CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[we"reofftoneverland]

300$??? Impressive.

I was surprised too. It was the first price drop we have experienced. It was for 2 cabins, one was about $180 and the other was about $120. I saw one of them was $10 more off about a week later but did not get a chance to ask for the price drop until later that night. Of course at that point it had gone up past our price. So apparently the prices can change quickly!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Hey guys,

I got a little survey for you. Which are your favorite dishes in the dining room?

Mine are...

Port Days Breakfast:

-The French Toast with caramelized bananas
-The Avocado Toast with poached eggs


The Sea Day Brunch:

-The (Filet Mignon) Steak and Eggs


The Dinner:

Appetizers
-Cesar Salad without anchovy

Main dish
-The beef brisket
-The Meat Lasagna
-The Chicken Breast (my husband)

The Side Dish
-The Bacon Mac'n'Cheese (loooooove it!)
-The Oven Baked Potato

Dessert

-The Cheese Dish
-The Exotic Fruit Plate
-The Baked Alaska

(Can you believe that after three cruises I still haven't tried their Molten Lava Cake?)

Breakfast/brunch: Raisin Bran covered French toast and steak and eggs
Dinner: coconut shrimp and flat iron steak

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Hey guys,

I got a little survey for you. Which are your favorite dishes in the dining room?

Mine are...

Port Days Breakfast:

-The French Toast with caramelized bananas
-The Avocado Toast with poached eggs


The Sea Day Brunch:

-The (Filet Mignon) Steak and Eggs


The Dinner:

Appetizers
-Cesar Salad without anchovy

Main dish
-The beef brisket
-The Meat Lasagna
-The Chicken Breast (my husband)

The Side Dish
-The Bacon Mac'n'Cheese (loooooove it!)
-The Oven Baked Potato

Dessert

-The Cheese Dish
-The Exotic Fruit Plate
-The Baked Alaska

(Can you believe that after three cruises I still haven't tried their Molten Lava Cake?)

Sea Day Brunch and Dr Seuss breakfast:

Steak and eggs! One of the best filets I’ve ever had.

Regular breakfast: corned beef hash, disney’s Is actually a little better but I still love it

Dinner: shrimp cocktail appetizer, chilled soups, teriyaki salmon and for dessert - Bitter ‘n Blanc! That is some amazing bread pudding, unfortunately they only have it on the 8 night cruises.

 

[mevelandry]

Sea Day Brunch and Dr Seuss breakfast:

Steak and eggs! One of the best filets I’ve ever had.

Regular breakfast: corned beef hash, disney’s Is actually a little better but I still love it

Dinner: shrimp cocktail appetizer, chilled soups, teriyaki salmon and for dessert - Bitter ‘n Blanc! That is some amazing bread pudding, unfortunately they only have it on the 8 night cruises.

Bitter'n'blanc is never on the menu for us. We need to do an 8 nights in 2020!

 

[hdrolfe]

I had bitter n blanc in my 7 night cruise and it was good. The best dessert was the first night and I can't even remember what it was called but it was very yummy. Kiddo says the pineapple sorbet was the best dessert. And getting lunch at the pasta place was his favourite meal. I enjoyed all the mdr meals I ate. The steak and eggs at breakfast was good. I had the lava cake twice and it was a little too runny for me. But did come looking like the Mouse so that made me happy

 

[mevelandry]

Breakfast/brunch: Raisin Bran covered French toast and steak and eggs
Dinner: coconut shrimp and flat iron steak

I find that Carnival nails French Toasts. I've had some at the buffet as well and they were amazing. I would love to get their recipe.

 

[mevelandry]

I had bitter n blanc in my 7 night cruise and it was good. The best dessert was the first night and I can't even remember what it was called but it was very yummy. Kiddo says the pineapple sorbet was the best dessert. And getting lunch at the pasta place was his favourite meal. I enjoyed all the mdr meals I ate. The steak and eggs at breakfast was good. I had the lava cake twice and it was a little too runny for me. But did come looking like the Mouse so that made me happy

Pineapple sorbet sounds nice!

 

[daisyx3]

I would like to add for @daisyx3 :

In the past, I was told by someone from Carnival that if I kept all my guests "TBA" and have to cancel, I will only pay a 50$ fee --removed from the credit kept for 24 months-- when I do the change. I tested it and it worked. I've paid only 50$ fee instead of 50$ fee/pp (which used to be 100$/pp in my case).

*************************

Also, when you book with Early Saver, you cannot "downgrade" your room category in order to save money. You can only upgrade.

That being said, if the price of the type of room you picked gets lower than it was when you originally booked, you can fill a price protection form and they will either upgrade your room or give you a refund in form of OBC. We got back 25$/pp on our last cruise thanks to that.

I have no intention of downgrading...in fact the Havana area made my decision a lot easier about which non-DCL cruise to try! If we have to move things around it might just be pushing it back a couple of weeks. I'm still waffling between cabana or aft balcony, but ready to pull the trigger in the next couple of days.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

The Portobello mushroom entrée is out of this world good.



And the Indian Vegetarian dish is always great.



And yes, that "funniest French toast" (this one with frosted flakes) - yummy!



And the little fried hash browns in the dining room - golden pucks of delicious!

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I love, adore, would marry Bitter 'n Blanc I think the molten lava cake is disgusting. It is always under cooked and just runny batter. Yuck.

Brunch: Filet mignon and eggs.
Lunch: tacos from Blue Iguana
Dinner: Brisket/short ribs, creamed spinach, banana split from the kid's menu, bitter 'n blanc, s'mores parfait

 

[RedSox68]

At the time we paid 60$ per cabin (varies per ships, length of cruise and season I think) and we really appreciated the perk.

Thinking of booking it for DH and I since our next cruise has destinations where we have to tender.

That is very reasonable considering the perks.

Your pictures of the food onboard and Guy's burgers makes me long to get back on a Carnival cruise! Thanks for posting your journey.

Question: Your stateroom looks lovely, but did you have problems with people looking in the window?

 

[mevelandry]

That is very reasonable considering the perks.

Your pictures of the food onboard and Guy's burgers makes me long to get back on a Carnival cruise! Thanks for posting your journey.

Question: Your stateroom looks lovely, but did you have problems with people looking in the window?

No problem at all. The window becomes a mirror when the sun is out.

If you go back to April 16th, the first picture I took on the Victory when I was just boarding (the one with the Carnival Victory bench) where I say you can see me in the reflection... is our cabin porthole!

Thanks for your nice comments.

 

[mevelandry]

I love, adore, would marry Bitter 'n Blanc I think the molten lava cake is disgusting. It is always under cooked and just runny batter. Yuck.

Brunch: Filet mignon and eggs.
Lunch: tacos from Blue Iguana
Dinner: Brisket/short ribs, creamed spinach, banana split from the kid's menu, bitter 'n blanc, s'mores parfait

S'mores parfait?!?!?!

 

[trvlgirlmq]

S'mores parfait?!?!?!

So yummy. It's probably another that is on the longer cruises.

 

[mevelandry]

So yummy. It's probably another that is on the longer cruises.

OMG. It's looks amazing!!!! Hopefully, they'll have them on our 5 nights cruises...

 

[mevelandry]

Interesting...

This week, my husband admitted to me that between going on excursions on land and being on the ship... He now likes being on the ship more! He likes that there are pools, hot tubs, included food. He doesn't like buy food during excursions when we have free food on the ship. That being said, he is very intrigued by Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk and Amber Cove because they are right of the ship.

I'm still 50%-50% .... While I have a passion for ships and the sea, I wouldn't be as interested in a cruise to nowhere, the ports are important for me. And when I visit a new country, trying local food in important (as long as it's not fish or sea food). Discovering Taquito de pollo, Cochinita Pibil, chimichungas, eating freshly made tortillas (that are not Tostitos) and freshly made guacamole was an important part of my vacation. I bought rum cakes in Grand Cayman, etc.

Also, I usually don't buy much souvenirs but this time I brought back home a skull (dia de los muertos) because I'm in love with their perspective of death. (And the movie Coco just made me love it x1000. My whole family cried watching the movie...)

I just love visiting new places.

 

[hdrolfe]

I love the ports, but I do hate paying for food while on excursions! I try to avoid that, though I do love to get guacamole in Mexico I like when the meals are included in the excursion. Though sometimes it's not the best food (and kiddo is very picky so that makes it hard). I normally grab a box or two of cereal that can be eaten dry and usually pack some granola bars in my suitcase to take as well. We tend to buy simple souvenirs, usually a magnet or small thing.

HMC has buffet (ship food) included. Grand Turk is a free beach but you'd want to go back to the ship to eat (or pay) and Mahogany Bay would be the same (Roatan, Honduras). It was lovely there, two ships in port but the beach was still not super crowded, and it was nice for swimming. I've never been to Amber Cove but there is a pool at the port, no beach walking distance.

I like to go to at least one new port on each cruise, but there are some that I've already been two twice, and some that I would love to go back to.

 

[mevelandry]

Ok, it's official: I have a crush on the Horizon...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/trav...-cruise-lines-new-carnival-horizon/555281002/

 

[daisyx3]

I DID IT! Booked the 6 night cruise on the Carnival Horizon for 6/23/19. Havana Cabana! Got anytime dining and clicked King bed. Now, where do I check every day for FTTF availability? Is it under "manage"?
I'm so excited, I have to refocus on our Fantasy 3 nighter in July of THIS year!

 

[mevelandry]

I DID IT! Booked the 6 night cruise on the Carnival Horizon for 6/23/19. Havana Cabana! Got anytime dining and clicked King bed. Now, where do I check every day for FTTF availability? Is it under "manage"?
I'm so excited, I have to refocus on our Fantasy 3 nighter in July of THIS year!

It's under Excursions. Select the port from where you are departing.

Congratulations!!!