CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[JsMom2]

I'd choose an Escort. Do you know what it cost to maintain an BMW. Kind of like trying to cruise with dcl each and every time. Not feasible or financially a good choice for most people with middle class incomes.

Absolutely nothing wrong with that! Neither one is better than the other, but there isn't a "one size fits all" solution for vehicles, or cruises. It's definitely a personal decision.

 

[cruiser21]

cruiser21 - I grew up in South Lake Tahoe! We lived there from 1980-1988 when we moved to the Carson Valley to be closer to my grandparents. Such a small world.

I could afford internet on Carnival but don't need it thanks to T-Mobile and being able to use my plan practically anywhere in the world

I have the same plan with Sprint, but the cell service was terrible for me in Alaska and Vancouver. I had no problem getting cell service in Europe. Even Iceland was fine. I thought it was funny she said that too me. Judging from the way people were spending money in the gift shop, shutters, excursions and in town it shouldn't surprise me that some people might spend thousands on internet. I wonder if people get home look at their cc statements and say I'm never cruising again. I never spend more than a few hundred dollars onboard. Excursions are booked on my own.


I lived in lake tahoe in the mid 90's. I was 22-23 I went there to work at the resort, and be a ski bum for a year. I could totally relate to the seasonal tour guides in Alaska. They were all youngsters under 25 having a little fun before they have to grow up.

Absolutely nothing wrong with that! Neither one is better than the other, but there isn't a "one size fits all" solution for vehicles, or cruises. It's definitely a personal decision.

It's funny I had the chance to take my mom's 80,000 dollar BMW after her stroke. I turned it down. The maintenance costs would have killed my cruising budget.

 

[mevelandry]

I had a funny exchange with connect at sea. As usual I had all kinds of problems with the internet package. I can surf for an hour and hardly use any mb and then another time I log in and withing 2 minutes I've gone from 200mb to nothing. As usual I go to the desk and complain. They refund my money and reset my mb. I ask if they get lots of complaints and they say yes. I asked it they are going to go to a unlimited plan like Carninval because I've gotten email surveys about it. I'm told maybe.

She then tell me that the reason Carnival can do that is because most of their customers can't afford the internet packages, and Disney can't tell people they can't stream or watch movies because they have customers who are willing to spend thousands on internet. I had to laugh at this because I'm sure Carnival sells lots of internet packages, and I'm also sure Carnival customers aren't stupid enough to pay thousands for it....good grief.

I've had nothing but problems with Connect at Sea during my first two cruises, to the point that I don't even bother buying Internet access on DCL anymore.

And yes, I call BS on that as well (also, doesn't that CM sound snobbish?) and I am sure Carnival sells a lot of internet packages. I used their "Social" package (you can go Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SnapChat and popular airline websites). It was spotty at times but I find that it is satisfying. I ordered the exact same package for our upcoming cruise.

They are not THAT expensive:

• Social ($5 USD per day)* – Offers access to sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SnapChat and popular airline websites. Note: Plan does not include in-app calling, Facetime, iMessage or access to any other sites or apps.**
• Value ($16 USD per day)* – Provides access to a wide variety of sites and apps, including social media, e-mail, news, sports, weather, banking and more. Note: Does not support Skype calling or music streaming services such as Spotify.
• Premium ($25 USD per day)* – Promises the fastest possible connection and includes access to all websites and apps, including some streaming video services.

 

[cruiser21]

I've had nothing but problems with Connect at Sea during my first two cruises, to the point that I don't even bother buying Internet access on DCL anymore.

And yes, I call BS on that as well (also, doesn't that CM sound snobbish?) and I am sure Carnival sells a lot of internet packages. I used their "Social" package (you can go Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SnapChat and popular airline websites). It was spotty at times but I find that it is satisfying. I ordered the exact same package for our upcoming cruise.

They are not THAT expensive:

• Social ($5 USD per day)* – Offers access to sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SnapChat and popular airline websites. Note: Plan does not include in-app calling, Facetime, iMessage or access to any other sites or apps.**
• Value ($16 USD per day)* – Provides access to a wide variety of sites and apps, including social media, e-mail, news, sports, weather, banking and more. Note: Does not support Skype calling or music streaming services such as Spotify.
• Premium ($25 USD per day)* – Promises the fastest possible connection and includes access to all websites and apps, including some streaming video services.

If you buy the packages before the cruise they are cheaper 10 dollars for value and 15 for premium.
Yes she did sound very snobbish. I told her I would much rather pay more for internet then have to worry about how many mb I was using and have to keep turning everything back on an off on my phone.

 

[mevelandry]

If you buy the packages before the cruise they are cheaper 10 dollars for value and 15 for premium.
Yes she did sound very snobbish. I told her I would much rather pay more for internet then have to worry about how many mb I was using and have to keep turning everything back on an off on my phone.

Yeah, having to turn off everything was driving me nuts... I just hate the way they do it.

 

[mevelandry]

Good hurricane management review for Carnival!

https://cruiseline.com/advice/what-s-hot/trends/cruise-lines-carnival-royal-caribbean-handle-harvey

 

[mevelandry]

According to the reports (on John Heald FB page and a Carnival Vista FB group I am on) from people who were on the ship during Irma were positive. I saw one or two bad reviews but they were "arguable" if you know what I mean. Most of them saying that they were treated very well by the staff and that outside of two or three items there was no food shortage.

According to reports, only 800 passengers boarded the Vista on wednesday for the following shortened cruise (the Vista has a --more or less-- 4500 passengers capacity). The cruise was supposed to be a 8 nights Eastern and turned into a 4 nights Western with only one stop in Cozumel (not sure if it's an overnight or not).

 

[natebenma]

51 days to go... I wish I had booked earlier.

Anyone sailing on Carnival soon?

My family just sailed on the Carnival Legend (first time on this line) in Alaska, Aug 15-22. In two weeks I'll be going on my first Disney cruise. Was supposed to be on the Fantasy (now), Sept 9-16, but cruise was cancelled due to Irma. My friend and I rebooked the Fantasy for Sept 30.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

My family just sailed on the Carnival Legend (first time on this line) in Alaska, Aug 15-22. In two weeks I'll be going on my first Disney cruise. Was supposed to be on the Fantasy (now), Sept 9-16, but cruise was cancelled due to Irma. My friend and I rebooked the Fantasy for Sept 30.

What did you think about the cruise? Did you enjoy it?

 

[natebenma]

What did you think about the cruise? Did you enjoy it?

Alaska is awesome and a cruise was the right choice for us as first time visitors. We really enjoyed the trip.

It has been over 10 years since my family has cruised. The 3 we have been on previously were all Royal Caribbean.

We liked the size of the ship (Legend is smaller than the newer mega ships). Cabin size was fine, the bed was very comfortable for me.

We really liked the Your Time Dining, especially in Alaska because you are in port at all different times.

The food ranged from very good to inedible. Most of it was decent, but we all ordered some sushi at lunch and it was weird and gummy. My husband said if he could have spit it out elegantly he would have. There were plenty of choices on the menu, we always had more than enough menu items we wanted to order.

Service in the dining room was also all over the place. We had a couple of excellent servers, most were good, but on our final night, the night we were in Victoria, everything was slow and the meal dragged out over two hours.

I didn't like the way the buffet was set up on the Lido deck, with different stations sometimes in different rooms instead of all food offered in a central location. If you wanted to sample a lot of different things you had to make visits to a lot of stations. The Chopsticks Asian selections were excellent. Except for embarkation day, lines were never bad and we could always find seating.

We booked two of the excursions Carnival offered and they were excellent (Yukon Scenic Adventure and Alaska Bear Adventure)

We didn't go to any shows, we never do, but that will change when I am on the Disney ship.

For onboard activities, we watched a sushi demonstration and we played trivia a couple of times. These activities were very crowded.

Carnival was significantly less expensive than other lines we looked at- I think it was a good value.

 

[cruiser21]

My family just sailed on the Carnival Legend (first time on this line) in Alaska, Aug 15-22. In two weeks I'll be going on my first Disney cruise. Was supposed to be on the Fantasy (now), Sept 9-16, but cruise was cancelled due to Irma. My friend and I rebooked the Fantasy for Sept 30.

We docked next to the Miracle in Skagway. My son and I wanted to sneak on for a good Guys burger. I recognize you from the BC thread. We just spent a week there in May and loved it as always. I agree Alaska is pretty amazing. If your cruising on the Disney Fantasy you will love it.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Alaska is awesome and a cruise was the right choice for us as first time visitors. We really enjoyed the trip.

It has been over 10 years since my family has cruised. The 3 we have been on previously were all Royal Caribbean.

We liked the size of the ship (Legend is smaller than the newer mega ships). Cabin size was fine, the bed was very comfortable for me.

We really liked the Your Time Dining, especially in Alaska because you are in port at all different times.

The food ranged from very good to inedible. Most of it was decent, but we all ordered some sushi at lunch and it was weird and gummy. My husband said if he could have spit it out elegantly he would have. There were plenty of choices on the menu, we always had more than enough menu items we wanted to order.

Service in the dining room was also all over the place. We had a couple of excellent servers, most were good, but on our final night, the night we were in Victoria, everything was slow and the meal dragged out over two hours.

I didn't like the way the buffet was set up on the Lido deck, with different stations sometimes in different rooms instead of all food offered in a central location. If you wanted to sample a lot of different things you had to make visits to a lot of stations. The Chopsticks Asian selections were excellent. Except for embarkation day, lines were never bad and we could always find seating.

We booked two of the excursions Carnival offered and they were excellent (Yukon Scenic Adventure and Alaska Bear Adventure)

We didn't go to any shows, we never do, but that will change when I am on the Disney ship.

For onboard activities, we watched a sushi demonstration and we played trivia a couple of times. These activities were very crowded.

Carnival was significantly less expensive than other lines we looked at- I think it was a good value.

Where did they hold trivia? My wife is sure that they do all that stuff in the casino on the Spirit Class ships, so she doesn't want to do one of those. For some reason, I really want to try one of the Spirit Class ships. Did you happen to save any of the Fun Times from your cruise?

BTW, I totally agree with @cruiser21, you'll love the Fantasy, she's a great ship! She used to be my favorite ship until we sailed the Carnival Vista which just barely beats the Fantasy for me, but the only reason for that is I'm a cyclist and I can get my fix on the Sky Ride on Vista.

 

[natebenma]

We docked next to the Miracle in Skagway. My son and I wanted to sneak on for a good Guys burger. I recognize you from the BC thread. We just spent a week there in May and loved it as always. I agree Alaska is pretty amazing. If your cruising on the Disney Fantasy you will love it.

I will be going on the Fantasy with Teena, who was the longtime greeter at the Beach Club. I know I am going to love it. Teena is a cruising veteran and this is her favorite ship.

I don't know what class the Miracle is. No Guys burgers on the Legend

Where did they hold trivia? My wife is sure that they do all that stuff in the casino on the Spirit Class ships, so she doesn't want to do one of those. For some reason, I really want to try one of the Spirit Class ships. Did you happen to save any of the Fun Times from your cruise?

BTW, I totally agree with @cruiser21, you'll love the Fantasy, she's a great ship! She used to be my favorite ship until we sailed the Carnival Vista which just barely beats the Fantasy for me, but the only reason for that is I'm a cyclist and I can get my fix on the Sky Ride on Vista.

Trivia was in the Red Frog Lounge. It was way too crowded in there, not comfortable at all the couple of times we did the trivia. That is going to be one of my comments to Carnival- they should move it to the theatre.

Yes, I have *almost* all of my Fun times. I can't find the one for our day in Ketchikan. I found some carnage in the washing machine, and it might have been that. I'll scan them in and post the ones I have, eventually. I also have photos of almost all of the dining room menus, too.

I have a trip report in progress- see the link in my signature.

 

[RedSox68]

I had a funny exchange with connect at sea. As usual I had all kinds of problems with the internet package. I can surf for an hour and hardly use any mb and then another time I log in and withing 2 minutes I've gone from 200mb to nothing. As usual I go to the desk and complain. They refund my money and reset my mb. I ask if they get lots of complaints and they say yes. I asked it they are going to go to a unlimited plan like Carninval because I've gotten email surveys about it. I'm told maybe.

She then tell me that the reason Carnival can do that is because most of their customers can't afford the internet packages, and Disney can't tell people they can't stream or watch movies because they have customers who are willing to spend thousands on internet. I had to laugh at this because I'm sure Carnival sells lots of internet packages, and I'm also sure Carnival customers aren't stupid enough to pay thousands for it....good grief.

Good grief is right. Of course Carnival customers aren't paying thousands for internet; but Disney passengers are paying thousands to sail on them over Carnival prices.

 

[cruiser21]

Good grief is right. Of course Carnival customers aren't paying thousands for internet; but Disney passengers are paying thousands to sail on them over Carnival prices.

Another funny thing that happened is when the waiter asked me on the second night how everything was. I said fine. He looked at me like I had just slapped his mother. I guess "fine" is a four letter word on a Disney ship. I guess I supposed to say excellent. The world excellent just isn't part of my normal everyday vocabulary. There was also a couple of nights I just wanted to bail after the main course. They looked so put off they I didn't want to stay for the cheesy show I've seen more then a couple dozen times....and then there was the time he implied that I must be lonely cruising with just my son....Um no. My dh and I have been married 23 years, but were not one of those couples that's attached at the hip.
We always have great service on DCL, but there are times when the servers just get on my nerves. I used to love having the same servers everynight, but the last few cruises I've wished that wasn't the case.

 

[cruiser21]

I will be going on the Fantasy with Teena, who was the longtime greeter at the Beach Club. I know I am going to love it. Teena is a cruising veteran and this is her favorite ship.

I don't know what class the Miracle is. No Guys burgers on the Legend

The Miracle is a Carnival ship. Guys burgers is found on Carnivals newer ships. I remember Teena from our AP days back in 2010 to 2012. We stayed at the BC 5 or 6 times. We finally made it back to WDW this year. Now my son wants to go again. I guess I should appreciate that he just turned 13 and I'm sure those days are numbered. He wants to stay at WL next time. I guess I should of upgraded to annual passes while we were there.....could of, should have, would have....

 

[natebenma]

Good grief is right. Of course Carnival customers aren't paying thousands for internet; but Disney passengers are paying thousands to sail on them over Carnival prices.

Right!

We used the Carnival internet package on our cruise last month- it was great for the 4 of us to share, to keep connected when we got bored or to look up info when we wanted to. I am so conflicted about what to do for connectivity when I am on the Fantasy. Since my family is staying at home, I want to have a way of keeping in touch with them while I am away.

And- Go Sox!

 

[cruiser21]

Right!

We used the Carnival internet package on our cruise last month- it was great for the 4 of us to share, to keep connected when we got bored or to look up info when we wanted to. I am so conflicted about what to do for connectivity when I am on the Fantasy. Since my family is staying at home, I want to have a way of keeping in touch with them while I am away.

And- Go Sox!

Go to the connect at sea desk and have them set up your device. I would suggest taking an old phone if you have one then you don't have to turn off all the updates on your current device. Sign up the first day you get 50mb free. The 89.00 dollar 1000 MB is probably the best value. If you have problems let them know they will reset the mb. Remember to always sign out. The cm put the sign in and out screen on my home page which helped a lot. I just switched from a note to a i phone and Im still learning how to do everything.

 

[ilovetexas]

I'm rarely on disboards anymore since I just don't feel Disney is enough bang for my buck, honestly. But I did pop in the other day and was thrilled that this thread is still going! I believe I commented on it early on and I've enjoyed reading through and catching up the last couple of days. I've sailed several lines but I think it's been >10 on Carnival. I should have been taking notes as I read all of this because I wanted to point out a few things and have now forgotten what they are! 37 pages was a lot of reading!

It always amuses me when people make a negative judgement about Carnival based on the ONE ship they've been on. I promise you - there are a TON of differences between them. Some have the Farcus (think Vegas) decor, the newer ones don't. Some are small without many bells and whistles (Fantasy Class), some are bigger and were built with the 2.0 upgrades (Dream Class) and then there's Vista Class, which I haven't been on yet. Oh, there's also Spirit Class which is laid out differently and is much less crowded because it has more space per passenger. There's also Conquest Class and Destiny Class.

I had a Havana Aft Extended Balcony booked on Vista in May but DH didn't want to go. EIGHT days and FOUR Caribbean ports I'd never been to; you'd almost think that was impossible at this point. I'm still mad at him. Not really, I took my mom and sister on the Breeze instead. Right now, we've got the CCL Magic booked next February. It's the John Heald Blogger's Cruise (recently renamed the For Fun's Sake Cruise) and while I really have no interest in the Magic or the itinerary, getting to sail with him sealed the deal. He is the Brand Ambassador, for those who aren't familiar with the name.

I've experienced good and bad service on Carnival, Celebrity, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and Disney. I've experienced drunk/rude behavior on all of the above, too. I'll give you one guess which line we associate mostly with that kind of behavior - hint: it isn't Carnival. Seriously though, cruises are great fun and I just want to be on the water. Now that my kids are getting older, my friends all have 9-5 jobs, and my husband doesn't want to cruise much - I find myself looking at solos. NCL consistently has the best deal for solo travelers.

I find this thread fun so I'm going to be watching it now. I can't wait to hear how mevelandry likes that upcoming cruise!

Also, in case anyone doesn't know - If you have Your Time Dining on Carnival and like your servers, you can request the same servers each night. The 50% bottle of wine in the Steakhouse is on formal nights, too, not just the first night. And there's a punch card for specialty coffees - I don't remember the exact number but it was buy x# then get one free. The specialty coffee shop is also a great place to hang out in the morning if you want to see the Captain and other senior officers; they tend to get their coffee there from what I've experienced.

AND - If you want a special evening - shell out the $95 each for the Chef's Table. We'd always said Remy on Fantasy was the best meal we'd ever had at sea...then we did Chef's Table. Such a wonderful night!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

We got back from a Vista cruise a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. Some things stuck out for us, both good and bad.

"Bad" first:
1. The air conditioning in the cabin was fabulous but lacking everywhere else. There were sometimes it felt like it was actually just off and very uncomfortable. It was August, so it was hot, but we have been on DCL in August and the air conditioning was perfect throughout the ship. I hate giving any nods to DCL, but just trying to be objective.

2. Virtually no one followed the no bathing suit rule in the buffet, so the buffet area was always on the slippery and wet side, compounded by the lack of air conditioning in there- okay it was awful honestly. Too hot, wet people, very crowded, not enough people working there picking up plates. Had a very dirty feel to it.

3. Ship was generally clean but not as clean as DCL. Dh was surpised the ship was only 1-2 years old and thought it looked older.

Good:
1. This was a shocker: our kids loved the kids club more than DCL- and more than any other line. We did not expect this at all and it really made our cruise. We always get a bit of "I'm bored" on a cruise from them, but instead all we heard was, "Carnival is our favorite cruise line" and, "can we go back to the Ocean(kid club)?" I cannot emphasize enough how dramatically different this was for us and how surprised we were. Crazy with all the fancy stuff in the DCL kids club, the kids are bored, but there you have it.

2. The food was amazing. Completely blew DCL out of the water. Even in the hot, sticky, and wet buffet the food was amazing. We also thought the food on NCL was far superior to DCL, but Carnival had so many free, casual options that even on an 8 night cruise we still didn't get to try all of them. Yes, Blue Iguana, I am talking to you. We did not do any specialty dining but did go to the main dining room almost every night, beautiful and so many appetizing choices. We hate having the same server every night on DCL, and we prefer lines that do not force you to have the same team to eat in the main dining room. Plus, no excellent speech!!

3. Matt is an amazing cruise director, completely down to earth and engaging. In contrast, I find the cruise directors on DCL more standoffish and withdrawn (exception Clayton- is he still with DCL?).

4. Another shocker: the people working at Carnival are a cut above those working on DCL. Carnival is much more customer focused. Employees happy and not just going through the motions like on DCL. Room steward was awesome.

5. We loved the movies in the outdoor theater at night. Great selection of movies, amazing atmosphere, free popcorn! So relazing.

6. Even though the ship did not appear quite as clean as DCL ships do and even though our kids spent a lot of time in Camp Ocean, our son who always, unfailingly, gets sick for at least a day on every single cruise did not get sick. Did not expect that either.

Not good or bad:

1. Other cruisers did seem from a different socioeconomic group than those on DCL. This is not so on NCL. I had read this was the case but did not really believe it. Things like there were more people licking their fingers openly and gratuitously. I don't think we saw one male wearing a golf shirt. No one had the trappings of wealth like people display on DCL. And yet, people cared more about what they wore to the dining room and got more dressed up than on DCL. Never noticed any meltdowns with kids like I always see on DCL. Very happy crowd on Carnival.

2. We saw one show and thought it was nothing special. But we also barely go to the shows on DCL. On our last DCL cruise, DH overheard a woman saying she was skipping dinner to see the Aladdin show twice. He couldn't get over it and asked if people on the ship were out of their minds. He said he could barely sit through it once.

I would say Carnival really lives up to its marketing and is a fun ship.
Next cruise for us? DCL? No... it's Carnival Conquest!