CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[belle032]

As I am preparing my suitcases for our upcoming trip, I keep reading bad reviews about the Liberty. LOL (The mod of a Carnival Liberty group on FB even renamed his group "Carnival is the Waffle House of Cruising" or something like that... and announced that the ship sucked before closing the group completely!!!)

It feels like it's always the same thing: I always read a lot of bad reviews before I go, so I'm always expecting the worst.

That being said... Even though I did not like the Sensation as much as the Vista and the Victory, it wasn't nearly as bad as the reviews I had read before the cruise.

p.s.: I take it with a grain of salt, of course.

If it's the Conquest class, we really like those ships! We've sailed the Glory (DH's 1st cruise ever!) and the Conquest this past September. The ships are easy to navigate and have all the upgrades (Guys, Blue Iguana, waterslides, etc). One of the best things, which we REALLY missed on the Magic, was an aft pool that was adults-only! And that policy was enforced.

Yes, it's an "older" ship, but I would sail that class of ship again with no problem. I wouldn't worry. I'm sure you'll have a great time!

 

[smmco]

As I am preparing my suitcases for our upcoming trip, I keep reading bad reviews about the Liberty. LOL (The mod of a Carnival Liberty group on FB even renamed his group "Carnival is the Waffle House of Cruising" or something like that... and announced that the ship sucked before closing the group completely!!!)

It feels like it's always the same thing: I always read a lot of bad reviews before I go, so I'm always expecting the worst.

That being said... Even though I did not like the Sensation as much as the Vista and the Victory, it wasn't nearly as bad as the reviews I had read before the cruise.

p.s.: I take it with a grain of salt, of course.

I'm sure it we'll be fine and you still have the Beach Club club level to look forward too. We have annual passes to Disney world that expire in September. We've stayed at Yacht club, Boardwalk walk and AKL this year.
I'm sneaking in one more 5 night trip this Summer. I'm using Credit card award points to pay for it and I only have enough points for Coronado Springs. We did spend one night at Coronado on our last trip and I will say the room refurbs are gorgeous. I've always been a deluxe snob, but I highly recommend this resort if you ever want to save a little money.
I'm so glad we spent a night there because now I feel like I have an affordable alternative with all the amenities I need. I can't wait to try the new tower. It's kind of like trying a different cruise line that costs half as much as DCL and liking it....relief.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[mevelandry]

If it's the Conquest class, we really like those ships! We've sailed the Glory (DH's 1st cruise ever!) and the Conquest this past September. The ships are easy to navigate and have all the upgrades (Guys, Blue Iguana, waterslides, etc). One of the best things, which we REALLY missed on the Magic, was an aft pool that was adults-only! And that policy was enforced.

Yes, it's an "older" ship, but I would sail that class of ship again with no problem. I wouldn't worry. I'm sure you'll have a great time!

Apparently the Liberty has an aft pool. Aft pools are always my favorite.

 

[mevelandry]

I'm sure it we'll be fine and you still have the Beach Club club level to look forward too. We have annual passes to Disney world that expire in September. We've stayed at Yacht club, Boardwalk walk and AKL this year.
I'm sneaking in one more 5 night trip this Summer. I'm using Credit card award points to pay for it and I only have enough points for Coronado Springs. We did spend one night at Coronado on our last trip and I will say the room refurbs are gorgeous. I've always been a deluxe snob, but I highly recommend this resort if you ever want to save a little money.
I'm so glad we spent a night there because now I feel like I have an affordable alternative with all the amenities I need. I can't wait to try the new tower. It's kind of like trying a different cruise line that costs half as much as DCL and liking it....relief.

Enjoy your vacation!

I stayed at all the moderates (My favorite is POR but I believe Coronado will be amazing when the refurbs will be over and I heard it will have a Club Level as well!) and Yacht Club, AKL, Poly and Grand Floridian. Loved all of them. I don't see a huge difference between the moderates and deluxes (outside of the exterior doors and you walk a little more)...

I also stayed at Art of Animation and we enjoyed it a lot. (As you said: relief!)

Not sure I mentionned it but since we'll arrive extremely late on the first night, we didn't want to spend a fortune so we picked All-Star Movies for the night. I can't wait to see how we like it. (We're moving at BC the next morning).

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I stayed at all the moderates (My favorite is POR but I believe Coronado will be amazing when the refurbs will be over and I heard it will have a Club Level as well!) and Yacht Club, AKL, Poly and Grand Floridian. Loved all of them. I don't see a huge difference between the moderates and deluxes (outside of the exterior doors and you walk a little more)...

I also stayed at Art of Animation and we enjoyed it a lot. (As you said: relief!)

Not sure I mentionned it but since we'll arrive extremely late on the first night, we didn't want to spend a fortune so we picked All-Star Movies for the night. I can't wait to see how we like it. (We're moving at BC the next morning).

We’ve stayed at all the value, (except Sports), Polynesian, (free upgrade to Club Level), Contemporary and Grand Floridian. With the exception of being able to see MK fireworks from Contemporary, AoA was our favorite by far. It could be because we got the family suite for the four of us, but it was just a fun hotel. But for the convenience factor, there is nothing better than the Contemporary.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I stayed at all the moderates (My favorite is POR but I believe Coronado will be amazing when the refurbs will be over and I heard it will have a Club Level as well!) and Yacht Club, AKL, Poly and Grand Floridian. Loved all of them. I don't see a huge difference between the moderates and deluxes (outside of the exterior doors and you walk a little more)...

I also stayed at Art of Animation and we enjoyed it a lot. (As you said: relief!)

Not sure I mentionned it but since we'll arrive extremely late on the first night, we didn't want to spend a fortune so we picked All-Star Movies for the night. I can't wait to see how we like it. (We're moving at BC the next morning).

We love POR too. My kids say it is their favorite, which kind of surprised me. Their other favorite is poly. My favorite may be WL, but I love them all (that we have tried). Beach Club is a great location and very relaxing. One thing that bothered me about beach club is when we stayed there, it seemed like everyone we saw in the lobby or solarium had their shoes off and feet on the furniture. I know that has nothing to do with the resort but it's a pet peeve of mine. Lol. We are staying at Boardwalk later this year which is a first for us. We have also never stayed at the contemporary, Coronado, aoa, pop or AK. My kids also liked all star sports a lot but dh did not. .

 

[mevelandry]

We’ve stayed at all the value, (except Sports), Polynesian, (free upgrade to Club Level), Contemporary and Grand Floridian. With the exception of being able to see MK fireworks from Contemporary, AoA was our favorite by far. It could be because we got the family suite for the four of us, but it was just a fun hotel. But for the convenience factor, there is nothing better than the Contemporary.

Which family suite did you get at AOA? We got the Lion King because it was my favorite movies. The theming is so well done and immersive. I don't know why they don't do the same with the other All-Stars.

We've been upgraded (for free) to Club Level at Yacht Club once. Actually, they even put us in a gigantic suite. I told my husband "it doesn't make any sense, the suite must be haunted" LOL. I was crying tears of joy. And of course we got hooked to Club Level after that... So we splurge once in a while.

That being said, I believe we can still be goofy happy with a value resort and I am just as excited with the idea of trying both hotels.

 

[mevelandry]

We love POR too. My kids say it is their favorite, which kind of surprised me. Their other favorite is poly. My favorite may be WL, but I love them all (that we have tried). Beach Club is a great location and very relaxing. One thing that bothered me about beach club is when we stayed there, it seemed like everyone we saw in the lobby or solarium had their shoes off and feet on the furniture. I know that has nothing to do with the resort but it's a pet peeve of mine. Lol. We are staying at Boardwalk later this year which is a first for us. We have also never stayed at the contemporary, Coronado, aoa, pop or AK. My kids also liked all star sports a lot but dh did not. .

Ewww for the feet.

I hear only good things about the Boardwalk. That being said, I've always been scared of the creepy clown pool (other than that I love the theming). Since we plan to visit the Boardwalk area a bit maybe we should just go visit because I keep hearing it's nearly as bad when you see it for real.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Which family suite did you get at AOA? We got the Lion King because it was my favorite movies. The theming is so well done and immersive. I don't know why they don't do the same with the other All-Stars.

We've been upgraded (for free) to Club Level at Yacht Club once. Actually, they even put us in a gigantic suite. I told my husband "it doesn't make any sense, the suite must be haunted" LOL. I was crying tears of joy. And of course we got hooked to Club Level after that... So we splurge once in a while.

That being said, I believe we can still be goofy happy with a value resort and I am just as excited with the idea of trying both hotels.

We've done both Lion King and Cars, I loved the Cars room so much. The thing I like most about the Value resorts is the food court, it's so easy to just go individually and grab something to eat whenever we want, don't need to make a full meal together, especially for breakfast when we all get up at different times. I really wish they'd build a value resort with family suites at Disneyland. We never stay on property because we really like to have the extra room, especially now that our oldest is in college. I have to say my all time favorite Disney Resort is the Disneyland Hotel, she's the OG of them all and the most magical in my opinion, I think she'll always be my favorite.

 

[mevelandry]

We've done both Lion King and Cars, I loved the Cars room so much. The thing I like most about the Value resorts is the food court, it's so easy to just go individually and grab something to eat whenever we want, don't need to make a full meal together, especially for breakfast when we all get up at different times. I really wish they'd build a value resort with family suites at Disneyland. We never stay on property because we really like to have the extra room, especially now that our oldest is in college. I have to say my all time favorite Disney Resort is the Disneyland Hotel, she's the OG of them all and the most magical in my opinion, I think she'll always be my favorite.

Aren't building new hotels at Disneyland? Thought I read that somewhere.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Aren't building new hotels at Disneyland? Thought I read that somewhere.

Not that I’m aware of. They’re pretty land locked, I still can’t believe they were able to build the new Star Wars land. They might be able to turn one of the parking lots into a parking structure and use the parking lot next to Paradise Pier hotel to build a fourth hotel. Even at that, I don’t think they’d build a value style resort, they always are selling out the 3 resorts they have now, I wouldn’t think they would need to build a value to try to fill rooms. But that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.

 

[mevelandry]

Not that I’m aware of. They’re pretty land locked, I still can’t believe they were able to build the new Star Wars land. They might be able to turn one of the parking lots into a parking structure and use the parking lot next to Paradise Pier hotel to build a fourth hotel. Even at that, I don’t think they’d build a value style resort, they always are selling out the 3 resorts they have now, I wouldn’t think they would need to build a value to try to fill rooms. But that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.

I was curious and googled ... Turns out they had plans for a 4th hotel (announced in 2017) but it got cancelled in 2018.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I was curious and googled ... Turns out they had plans for a 4th hotel (announced in 2017) but it got cancelled in 2018.

I think it got cancelled because Anaheim's city council took back a tax deal because Disney wanted to move the hotel a few feet over or something like that. The relationship between the government in Anaheim and Disney is rocky.

 

[Dug720]

I think it got cancelled because Anaheim's city council took back a tax deal because Disney wanted to move the hotel a few feet over or something like that. The relationship between the government in Anaheim and Disney is rocky.

Hence why runDisney no longer has events on the West Coast.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Hence why runDisney no longer has events on the West Coast.

I didn't know they had runDisney there. That is really a bummer that they no longer have events. Great weather in California for running.

 

[Dug720]

I didn't know they had runDisney there. That is really a bummer that they no longer have events. Great weather in California for running.

They had a Disneyland Half in August/September, and I think they had a Star Wars...or Marvel...or both? But the majority of the run was on Anaheim streets, so the city government and resources had to be involved. And the bad feelings all cumulated in the events being put "on hiatus" which at this point seems to be permanent.

 

[smmco]

I stayed at all the moderates (My favorite is POR but I believe Coronado will be amazing when the refurbs will be over and I heard it will have a Club Level as well!) and Yacht Club, AKL, Poly and Grand Floridian. Loved all of them. I don't see a huge difference between the moderates and deluxes (outside of the exterior doors and you walk a little more)...

I also stayed at Art of Animation and we enjoyed it a lot. (As you said: relief!)

Not sure I mentionned it but since we'll arrive extremely late on the first night, we didn't want to spend a fortune so we picked All-Star Movies for the night. I can't wait to see how we like it. (We're moving at BC the next morning).

I have stayed at POR for a couple of nights and I really enjoyed it. I like having a gym and Coronado is the only non-deluxe hotel that offers that. I was extremely impressed with the refurbishments. The wood floors, granite counter tops, rain forest shower and Kuerig coffee pots were a big plus. We moved from there to AKL club level and although the Club level was awesome the rooms compared to compared to Coronado were very dated and old looking.
I've stayed at most of the deluxes and if price is not a factor the Epcot resorts will always be my first choice. I will say with the option of Uber and Lyft these days location is not as big a deal as it used to be. You can stay at a value or moderate take lyft everywhere and still come out spending half the amount you would have on a deluxe hotel.

 

[mevelandry]

I have stayed at POR for a couple of nights and I really enjoyed it. I like having a gym and Coronado is the only non-deluxe hotel that offers that. I was extremely impressed with the refurbishments. The wood floors, granite counter tops, rain forest shower and Kuerig coffee pots were a big plus. We moved from there to AKL club level and although the Club level was awesome the rooms compared to compared to Coronado were very dated and old looking.
I've stayed at most of the deluxes and if price is not a factor the Epcot resorts will always be my first choice. I will say with the option of Uber and Lyft these days location is not as big a deal as it used to be. You can stay at a value or moderate take lyft everywhere and still come out spending half the amount you would have on a deluxe hotel.

I have to admit that the distance to parks has never been a problem for us. I don't mind the Disney transportation (I appreciate the ride and the voice we can hear in the bus). I have stayed at Moderate and Deluxe hotels because I absolutely love the atmosphere over there.

I'm more into it than in the "in your face" theming... Although I can definitely appreciate the latter, at times!

P.s.: I'm so curious about the Coronado Club Level.

 

[SamFaniam]

I have a question for anyone that has sailed on the Carnival Vista. Particularly, we are interested in a cove balcony. It is too close to the water? Did you get splashed? Are they ever closed for weather or sea issues? We like to sail on Deck 2 on Disney and though these low balcony rooms might be fun.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I have a question for anyone that has sailed on the Carnival Vista. Particularly, we are interested in a cove balcony. It is too close to the water? Did you get splashed? Are they ever closed for weather or sea issues? We like to sail on Deck 2 on Disney and though these low balcony rooms might be fun.

We sailed Vista in a cove on an 8 night southern Caribbean and loved it. The cruise director on that ship is a dream cruise director and makes the cruise feel like something incredibly special. You will love the cove balcony. They never close it. No splashing. Really peaceful and the balcony size is larger than a regular balcony. One great thing about the cabins on the Vista is that every cabin has its own air conditioning unit so you are truly in control of your cabin temp. We kept ours ice cold. On the second floor, you are first off the ship. One thing I forgot, just make sure you are not under the galley (noise). We were midship to forward and no noise at all. But we were under the galley on another CCL ship and it was miserable.