Disney Cruises Competition Comparison

[TXDCLfan]

I wanted to share my experience with you since I could not find any personal experiences when researching mine.

My Aunt went to a time share thing and was given the certificate. She didn't want to go on a cruise so she gave it to my DH and me. Woo-hoo! The little information I DID find was you have to give three dates (specific amount of days apart) and they would let you know which date you get 45 days out or something like that.

Well this company obviously wants to put you in the cheapest room possible, so the dates are going to be based off that. I went to Carnival's website and found 3 dates which were in the specs of how far apart they needed to be. I purposely picked out 2 really high priced dates and the lowest rate was the third date (which is our anniversary and only time we could go). I figured.....hey, if I give them option 1 and 2 which are a higher cost than option 3, I KNOW they'll say:
"I'm sorry, we just can't do either of your first 2 dates" Me: "ok, I'll take the third date (quietly patting myself on the back for my plan working out perfectly!)" Them: "Oh really? Uh uh ok." HA! Take that!

They obviously TRY to make you request your certificate fee refund.
We went on that cruise for our 4 year anniversary. It was 4 days out of Galveston on the Carnival Triumph. We had a marvelous time!

Oh, and you said it's good for both RCI and Princess. I wouldn't believe that. Princess and RCI don't do 4 day cruises out of Galveston. And even if they did, Carnival is cheaper so that is the cruise line they will offer ya.

I hope this helped you some! I don't think there is anyone on even this DIS Board that would not go on a cruise if all they have to pay is the port fee and taxes.

"Walmart of cruising"? You were just offered a $600 gift certificate to Wal-mart, are you going on a shopping spree or throwing it in the trash?

We did the Triumph 4 day this past Jan. and had an awesome time, nice clean ship and great service and food all for $275 pp

 

[ppaigeyy]

We did the Triumph 4 day this past Jan. and had an awesome time, nice clean ship and great service and food all for $275 pp

Oh really? What was the date? Wonder if we were on the same cruise! We went January 12th.

 

[TXDCLfan]

Oh really? What was the date? Wonder if we were on the same cruise! We went January 12th.

Close ....Jan 26th. We have been looking at more of the 4&5 days cruises while the kids are in school what a big price drop in Oct-Feb

 

[TinkGirl]

I wanted to share my experience with you since I could not find any personal experiences when researching mine.

My Aunt went to a time share thing and was given the certificate. She didn't want to go on a cruise so she gave it to my DH and me. Woo-hoo! The little information I DID find was you have to give three dates (specific amount of days apart) and they would let you know which date you get 45 days out or something like that.

Well this company obviously wants to put you in the cheapest room possible, so the dates are going to be based off that. I went to Carnival's website and found 3 dates which were in the specs of how far apart they needed to be. I purposely picked out 2 really high priced dates and the lowest rate was the third date (which is our anniversary and only time we could go). I figured.....hey, if I give them option 1 and 2 which are a higher cost than option 3, I KNOW they'll say:
"I'm sorry, we just can't do either of your first 2 dates" Me: "ok, I'll take the third date (quietly patting myself on the back for my plan working out perfectly!)" Them: "Oh really? Uh uh ok." HA! Take that!

They obviously TRY to make you request your certificate fee refund.
We went on that cruise for our 4 year anniversary. It was 4 days out of Galveston on the Carnival Triumph. We had a marvelous time!

Oh, and you said it's good for both RCI and Princess. I wouldn't believe that. Princess and RCI don't do 4 day cruises out of Galveston. And even if they did, Carnival is cheaper so that is the cruise line they will offer ya.

I hope this helped you some! I don't think there is anyone on even this DIS Board that would not go on a cruise if all they have to pay is the port fee and taxes.

"Walmart of cruising"? You were just offered a $600 gift certificate to Wal-mart, are you going on a shopping spree or throwing it in the trash?

Thank you, your reply is a big help! I am good at researching details ( aren't all DISers). I'm going to go with your strategy. Other than actually getting a booking, my main concern was with the cleanliness of the ship and sufficient quality of the service. I think that's been cleared up with the different responses.

 

[Stryker927]

Thanks for all the excellent feedback and responses. It was very helpful.

 

[KashasMom]

Yep - the reason you don't see lots of college kids on DCL by themselves during spring break (as opposed to traveling with their parents) is because DCL's prices are quite high at that time. Heck - *I* don't cruise on DCL during school breaks for the same reason!

I really don't know many college age kids that would want to sail on DCL! Not much going on for them!!

 

[NancyIL]

I really don't know many college age kids that would want to sail on DCL! Not much going on for them!!

Good point! I'm pretty sure my twenty-something kids would prefer NOT to sail on Disney - although two of them are happy to accompany me to WDW in a couple of weeks.

 

[dizzi]

great report cnt wait to finish

 

[OrcaPotter]

Good point! I'm pretty sure my twenty-something kids would prefer NOT to sail on Disney - although two of them are happy to accompany me to WDW in a couple of weeks.

The geeky, Disney fan twenty-somethings

Though in all seriousness, that really is the type of twenty-something DCL appeals to. Definitely not the average, but we're not unheard of. While I am rapidly aging out of this bracket, I don't like to drink (too much) or gamble. I love Disney and Disney quality.

With this said, myself and my mother are currently battling with my Carnival-loving brother over what our "family" cruise will be. He mostly loves Carnival because it's cheap, and when he's doing well financially, he can cruise 2 or so times a year. To him, a cruise is a cruise, and why pay so much more for the "same" thing? While the reports on Carnival are mixed (just as many love Carnival as they hate it), I have read enough to know that regardless of price--a cruise vacation costs too much money for me to settle for just a "good" or "great" vacation when I know I can have a "fantastic" vacation. We had a "fantastic" time on the Dream and we're pretty set in our minds that our next cruise will be on the Fantasy. My brother keeps reminding us that Carnival costs more than half of what the Fantasy costs for the date we can sail. I know that he figures he could convince us. But I told my mother that I will be paying for most, if not all of our next cruise, and I have already decided it will be the Fantasy. Yes, I know it will cost a lot more than other identical itineraries, but why does one person buy a better quality car when the cheapest model still gets you to point B with a lot of the same features? A better overall experience.

I have a strong feeling that once I book, my brother will follow suit. Then I will no doubt have to hear about how much more it's costing him. So it's my hope that he has just as fantastic a time as we did on the Dream to show him the difference.

 

[Rogillio]

I really don't know many college age kids that would want to sail on DCL! Not much going on for them!!

My collage-age son sailed with DCL last Dec and about a dozen collage age kids hung out every night till 3 am and had a great time. Granted, these were not the drink-beer-thru-a-funnel type people but they found plenty to do.

 

[KashasMom]

My collage-age son sailed with DCL last Dec and about a dozen collage age kids hung out every night till 3 am and had a great time. Granted, these were not the drink-beer-thru-a-funnel type people but they found plenty to do.

If it wasn't for my young daughter, I'd never find enough for me to do on DCL now, never mind when I was college-aged and I'm NOT a drink-the-beer-thru-whatever type of cruiser. Wouldn't even consider DCL once my daughter reaches the age where she's no longer enchanted with princesses and characters. But to each his/her own - glad your son enjoyed.

 

[holden]

Just returned from the Magic NYC cruise - our 1st Disney cruise (the other 18 on RCCL). We weren't impressed. Sure there is the "magic" - Mickey shaped waffles and service with a smile - but we really enjoyed our RCCL crusies more. The Disney cruise wasn't "bad" per se, but we did encounter many disappointments (very small pool, shows that closed doors prior to starting because they were full, Mickey pool closed often because of non-potty trained kids, strange hours for lunch and breakfast venues). We probably wouldn't book a Disney cruise again even though we are Disney lovers.

 

[KashasMom]

Just returned from the Magic NYC cruise - our 1st Disney cruise (the other 18 on RCCL). We weren't impressed. Sure there is the "magic" - Mickey shaped waffles and service with a smile - but we really enjoyed our RCCL crusies more. The Disney cruise wasn't "bad" per se, but we did encounter many disappointments (very small pool, shows that closed doors prior to starting because they were full, Mickey pool closed often because of non-potty trained kids, strange hours for lunch and breakfast venues). We probably wouldn't book a Disney cruise again even though we are Disney lovers.

We did a NYC cruise first week of June. I'm sure we had less crowds than you since school was not out yet in most of the metro area. We had a fantastic cruise because of my daughter's (contagious) excitement but overall we were really underwhelmed by the Magic. I would never sail her again and most definitely not for the rip-off price we paid. We are looking forward to our cruise on the Fantasy though - think we'll enjoy that more.

Yea, the pool thing is totally gross. I'm glad my daughter was not potty-trained and could only go in the splash zone. I've read on here how people try to speed up potty training just so their kids can go swimming. You know that's just a big mess waiting to happen!

 

[johnlatte]

Mickey pool closed often because of non-potty trained kids,

Has happened on every Disney cruise I've been on. Funny thing though, we sailed NCL this past spring, and they had to drain the pool for a bio-hazzard of the brown kind, BEFORE we ever left port. Then had to drain the adult pool because some kid thew ice cream in the adult pool.....again, the engines hadn't even heated up. Set the tone for the rest of the week

 

[Pretty Poly]

Yikes! I am just trying to decide if we should do it. It is a certificate for attending a time share presentation, and there are lots of hoops involved to actually get the booking, I was hoping people with any experience with carnival could help me decide. The material says it could be princess or royal carribean as well, but carnival seems to have most of the short cruises out of Galveston. I have also heard It was the Walmart of cruising, but I don't know that first hand.

I've cruised both Carnival (once and probably never again) and Disney 3 times. It didn't click on what left me underwhelmed about Carnival until THIS post. Carnival was like Walmart cruising, and DH and I went into with that mentality. We only had $xx.xx to spend, and Carnival was the only one in our price range that had the itinerary we wanted. The ship was clean enough, our room steward was great, our waiters were ok, but every time we turned a corner someone had a big shiny sign advertising something. A drink, a photo, etc. I felt like we were on Canal street and they just wanted our money. But the kicker was the kids.. they were EVERYWHERE!! Screaming, crying, misbehaving, etc. Even in the measly adult area with just 2 hot tubs. For the love of Jeff, it's 100* outside, who wants a hot tub? DH and I were not once able to go in the pool because of the hoards of children. And the food, it was "ok." Dining in the same dining room at the same table with a variation on the same food got old REAL quick. After the 3rd night we stuck to the buffet. And the casino, bleh. I don't think they had cleaned in there in ages. It just felt.. cheap, like they're saving you money on their rock-bottom prices, but boy are you losing out in other areas.. like Walmart. Are there awesome, clean, shiny new Walmarts with great service? Of course! Just like there are new Carnival ships. We sailed on an older one and I was not a fan.

Now Disney just has that sparkle. Much more along the lines of Target. A little more expensive, but in my book, SO worth it. This coming from a childless wife who's always been middle-lowish-middle class. Was every CM (crew member) we encountered amazing and bubbly and smiling? No, but close. Everyone was always helpful and concerned for safety. And everything was so gosh darn CLEAN. I've been on both the Wonder and the Dream and both were the same. Someone was always cleaning something. The food was awesome, and I forgotten how much I had missed the rotational dining. Even if it repeats, it's all varied - I love it. Yes - there were tons of kids on our cruise, but someone, DCL just keeps them wrangled in and happy. Everywhere we looked, kids were begging to go back to the clubs. On carinval, it seemed like they didn't want to go INTO the clubs. And DCLs adult areas just don't compare imho. The cove POOL (not just hot tub) and rainforest rooms are my happy place. Like I said, I've done 3 DCL cruises over the past 5 years, and I never saw a kid more than walk past the adult area, except on embarkation day when everyone was still getting settled.

As for the price on DCL, I've only sailed with them on last-minute "pay this much and you'll get either a broom closest to a veranda" fares, as well as with a friend on a FL resident rate when they used to be practically half off. And bringing our own alcohol on board is huge. DH is a drinker and I am not (well, except for wine), so spending lost of $$ on fruity drinks-of-the-day was cause for argument, especially on Carnival when one is getting shoved in your face every time you move 5 feet. With DCL, we brought a few bottles of wine, beer, and a plethora of tiny bottle of liquor, and DH and myself were both happy campers and set to go.

 

[Silverfox97]

I've cruised both Carnival (once and probably never again) and Disney 3 times. It didn't click on what left me underwhelmed about Carnival until THIS post. Carnival was like Walmart cruising, and DH and I went into with that mentality. We only had $xx.xx to spend, and Carnival was the only one in our price range that had the itinerary we wanted. The ship was clean enough, our room steward was great, our waiters were ok, but every time we turned a corner someone had a big shiny sign advertising something. A drink, a photo, etc. I felt like we were on Canal street and they just wanted our money. But the kicker was the kids.. they were EVERYWHERE!! Screaming, crying, misbehaving, etc. Even in the measly adult area with just 2 hot tubs. For the love of Jeff, it's 100* outside, who wants a hot tub? DH and I were not once able to go in the pool because of the hoards of children. And the food, it was "ok." Dining in the same dining room at the same table with a variation on the same food got old REAL quick. After the 3rd night we stuck to the buffet. And the casino, bleh. I don't think they had cleaned in there in ages. It just felt.. cheap, like they're saving you money on their rock-bottom prices, but boy are you losing out in other areas.. like Walmart. Are there awesome, clean, shiny new Walmarts with great service? Of course! Just like there are new Carnival ships. We sailed on an older one and I was not a fan.

Now Disney just has that sparkle. Much more along the lines of Target. A little more expensive, but in my book, SO worth it. This coming from a childless wife who's always been middle-lowish-middle class. Was every CM (crew member) we encountered amazing and bubbly and smiling? No, but close. Everyone was always helpful and concerned for safety. And everything was so gosh darn CLEAN. I've been on both the Wonder and the Dream and both were the same. Someone was always cleaning something. The food was awesome, and I forgotten how much I had missed the rotational dining. Even if it repeats, it's all varied - I love it. Yes - there were tons of kids on our cruise, but someone, DCL just keeps them wrangled in and happy. Everywhere we looked, kids were begging to go back to the clubs. On carinval, it seemed like they didn't want to go INTO the clubs. And DCLs adult areas just don't compare imho. The cove POOL (not just hot tub) and rainforest rooms are my happy place. Like I said, I've done 3 DCL cruises over the past 5 years, and I never saw a kid more than walk past the adult area, except on embarkation day when everyone was still getting settled.

As for the price on DCL, I've only sailed with them on last-minute "pay this much and you'll get either a broom closest to a veranda" fares, as well as with a friend on a FL resident rate when they used to be practically half off. And bringing our own alcohol on board is huge. DH is a drinker and I am not (well, except for wine), so spending lost of $$ on fruity drinks-of-the-day was cause for argument, especially on Carnival when one is getting shoved in your face every time you move 5 feet. With DCL, we brought a few bottles of wine, beer, and a plethora of tiny bottle of liquor, and DH and myself were both happy campers and set to go.

I've never sailed Carnival (& probably never will), but just like I love Target, I just wanted to say I love your post!!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Silverfox97]

Funny thing though, we sailed NCL this past spring, and they had to drain the pool for a bio-hazzard of the brown kind, BEFORE we ever left port. Then had to drain the adult pool because some kid thew ice cream in the adult pool.....again, the engines hadn't even heated up. Set the tone for the rest of the week

Awesome. Just awesome.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Rogillio]

If it wasn't for my young daughter, I'd never find enough for me to do on DCL now, never mind when I was college-aged and I'm NOT a drink-the-beer-thru-whatever type of cruiser. Wouldn't even consider DCL once my daughter reaches the age where she's no longer enchanted with princesses and characters. But to each his/her own - glad your son enjoyed.

Not sure what you like to o or o on other cruise lines but I found more things to do and see on DCL than HAL or NCL. But I am not into the party scene and m not a fan of night club type entertainment....an not a big gambler or drinker.

But I aw posting about college-age kids. I guess it depends on the type of person one is as to whether or not they find things to do on a cruise ship - DCL or anyon else.

Just a note too. We don't cruise for cruising sake. We cruise to see the world not hang out on a ship.

 

[holden]

We did a NYC cruise first week of June. I'm sure we had less crowds than you since school was not out yet in most of the metro area. We had a fantastic cruise because of my daughter's (contagious) excitement but overall we were really underwhelmed by the Magic. I would never sail her again and most definitely not for the rip-off price we paid. We are looking forward to our cruise on the Fantasy though - think we'll enjoy that more.

Yea, the pool thing is totally gross. I'm glad my daughter was not potty-trained and could only go in the splash zone. I've read on here how people try to speed up potty training just so their kids can go swimming. You know that's just a big mess waiting to happen!

I'm glad we aren't the only ones who were disappointed. The crew was great, but the ship was lacking. Lots of disorganization with activities too.

I hope your Fantasy cruise is better! I bet it will be. More to do on the ship and the crew won't be so new. Have fun!

 

[holden]

Has happened on every Disney cruise I've been on. Funny thing though, we sailed NCL this past spring, and they had to drain the pool for a bio-hazzard of the brown kind, BEFORE we ever left port. Then had to drain the adult pool because some kid thew ice cream in the adult pool.....again, the engines hadn't even heated up. Set the tone for the rest of the week

Gross! I really wish people would keep their non-potty trained kids out of the pool.