CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[trvlgirlmq]

I would LOVE them to do the British Isles. We leave in a month for our DCL British Isles trip, but it would be amazing for Carnival to pick up a similar itinerary. Agreed about the ship though. I understand it would need to be a smaller one and the itinerary would definitely be more port intensive than a normal one, but I would miss a few of the upgrades, like the outdoor movie screen.

Wasn't there a cruise on the Legend next year that was way out of the ordinary for Carnival? I believe it was a 16 day Journey that went to Iceland, Ireland, and a few more ports? That's what we need more of!

Yes, the Legend is doing a TA that hits Greenland, Iceland, etc. I would love to do that itinerary, my mom not so much. It was so popular it sold out in a week!

We have been kicking around a BI cruise for a while but the prices on other lines is out of reach. Princess has the best itinerary but we just can't justify the cost.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

No, I did a 3 night on the Carnival Ecstasy 12 years ago (pre kid days) and did not like it much. More of a weekend booze cruise. I did a lot more research this time vs. none the time before. The ship and itinerary really fit our needs for this trip. We just did a beach excursion at Cozumel and took one of the city tours in Merida since Progreso didn't seem to offer much. I was happy for my daughter to experience a foreign city for the first time .... even if she did look bored some of the time hopefully the memory will stay with her. It was my daughters first cruise though and she loved it. Many smiles (except the Camp Ocean refusal).

The Dream was our very first cruise! It got us hooked and I am going on my 9th in a couple months. My kids don't like the clubs either. They prefer to be outside doing the pools and slides. They also don't care about meeting other kids!

 

[hdrolfe]

My son isn't huge on the kids clubs but he will go on Carnival if, say, I want to get a manicure. He refuses to go to the clubs on RCL. He would much rather be on the water slides, ropes course, eating I do like that they have specific activities at specific times, so he aims for "free time" and gets to play video games... yeah I know lol. He also enjoyed being part of the show for the last lip sync battle, they had the kids do up big posters and then they were all up on stage dancing and cheering. I am looking forward to going on Horizon and staying in the Family Harbor, I think we'll enjoy the lounge. We often play board games in the library but I don't see one on that ship. We liked the one on Carnival Magic since it was just down from the dining room.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

My son isn't huge on the kids clubs but he will go on Carnival if, say, I want to get a manicure. He refuses to go to the clubs on RCL. He would much rather be on the water slides, ropes course, eating I do like that they have specific activities at specific times, so he aims for "free time" and gets to play video games... yeah I know lol. He also enjoyed being part of the show for the last lip sync battle, they had the kids do up big posters and then they were all up on stage dancing and cheering. I am looking forward to going on Horizon and staying in the Family Harbor, I think we'll enjoy the lounge. We often play board games in the library but I don't see one on that ship. We liked the one on Carnival Magic since it was just down from the dining room.

Horizon does have a Library on the Promenade deck. It’s labeled as Library Bar, but there is generally not a bartender in there during the day and the only beverage available is wine from a vending type machine. They have plenty of books and games and is usually pretty quiet and peaceful.

 

[hdrolfe]

Thank you! I thought that was a bar!

 

[mevelandry]

Thank you! I thought that was a bar!

My husband and I went there on Carnival Vista. They don't seem to use that room very much. I have never seen a bartender and there are A LOT of fun games there.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

More Europe scheduling: Carnival Legend @ Gibraltar May 28, 2021.

 

[StarGirl11]

Starintg to try and do research. Won a cruise with a separate stay at a hotel and I’ve never been on a cruise before (closest I’ve come is ferries, and that’s not anywhere near the same). Its going to be a 4 day cruise in the Bahamas via Carnival (I had the option to also do Mexico, but after finding out the Mexico cruise stopped in Catalina Island I lost interest in it, if I want to do Catalina I’ll do it on my own time). No idea what ship we’re going to be on. Planning for a mid summer date since I will be cruising with a friend who thanks to her work schedule can’t come until mid June.

I can’t do anything but look at this point really. The cruise documentation won’t come through until I do the land portion in December. But any advice? The afore mentioned friend is an experienced cruiser (and that’s partly why I invited her, she loves going on cruises, most of my other friends do not) so she’ll be a hand but I kind of want to see what I can learn on my own without bugging her every second.

I know there’s stuff based on a bit of reading I’ve done that would be open for me to book if I could and probably would. But see above comment about having to wait for paperwork after land trip to really start doing anything with the sea trip.

Sorry in advance if this is the wrong place to be asking about this. Just a bit overwhelmed and again first time cruiser.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Starintg to try and do research. Won a cruise with a separate stay at a hotel and I’ve never been on a cruise before (closest I’ve come is ferries, and that’s not anywhere near the same). Its going to be a 4 day cruise in the Bahamas via Carnival (I had the option to also do Mexico, but after finding out the Mexico cruise stopped in Catalina Island I lost interest in it, if I want to do Catalina I’ll do it on my own time). No idea what ship we’re going to be on. Planning for a mid summer date since I will be cruising with a friend who thanks to her work schedule can’t come until mid June.

I can’t do anything but look at this point really. The cruise documentation won’t come through until I do the land portion in December. But any advice? The afore mentioned friend is an experienced cruiser (and that’s partly why I invited her, she loves going on cruises, most of my other friends do not) so she’ll be a hand but I kind of want to see what I can learn on my own without bugging her every second.

I know there’s stuff based on a bit of reading I’ve done that would be open for me to book if I could and probably would. But see above comment about having to wait for paperwork after land trip to really start doing anything with the sea trip.

Sorry in advance if this is the wrong place to be asking about this. Just a bit overwhelmed and again first time cruiser.

Welcome to the Carnival and cruising family! There are several ships doing 4 day cruises from Florida next June: Liberty, Elation, Ecstasy. You can start by looking at each of the ships on the Carnival website. Mevelandry has a review of Ecstasy as well. For the most part they will be older, smaller ships but full of FUN.

 

[mevelandry]

Welcome to the Carnival and cruising family! There are several ships doing 4 day cruises from Florida next June: Liberty, Elation, Ecstasy. You can start by looking at each of the ships on the Carnival website. Mevelandry has a review of Ecstasy as well. For the most part they will be older, smaller ships but full of FUN.

Carnival Liberty, not Ecstasy.

Considering the Elation and Ecstasy are older ships with only one pool, I'd probably go with Liberty but that's just me.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Carnival Liberty, not Ecstasy.

Considering the Elation and Ecstasy are older ships with only one pool, I'd probably go with Liberty but that's just me.

Eeek! It's Monday and it was early

 

[mevelandry]

Eeek! It's Monday and it was early

No worries!

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Legend spotted Europe calls for 2021:

Palma de Mallorca May 24
Gibraltar May 28
Le Havre June 2 & August 28

Unfortunately, none of the UK/Ireland ports ever post calendars of coming years so that part is difficult to ascertain. I hope they announce itineraries soon. My CC needs a workout!

 

[belle032]

Fingers crossed that Southwest actually releases their flights through March today! It’s kind of a deciding factor on which February cruise we’re going to book!

 

[mevelandry]

Fingers crossed that Southwest actually releases their flights through March today! It’s kind of a deciding factor on which February cruise we’re going to book!

I wish we had lower cost airlines like Southwest in Canada... Our rates are so high!

 

[lklgoodman]

Thank you so much for posting this!! Normally I would have already bought our tickets for our Jan, cruise but since the Max 8 issue, I hadn't been able to buy them. I had pretty much given up on them releasing the dates. I just bought our tickets, so happy!! I was expecting there to be less choices, but am so happy to see we actually had a much better selection for coming home. In the past the only direct flight coming home that we could get would be leaving MCO around 3 or 4pm. They had a 1:30 direct flight this time, Yea!! 2 less hours hanging out at the airport!! Again, thanks so much for posting, hope you are able to find a good deal for Feb!

 

[belle032]

OK has anyone been on the Fascination? Somewhat recently? I really like the Southern Caribbean itinerary and the prices are great for the ports. The ship looks like it has some upgrades, but the ship itself does play a part in our cruising decisions and it being the oldest & smallest ship worries me. Does anyone have experience?

 

[trvlgirlmq]

OK has anyone been on the Fascination? Somewhat recently? I really like the Southern Caribbean itinerary and the prices are great for the ports. The ship looks like it has some upgrades, but the ship itself does play a part in our cruising decisions and it being the oldest & smallest ship worries me. Does anyone have experience?

I've been on Fascination for a 5 day as well as Elation (a sister ship). I did not care for the small, older vibe. The smoke from the casinos permeated that entire floor. I usually don't have an issue with that but on these ships I did. These ships are not for me even on a port-intensive itinerary.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

OK has anyone been on the Fascination? Somewhat recently? I really like the Southern Caribbean itinerary and the prices are great for the ports. The ship looks like it has some upgrades, but the ship itself does play a part in our cruising decisions and it being the oldest & smallest ship worries me. Does anyone have experience?

I have seen a trip report on that ship and cruise by Mitsugirly. If you google her and fascination it should come up. I also would do that cruise for the ports (amazing) if the price was right.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Well, in a fit of boredom at work my mom and I decided to just go ahead and book our adult only Fall cruise for 2020! Eeek. We will be back on my favorite Breeze for a 6 night to Grand Turk, HMC & Amber Cove. I've only been to GT so I am excited about HMC and meh on Amber Cove. We also decided to try a cove balcony as we usually do regular ones. This may change if there are price drops and we decide to upgrade.