CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[SUSIEQ]

RCCL stocks are at 103$! They are obviously doing very well. Bought one too. My goal is, as time goes buy and wallet permits, to buy more of DCL-RCCL & Carnival.

Bought my RCL stock at about $6 per share back in 2009. Why, oh why, didn't I buy more than 100 shares!!!

 

[mevelandry]

Bought my RCL stock at about $6 per share back in 2009. Why, oh why, didn't I buy more than 100 shares!!!

Do you get some sort of perks too?

 

[SUSIEQ]

Do you get some sort of perks too?

Yes, $50 to $250 onboard credit depending on the length of the cruise.

 

[mevelandry]

Yes, $50 to $250 onboard credit depending on the length of the cruise.

Nice. After 100 shares?

 

[SUSIEQ]

Yes, 100 shares gets you these benefits.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Hi guys! Back from the Vista and at WDW now. It’s so hot.

We were on the 8 day Southern; first time for this itinerary and 2nd time on Vista.

The good:
Food- lots of choices! We did MDR 7 of the nights. We also ate breakfast in MDR twice and it was great. Between all of us we ate Guy’s, tacos, burritos, pizza and buffet.
Cabin- Deck 8 Fed balcony. We are light packers and stay organized so having 4 in the cabin is no big deal. Room steward Jose was friendly and we only wanted morning service and came about 10 everyday so the teens could sleep in.
Matt Mitcham- I love him. No really, I want to marry him
Fun Crew- entertainment staff was very personable and funny

The bad:
We had a few bumps in MDR service. We had ATD and one night we had a team that was not very cohesive. I do know our cruise had a lot of people coming off their vacation so that might have been it. Another night our server was taking our order when they were announcing Showtime and it was loud and I think he was distracted so apparently he didn’t hear my order and brought the wrong thing. I didn’t say anything though because I know they would have had to throw the meal out and I can’t stand that kind of waste.

We did some trivia and mostly hung out in the cabin. My DS has his first GF and basically spent all his time on social media with her. He and his cousin did do ropes courses and skyrim ride once each and also played mini golf and did water slides one day. Teens are not fun to vacation with at all. I miss when they liked spending time with me! We didn’t go to any shows. I don’t know what happened!

Ports

Grand Turk - we got a couple chairs and an aim rella in the beach for $25. Spent a couple hours swimming and relaxing.
La Romana - I was not excited about this after reading up on the area. I wanted to book the Seavis tour to Saint Island but my mom can’t do the speed boat so we booked a Carnival excursion to Catalina Island. We boarded a bus to take us to a catamaran type boat. We drove about 10 minutes and when we pulled into the small marina we we directly behind the Vista! We could have walked if they built a path. The ride over was rocky and a little girl got very sick. I thought I was going to get sick and I am usually fine. We arrived and got our welcome drink (no rum please) and then got our included chairs and umbrella. Guys, I have to say this was the most beautiful beach I have ever been to before. The water was incredible; clear and mostly calm. It was my favorite day just floating and relaxing.
Curaçao- Our goal was to visit the oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere and the Jewish Museum. We got a taxi to the downtown area because my mo has some knee and hip issues. We saw the synagogue and museum and spent time talking with a local woman who works there about how her family ended up in the Caribbean. We walked around the Punda area and did some shopping before walking back to the ship.
Aruba - We took a taxi to Eagle Beach where we rented 4 chairs and a palapa for $50. It was super windy and the sand was blowing everywhere. The water was also really cold. I was not expecting that as we were so far South. We stayed about 4 hours and then got a taxi back to the port. DS went back tot the ship and the girls went shopping.

We had a nice time and the ship is still in great shape. Once I get my pictures downloaded I’ll come back and post a few.

 

[mevelandry]

Hi guys! Back from the Vista and at WDW now. It’s so hot.

We were on the 8 day Southern; first time for this itinerary and 2nd time on Vista.

The good:
Food- lots of choices! We did MDR 7 of the nights. We also ate breakfast in MDR twice and it was great. Between all of us we ate Guy’s, tacos, burritos, pizza and buffet.
Cabin- Deck 8 Fed balcony. We are light packers and stay organized so having 4 in the cabin is no big deal. Room steward Jose was friendly and we only wanted morning service and came about 10 everyday so the teens could sleep in.
Matt Mitcham- I love him. No really, I want to marry him
Fun Crew- entertainment staff was very personable and funny

The bad:
We had a few bumps in MDR service. We had ATD and one night we had a team that was not very cohesive. I do know our cruise had a lot of people coming off their vacation so that might have been it. Another night our server was taking our order when they were announcing Showtime and it was loud and I think he was distracted so apparently he didn’t hear my order and brought the wrong thing. I didn’t say anything though because I know they would have had to throw the meal out and I can’t stand that kind of waste.

We did some trivia and mostly hung out in the cabin. My DS has his first GF and basically spent all his time on social media with her. He and his cousin did do ropes courses and skyrim ride once each and also played mini golf and did water slides one day. Teens are not fun to vacation with at all. I miss when they liked spending time with me! We didn’t go to any shows. I don’t know what happened!

Ports

Grand Turk - we got a couple chairs and an aim rella in the beach for $25. Spent a couple hours swimming and relaxing.
La Romana - I was not excited about this after reading up on the area. I wanted to book the Seavis tour to Saint Island but my mom can’t do the speed boat so we booked a Carnival excursion to Catalina Island. We boarded a bus to take us to a catamaran type boat. We drove about 10 minutes and when we pulled into the small marina we we directly behind the Vista! We could have walked if they built a path. The ride over was rocky and a little girl got very sick. I thought I was going to get sick and I am usually fine. We arrived and got our welcome drink (no rum please) and then got our included chairs and umbrella. Guys, I have to say this was the most beautiful beach I have ever been to before. The water was incredible; clear and mostly calm. It was my favorite day just floating and relaxing.
Curaçao- Our goal was to visit the oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere and the Jewish Museum. We got a taxi to the downtown area because my mo has some knee and hip issues. We saw the synagogue and museum and spent time talking with a local woman who works there about how her family ended up in the Caribbean. We walked around the Punda area and did some shopping before walking back to the ship.
Aruba - We took a taxi to Eagle Beach where we rented 4 chairs and a palapa for $50. It was super windy and the sand was blowing everywhere. The water was also really cold. I was not expecting that as we were so far South. We stayed about 4 hours and then got a taxi back to the port. DS went back tot the ship and the girls went shopping.

We had a nice time and the ship is still in great shape. Once I get my pictures downloaded I’ll come back and post a few.

Thanks for the great review!

Which beach did you go to in Grand Turk?

I was told that on the beach, most chairs and unbrellas were free in GT except for the first 2 rows.

Have you tried any of the Specialty Dining restaurants?

 

[mevelandry]

Totally out of subject: our local Lindt chocolate shop sells the Ghirardelli Mocha powder they use for the Ghirardelli Moka iced cappucino they serve at the Cafés on Carnival. That was my breakfast this morning. I was in heaven. Now, all I am missing is the ocean view.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Thanks for the great review!

Which beach did you go to in Grand Turk?

I was told that on the beach, most chairs and unbrellas were free in GT except for the first 2 rows.

Have you tried any of the Specialty Dining restaurants?

We walked further down the beach and had chairs in the second row from the water. I think though that the locals are charging for all of them. Carnival doesn’t have any representation on the beach so people would never know there are free chairs.

We have not tried the fee restaurants. The kids did get a shake or coffee drink instead of dessert most nights though. Those were super yummy.

 

[disneyfan551]

Add me to sailing the Carnival Magic on June 30, 2018! Thanks!!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Oh yeah. Definitely beats work. LOL

I think we'll try to take advantage of the ship's pool in the morning... And maybe play trivia during the afternoon. My husband LOVES it and was disappointed that we did not get to play a game during our last cruise.

Make sure he wins! Life is not complete until you have a ship on a stick!

 

[mevelandry]

Has anybody ever tried Holland America here? (It's under Carnival Corp.)

The cruise they offer from Montreal seem to sell for 400-500$/pp when you book at the last minute in early june. I am checking the rates right now and they are still high but I've been watching them for a few years and the lower rates seem to come back every year.

I checked and the perception I have from them would be "Disney stripped from the Mouse" aka the ship's look is very classic and activities "toned down Carnival" with a casual chic dress code.

I am very much intrigued and interested.

I just wonder if they will give me the low price if I book ealrier than 2 weeks in advance.

 

[mevelandry]

Make sure he wins! Life is not complete until you have a ship on a stick! View attachment 328905

Ahhh. Love those. John Heald sent us a little gift once and there was a ship on a stick in it. We proudly show it off in our living room. LOL

 

[mevelandry]

Add me to sailing the Carnival Magic on June 30, 2018! Thanks!!

I added your dates but let me know how many days and itinerary please, so I can add it.

It's very soon. You must be excited!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Has anybody ever tried Holland America here? (It's under Carnival Corp.)

The cruise they offer from Montreal seem to sell for 400-500$/pp when you book at the last minute in early june. I am checking the rates right now and they are still high but I've been watching them for a few years and the lower rates seem to come back every year.

I checked and the perception I have from them would be "Disney stripped from the Mouse" aka the ship's look is very classic and activities "toned down Carnival" with a casual chic dress code.

I am very much intrigued and interested.

I just wonder if they will give me the low price if I book ealrier than 2 weeks in advance.

I haven’t tried them yet but I did get stuck walking behind a bunch of their passengers when I started the check in process in Vancouver last week for our Wonder cruise. Let’s just say, at almost 50 years old - I would have been the youngest on the ship that day.

 

[belle032]

Add me to sailing the Carnival Magic on June 30, 2018! Thanks!!

We got married on the Magic last year! It’s a great ship. Hope you have an amazing time!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We disembarked from our Alaska cruise on the Wonder yesterday and it was a very nice cruise. The food in Cabanas has improved from our last cruise so that was a plus. Service was good to very good but I really hate the “Excellent” speech from the servers.

The Wonder looks great and shows were all typical Disney so all in all it was a great cruise and Alaska is freaking amazing!!

I did miss Guy’s and Blue Iguana and being able to grab some ice cream late night and hang out with my kids in Lido to talk about the day. Usually on DCL we’re able to hang out on deck and do that but in Alaska it was way too cold so we had to grab ice cream and we hung out in their cabin to end the day.

We did book a placeholder but don’t know if we’ll use it or not though. We do plan to try the new Disney ship in 2021 but think we’ll stick to Carnival and Royal Caribbean until then.

Let me know if you have any questions about the Wonder or Alaska.

Jack

 

[mevelandry]

I haven’t tried them yet but I did get stuck walking behind a bunch of their passengers when I started the check in process in Vancouver last week for our Wonder cruise. Let’s just say, at almost 50 years old - I would have been the youngest on the ship that day.

We are definitely expecting an older crowd as Canada-New England cruises tend to attract them. But I'm fine with it. I enjoy the company of seniors very much.

 

[mevelandry]

We disembarked from our Alaska cruise on the Wonder yesterday and it was a very nice cruise. The food in Cabanas has improved from our last cruise so that was a plus. Service was good to very good but I really hate the “Excellent” speech from the servers.

The Wonder looks great and shows were all typical Disney so all in all it was a great cruise and Alaska is freaking amazing!!

I did miss Guy’s and Blue Iguana and being able to grab some ice cream late night and hang out with my kids in Lido to talk about the day. Usually on DCL we’re able to hang out on deck and do that but in Alaska it was way too cold so we had to grab ice cream and we hung out in their cabin to end the day.

We did book a placeholder but don’t know if we’ll use it or not though. We do plan to try the new Disney ship in 2021 but think we’ll stick to Carnival and Royal Caribbean until then.

Let me know if you have any questions about the Wonder or Alaska.

Jack

I like that the "excellent speech" they do on DCL is just a mention they do during the "goodbye show" on Carnival.

 

[cruiser21]

We are definitely expecting an older crowd as Canada-New England cruises tend to attract them. But I'm fine with it. I enjoy the company of seniors very much.

I'm expecting an older crowd even on Disney. I like the DCL cruises that have less kids and a mixture of families and retirees. I met some very interesting people on our transatlantic. I spent a great deal of time talking to a man in his late 70's who had cruised all over the world including Anartica. He was a fascinating person to talk to and I got some great information about traveling to Asia. Like you I very much enjoy the company of seniors.