVATE ISLAND DOLPHIN SWIM & BEACH DAY
-VIP DOLPHIN SWIM & BEACH DAY WITH LUNCH

I have tried Blue Lagoon and loved it.

 

[mevelandry]

I know for me (not saying this is true for other people!) it is sometimes hard to separate out the emotional component of Disney. They do such an amazing job of getting you to have emotional experiences and associations in the everyday. The ice cream to me is a great example because it is one of the things I have compared also. And I am almost positive that it is the same crappy soft serve on both DCL and CCL. (...)

I could be wrong but I think Carnival's soft serve is Nestlé?

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I could be wrong but I think Carnival's soft serve is Nestlé?

Unfortunately I can't remember, and I know I have seen them put it in. I have seen them do it on DCL too and I can't remember what they use either. I asked DH and he can't remember either, which is weird, because I can usually count on him to notice random details like that. lol.

 

[mevelandry]

Unfortunately I can't remember, and I know I have seen them put it in. I have seen them do it on DCL too and I can't remember what they use either. I asked DH and he can't remember either, which is weird, because I can usually count on him to notice random details like that. lol.

Nestlé being Coca-Cola & most juices and soft drinks on Carnival being Coca-Cola... that would make sense. I remember seeing an employee filling a machine with the product for yogurt, seeing the name and telling myself that it was a "reliable" product.

 

[nrteer]

*Turns out this is pretty long. Sorry!!

My family recently returned from a cruise on the Vista to the Southern Caribbean and I just wanted to share my thoughts since I found this thread reassuring during my planning.

Background: We are a family of 3 (dd9) and live in the Tampa area. We have have cruised on Princess, Celebrity, NCL, and DCL. Our 2 DCL were on the Wonder and the Dream. I originally booked a 5 nt on the Magic out of Miami, but was not excited about it, so I started looking into other options for Spring Break. Disclaimer: We are Disney people, especially dd. We have WDW APs, and have been to DL, DLP, and Aulani. We love the family vibe and culture of Disney, but we have been to most of the destinations that DCL sails to in the Caribbean and wanted to see some new places.

I narrowed it down to 2 options: The NCL Getaway and the Carnival Vista. I will admit that I once declared that I would never sail on Carnival! Both ships looked like fun for dd, but it came down to itinerary. NCL went to the Western Caribbean and the Vista went to the Southern. Vista won. We booked 2 Cloud 9 Spa Balcony cabins in July (MIL came with us and dd shared with her).

We are not complainers and don't expect perfection on vacation, however, I feel like we had really low expectations because it was Carnival and not DCL. We drove to Miami the night before and stayed at the Intercontinental. We woke up to a view of several ships and were really excited. Our PAT was 12-12:30. Parking was pretty full, but we found a space and got in the long line of people waiting to embark. The line was always moving and it took about an hour to get on the ship. Our cabins were ready, so we dropped our carry-ons and off we went.

I liked the colors in the Spa Cabins and found it was plenty of space for the 2 of us. We have our dd in our cabin on DCL, so the split bathroom is a bonus there. Our room steward opened the divider on the balcony to connect our rooms which was great since there is not a connecting door in the cabin. The cabin came with Elemis products that were really nice and access to the Spa thermal suite. The heated loungers were so relaxing and the whirlpool was nice and hot. I tried the scented showers as well, but not the saual. I didn't go as often as I would have liked, but when I did go, it was empty. My MIL had I the thermal suite to ourselves! It was always very quiet in our hallway and we loved the proximity to Water Works. We could hop down two flights outside and be at the beach pool, Guy's Burgers, Blue Iguana, and the Lido Buffet. There are only 2 elevators that go to deck 14, so it is easier to walk down one flight to deck 12 where there are several more elevators. We usually just did the stairs. Our room steward was always around and very helpful. We loved the towel animals and really enjoyed when they took over all of the deck chairs at the pool! He even made a cat and held it together with rubber bands so my daughter could bring it home.

I never felt the ship was overly crowded, but we aren't sun worshippers, so we didn't have to battle for a pool lounger. We found shady loungers on deck 14 next to Water Works to relax while dd enjoyed the slides. There were lines for Guys and BI, but they always seemed to move. There are some shops on the ship (mostly jewelry and clothing). We spend a ton of money and time in the shops on DCL, so it was really nice just pop in and buy dd a shirt and off we went.

Food: My favorite item on DCL is the pasta pursettes! Other than that, I think the food is decent. We like Cabanas for breakfast and I think it is a little better than the Lido buffet. However, I loved the french toast on Carnival. The Lido got a little old on an 8nt cruise (I have been on 4&5nt DCL). One thing I loved on Carnival was Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana Cantina. We never eat at the restaurants by the pool on DCL, so this was different for us. The MDR on Vista was relaxing. We actually decided that we liked anytime dining better than rotational on DCL. While it is nice that your servers get to know you, they make us feel obligated to go to dinner. We got to meet many different servers on Carnival and they were all incredibly friendly. Also, we didn't get the "Please give us excellent ratings" speech which was nice. The MDR on Carnival was ok. I liked that the portion sizes weren't enormous and the variety on the menu. We tried all 3 specialty restaurants, but JIJI was the standout. It was so tasty and a fun experience. The Italian restaurant was ok and the Steakhouse was pretty good. I would probably try the Steakhouse again, but would skip the Italian one. We have dined at Palo brunch twice. The first time was excellent and the second was eh. I liked that we could bring dd to the specialty restaurants on Carnival. We did the Dr. Suess character breakfast and it was quite fun. The characters were very fun and the dining room was all decked out. The menu had all kinds of fun takes on breakfast foods, but we are pretty healthy eaters and couldn't bring ourselves to order the crazy creations. Luckily regular versions are available to order. The characters do not come to the table, the kids go to them. It is very organized and dd loved meeting new characters.

We visited Grand Turk, La Romana DR, Curacao, and Aruba. We are big water people and prefer to do private boating/snorkeling excursions while on vacation. In La Romana I decided to book through Carnival bc I there were not a lot of private options. We did the VIP Saona Island excursion. It started by taking a tour bus to Bayahibe to get on a motomaran. I am not a fan of the group tour thing, but the guide was ok. We boarded the boat and headed to the natural pool. It looked like a party in the water. The area was beautiful, but there were a lot of boats and people just drinking rum punch in the water. My family went in the water, but I stayed on the boat and took pics of them. We were there for about 45 min and then headed to Saona Island. The island was beautiful. We found loungers under palm trees and just relaxed before lunch. There were people selling things, but if you said "No thank you" they didn't seem to ask again. Lunch was grilled chicken, grilled fish, paella, and salads. It was really tasty. We had about 2 hours on the island before heading back to the ship. We had to be back on board at 4 and the bus pulled in at 350. We have never taken a DCL excursion, so I can't compare.

We loved the relaxing vibe of the Vista. It felt like vacation. I feel like when we are on DCL, we are always doing something and have little down time (Obviously by choice). DD loves the character meets, Mid Ship Detective Agency, and the kids clubs. On Carnival we enjoyed Water Works with its multiple slides and water play area. The lines weren't long, so she spent more time playing than waiting. We also did the ropes course and played mini golf and foosball. We visited the arcade which we haven't done on Disney (not even sure if they have one) and saw 2 Imax movies as well as Dive-In movies. We did not go to any of the comedy shows or dance shows. We have seen many of the DCL shows, but have been known to skip them. I would agree that they are the best at sea!

DD loved Camp Ocean, but also loves the DCL clubs. She is not a fan of the organized activites, so she just checked the schedule and knew when to go. The staff was super friendly and helpful. There have been instances when she needed help in a DCL club and didn't receive it. I felt like the staff were very engaged with the kids on the Vista. This was a spring break cruise, so there were lots of kids. I have to say that they were very well behaved and parents were on top of them. I feel like on DCL kids are everywhere (to be expected), but many are not supervised. I also feel like due to the cost of a DCL cruise, families feel like they have to do it all and it causes cranky parents and melting down kids (just like in the parks).

So, it turns out we LOVED the Carnival Vista! We decided that it was the best cruise we have ever been on. It cost our family of 4 less than half of the price of the 7nt Fantasy for the same week. We had a ton of fun and had time to relax as well. We have a cruise on the Dream in May for DD's 10th birthday and I am interested to hear her comparison of the 2 ships so close together. As much as we love Disney, seeing what else is out there was a good thing for us.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

*Turns out this is pretty long. Sorry!!

My family recently returned from a cruise on the Vista to the Southern Caribbean and I just wanted to share my thoughts since I found this thread reassuring during my planning.

Background: We are a family of 3 (dd9) and live in the Tampa area. We have have cruised on Princess, Celebrity, NCL, and DCL. Our 2 DCL were on the Wonder and the Dream. I originally booked a 5 nt on the Magic out of Miami, but was not excited about it, so I started looking into other options for Spring Break. Disclaimer: We are Disney people, especially dd. We have WDW APs, and have been to DL, DLP, and Aulani. We love the family vibe and culture of Disney, but we have been to most of the destinations that DCL sails to in the Caribbean and wanted to see some new places.

I narrowed it down to 2 options: The NCL Getaway and the Carnival Vista. I will admit that I once declared that I would never sail on Carnival! Both ships looked like fun for dd, but it came down to itinerary. NCL went to the Western Caribbean and the Vista went to the Southern. Vista won. We booked 2 Cloud 9 Spa Balcony cabins in July (MIL came with us and dd shared with her).

We are not complainers and don't expect perfection on vacation, however, I feel like we had really low expectations because it was Carnival and not DCL. We drove to Miami the night before and stayed at the Intercontinental. We woke up to a view of several ships and were really excited. Our PAT was 12-12:30. Parking was pretty full, but we found a space and got in the long line of people waiting to embark. The line was always moving and it took about an hour to get on the ship. Our cabins were ready, so we dropped our carry-ons and off we went.

I liked the colors in the Spa Cabins and found it was plenty of space for the 2 of us. We have our dd in our cabin on DCL, so the split bathroom is a bonus there. Our room steward opened the divider on the balcony to connect our rooms which was great since there is not a connecting door in the cabin. The cabin came with Elemis products that were really nice and access to the Spa thermal suite. The heated loungers were so relaxing and the whirlpool was nice and hot. I tried the scented showers as well, but not the saual. I didn't go as often as I would have liked, but when I did go, it was empty. My MIL had I the thermal suite to ourselves! It was always very quiet in our hallway and we loved the proximity to Water Works. We could hop down two flights outside and be at the beach pool, Guy's Burgers, Blue Iguana, and the Lido Buffet. There are only 2 elevators that go to deck 14, so it is easier to walk down one flight to deck 12 where there are several more elevators. We usually just did the stairs. Our room steward was always around and very helpful. We loved the towel animals and really enjoyed when they took over all of the deck chairs at the pool! He even made a cat and held it together with rubber bands so my daughter could bring it home.

I never felt the ship was overly crowded, but we aren't sun worshippers, so we didn't have to battle for a pool lounger. We found shady loungers on deck 14 next to Water Works to relax while dd enjoyed the slides. There were lines for Guys and BI, but they always seemed to move. There are some shops on the ship (mostly jewelry and clothing). We spend a ton of money and time in the shops on DCL, so it was really nice just pop in and buy dd a shirt and off we went.

Food: My favorite item on DCL is the pasta pursettes! Other than that, I think the food is decent. We like Cabanas for breakfast and I think it is a little better than the Lido buffet. However, I loved the french toast on Carnival. The Lido got a little old on an 8nt cruise (I have been on 4&5nt DCL). One thing I loved on Carnival was Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana Cantina. We never eat at the restaurants by the pool on DCL, so this was different for us. The MDR on Vista was relaxing. We actually decided that we liked anytime dining better than rotational on DCL. While it is nice that your servers get to know you, they make us feel obligated to go to dinner. We got to meet many different servers on Carnival and they were all incredibly friendly. Also, we didn't get the "Please give us excellent ratings" speech which was nice. The MDR on Carnival was ok. I liked that the portion sizes weren't enormous and the variety on the menu. We tried all 3 specialty restaurants, but JIJI was the standout. It was so tasty and a fun experience. The Italian restaurant was ok and the Steakhouse was pretty good. I would probably try the Steakhouse again, but would skip the Italian one. We have dined at Palo brunch twice. The first time was excellent and the second was eh. I liked that we could bring dd to the specialty restaurants on Carnival. We did the Dr. Suess character breakfast and it was quite fun. The characters were very fun and the dining room was all decked out. The menu had all kinds of fun takes on breakfast foods, but we are pretty healthy eaters and couldn't bring ourselves to order the crazy creations. Luckily regular versions are available to order. The characters do not come to the table, the kids go to them. It is very organized and dd loved meeting new characters.

We visited Grand Turk, La Romana DR, Curacao, and Aruba. We are big water people and prefer to do private boating/snorkeling excursions while on vacation. In La Romana I decided to book through Carnival bc I there were not a lot of private options. We did the VIP Saona Island excursion. It started by taking a tour bus to Bayahibe to get on a motomaran. I am not a fan of the group tour thing, but the guide was ok. We boarded the boat and headed to the natural pool. It looked like a party in the water. The area was beautiful, but there were a lot of boats and people just drinking rum punch in the water. My family went in the water, but I stayed on the boat and took pics of them. We were there for about 45 min and then headed to Saona Island. The island was beautiful. We found loungers under palm trees and just relaxed before lunch. There were people selling things, but if you said "No thank you" they didn't seem to ask again. Lunch was grilled chicken, grilled fish, paella, and salads. It was really tasty. We had about 2 hours on the island before heading back to the ship. We had to be back on board at 4 and the bus pulled in at 350. We have never taken a DCL excursion, so I can't compare.

We loved the relaxing vibe of the Vista. It felt like vacation. I feel like when we are on DCL, we are always doing something and have little down time (Obviously by choice). DD loves the character meets, Mid Ship Detective Agency, and the kids clubs. On Carnival we enjoyed Water Works with its multiple slides and water play area. The lines weren't long, so she spent more time playing than waiting. We also did the ropes course and played mini golf and foosball. We visited the arcade which we haven't done on Disney (not even sure if they have one) and saw 2 Imax movies as well as Dive-In movies. We did not go to any of the comedy shows or dance shows. We have seen many of the DCL shows, but have been known to skip them. I would agree that they are the best at sea!

DD loved Camp Ocean, but also loves the DCL clubs. She is not a fan of the organized activites, so she just checked the schedule and knew when to go. The staff was super friendly and helpful. There have been instances when she needed help in a DCL club and didn't receive it. I felt like the staff were very engaged with the kids on the Vista. This was a spring break cruise, so there were lots of kids. I have to say that they were very well behaved and parents were on top of them. I feel like on DCL kids are everywhere (to be expected), but many are not supervised. I also feel like due to the cost of a DCL cruise, families feel like they have to do it all and it causes cranky parents and melting down kids (just like in the parks).

So, it turns out we LOVED the Carnival Vista! We decided that it was the best cruise we have ever been on. It cost our family of 4 less than half of the price of the 7nt Fantasy for the same week. We had a ton of fun and had time to relax as well. We have a cruise on the Dream in May for DD's 10th birthday and I am interested to hear her comparison of the 2 ships so close together. As much as we love Disney, seeing what else is out there was a good thing for us.

Thanks for the report! We almost did the Sanoa island excursion but hesitated because we were not sure one of our kids would "cooperate" on it. It seems like it gets good reviews, and there were not a lot of choices in La Romana. It is interesting to get your take on it because we will probably do that itinerary again someday. We loved the itinerary and also loved the Vista.

 

[mevelandry]

Yuck yuck yuck...

My FIL is currently in the hospital regarding possible cardiac arythmia (he'll pass some medical exams today) after feeling weak in the last days.

At this time, we don't know whether our upcoming family cruise will happen as we don't really know what is up with his heart.

We don't know if the family trip will happen as it was supposed to, if it's going to turn into a romantic trip or no trip at all (because my DH is very close to his parents and might be tempted to cancel if his father is not well).

A lots of uncertainties...

Oh well... This life is never boring, isn't it?

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Yuck yuck yuck...

My FIL is currently in the hospital regarding possible cardiac arythmia (he'll pass some medical exams today) after feeling weak in the last days.

At this time, we don't know whether our upcoming family cruise will happen as we don't really know what is up with his heart.

We don't know if the family trip will happen as it was supposed to, if it's going to turn into a romantic trip or no trip at all (because my DH is very close to his parents and might be tempted to cancel his father is not well).

A lots of uncertainties...

Oh well... This life is never boring, isn't it?

Sorry to hear this

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

*Turns out this is pretty long. Sorry!!

My family recently returned from a cruise on the Vista to the Southern Caribbean and I just wanted to share my thoughts since I found this thread reassuring during my planning.

Background: We are a family of 3 (dd9) and live in the Tampa area. We have have cruised on Princess, Celebrity, NCL, and DCL. Our 2 DCL were on the Wonder and the Dream. I originally booked a 5 nt on the Magic out of Miami, but was not excited about it, so I started looking into other options for Spring Break. Disclaimer: We are Disney people, especially dd. We have WDW APs, and have been to DL, DLP, and Aulani. We love the family vibe and culture of Disney, but we have been to most of the destinations that DCL sails to in the Caribbean and wanted to see some new places.

I narrowed it down to 2 options: The NCL Getaway and the Carnival Vista. I will admit that I once declared that I would never sail on Carnival! Both ships looked like fun for dd, but it came down to itinerary. NCL went to the Western Caribbean and the Vista went to the Southern. Vista won. We booked 2 Cloud 9 Spa Balcony cabins in July (MIL came with us and dd shared with her).

We are not complainers and don't expect perfection on vacation, however, I feel like we had really low expectations because it was Carnival and not DCL. We drove to Miami the night before and stayed at the Intercontinental. We woke up to a view of several ships and were really excited. Our PAT was 12-12:30. Parking was pretty full, but we found a space and got in the long line of people waiting to embark. The line was always moving and it took about an hour to get on the ship. Our cabins were ready, so we dropped our carry-ons and off we went.

I liked the colors in the Spa Cabins and found it was plenty of space for the 2 of us. We have our dd in our cabin on DCL, so the split bathroom is a bonus there. Our room steward opened the divider on the balcony to connect our rooms which was great since there is not a connecting door in the cabin. The cabin came with Elemis products that were really nice and access to the Spa thermal suite. The heated loungers were so relaxing and the whirlpool was nice and hot. I tried the scented showers as well, but not the saual. I didn't go as often as I would have liked, but when I did go, it was empty. My MIL had I the thermal suite to ourselves! It was always very quiet in our hallway and we loved the proximity to Water Works. We could hop down two flights outside and be at the beach pool, Guy's Burgers, Blue Iguana, and the Lido Buffet. There are only 2 elevators that go to deck 14, so it is easier to walk down one flight to deck 12 where there are several more elevators. We usually just did the stairs. Our room steward was always around and very helpful. We loved the towel animals and really enjoyed when they took over all of the deck chairs at the pool! He even made a cat and held it together with rubber bands so my daughter could bring it home.

I never felt the ship was overly crowded, but we aren't sun worshippers, so we didn't have to battle for a pool lounger. We found shady loungers on deck 14 next to Water Works to relax while dd enjoyed the slides. There were lines for Guys and BI, but they always seemed to move. There are some shops on the ship (mostly jewelry and clothing). We spend a ton of money and time in the shops on DCL, so it was really nice just pop in and buy dd a shirt and off we went.

Food: My favorite item on DCL is the pasta pursettes! Other than that, I think the food is decent. We like Cabanas for breakfast and I think it is a little better than the Lido buffet. However, I loved the french toast on Carnival. The Lido got a little old on an 8nt cruise (I have been on 4&5nt DCL). One thing I loved on Carnival was Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana Cantina. We never eat at the restaurants by the pool on DCL, so this was different for us. The MDR on Vista was relaxing. We actually decided that we liked anytime dining better than rotational on DCL. While it is nice that your servers get to know you, they make us feel obligated to go to dinner. We got to meet many different servers on Carnival and they were all incredibly friendly. Also, we didn't get the "Please give us excellent ratings" speech which was nice. The MDR on Carnival was ok. I liked that the portion sizes weren't enormous and the variety on the menu. We tried all 3 specialty restaurants, but JIJI was the standout. It was so tasty and a fun experience. The Italian restaurant was ok and the Steakhouse was pretty good. I would probably try the Steakhouse again, but would skip the Italian one. We have dined at Palo brunch twice. The first time was excellent and the second was eh. I liked that we could bring dd to the specialty restaurants on Carnival. We did the Dr. Suess character breakfast and it was quite fun. The characters were very fun and the dining room was all decked out. The menu had all kinds of fun takes on breakfast foods, but we are pretty healthy eaters and couldn't bring ourselves to order the crazy creations. Luckily regular versions are available to order. The characters do not come to the table, the kids go to them. It is very organized and dd loved meeting new characters.

We visited Grand Turk, La Romana DR, Curacao, and Aruba. We are big water people and prefer to do private boating/snorkeling excursions while on vacation. In La Romana I decided to book through Carnival bc I there were not a lot of private options. We did the VIP Saona Island excursion. It started by taking a tour bus to Bayahibe to get on a motomaran. I am not a fan of the group tour thing, but the guide was ok. We boarded the boat and headed to the natural pool. It looked like a party in the water. The area was beautiful, but there were a lot of boats and people just drinking rum punch in the water. My family went in the water, but I stayed on the boat and took pics of them. We were there for about 45 min and then headed to Saona Island. The island was beautiful. We found loungers under palm trees and just relaxed before lunch. There were people selling things, but if you said "No thank you" they didn't seem to ask again. Lunch was grilled chicken, grilled fish, paella, and salads. It was really tasty. We had about 2 hours on the island before heading back to the ship. We had to be back on board at 4 and the bus pulled in at 350. We have never taken a DCL excursion, so I can't compare.

We loved the relaxing vibe of the Vista. It felt like vacation. I feel like when we are on DCL, we are always doing something and have little down time (Obviously by choice). DD loves the character meets, Mid Ship Detective Agency, and the kids clubs. On Carnival we enjoyed Water Works with its multiple slides and water play area. The lines weren't long, so she spent more time playing than waiting. We also did the ropes course and played mini golf and foosball. We visited the arcade which we haven't done on Disney (not even sure if they have one) and saw 2 Imax movies as well as Dive-In movies. We did not go to any of the comedy shows or dance shows. We have seen many of the DCL shows, but have been known to skip them. I would agree that they are the best at sea!

DD loved Camp Ocean, but also loves the DCL clubs. She is not a fan of the organized activites, so she just checked the schedule and knew when to go. The staff was super friendly and helpful. There have been instances when she needed help in a DCL club and didn't receive it. I felt like the staff were very engaged with the kids on the Vista. This was a spring break cruise, so there were lots of kids. I have to say that they were very well behaved and parents were on top of them. I feel like on DCL kids are everywhere (to be expected), but many are not supervised. I also feel like due to the cost of a DCL cruise, families feel like they have to do it all and it causes cranky parents and melting down kids (just like in the parks).

So, it turns out we LOVED the Carnival Vista! We decided that it was the best cruise we have ever been on. It cost our family of 4 less than half of the price of the 7nt Fantasy for the same week. We had a ton of fun and had time to relax as well. We have a cruise on the Dream in May for DD's 10th birthday and I am interested to hear her comparison of the 2 ships so close together. As much as we love Disney, seeing what else is out there was a good thing for us.

Thanks for the report, we love the Vista and that 8 night itinerary is amazing. I just loved how clean and awesome Curaçao is, we’re actually doing the same itinerary again in 2019 on the Horizon. I’m not a fan of repeating itineraries but we really want to check out Horizon. I’m so happy to read that you enjoyed your cruise so much.

 

[mevelandry]

Yuck yuck yuck...

My FIL is currently in the hospital regarding possible cardiac arythmia (he'll pass some medical exams today) after feeling weak in the last days.

At this time, we don't know whether our upcoming family cruise will happen as we don't really know what is up with his heart.

We don't know if the family trip will happen as it was supposed to, if it's going to turn into a romantic trip or no trip at all (because my DH is very close to his parents and might be tempted to cancel if his father is not well).

A lots of uncertainties...

Oh well... This life is never boring, isn't it?

Update: FIL has been discharged. Back home with some pills to take to control arythmia. If the situation remains stable, he should be cleared by the doc on monday to come and cruise with us as it was originally plan.

I have a feeling there will be many tears of joy when we finally board that ship.

 

[mevelandry]

Thoughts on the new YTD system they want to put on the Horizon?

I find it practical ... but I just don't like the idea of using my phone. I'm the kind of person who still misses the "large" Personal Navigator! (I can imagine the Fun Times was also larger before?)