CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[Club Disney Chandler]

It's nice and the perks are worth it.

Not on Carnival but DH and I will have connecting cabins with his parents in January. How is the soundproofing between connecting rooms on a cruise ship? (They snore very loudly LOL)

Great on both Disney and Carnival

 

[smmco]

It's nice and the perks are worth it.

Not on Carnival but DH and I will have connecting cabins with his parents in January. How is the soundproofing between connecting rooms on a cruise ship? (They snore very loudly LOL)

I try hard not to book connecting cabins. The last time I had one there was a little girl in the next room that had one of those dry hacking coughs..you know the kind that gets worse at night. I felt bad for her, but it drove me nuts. I've also heard neighbors snoring, farting, fighting you name it. I don't think the connecting rooms are great on Disney. If my kids are in the next room I can just open the door and tell them to shut up so it's not an issue.

 

[lklgoodman]

We've had connecting rooms on several DCL cruises and have never heard anything during any of them.

 

[smmco]

We've had connecting rooms on several DCL cruises and have never heard anything during any of them.

Consider yourself lucky. On the Magic our neighbors got our bill by mistake and the husband was showing the wife how some people don't spend money in the gift shop. That was kind of funny.

 

[belle032]

I think that's how dinner is always handled in Cabanas... at least whenever we have gone up its been like that. I assume so many people just go to the MDR it would be too much waste to do it as a buffet but I don't know the official reason.

Were the paper cups inside as well as out...? I've always been served drinks in proper glassware inside on DCL (our last cruise was over xmas) but outside they tended to use plastic ware on the Fantasy. I haven't sailed on the Dream since our first ever cruise in 2011 though. On Castaway it was single use cups though which now that you mention it I am annoyed by even if I understand people will be wandering around...!

Now that I think about it, we only ordered cocktails on the decks or at Castaway Cay and they were all in paper. We ordered beer and wine in the MDRs but didn’t order a cocktail at any of the indoor bars. So I may be rather mistaken and plastic is used inside!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

We always try to avoid connecting rooms too but we have somehow ended up with them a few times. We have been lucky and never heard anything from the connecting doors. Knock on wood. The only loud neighbor noise we have heard is through the balcony on an ncl ship. The people on both sides of us were both incredibly loud on their balconies and were both smoking illegally out there. Ugh. Annoying, but it did not bother us that much. And then once on dcl, the wonder, we could hear the people moving around in the room next door! It was weird because it almost sounded like they were in our room, but obviously they were not. But you could hear someone sit down on the bed and put a book or something on a table. That kind of thing. We were in one of those sideways inside cabins. Not sure if that had anything to do with it. But... the only time noise has REALLY bothered us was when we ended up under the galley on ccl dream. Total nightmare. Avoid being under the galley on ccl at all costs. Oh... and i forgot on dcl fantasy... awful awful awful aft rocking will keep even a heavy sleeper awake. Similar to the galley issue on ccl. So stay away from dcl fantasy aft and and under the galley on any dcl ship.

 

[Dug720]

I try hard not to book connecting cabins. The last time I had one there was a little girl in the next room that had one of those dry hacking coughs..you know the kind that gets worse at night. I felt bad for her, but it drove me nuts. I've also heard neighbors snoring, farting, fighting you name it. I don't think the connecting rooms are great on Disney. If my kids are in the next room I can just open the door and tell them to shut up so it's not an issue.

FWIW, I have had those issues in non-connecting cabins as well. No door does not mean no noise will carry through.

 

[mevelandry]

I try hard not to book connecting cabins. The last time I had one there was a little girl in the next room that had one of those dry hacking coughs..you know the kind that gets worse at night. I felt bad for her, but it drove me nuts. I've also heard neighbors snoring, farting, fighting you name it. I don't think the connecting rooms are great on Disney. If my kids are in the next room I can just open the door and tell them to shut up so it's not an issue.

Let's hope the RCCL cabins are better.

 

[Mika02]

Thanks for this Thread Looking to book a Carnival Cruise for the Fall.

So background I have a DCL cruise book currently but unfortuntely due to some recent financial issues looking to travel on a less expensive option. This actually will be my 3rd Cruise booking win the last year. I had to cancel my RCCL booking because I'm having surgery this summer so it cancelled my trip to Europe.

Right now trying to narrow down the Ship and Itinerary I want. I've cruised on 3 Carnival Sailings but only 2 Ships Carnival Triumph and Carnival Destiny which have both been renamed lol. But both experiences were amazing. But they were all 9 years or more ago. I've been on 1 DCL sailing Dream to the Bahamas in 2015. Since that's are most recent cruise it's the one my kids remember most. I personally want to avoid the Bahamas and they could careless. So right now I'm focused on Ships my options for the time I want to Sail are Sensations, Magic, Paradise, Conquest, Vista and Horizon.

I've read some reviews here on Sensations, Magic and Conquest. Has anyone been on the other three? What were your thoughts?

TIA

 

[mevelandry]

I've already made a thread about it but...

Fellow Canadians: If you want to cruise with DCL, you should take a look at the "25% off for Canadians" on the Special Offers page. It appears --if I calculate correctly-- that one could get a short 3 or 4 nights cruise for only 200$ more per person than a Carnival cruise on select June and September cruises... Which I find pretty reasonable.

If I did not already have plans with RCCL this fall, I would have booked a cruise with DCL right now.

 

[mevelandry]

Thanks for this Thread Looking to book a Carnival Cruise for the Fall.

So background I have a DCL cruise book currently but unfortuntely due to some recent financial issues looking to travel on a less expensive option. This actually will be my 3rd Cruise booking win the last year. I had to cancel my RCCL booking because I'm having surgery this summer so it cancelled my trip to Europe.

Right now trying to narrow down the Ship and Itinerary I want. I've cruised on 3 Carnival Sailings but only 2 Ships Carnival Triumph and Carnival Destiny which have both been renamed lol. But both experiences were amazing. But they were all 9 years or more ago. I've been on 1 DCL sailing Dream to the Bahamas in 2015. Since that's are most recent cruise it's the one my kids remember most. I personally want to avoid the Bahamas and they could careless. So right now I'm focused on Ships my options for the time I want to Sail are Sensations, Magic, Paradise, Conquest, Vista and Horizon.

I've read some reviews here on Sensations, Magic and Conquest. Has anyone been on the other three? What were your thoughts?

TIA

Welcome!

You can find links for reviews of the Vista on the first post of the first page of this thread. We may have one about the Horizon too? (Can't remember).

I would highly recommend new ships like Vista (she's my favorite ship so far) and Horizon because they are new, with all the bells and whistles!

 

[Mika02]

Welcome!

You can find links for reviews of the Vista on the first post of the first page of this thread. We may have one about the Horizon too? (Can't remember).

I would highly recommend new ships like Vista (she's my favorite ship so far) and Horizon because they are new, with all the bells and whistles!

Awesome I must have missed those on the front page

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Thanks for this Thread Looking to book a Carnival Cruise for the Fall.

So background I have a DCL cruise book currently but unfortuntely due to some recent financial issues looking to travel on a less expensive option. This actually will be my 3rd Cruise booking win the last year. I had to cancel my RCCL booking because I'm having surgery this summer so it cancelled my trip to Europe.

Right now trying to narrow down the Ship and Itinerary I want. I've cruised on 3 Carnival Sailings but only 2 Ships Carnival Triumph and Carnival Destiny which have both been renamed lol. But both experiences were amazing. But they were all 9 years or more ago. I've been on 1 DCL sailing Dream to the Bahamas in 2015. Since that's are most recent cruise it's the one my kids remember most. I personally want to avoid the Bahamas and they could careless. So right now I'm focused on Ships my options for the time I want to Sail are Sensations, Magic, Paradise, Conquest, Vista and Horizon.

I've read some reviews here on Sensations, Magic and Conquest. Has anyone been on the other three? What were your thoughts?

TIA

I wrote one of the Vista trip reports and highly recommended her or Horizon. We board Vista for the 4th time in 3 years in 15 days. She’s a really great ship. If you can swing the 8 night Southern Caribbean on Horizon, I definitely recommend that itinerary, it’s awesome and Curaçao is amazing.

 

[Mika02]

I wrote one of the Vista trip reports and highly recommended her or Horizon. We board Vista for the 4th time in 3 years in 15 days. She’s a really great ship. If you can swing the 8 night Southern Caribbean on Horizon, I definitely recommend that itinerary, it’s awesome and Curaçao is amazing.

If I do the newer ships it would be 7 Days on Vista or 6 Days on Horizon and they are both Western (Roatan, Belize and Cozumel)- Vista or (Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel)-Horizon. Of the older ships the Magic is pulling me as it's Southern Caribbean and it's 8 Days.

I do think having a newer ship will be the way to go. I have a 17, 12 and 8 year old are they are skeptical lol My daughter whose 17 is like but if we go I won't find anyone who is as crazy as me about Disney lol. They loved the kids club at Disney when we went.

I showed them a Video on Youtube about the Horizon and my 8 year old is almost all in though.

 

[hdrolfe]

My son was 8 on our last cruise, Carnival Magic. He loved it and we are going back again on her in March. We'll be trying Horizon in Dec 2020. My son has been to Disney multiple times, we are going again this August and we had a few moments when he was upset because he'd rather go back on another cruise!

 

[Mika02]

My son was 8 on our last cruise, Carnival Magic. He loved it and we are going back again on her in March. We'll be trying Horizon in Dec 2020. My son has been to Disney multiple times, we are going again this August and we had a few moments when he was upset because he'd rather go back on another cruise!

Did he like the kids clubs?

 

[hdrolfe]

Did he like the kids clubs?

He actually does like the kids club on Carnival ships, hates it on RCL and refuses to attend.

 

[Mika02]

He actually does like the kids club on Carnival ships, hates it on RCL and refuses to attend.

Awesome that's great to know. Did you do the slumber party hours for him at all?

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

If I do the newer ships it would be 7 Days on Vista or 6 Days on Horizon and they are both Western (Roatan, Belize and Cozumel)- Vista or (Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel)-Horizon. Of the older ships the Magic is pulling me as it's Southern Caribbean and it's 8 Days.

I do think having a newer ship will be the way to go. I have a 17, 12 and 8 year old are they are skeptical lol My daughter whose 17 is like but if we go I won't find anyone who is as crazy as me about Disney lol. They loved the kids club at Disney when we went.

I showed them a Video on Youtube about the Horizon and my 8 year old is almost all in though.

We didn’t think we could like Carnival nearly as much as DCL. We are definitely a Disney family, I’m a former Disney Operations Manager and we have consumed tons of the Disney Kool Aid. Just keep in mind it’s not going to be the same experience. It’s a great time but a different experience. We’re doing the same Vista cruise that you’re considering in 2 weeks, I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

[smmco]

Let's hope the RCCL cabins are better.

I'm surprised people say they don't hear their neighbors in connecting cabins. I can usually hear every conversation. I either have really good hearing or really loud neighbors. When my kids are in the cabin next to us they are never in the room and when they come in at 2am I never hear them. They are not loud and drunk. I don't think some people realize how bad the sound proofing is on the older ships. I'm a little bitter because I had one cruise pretty much ruined by my neighbors late night partying. It's not fun to come home from vacation sleep deprived.