CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[belle032]

Per John Heald, Carnival cruises sailing in July will be vaxxed only! Nothing decided for after July. Not getting political, but I think it's a good decision.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

WE ARE CRUISING IN JULY!!!!!!!!! I’m beyond excited.

 

[brewcrew]

WE ARE CRUISING IN JULY!!!!!!!!! I’m beyond excited.

Yahoo!!!! Can’t wait to hear about it!

 

[mevelandry]

Carnival announces return for vaccinated guests:

https://cruiseradio.net/carnival-sets-return-dates-caribbean-cruises-from-u-s/

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Yahoo!!!! Can’t wait to hear about it!

Will be our 5th cruise on Vista, we love her! Did the exact same itinerary, Cozumel, Roatan, and Belize, I’m 2017, had a fantastic time!

 

[mevelandry]

Will be our 5th cruise on Vista, we love her! Did the exact same itinerary, Cozumel, Roatan, and Belize, I’m 2017, had a fantastic time!

Amazing!

Just out of curiosity, what are your plans for those ports?

 

[brewcrew]

Will be our 5th cruise on Vista, we love her! Did the exact same itinerary, Cozumel, Roatan, and Belize, I’m 2017, had a fantastic time!

Do tell what you do in Belize?!?!?!

 

[belle032]

Do tell what you do in Belize?!?!?!

Don’t want to hijack, but we went to Belize on our sailing last year and did a tour of Mayan ruins. All day tour. Tiring but SO cool!

I think cave tubing is also a big draw there too?

 

[hdrolfe]

We have done cave tubing in Belize, it was ok? I mean we did it but I won't do it again. There is some amazing scuba/snorkeling there though, it's the second biggest barrier reef, some of the best in the world. Next time we will go to one of the little islands to snorkel.

 

[mevelandry]

I keep hearing the worst reviews about Belize... Once on a Q&A, a CD named is top 3 worst ports and if I remember correctly, it went this way:

1) Freeport (I have a feeling RCCL's Grand Bahama project is about to change the game for Freeport).

2) Belize

3) Nassau

 

[belle032]

I keep hearing the worst reviews about Belize... Once on a Q&A, a CD named is top 3 worst ports and if I remember correctly, it went this way:

1) Freeport (I have a feeling RCCL's Grand Bahama project is about to change the game for Freeport).

2) Belize

3) Nassau

If you have Belize as a stop, just be ready to book an excursion or stay on the ship. Carnival offered a lot of shore excursion options, so pick one that looks appealing. It's really a beautiful island once you get out of the city a bit. And like @hdrolfe said, the snorkeling/diving is supposed to be absolutely amazing. But there is little to nothing at the port and it's definitely not a place I'd recommend exploring on your own.

 

[bex7583]

Will be our 5th cruise on Vista, we love her! Did the exact same itinerary, Cozumel, Roatan, and Belize, I’m 2017, had a fantastic time!

Ah I would love to do this itinerary , can never get it to work with our dates. Have a great trip

 

[hdrolfe]

Belize was nice, it was interesting to hear the tour as we went through town to the cave tubing place. The thing I didn't like about the excursion is we went with some who were also doing other things, and they added ziplinining in the same amount of time we just did the cave tubing. So it was ssslllloooowww and my kiddo got bored floating in the tubes. If it was just me I might have enjoyed it more. If you aren't go go go then you may enjoy it as well. The food was good at the lunch stop, and the pop was in those glass bottles that are so cute. The port area wasn't anything special, and it's a long tender ride. So if you don't have a ship sponsored excursion it can be hard to get off the ship in a timely manner. This isn't GC with a short ride, this was a good long ride.

The Carnival excursions that I've heard are good are:
Sharks, Rays, Barrier Reef Snorkel and Island Escape
The Ruins (if you like that kind of thing)
Goff's Caye
Rendezvous Caye

 

[belle032]

Omg you guys. I'm second guessing everything. I feel like I have to come to y'all because DH is one to just show up and board the ship I tell him we're going on...AKA not much help!

So I was ready to rebook our NCL sailing, but made the mistake of jumping on the Carnival website just to see what they have available for Alaska this year. And they have a pretty cool 8 day itinerary!

Norwegian: 7 Days on the Encore - Ports are Juneau, Glacier Bay (cruising), Icy Strait Point & Ketchikan, 2 Days at Sea
-Pros: Newer & larger ship, trying a new cruise line, Free at Sea perks (drink package, dining, shore excursions, wifi), sailing Glacier Bay
-Cons: Not as many port stops

Carnival: 8 days on the Miracle - Ports are Tracy Arm Fjord (cruising), Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan, 2 Days at Sea
-Pros: Familiar with Carnival & love it (this will also put me at Platinum status! LOL) $100 OBC, longer cruise with more ports, having Skagway as a stop
-Cons: Smaller & older ship

Dates are pretty much the same. NCL is a Sat-Sat. CCL is a Tues-Wed. Price difference isn't crazy. NCL is actually a touch cheaper with the included Free at Sea perks and a small 10% discount from our cancelled sailing. We would add on the beverage package for CCL, which adds quite a bit to the overall cost.

Ughhh what to do!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Do tell what you do in Belize?!?!?!

Amazing!

Just out of curiosity, what are your plans for those ports?

Belize is a very long tender ride to the port. In 2017 we just walked around the port and did some shopping. We are planning on staying on the ship this time.

Cozumel we are swimming with the dolphins.

Last time we were in Roatan we went to the Daniel’s Sloth and Monkey Sanctuary. It was awesome, I fell in love with sloths, they’re so cute and gentle. This time we are taking the chair lifts at the port to the beach. It’s a 5-10 minute ride in the air to get to a pristine beach set up for Carnival guests.

 

[hdrolfe]

Belize is a very long tender ride to the port. In 2017 we just walked around the port and did some shopping. We are planning on staying on the ship this time.

Cozumel we are swimming with the dolphins.

Last time we were in Roatan we went to the Daniel’s Sloth and Monkey Sanctuary. It was awesome, I fell in love with sloths, they’re so cute and gentle. This time we are taking the chair lifts at the port to the beach. It’s a 5-10 minute ride in the air to get to a pristine beach set up for Carnival guests.
View attachment 580678

Which dolphin swim are you doing? We did the one at Chankanaab (sp?) and it was amazing. I would love to do it again. My son was small enough that when they did the push thing he went FLYING! it was very cool.

And we rode the chairlift at Mahogany Bay, you can walk but the ride is fun. Except I am scared of heights so that wasn't as fun for me. But it was nice to see everything from up there. The water was nice and it was lovely.

So jealous and happy for you! Let us know how it was when you are back, interested to hear Covid differences.

 

[mevelandry]

Belize was nice, it was interesting to hear the tour as we went through town to the cave tubing place. The thing I didn't like about the excursion is we went with some who were also doing other things, and they added ziplinining in the same amount of time we just did the cave tubing. So it was ssslllloooowww and my kiddo got bored floating in the tubes. If it was just me I might have enjoyed it more. If you aren't go go go then you may enjoy it as well. The food was good at the lunch stop, and the pop was in those glass bottles that are so cute. The port area wasn't anything special, and it's a long tender ride. So if you don't have a ship sponsored excursion it can be hard to get off the ship in a timely manner. This isn't GC with a short ride, this was a good long ride.

The Carnival excursions that I've heard are good are:
Sharks, Rays, Barrier Reef Snorkel and Island Escape
The Ruins (if you like that kind of thing)
Goff's Caye
Rendezvous Caye

If I had to go there my pick would probably be Geoff's Caye. It looks really special.

 

[mevelandry]

Belize is a very long tender ride to the port. In 2017 we just walked around the port and did some shopping. We are planning on staying on the ship this time.

Cozumel we are swimming with the dolphins.

Last time we were in Roatan we went to the Daniel’s Sloth and Monkey Sanctuary. It was awesome, I fell in love with sloths, they’re so cute and gentle. This time we are taking the chair lifts at the port to the beach. It’s a 5-10 minute ride in the air to get to a pristine beach set up for Carnival guests.
View attachment 580678

The beach in Roatan looks awesome.

 

[hdrolfe]

If I had to go there my pick would probably be Geoff's Caye. It looks really special.

My son wants to do the swim with the sharks even though he is scared of them. I mean when we swim in the rivers and lakes here he gets scared there may be one... there are none, it's fresh water lol. I think he just wants to see me freak out

 

[mevelandry]

Which dolphin swim are you doing? We did the one at Chankanaab (sp?) and it was amazing. I would love to do it again. My son was small enough that when they did the push thing he went FLYING! it was very cool.

And we rode the chairlift at Mahogany Bay, you can walk but the ride is fun. Except I am scared of heights so that wasn't as fun for me. But it was nice to see everything from up there. The water was nice and it was lovely.

So jealous and happy for you! Let us know how it was when you are back, interested to hear Covid differences.

While I haven't done the dolphin swim in Chankanaab, I think Chankanaab is fun. The "beach" is fun if you like snorkeling but can't swim very far. There are stairs leading you into the water. The bottom and the surrounding are rocky and you get tons of fish and other creatures without having to go further than 12 feet. There is a nice garden too. We had a lovely day.