Cruising the budget way? DCL or Carnival??

[labdogs42]

I'm enjoying reading this thread. We want to do a cruise soon, too, and I just can't decide which line. OUr DS will be 6 in February, so I think he's finally of the age to really enjoy a cruise!

 

[barbmouse]

We have been on a 4day DCL Wonder cruise and a 7 day RCCL Freedom of the Seas cruise. They were both awesome trips! I think I would go for the cheaper cruise and try to add a day or 2. Three days is just so short for a cruise but I know whatever you decide will be a great time!

 

[Vivianne]

We did a 4 day Disney cruise. Like you we weren't sure if we'd like it.

We're 2 adults and loved it.

The highlight of the trip was Castaway Cay. We also met very nice people
that were assigned to our table and had a great time.

The entertainment was top-notch.

Enjoy your trip whatever you decide.

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

ditto what everyone else has said. I consider myself a cruise veteran and so are my kids. I have been on many Carnival, Celebrity, Disney, Premier (now gone) and American Independance around Hawaii (now gone 2) and there are good and not so good on each cruise line. I love Carnival - well maybe not so much the hairy chest contest and games like that but there is so much other things to do I can avoid that.

If it is a budget think Carnival wins every time. Celebrity this summer to Alaska was very nice but the entire time I kept thinking if I did Carnival I would have save so much more for the same itineary.

Personally on any cruise I would pick a 4 night vs. the three night as the pricing may be less for the 4 night (believe it or not!) and the extra night is just enough to relax. The three night go so quickly....

My kids loved the kids program better on Carnival than Celebrity. When we did Disney they were only 4 & 6 and they LOVED the kids program there.

To OP - since this is your first cruise try Carnival. If you love it, and I suspect you will, then shop around and eventually try Disney. I just can't justify the expense of Disney anymore when I can take two Carnival cruises for the price of one Disney cruise.

I will second cruisecritic (dot com) for additional research..

 

[MarthaJr.]

Thank you all for the great advice. We are still undecided at this point but I'll keep you posted!

 

[clh2]

A tiny bit OT here. How guilty should I feel if I book a cruise for just me and DH? We have never gone anywhere by ourselves. We have 2 DD's, 17 and 15. I found a great Carnival Cruise. 5 days to the Bahamas for 996.00 with just the 2 of us and that's with an ocean view. We have never cruised before. We have done Disney 5 times (that includes DL once) and always taken the girls. This cruise departs Aug 31 and the girls will be in school.
Ok, I had booked a cruise last year for the 4 of us to depart July 30. Well, my mother in law passed on July 15, so of course, we had to cancel. They kept our deposit of $700 and said we had 2 years to use it. So, like the majority of the cruise will be paid for. We only owe $300 and that includes taxes. We would just need passports and spending money. I begged my DH for a WDW trip this year and he said we can't do it. I hate to admit it, but he's right. But 3k vs $300? That's cheaper than a trip to Myrtle Beach...it just wouldn't include the girls. Part of me feels awful for thinking it, the other part feels like is 18 years of marriage, it would be nice to have a vacation by ourselves.
Don't hold back, tell me what you think.
TIA!

It's the Carnival Fantasy.

DH and I took our first trip this year without 16 YO DD. We felt guilty for oh...say 10 minutes...We went to Vegas for 4 days.

IMO - as long as you have reliable "kid-care" (which for us was basically someone to sleep at our house) then GO FOR IT!!!

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

I have been on 1 Disney cruise and 7 Carnival cruises. Disney was very nice but expensive. Carnival is just as good and much cheaper. I would suggest for a first timer on a 3 day cruise to go with Carnival. You will have a great time and be able to spend the money you saved on the cruise fare on excursions and shopping.

 

[Kat&Dom]

OP, thanks for starting this thread - I am having the same dilemna. I think that my son would enjoy a cruise but the Disney cruise prices are tough to swallow when you compare them to Carnival.

I have cruised before doing 2 Caribbean cruises, one Mexican cruise and one Mediterranian cruise and loved all of them. I have cruised Carnival and felt that you get good value for what you pay. I would love to try Disney but the gap in pricing makes it hard to justify for me.

Good luck on your decision.

 

[RangerPooh]

It's nice to hear such positive reviews of Carnival. We are considering taking our DDs on a cruise this summer in the Caribbean (while the babies stay with the grandparents).

 

[MarthaJr.]

Hi there...OP again...can I ask about sea sickness? This seems to be the deciding factor for whether or not we cruise. DD22 may join us now and is very concerned.

 

[MissBritt]

Hi there...OP again...can I ask about sea sickness? This seems to be the deciding factor for whether or not we cruise. DD22 may join us now and is very concerned.

Dec 2006-Jan 2007 Carnival Liberty... I took Dramamine and wore the ear patch. We were on a boat 110,000 tons+ but there was a TERRIBLE storm for a few days and I got very ill on the 5th night.

Dec 2010 Carnival Imagination... I took Dramamine as needed and was 6 months pregnant. The ship was only 70,000 tons but the waters were mostly calm. I could feel the motion/swaying, but didn't get sick.

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

Hi there...OP again...can I ask about sea sickness? This seems to be the deciding factor for whether or not we cruise. DD22 may join us now and is very concerned.

After having been on many cruises and being prone to sea sickness and motion sickness I can say 90% of the time I feel fine without any medicine. There have been a few nights where the seas were rougher than 'normal' and I did feel a bit off. I took medicine and it helped. My last cruise in Alaska though I was out of comission one full day - in bed sick - because of the sea sickness. Would that stop me from cruising again... no way.... It was only one day and in general I don't feel the motion of the ship on a normal day..

 

[jenseib]

I get motion sickness and on both cruises I used the preesure bands on my wrists. I also took dramamine when needed, maybe once or twice each trip. Bonine is now recommended by many on the cruise board. And ginger.

 

[tina95]

How old are your kids? Would you use all the kid care stuff? Do you go to the parks and watch all the shows? We cruised back to back NCL and Disney last year and loved both. I do not think I would seek out Disney for a cruise. I would not avoid them. I have a teenage boy and we love disney and never go to the stage type shows.

 

[EPCOT is a verb]

For those of you new to cruising and who haven't yet found cruisecritic.com, I highly recommend spending some time there. Cruisecritic is to cruising as the DIS is to Disney.

 

[sorul82?]

For those of you new to cruising and who haven't yet found cruisecritic.com, I highly recommend spending some time there. Cruisecritic is to cruising as the DIS is to Disney.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Hi there...OP again...can I ask about sea sickness? This seems to be the deciding factor for whether or not we cruise. DD22 may join us now and is very concerned.

I have a dd with SEVERE motion sickness that rears it's ugly head whenever it darn well pleases regardless of whether it is logical or not to do so.

Her first episode was on a transatlantic flight at a mere 17 months of age. Then her next episode that I recall was in 2004 while we drove up a mountain in New Mexico to go to a ski resort called Ski Apache. It's puts Expedition Everest to shame. That was when she was 26 months old. Now--on her trip to Hawaii at 23 months of age earlier that year...no issue. (it was a particularly strange travel year for us as I type this out---BUSY!)

Okay-- then at around 6 she starts getting car sick on 15 minute trips. Then sometimes on long distance trips--some times she is good and some times she isn't. Okay--we began stocking the car with dramamine. She just let's us know--and she takes a pill and it keeps it at bay. We only pre-medicate if we are doing a long car trip.

Well, in 2007, we go on a cruise and I think NOTHING of motion sickness and we got lucky. She didn't have an episode. then we did a DCL cruise a few weeks later and the seas were very very very different. It was like Mr. Toad's wild ride. (not typical--just something that occurred coming in and out of the Port until about Miami in the month of September---2 weeks prior, the seas were not like that). Anyway--she puked in the kid's club and almost got quarantined by the infirmary until I told them about her history and the fact that the CAPTAIN himself had warned the crew and had barf bags set out all over the ship and adults and kids of all ages were getting ill.

Now--I'm not trying to scare you! She had dramamine after that and was fine. But--it took very very serious seas before it was an issue. And my child gets motion sickness quite a bit.
I also needed dramimine on that cruise--this was not DCL's fault though. So weird.

You can also take Bonine, I Think--it comes and goes for us as far as being able to find it--so we usually take dramamine as we have trouble finding the bonine.
But people with motion sickness can sail, you just need to be prepared for it.

For someone who can get motion sick--it is always possible on a cruise vessel. But so long as you do what you can, you can sail successfully.

 

[Parksfamily5]

Sorry, I haven't had time to read through all the replies but I want to tell you our experience. We have cruised on Princess once, DCL twice and Carnival 3 times.

Our last cruise was on The Carnival Pride last week during Christmas. It was a nice time. My husband and I went into it thinking it is just not justifiable to pay double for the DCL cruise. As the week went on we would notice things that were not up to par and then we would catch ourselves saying " Well, Disney does this and Disney does that. Our final conclusion was that it IS worth it to us to spend the extra money.
There is no comparison between service. With that said, we might try RCL
Oasis with friends next Christmas but I am still leaning toward Disney. IT is definitely a case of " You get what you pay for".

I should also say that I am not Disney crazy. I like the Disney stuff but am not a fanatic. In fact, I think my kids would enjoy the Dreamworks characters on RCL better but the service is Soooo good on Disney. Just my opinion.