Cruising the budget way? DCL or Carnival??

[MarthaJr.]

We are newbies to cruising but certainly not new to doing Disney on a budget! I need your help.

We would like to try a 3 night cruise to the Bahamas to see if we like cruising. Is it worth going DCL for such a short cruise or should we go with Carnival? (Royal Caribbean does not cruise the day we need to leave.)

By DCL standards I can get a decent rate for our dates, however Carnival is $1,000 cheaper. My guess is we will be spoiled by DCL. Please help!

 

[yearlightbuzz]

We did the 3 night DCL last year right before Christmas and afterwards I told my wife we would NEVER do that again!! If we are going on a cruise, it will be at least 5 nights. We loved it. That's the only cruise we have ever been on so can't help you figuring out which is the best. Good luck.

 

[Leleluvsdis]

We have cruised with Carnival twice now (DH 3 times), but never DCL. I would do Carnival without hesitation. Especially for a 3 day. For a week long if I had the extra I would do the disney. We had so much fun on our Cruise, and it was a huge savings over disney.

 

[jenseib]

I have done 2 norwegians several years ago. We enjoyed it alot. But our plan is the next cruise we take will be Disney. Then we can decide. I think with a little on in tow, Disney will be our favorite.

On this board, you will hear mostly the praises of Disney. You could look on cruise critic to get others feelings.
I have heard a few disers like Royal Carribean better.
Do you have children going with you? That could be important in your decision as well.

 

[linda0706]

I've never been DCL either, but have been on Carnival many times. Love, love, love it! So much that I can't justify in my mind paying the huge $$ it'd cost to do DCL instead.

We were even on the Carnival Splendor engine-fire, dead-in-the-water, SPAM cruise last month, and have already planned our next one.

 

[jenseib]

I've never been DCL either, but have been on Carnival many times. Love, love, love it! So much that I can't justify in my mind paying the huge $$ it'd cost to do DCL instead.

We were even on the Carnival Splendor engine-fire, dead-in-the-water, SPAM cruise last month, and have already planned our next one.

I would LOVE to read your Trip report on that !

 

[mickaholic4077]

If you like to gamble, you need to go on Carnival, as Disney doesn't have a casino. That, and the majority of their clientele being under the age of 21(so can't drink)is the big reason why DCL is so much more expensive.

 

[MarthaJr.]

I've never been DCL either, but have been on Carnival many times. Love, love, love it! So much that I can't justify in my mind paying the huge $$ it'd cost to do DCL instead.

We were even on the Carnival Splendor engine-fire, dead-in-the-water, SPAM cruise last month, and have already planned our next one.

Sorry you had that experience....I'd like to read that trip report too!

 

[kkmcan]

Definitely go with Disney! we had done a NCL a few years back and didn't think much of it. Then we did a 4 night Disney cruise in 2006 and nothing measures up to that first DCL experience! We were completely blown away! Since then we've done a 3 night and in a few weeks we go on our 2 night DCL out of LA, then we have a 7 night Mexican Riviera in March.

Come on over the the Cruise board. You'll get tons of info over there. Ya, I know the Carnival is cheaper but you can cruise Disney if you choose off season dates that are not on or near holidays. Or look out for promotions like kids sail free, extra OBC with your booking etc. It can be done. Good luck!

 

[disneystacy]

We have done both and prefer Carnival. We enjoyed the Disney cruise, but not much to do in the evening after the show. IMO. I can't really justify the price difference either.

 

[MarthaJr.]

OP here....we will have our 17 yr. old son with us. DCL looks like they have a nice teen program, but not sure about carnival's. Our son is the type that likes to be on the go, therefore lots of options for things to do are a must!

 

[Darcy03231]

Here's another vote for Carnival. We cruise at least 2x per year and one of those is always on Carnival (and some years both are).

 

[disneystacy]

OP here....we will have our 17 yr. old son with us. DCL looks like they have a nice teen program, but not sure about carnival's. Our son is the type that likes to be on the go, therefore lots of options for things to do are a must!

He will prob really like Carnival, my kids actually liked it better.

 

[jenseib]

OP here....we will have our 17 yr. old son with us. DCL looks like they have a nice teen program, but not sure about carnival's. Our son is the type that likes to be on the go, therefore lots of options for things to do are a must!

From what I have read on different cruise sites and trip reports...most teens don't care for the teen programs. Even on Disney, alot just go meet up and the hang out around the ship.

 

[linda0706]

I would LOVE to read your Trip report on that !

Sorry, OP. Don't mean to take this off-topic, but here's my trip report of our Splendor cruise that I posted on Cruise Critic if anyone wants to read it.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1309530&highlight=



Whichever one you decide on, I'm sure you'll love it.

 

[maggiew]

We have been on both Royal Caribbean and Carnival cruises. When we first looked at cruises, I looked into Disney, but it was twice as much for the Disney cruise as for the Royal Caribbean cruise we decided on. I personally couldn't justify $2500 more for the Disney cruise. We had a great time on the Royal Caribbean cruise (and all the later RCCL and Carnival cruises we have been on.)

I personally would save the $1000 and do Carnival or RCCL. Especially with a 17 yo. If you have really young kids who like disney, then maybe. But my kids were tweens when we started cruising.

(And I am a WDW fanatic - see my signature)

Maggie

 

[crazymama]

I've never been DCL either, but have been on Carnival many times. Love, love, love it! So much that I can't justify in my mind paying the huge $$ it'd cost to do DCL instead.

We were even on the Carnival Splendor engine-fire, dead-in-the-water, SPAM cruise last month, and have already planned our next one.

Have only cruised once on the Carnival Pride a few years ago but really loved it! I guess since I have nothing to compare it to my opinion isn't that relevant but we certainly lacked for nothing. Food was great, entertainment fun and you couldn't beat the price!
Couldn't help but comment on the Splendor. Sounds like you made the best of a bad situation! I am currently booked on the Splendor for February 27, the week after it is supposed to be back in service. Not feeling really optimistic right now as it was originally supposed to be back in the water mid January but the damage was more extensive than originally thought. We we taking our dance tour group to perform on the Splendor and in Puerto Vallarta. There are going to be 26 disappointed kids let me tell you. Oh well... that's life.

 

[MissBritt]

Never have done DCL, but just back from our second Carnival cruise, and despite some bad luck with the first, we love Carnival. For a 3 day trip, I would NOT spend another $1000. If you have kids, Carnival has programs broken into 3 age groups.

Biggest thing to look at besides cost, destination and port is which ship it is... the Liberty was much larger but a bit nicer than the Imagination was (ship's age has a lot to do with it). Embarkation procedures are totally different at each port, too.

 

[jenseib]

Sorry, OP. Don't mean to take this off-topic, but here's my trip report of our Splendor cruise that I posted on Cruise Critic if anyone wants to read it.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1309530&highlight=



Whichever one you decide on, I'm sure you'll love it.

Thanks!

 

[blanq]

We have been on DCL, Carnival, HAL, NCL and (the now defunct) Premier.

Honestly, we found that Carnival is just not for our family. None of us had a great time (it was me, DH and our teen DS) on our Carnival cruise earlier this year; it just did not feel as special as our other cruise experiences have. I knew it was not going to be for us when we ran into several groups of totally hammered loud people, and the ship had not even left the port at Galveston. I think that the party ship stereotype is still alive at Carnival. We did love the behind the scenes tour though. Carnival beds are super comfy and the staterooms spacious and clean.

We loved DCL and I would recommend it in a hearbeat. We had a fabulous time! It is costly though and I am not sure that the cost justifies the experience. I guess that is a personal decision.