CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[brewcrew]

Good morning,

I was wondering if any of you had tried Princess? Which ships?

I’ve been paying attention to their ships a little bit more after seeing « Sanctuary » decks... Wow, that is my type of ship right there!

Now, my husband wants to know if they have comedy shows.

I’m curious about the food too.

From what I understand, they offer an all-inclusive experience with drinks, wifi and pre-paid gratuities.

The prices are surprisingly affordable.

We have never been on Princess but are scheduled to take our first Princess Cruise in June 2022. This will be our 3rd attempt to get on a Princess ship (thanks to the pandemic). I’m really looking forward to the classic style of cruising. I’m not sure if they have comedy shows but maybe in the main theatre once a week they would have a comedian??? I’m looking forward to their tea time and the Sanctuary does look nice!!!

 

[mevelandry]

We have never been on Princess but are scheduled to take our first Princess Cruise in June 2022. This will be our 3rd attempt to get on a Princess ship (thanks to the pandemic). I’m really looking forward to the classic style of cruising. I’m not sure if they have comedy shows but maybe in the main theatre once a week they would have a comedian??? I’m looking forward to their tea time and the Sanctuary does look nice!!!

They have tea time? I want to book right now!

 

[mevelandry]

My husband and I decided to take a chance and book a short cruise for this fall. We decided to re-book a short 3 nights MSC cruise to Ocean Cay that we had to cancel (we were supposed to spend most of Easter week-end on a ship).

The price was insanely low... 313$ CAD per person. (I think the lowest price I’ve ever paid for a cruise was 350$ USD.) Inside cabin... for now.

Instead of Armonia, we’d be sailing on MSC Divina. The ship looks amazing. Hopefully this cruise will happen.

 

[brewcrew]

They have tea time? I want to book right now!

Apparently so...I’ve watched enough YouTube videos about it lol! It might only be on sea days though.

 

[brewcrew]

[QUOTE="mevel
My husband and I decided to take a chance and book a short cruise for this fall. We decided to re-book a short 3 nights MSC cruise to Ocean Cay that we had to cancel (we were supposed to spend most of Easter week-end on a ship).

The price was insanely low... 313$ CAD per person. (I think the lowest price I’ve ever paid for a cruise was 350$ USD.) Inside cabin... for now.

Instead of Armonia, we’d be sailing on MSC Divina. The ship looks amazing. Hopefully this cruise will happen.
[/QUOTE]
I’ve been watching MSC Seaside vlogs this past week. I’m sure you will have a wonderful time!
watched enough YouTube videos about it lol! It might only be on sea days though.

 

[mevelandry]

[QUOTE="mevel
My husband and I decided to take a chance and book a short cruise for this fall. We decided to re-book a short 3 nights MSC cruise to Ocean Cay that we had to cancel (we were supposed to spend most of Easter week-end on a ship).

The price was insanely low... 313$ CAD per person. (I think the lowest price I’ve ever paid for a cruise was 350$ USD.) Inside cabin... for now.

Instead of Armonia, we’d be sailing on MSC Divina. The ship looks amazing. Hopefully this cruise will happen.

I’ve been watching MSC Seaside vlogs this past week. I’m sure you will have a wonderful time!
watched enough YouTube videos about it lol! It might only be on sea days though.
[/QUOTE]

MSC looks very different but fun. Hope we get the chance to experience it.

 

[mevelandry]

My husband and I decided to take a chance and book a short cruise for this fall. We decided to re-book a short 3 nights MSC cruise to Ocean Cay that we had to cancel (we were supposed to spend most of Easter week-end on a ship).

The price was insanely low... 313$ CAD per person. (I think the lowest price I’ve ever paid for a cruise was 350$ USD.) Inside cabin... for now.

Instead of Armonia, we’d be sailing on MSC Divina. The ship looks amazing. Hopefully this cruise will happen.

I was curious of the price of my cruise in USD.

Just wanted to let you know that I went to see on the USA website and the MSC Divina 3 nights cruise we have booked is currently listed as starting at 119$/pp.

There are different level of experiences ... my husband and I never ever order in-room dining so we were ok with « Bella » (the most basic plan that doesn’t include it).

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Thank you! I've booked a DCL balcony for Alaska for summer 2022 for $12k.... But RCCL Quantum is $5k for something comparable. I did some basic research so I know what each cruise line brings to the experience. If money were no object, I would just stick with DCL, but $7k difference is quite a lot and hard to ignore. We could book the excursions that we want and still have enough left over for another RCCL cruise. So for the people who went and experienced both cruises, did the cruise line you choose matter all that much? Another possibility is to downgrade to DCL porthole room for $8k, that’s priced between what we have and RCCL. For background, we're a young family with 2 toddlers, cruising for the first time, living here in the US.

edit: RCCL is with Quantum of the Sea

We did a Carnival Cruise to Alaska and it was $1400 for 2 people in a balcony stateroom. DCL was more than 4 times that. I love DCL, but with Alaska being such a port intensive itinerary, we didn’t have much time for the ship offerings anyway. Carnival was great and it was an amazing cruise. I honestly think the line you choose is less important with a port intensive itinerary, so I’d probably go with RCCL in your case. I wouldn’t recommend downgrading from a balcony as a balcony is so amazing to have in Alaska.

 

[brewcrew]

I was curious of the price of my cruise in USD.

Just wanted to let you know that I went to see on the USA website and the MSC Divina 3 nights cruise we have booked is currently listed as starting at 119$/pp.

There are different level of experiences ... my husband and I never ever order in-room dining so we were ok with « Bella » (the most basic plan that doesn’t include it).

That is crazy good!!!

 

[brent02139]

We did a Carnival Cruise to Alaska and it was $1400 for 2 people in a balcony stateroom. DCL was more than 4 times that. I love DCL, but with Alaska being such a port intensive itinerary, we didn’t have much time for the ship offerings anyway. Carnival was great and it was an amazing cruise. I honestly think the line you choose is less important with a port intensive itinerary, so I’d probably go with RCCL in your case. I wouldn’t recommend downgrading from a balcony as a balcony is so amazing to have in Alaska.

Thanks for taking the time to respond. In the end we compromised. My wife was nervous about the balcony (kids are climbers and smart enough to stack furniture), DCL porthole price was within 20% of RCCL prices, and the activities for kids seem higher quality. Funny enough now the biggest factor seems less about DCL vs RCCL, but the location of ports. It would be easier for us to fly in and out of SeaTac than Vancouver, oh well, will just have to plan around it.

 

[jtntx34]

We have never been on Princess but are scheduled to take our first Princess Cruise in June 2022. This will be our 3rd attempt to get on a Princess ship (thanks to the pandemic). I’m really looking forward to the classic style of cruising. I’m not sure if they have comedy shows but maybe in the main theatre once a week they would have a comedian??? I’m looking forward to their tea time and the Sanctuary does look nice!!!

Princess is a great cruise line IMO. They balance the classic cruise experience without being too stuffy or formal. I enjoyed the food onboard as much or more than Disney. (The bread, pastries, and deserts were miles better than what I had in Disney; I believe they are all made fresh onboard.) I also liked that the hours are much more flexible for food than on Disney.

Another thing I really liked on Princess ship vs Disney was the piazza area. There are plenty of seats in the lobby area where they do musical performances, games, etc. throughout the day. It’s a great place to have a drink/coffee and sit and enjoy the entertainment or just people watch. I cannot speak to the entertainment/shows in the theaters, because we were in Alaska, and I honestly was tired from the day and didn’t see any.

If you want details on types of shows/activities onboard, you can Google the Princess Patters for your route or ask on cruise critic board. Princess board there is active and usually very helpful.

I am trying to decide when I can go back to Princess. Your post makes me want to book now.

 

[mevelandry]

Princess is a great cruise line IMO. They balance the classic cruise experience without being too stuffy or formal. I enjoyed the food onboard as much or more than Disney. (The bread, pastries, and deserts were miles better than what I had in Disney; I believe they are all made fresh onboard.) I also liked that the hours are much more flexible for food than on Disney.

Another thing I really liked on Princess ship vs Disney was the piazza area. There are plenty of seats in the lobby area where they do musical performances, games, etc. throughout the day. It’s a great place to have a drink/coffee and sit and enjoy the entertainment or just people watch. I cannot speak to the entertainment/shows in the theaters, because we were in Alaska, and I honestly was tired from the day and didn’t see any.

If you want details on types of shows/activities onboard, you can Google the Princess Patters for your route or ask on cruise critic board. Princess board there is active and usually very helpful.

I am trying to decide when I can go back to Princess. Your post makes me want to book now.

Thank you for this. My interest in Princess is growing day after day... I find their prices to be reasonable as well when it comes to caribbean itineraries and there are strong chances I might end up booking with them for our January 2023 cruise.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Thanks for taking the time to respond. In the end we compromised. My wife was nervous about the balcony (kids are climbers and smart enough to stack furniture), DCL porthole price was within 20% of RCCL prices, and the activities for kids seem higher quality. Funny enough now the biggest factor seems less about DCL vs RCCL, but the location of ports. It would be easier for us to fly in and out of SeaTac than Vancouver, oh well, will just have to plan around it.

Glad you figured out a compromise that worked for you. I completely understand about the worry, I worry about the same thing with my kids.

 

[mevelandry]

One thing that MSC has and I wish Carnival had. An « Easy Drink Package ». Around 35$/pp per day (Carnival is at 55$, I think?). You can pick between 2-3 brands of beer, a selection of wine by the glass, a selection of a dozen drinks (like LIIT, Rum & Coke, Cape Cod, Screw Driver, etc.), soft drink, water bottles, coffee and tea.

I think we’ll pull the trigger on that one.

 

[brewcrew]

One thing that MSC has and I wish Carnival had. An « Easy Drink Package ». Around 35$/pp per day (Carnival is at 55$, I think?). You can pick between 2-3 brands of beer, a selection of wine by the glass, a selection of a dozen drinks (like LIIT, Rum & Coke, Cape Cod, Screw Driver, etc.), soft drink, water bottles, coffee and tea.

I think we’ll pull the trigger on that one.

I’ve been looking at Carnival’s drink package and I honestly don’t think that I can drink that much! We always got just the wine package on Disney and with our upcoming Princess Cruise we paid the fare where drinks are included. I’ve read that Carnival sometimes emails you discounts on the drink package, so I will keep my eye out for that. $35 per day is very doable.

 

[hdrolfe]

I like the variety of drink packages available on MSC and RCL to be honest. Carnival only has just pop or the full package. Kiddo doesn't like pop (soda?) so I never bother but if we could get the fruity virgin drinks in a package, that would be nice.

 

[mevelandry]

I’ve been looking at Carnival’s drink package and I honestly don’t think that I can drink that much! We always got just the wine package on Disney and with our upcoming Princess Cruise we paid the fare where drinks are included. I’ve read that Carnival sometimes emails you discounts on the drink package, so I will keep my eye out for that. $35 per day is very doable.

With Carnival, you need to drink at least 6 drinks per day to break even.

 

[brewcrew]

With Carnival, you need to drink at least 6 drinks per day to break even.

Well that’s not me then, lol!

 

[OKgirl]

On Carnival, specialty coffees are included with their drink package so this was usually our morning drink. We could easily drink 2 drinks by the pool, one before dinner, wine with dinner and a cocktail at the comedy shows late at night. We easily broke even without ever getting a buzz.

 

[mevelandry]

Well that’s not me then, lol!

Me neither... But if I order enough bottle of water, Perrier, tea, specialy coffees and juices... I can make it work. LOL