CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[wombat_5606]

@mevelandry Our area wants much more testing before we re-open anything, so please post and let us know how things go for your area. Stay safe!

I have been pricing cruises for 2021 because we had a March cruise canceled. It was a ridiculously low rate with HAL and in March 2021, the prices have doubled! I'm hoping when things calm down some, I will be able to call and I hope they can get my offer(or close to it) transferred to a new cruise.

I hope you get to go in December!

Even though we aren't yet in our 70's, we're close. We don't have any major illnesses but I can't be absolutely positive, at this point, that cruising wouldn't put me in a vulnerable position, especially when we might be exposed to someone with asymptomatic Covid day after day.

If I don't get to go this year, it won't be heartbreaking. I will be back on a cruise ship one day.

 

[wombat_5606]

Our next cruise isn't until March 2021 and it can't come soon enough. After 5 weeks of being stuck in the house I'm about ready to book a cruise for just myself. I love my family, but today has been one of those days that I just need to get away from them!!!

I'm right there with you!!!!!

I have spent about 30 years taking a annual vacation by myself. I started when my last child was 2 years old and I have kept it up even though the girls are gone and my husband has retired. I have done cruises and land trips. My trip for 2020 would have started next week for 14 days!

 

[belle032]

Reopening in the next days are mining companies, construction sites and everything related to gardening (for the summer season). Social distancing is still enforced and there will be severe restrictions but it's a start. I'm expecting to see things reopening the same way they shut down (restaurants permitted only at 50% capacity at first, etc.) ... It's encouraging.

I'm thinking they could start with cruiseships not operating at full capacity in the first weeks/months.

Still praying and hoping our December cruise will happen.

That being said, I'm happy we only booked a cruise with my in laws next year. Already told them to be prepared to have to present health certificates and possibly proof of vaccines if they want to cruise in the future. (They'll be over 70 yo.)

I know everything will be different but I'll comply with whatever rule they add if I have to. I'm also expecting a serious jump in costs for cleaning and housekeeping.

I like the idea of a slow and cautious reopening of certain businesses and I'm realllyyyy hoping that idea gets considered in May. It would make a huge difference if our doggy daycare reopened or I could get back to horseback riding with my trainer! Low risk things that resume a tiny sense of normalcy.

However, we're in upstate NY and while we have mostly been fortunate here, the NYC situation will most likely set the trend as to what happens in the rest of the state. What could work here might not work in the city. And I think our "stay at home" order was just extended til May 15...so who knows anymore.

Our next cruise isn't until March 2021 and it can't come soon enough. After 5 weeks of being stuck in the house I'm about ready to book a cruise for just myself. I love my family, but today has been one of those days that I just need to get away from them!!!

I would book a cruise in a second to get out of here. Especially since we woke up to SNOW. I always thought I'd be a good candidate for working from home, I'm pretty introverted and easy going, but it really does take a toll on you. And I don't even have kids...just an extremely needy, energetic dog who is so excited that Mom is home all day!

We're still hoping to make it to WDW at the end of September. Haven't booked anything yet just to be safe. But as long as traveling is a go later this year we WILL be either WDW-ing or cruising for sure.

 

[lklgoodman]

Wombat--sorry about your trip that was cancelled. We were lucky that we were able to cruise this year in Jan.
Belle--my SIL lives in Minn and had snow at Easter!! It's been in the low 40s here, but thankfully no snow. I have a cat who gives me a look every day like "why are you all still here"! Between my dd playing her violin and practicing all her different dances for her Fall recital, our poor cat hasn't had a decent nap.
I have a friend who works at the small liberal arts college we have in our town. She said the professors there are now making plans for next Fall's classes to be done online. I'm sure we will take things slowly, but that seems absolutely nuts! Our governor said he's going to start opening some stuff on May 1. Will be interesting to see how much he opens. From the way he's been talking I thought it would be a lot later.

 

[smmco]

It's funny how people in NYC have such a different perspective than those of us in other states. It's a big nothing burger in my state and I'm so ready for things to go back to normal. The economic suffering is huge and it's going to get worse. It boggles my mind how we ended up here in such a short amount of time. The suffering isn't something that going to end as soon as we open. The damage is done and it's going to be long-lasting.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I saw on the WDW website they plan on re-opening 5/10! Woo Hoo, at least we’ll have that as a fall back if we can’t do our cruise.

 

[mevelandry]

(...) The economic suffering is huge and it's going to get worse. It boggles my mind how we ended up here in such a short amount of time. The suffering isn't something that going to end as soon as we open. The damage is done and it's going to be long-lasting.

Every area of the economy (all around the world) will be shaken up for a while. I’m expecting big changes everywhere... Some good, some bad.

 

[mevelandry]

I saw on the WDW website they plan on re-opening 5/10! Woo Hoo, at least we’ll have that as a fall back if we can’t do our cruise.

Whatttt?!? That is great news.

I have a short land part to plan in December (with our cruise) and I was wondering if I was going to be able to make reservations!

 

[wombat_5606]

Wombat--sorry about your trip that was cancelled. We were lucky that we were able to cruise this year in Jan.
Belle--my SIL lives in Minn and had snow at Easter!! It's been in the low 40s here, but thankfully no snow. I have a cat who gives me a look every day like "why are you all still here"! Between my dd playing her violin and practicing all her different dances for her Fall recital, our poor cat hasn't had a decent nap.
I have a friend who works at the small liberal arts college we have in our town. She said the professors there are now making plans for next Fall's classes to be done online. I'm sure we will take things slowly, but that seems absolutely nuts! Our governor said he's going to start opening some stuff on May 1. Will be interesting to see how much he opens. From the way he's been talking I thought it would be a lot later.

With everything going on at your house, I feel bad for complaining about my 2 week getaway. It does sound like you need one more than me!

I probably sound ridiculous talking about my missing my trip since I just got home at the end of Feb. from almost 3 months in Florida. While I was there, I did 2 cruises, neither DCL . I did one with my husband and one with my daughter and her friend. I've had plenty of vacation. I'm just ready for one alone.

One where I don't have to be involved with anyone else's plans for the day. No noise that I don't make. One where you can choose to have popcorn for dinner without talking about it. Walk on the beach at 6am or 6pm with a delicious cocktail in my hand. Stay up till 1am reading a good book. Solo traveling is heaven for me. Hopefully, I can get a trip in before the end of the year. If not, I may add an extra week onto next year or get on a ship by myself.

We are talking about getting some people back to work in May in our state, but they seem to think it may be later in the month. Obviously I don't work. We are in the age group that dies, so I'm looking for more protections in place that will let me live out my natural life, before I go about my business. Luckily my daughter and her family that live close have taken very good care of us. They don't want to kill us either. I agree this is all nuts.

Stay safe!

 

[hdrolfe]

@wombat_5606 that sounds like an amazing vacation plan. I can't wait for my son to be old enough that I can go off on my own (single parent, he's only 10 and gets quite mad that I would think of leaving him home with someone while I'm off on my own lol).

I have a December cruise booked and am seriously considering adding a second week to it, perhaps on a different ship or even cruise line. We are sailing 6 nights on the Horizon out of Miami, we could stay on for the 8-night after it, switch to the Carnival Magic, try MSC Seaside or RCL Symphony, or spend a day in Miami/FLL and then pick up the RCL Oasis. We are limited to ships with great water slides the MSC is only $49 to book so even if it falls through for whatever reason, I'd only be out that. We've just never cruised them before and not sure how they have been handling the covid closures. We enjoy Carnival and those two RCL ships do sound pretty amazing, plus they both have Coco Cay as a port, which kiddo is desperate to try out. Just a bigger outlay up front in terms of deposits, What to do... We've been on the Carnival Magic before, we did love the ship, but it's two of the same ports as the cruise we're doing so it might be nice to change it up. Anyway...

Keep safe everyone we will cruise again!!

 

[belle032]

@wombat_5606 that sounds like an amazing vacation plan. I can't wait for my son to be old enough that I can go off on my own (single parent, he's only 10 and gets quite mad that I would think of leaving him home with someone while I'm off on my own lol).

I have a December cruise booked and am seriously considering adding a second week to it, perhaps on a different ship or even cruise line. We are sailing 6 nights on the Horizon out of Miami, we could stay on for the 8-night after it, switch to the Carnival Magic, try MSC Seaside or RCL Symphony, or spend a day in Miami/FLL and then pick up the RCL Oasis. We are limited to ships with great water slides the MSC is only $49 to book so even if it falls through for whatever reason, I'd only be out that. We've just never cruised them before and not sure how they have been handling the covid closures. We enjoy Carnival and those two RCL ships do sound pretty amazing, plus they both have Coco Cay as a port, which kiddo is desperate to try out. Just a bigger outlay up front in terms of deposits, What to do... We've been on the Carnival Magic before, we did love the ship, but it's two of the same ports as the cruise we're doing so it might be nice to change it up. Anyway...

Keep safe everyone we will cruise again!!

I love the B2B idea on different ships. It would be so cool to walk off of one and walk right back onto another one! I've been browsing 8 day cruises in October (especially around Halloween) to the Southern Caribbean and it seems like the Horizon & Breeze are the options. Which is fine by me considering I'd love to try either of those ships. I think the Magic on a 7 day is another viable option, it's just not sailing the southern itinerary. But seems like those sailings are all still very popular and the ships are well booked up because they aren't showing a lot of availability. It's a lot of "Let us choose your room!" only options. I wonder if that will change.

Figure it was good to have a back up in case WDW doesn't work out. If they don't offer any type of discount, we may unfortunately have to push it back until they do.

 

[hdrolfe]

I love the B2B idea on different ships. It would be so cool to walk off of one and walk right back onto another one! I've been browsing 8 day cruises in October (especially around Halloween) to the Southern Caribbean and it seems like the Horizon & Breeze are the options. Which is fine by me considering I'd love to try either of those ships. I think the Magic on a 7 day is another viable option, it's just not sailing the southern itinerary. But seems like those sailings are all still very popular and the ships are well booked up because they aren't showing a lot of availability. It's a lot of "Let us choose your room!" only options. I wonder if that will change.

Figure it was good to have a back up in case WDW doesn't work out. If they don't offer any type of discount, we may unfortunately have to push it back until they do.

Horizon and Breeze are very popular ships. We really enjoyed Magic which is similar to Breeze, just a bit "louder" in colours. Southern would be really nice, it's what I was supposed to do on March break we'll do it eventually. But really, there are so many places I want to cruise to!

I think the port of Miami is pretty easy to get off one and onto another ship, from what I understand of the layout of the port any way.

I'm considering Port Canaveral for late 2021 or early 2022 so we can add on some Disney/Universal maybe. Especially once Mardi Gras is sailing.

 

[wombat_5606]

@wombat_5606 that sounds like an amazing vacation plan. I can't wait for my son to be old enough that I can go off on my own (single parent, he's only 10 and gets quite mad that I would think of leaving him home with someone while I'm off on my own lol).

I have a December cruise booked and am seriously considering adding a second week to it, perhaps on a different ship or even cruise line. We are sailing 6 nights on the Horizon out of Miami, we could stay on for the 8-night after it, switch to the Carnival Magic, try MSC Seaside or RCL Symphony, or spend a day in Miami/FLL and then pick up the RCL Oasis. We are limited to ships with great water slides the MSC is only $49 to book so even if it falls through for whatever reason, I'd only be out that. We've just never cruised them before and not sure how they have been handling the covid closures. We enjoy Carnival and those two RCL ships do sound pretty amazing, plus they both have Coco Cay as a port, which kiddo is desperate to try out. Just a bigger outlay up front in terms of deposits, What to do... We've been on the Carnival Magic before, we did love the ship, but it's two of the same ports as the cruise we're doing so it might be nice to change it up. Anyway...

Keep safe everyone we will cruise again!!

I, fortunately, broke my kids in early. My youngest was only 2 when I started solo traveling. Their Dad also took some time off to be with them, so it was a kind of vacation for them too. They actually enjoyed when Mom was gone. It was a win-win situation.

I like your plans, but I wish I could offer some suggestions. I don't know anything about those ships or cruiselines. But, I will add, no matter your decision, longer is better!

My kids missed all of the the fun, exciting things they have on ships now. The youngest was 18 when she took her first Disney trip. The oldest daughter was pregnant with my granddaughter! Prior to Disney, we had cruised with HAL, Princess and Carnival. There were kids clubs, but not with the activities of today.

Whatever you decide, I know you'll have fun!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

@wombat_5606 that sounds like an amazing vacation plan. I can't wait for my son to be old enough that I can go off on my own (single parent, he's only 10 and gets quite mad that I would think of leaving him home with someone while I'm off on my own lol).

I have a December cruise booked and am seriously considering adding a second week to it, perhaps on a different ship or even cruise line. We are sailing 6 nights on the Horizon out of Miami, we could stay on for the 8-night after it, switch to the Carnival Magic, try MSC Seaside or RCL Symphony, or spend a day in Miami/FLL and then pick up the RCL Oasis. We are limited to ships with great water slides the MSC is only $49 to book so even if it falls through for whatever reason, I'd only be out that. We've just never cruised them before and not sure how they have been handling the covid closures. We enjoy Carnival and those two RCL ships do sound pretty amazing, plus they both have Coco Cay as a port, which kiddo is desperate to try out. Just a bigger outlay up front in terms of deposits, What to do... We've been on the Carnival Magic before, we did love the ship, but it's two of the same ports as the cruise we're doing so it might be nice to change it up. Anyway...

Keep safe everyone we will cruise again!!

Do the B2B on Horizon! We did that same thing on Vista when she was in Miami and it was fantastic. The turn around day was great, they took really good care of us. Plus as soon as you get back on the ship that day you can go immediately to excursion desk and get signed up for the behind the scenes tour. It’s about $100/person but totally worth it. They limit each cruise to about 40 people for that tour so it’s hard to get, but if you’re on the B2B it’s easy to get.

 

[mevelandry]

@wombat_5606 that sounds like an amazing vacation plan. I can't wait for my son to be old enough that I can go off on my own (single parent, he's only 10 and gets quite mad that I would think of leaving him home with someone while I'm off on my own lol).

I have a December cruise booked and am seriously considering adding a second week to it, perhaps on a different ship or even cruise line. We are sailing 6 nights on the Horizon out of Miami, we could stay on for the 8-night after it, switch to the Carnival Magic, try MSC Seaside or RCL Symphony, or spend a day in Miami/FLL and then pick up the RCL Oasis. We are limited to ships with great water slides the MSC is only $49 to book so even if it falls through for whatever reason, I'd only be out that. We've just never cruised them before and not sure how they have been handling the covid closures. We enjoy Carnival and those two RCL ships do sound pretty amazing, plus they both have Coco Cay as a port, which kiddo is desperate to try out. Just a bigger outlay up front in terms of deposits, What to do... We've been on the Carnival Magic before, we did love the ship, but it's two of the same ports as the cruise we're doing so it might be nice to change it up. Anyway...

Keep safe everyone we will cruise again!!

I'm obsessed with Coco Cay... It's a stop I would definitely recommend.

 

[mevelandry]

Do the B2B on Horizon! We did that same thing on Vista when she was in Miami and it was fantastic. The turn around day was great, they took really good care of us. Plus as soon as you get back on the ship that day you can go immediately to excursion desk and get signed up for the behind the scenes tour. It’s about $100/person but totally worth it. They limit each cruise to about 40 people for that tour so it’s hard to get, but if you’re on the B2B it’s easy to get.

Oh... I forgot to mention. On our last two cruises the RCCL ships had a "peek-a-boo bridge" (a window where you can see the bridge and crew). That was really cool.

I never thought I'd be interested in seeing a Behind the scene Tour before but now I am!

 

[lklgoodman]

Wombat--I totally understand about needing to take a vacation just by yourself. I work from home, so I'm used to being home with just my cat for almost 8 hrs every day. Having my dd home all the time has definitely been an adjustment. Our cruise earlier this year was the WC one on the Fantasy that wasn't able to port at GC or Jamaica due to weather. We still had a great time, but I felt like we needed a re-do cruise since we didn't get to go to either of the ports. This was our 2nd WC cruise and we missed both of those ports on our first cruise also. We always book our cruises on opening day, so having one cancelled after so much planning would be really sad.

If anyone needs a laugh get this. I had to go pick up a prescription. I was in my car waiting at a red light with a car in front of me. As I waited for the light to change, I realize I had stopped a good 6 ft behind the car in front of me, lol!! Apparently I've taken social distancing overboard!!

 

[mevelandry]

My friends and I decided to work on a plan B...

We decided to go to Universal Orlando if our cruise doesn't happen...

... If we can still travel, of course!

 

[smmco]

I didn’t like coco cay. The allure was just ok. It needs a refurb bad, but I read they cancelled the 165 million redo.

 

[hdrolfe]

I didn’t like coco cay. The allure was just ok. It needs a refurb bad, but I read they cancelled the 165 million redo.

The cancelled refurb is why I wasn't even going to look at Allure now hopefully they'll be able to reschedule it soon.

My son is obsessed with water slides so he really wants to go to Coco Cay. We went about 4 years ago before the updates and it was a lovely beach day, but he wants to go back and have the excitement of waterslides.