CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[Club Disney Chandler]

What about the refits like the Sunshine?

I guess I should correct my previous statement since we are booked for 2020 on Radiance, (currently Victory). I find it very interesting they are taking 3 of their ships and completely redoing them, time will tell if I like it. I am excited that a fried chicken restaurant by Shaq will be added to Radiance. I think I read they’ll have chicken and waffles which I’m a huge fan of. That’s all I need, chicken and waffles everyday of a 13 night transatlantic cruise.

 

[mevelandry]

Does anyone follow any cruise or travel podcasts?
I follow a channel on Youtube: EECC Travels. The couple that do the videos are everyday people who love cruises (they have 4 kids, older teens and have cruised Carnival, NCL and Disney) and recently they did a quick comparison/thoughts on their recent (and first) DCL cruise vs Carnival (with a couple references to NCL). I am not the experienced cruiser but I found it very interesting.

I listen to Cruise Radio (reviews for ships I'm going to sail on, mostly) and Cruise Radio News.

I kinda have a soft spot for the "Degenerate cruisers" even though they started vlogging pretty recently.

EDIT: I have never heard of EECC Travels but I'm listening to the podcast now.

I agree with them... pretty much 100%. LOL

I just have a few questions: I don't understand what would be included on Castaway Cay that is not on Half Moon Cay ???

They never asked us to draw stuff that they would show on the walls in Animator's Palate... Crush never talked to us... (Are we being screwed by DCL???)

 

[mevelandry]

Honestly, I'm not a fan of those guys, at all. I'll admit to watching them for awhile as they did show a lot about NCL (which we enjoy), but they showed their true colors several months ago. They turned out to be the stereotypical YouTuber looking for perks they didn't pay for. If they don't get them, they trash the product. I refuse to even give them a click anymore. I rank them right up there with those horrible Sea Cruisers women.

I also appreciated the disability aspect, coming from a family with multiple disabled siblings. But then I realized what they were about.

I used to enjoy some vlogs of the Sea Cruisers... Until I noticed their behavior towards crew members on one of their vlogs (and I was also bothered by how they would waste food by ordering way too many dishes and take only one or two bites) ... and it was before I read about other infos regarding their personal lives.

But ... you know. We're watching humans... Humans have flaws.

 

[mevelandry]

Good to know. Still trying to understand all the classes on the Carnival ships and how they compare to the RCCL and Disney ones I know.

Fantasy class on your left is the older/smallest. Personal preference but I would avoid them. They are okay ships, just very outdated and not much to do on them.

I have not experimented Spirit/Conquest and Splendor class but they have their fans.

Triumph class is currently under HUGE refurbishment where they will become Radiance and Sunrise. I've sailed on the Victory. It was already a great ship so I'm expecting something nice. I have a strong feeling they will be on par with all the new Carnival ships. (TDB)

Dream/Sunshine/Vista class on your right are the most recent ships with all the bells and whistles. Those are the ships I would recommend to DCL fans that want to try Carnival. They is more to do on them. More colors. Much better decor...

 

[mevelandry]

It's not really my thing, but I'd probably get a good laugh out of it. I'm sure the purpose of it is just for fun. My guess is it's just a bunch of middle age+ guys out there strutting their stuff for laughs. I have a hard time believing its anything sexual or that anyone takes it seriously. I'm also sure it's easy to avoid.

We all have our likes and dislikes. There's a lot of activities on DCL I find cheesy and juvenile. I just avoid those. The great thing about cruising is that you can pick and choose what you like to do.

It being sexual or not really depends on the participants... It's happening near the main pool which is pretty hard to miss if you're in the area. But when you know in advance, then you simply go somewhere else. That's what I do. My husband thinks it's funny. I'm just not interested.

 

[Pens Fan]

They never asked us to draw stuff that they would show on the walls in Animator's Palate... Crush never talked to us... (Are we being screwed by DCL???)

The Animator's Palate show varies depending on the ship and duration of the cruise. I don't remember exactly which ship has what, but I'm pretty sure we saw Crush on a 7 day Fantasy cruise. I know we've done the drawings on the Magic (though not on our 5 day cruise), but I don't recall if we did that on the Fantasy. It's been 6 years since we were on the Wonder and it's been renovated since then, so I'm not sure what they do now (no Crush or drawings when were on, though). We've never been on the Dream.

 

[mevelandry]

The Animator's Palate show varies depending on the ship and duration of the cruise. I don't remember exactly which ship has what, but I'm pretty sure we saw Crush on a 7 day Fantasy cruise. I know we've done the drawings on the Magic (though not on our 5 day cruise), but I don't recall if we did that on the Fantasy. It's been 6 years since we were on the Wonder and it's been renovated since then, so I'm not sure what they do now (no Crush or drawings when were on, though). We've never been on the Dream.

I've seen both Animator's Palate shows... We saw crush on other people's screens, not ours. And never saw that drawing thing on the Wonder in 2017 (post-refurbishments). Cleary, DCL has missed opportunities to wow us.

 

[lklgoodman]

We had the drawing one on our 2018 Wonder cruise, I wonder why you didn't? Did you have the show with the restaurant changing colors and Mickey shows up? They have that instead of Crush on the Wonder/Magic. We also had the Mickey show on the Wonder for our 2014 cruise. I don't care for the Crush show.

When they do the remodel on the Radiance, do you all think they will do any updates in the cabins, or is it just going to be adding the restaurants and other public area add-ins, which look really great! I'm looking at the Mardi Gras, Breeze, Radiance, and maybe the Horizon for 2021.
Love all the food options that the Carnival ships have. I grew up in Oklahoma so the new Guy's restaurant looks so good!! I grew up eating frog legs, quail, rabbit, snake, so the unusual menu for the one night, wouldn't be that unusual for me!lol!! My dd doesn't eat meat, so she always thinks it's gross when I mention stuff I ate as a kid.

 

[mevelandry]

We had the drawing one on our 2018 Wonder cruise, I wonder why you didn't? Did you have the show with the restaurant changing colors and Mickey shows up? They have that instead of Crush on the Wonder/Magic. We also had the Mickey show on the Wonder for our 2014 cruise. I don't care for the Crush show.

When they do the remodel on the Radiance, do you all think they will do any updates in the cabins, or is it just going to be adding the restaurants and other public area add-ins, which look really great! I'm looking at the Mardi Gras, Breeze, Radiance, and maybe the Horizon for 2021.
Love all the food options that the Carnival ships have. I grew up in Oklahoma so the new Guy's restaurant looks so good!! I grew up eating frog legs, quail, rabbit, snake, so the unusual menu for the one night, wouldn't be that unusual for me!lol!! My dd doesn't eat meat, so she always thinks it's gross when I mention stuff I ate as a kid.

Yes, we did have the colors changing and Mickey showing up on the Wonder. But nothing interactive regarding drawing... Or at least not for us.

The cabins on the Victory (future Radiance) were already remodeled when we went in 2018 (they look exactly like those on the cabins on the Vista) and already had Guy's/Blue Iguana but not Pig & Anchor BBQ, etc. But the Chicken and Waffles should be nice!

 

[trvlgirlmq]

We had the drawing one on our 2018 Wonder cruise, I wonder why you didn't? Did you have the show with the restaurant changing colors and Mickey shows up? They have that instead of Crush on the Wonder/Magic. We also had the Mickey show on the Wonder for our 2014 cruise. I don't care for the Crush show.

When they do the remodel on the Radiance, do you all think they will do any updates in the cabins, or is it just going to be adding the restaurants and other public area add-ins, which look really great! I'm looking at the Mardi Gras, Breeze, Radiance, and maybe the Horizon for 2021.
Love all the food options that the Carnival ships have. I grew up in Oklahoma so the new Guy's restaurant looks so good!! I grew up eating frog legs, quail, rabbit, snake, so the unusual menu for the one night, wouldn't be that unusual for me!lol!! My dd doesn't eat meat, so she always thinks it's gross when I mention stuff I ate as a kid.

They will redo the cabins in the new softer colors, add USB ports, big screen TV's etc. I was on Triumph (being "Sunshined") while they were doing some of the cabin work and we got luck and had a renovated room. It was very nice.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I listen to Cruise Radio (reviews for ships I'm going to sail on, mostly) and Cruise Radio News.

I kinda have a soft spot for the "Degenerate cruisers" even though they started vlogging pretty recently.

EDIT: I have never heard of EECC Travels but I'm listening to the podcast now.

I agree with them... pretty much 100%. LOL

I just have a few questions: I don't understand what would be included on Castaway Cay that is not on Half Moon Cay ???

They never asked us to draw stuff that they would show on the walls in Animator's Palate... Crush never talked to us... (Are we being screwed by DCL???)

I agree they got it wrong on Castaway. I forgot that. They said that no other line had an island where things were free. Totally wrong, we have been to 2 others, as you mentioned, HMC and also Great Stirrup Cay. They were probably only thinking of ncl's new island Harvest Cay or maybe even CCL's Amber Cove?

 

[Monykalyn]

They were probably only thinking of ncl's new island Harvest Cay or maybe even CCL's Amber Cove?

Very possible as they had done their NCL cruise just a couple months prior...

 

[mevelandry]

I agree they got it wrong on Castaway. I forgot that. They said that no other line had an island where things were free. Totally wrong, we have been to 2 others, as you mentioned, HMC and also Great Stirrup Cay. They were probably only thinking of ncl's new island Harvest Cay or maybe even CCL's Amber Cove?

I asked them the question and got the answer. They based their impression on the private islands they've experienced which were Mahogany Bay and Harvest Caye (which did not include lunch nor "included" drinks).

 

[mevelandry]

Two weeks to go! The last two weeks always feel like they last longer... *Sigh* I'm so ready for that Land & Sea!

 

[lilsonicfan]

Yes, we did have the colors changing and Mickey showing up on the Wonder. But nothing interactive regarding drawing... Or at least not for us.

I think - but am not certain - that the Animation Magic show in AP is only done on longer cruises, I think it might even have to be at least a 7 day. Is that possibly why you didn't get it? And I was underwhelmed by the Crush in AP 'show' as we were seated away from screens so couldn't see terribly well.

 

[lklgoodman]

For those that have been to some of the different private islands that Carnival has, which ones do you like the most or are there any that you would avoid? Looking at some of the different options for 2021, there's so many more options than with Disney. Every time I look at the Carnival site, I see more places and ships that look good!

Thanks to mevelandry for her review of Margaritaville, I've never been to one so wouldn't have known it's not a place I'd want to take my dd, or myself for that matter.

 

[mevelandry]

I think - but am not certain - that the Animation Magic show in AP is only done on longer cruises, I think it might even have to be at least a 7 day. Is that possibly why you didn't get it? And I was underwhelmed by the Crush in AP 'show' as we were seated away from screens so couldn't see terribly well.

That would explain why we did not get it.

 

[mevelandry]

For those that have been to some of the different private islands that Carnival has, which ones do you like the most or are there any that you would avoid? Looking at some of the different options for 2021, there's so many more options than with Disney. Every time I look at the Carnival site, I see more places and ships that look good!

Thanks to mevelandry for her review of Margaritaville, I've never been to one so wouldn't have known it's not a place I'd want to take my dd, or myself for that matter.

You COULD take your DD to Margaritaville... However, I would recommend to pick a table "inside", far away from the "entertainment" (which was in front of the DJ booth/near the pool in Grand Turk) if you wanna eat... And to swim near the Flowrider or at the left side of the shop.

Stay away from the DJ booth and the pool bar. That's where the suggestive dances contests happen.

Among the Carnival private island, I have only been to Half Moon Cay (which was amazing) but I'll be visiting Princess Cays soon and will do a Princess Cays VS Castaway Cay comparison.

 

[hdrolfe]

For those that have been to some of the different private islands that Carnival has, which ones do you like the most or are there any that you would avoid? Looking at some of the different options for 2021, there's so many more options than with Disney. Every time I look at the Carnival site, I see more places and ships that look good!

Thanks to mevelandry for her review of Margaritaville, I've never been to one so wouldn't have known it's not a place I'd want to take my dd, or myself for that matter.

I've only been to Grand Turk and Mahogany Bay (which is kind of a private island). Going to Half Moon (HMC) next March and am really looking forward to it. From what I understand it is the nicest. Grand Turk was ok when I went, but I think has been more over run since then. Mahogany Bay was amazing, we took the chair lift down to the beach, were able to find a nice spot but I think I would pay for a lounger/shade next time to hopefully get a better spot. I think Princess Caya is supposed to be nice as well, but HMC is nicer (from all reviews I've read comparing the two any way!).

 

[tidefan]

You COULD take your DD to Margaritaville... However, I would recommend to pick a table "inside", far away from the "entertainment" (which was in front of the DJ booth/near the pool in Grand Turk) if you wanna eat... And to swim near the Flowrider or at the left side of the shop.

Stay away from the DJ booth and the pool bar. That's where the suggestive dances contests happen.

Among the Carnival private island, I have only been to Half Moon Cay (which was amazing) but I'll be visiting Princess Cays soon and will do a Princess Cays VS Castaway Cay comparison.

We were just at Princess Cays and it doesn’t even come close to Castaway Cay. Princess Cays was fine, but nothing to write home about.

Full Disclosure, we went about 1 month after they had the fire there, so I think that they may have had some areas of the port shut off from passengers.

One last thing. Princess Cays is about a stone’s throw from Disney’s new Lighthouse Point property, so it will be interesting to see if that makes them step up their game. Also interesting is that Half Moon Cay is also visible from both of those locations. With the possibility of all 3 having ships in at the same time, it could make that area look it Grand Cayman looks with all the ships out there...