Disney VS Carnival

[jrm11697]

Ok, so we are thinking about a cruise. we are down to 2 choices: Carnival or Disney.
if we go with Carnival we would do the Fantasy because we live in SC and the Fantasy is in Charleston SC which is about 2 hours away. the ship is older, but location could save us some $.
The other option in the Disney Dream. ship looks amazing! much bigger than Carnival fantasy and newer. but its in FL which is about 7 hours away. we dont want to fly. and we have been to disney before on 4 night bahamas cruise---nassau was ok, castaway Cay was great, but I think once is enough.

any info/advice would be helpful!

Thanks!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

If the one DCL cruise wasn't quite enough to get you to spend the extra money, they I would have no qualms about suggesting that you try the Carnival experience, We have great Carnival crusies on some of their older ships out of Mobile, Tampa, Miami and New Orleans.

I was so hesitant to book our first Carnival cruise. This was in '99 on the oldest ship in their fleet at that time, the Tropicale. Our travel agent assured us that it would be fine, of course, she would say that, but it was more than fine, it was GREAT!

So, my suggestion is to try the Carnival.

Bobbi

 

[Max Webster]

Ok, so we are thinking about a cruise. we are down to 2 choices: Carnival or Disney.
if we go with Carnival we would do the Fantasy because we live in SC and the Fantasy is in Charleston SC which is about 2 hours away. the ship is older, but location could save us some $.
The other option in the Disney Dream. ship looks amazing! much bigger than Carnival fantasy and newer. but its in FL which is about 7 hours away. we dont want to fly. and we have been to disney before on 4 night bahamas cruise---nassau was ok, castaway Cay was great, but I think once is enough.

any info/advice would be helpful!

Thanks!!

You don't say who is going on the cruise. Is it just you and your husband, or are you taking children along? You also don't say where the cruise is gong.

Nevertheless, if it comes down to money and conveniance, it sounds like Carvival beats DCL for you. I wouldn't be afraid to give them a try. You've been on a DCL cruise and you will have an opportunity to compare and contrast.

Good luck with your decision and please report back and let us know what you decide and how your trip goes.

Cheers!

Max

 

[jrm11697]

You don't say who is going on the cruise. Is it just you and your husband, or are you taking children along? You also don't say where the cruise is gong.

Nevertheless, if it comes down to money and conveniance, it sounds like Carvival beats DCL for you. I wouldn't be afraid to give them a try. You've been on a DCL cruise and you will have an opportunity to compare and contrast.

Good luck with your decision and please report back and let us know what you decide and how your trip goes.

Cheers!

Max

It will be 5 people. kids and adults. One of them is 18 so i guess cruise lines consider that as an adult. Both go to to Bahamas--5 nights. Carnival: Freeport and Nassau. Disney: Nassau and Castaway Cay twice. Both look great. Last time we cruised was to Bahamas for 4 nights on Disney Wonder. We hope things have changed at DCL especially that we went on the Wonder last time and its on the west coast now! HAHA!

PS we are ''even'' on both cruise lines. Carnival gives us location advantage but Disney gives us a more luxury advantage....

 

[Robin"D"]

customer service...

Hands Down Disney!!

Robin & Angel "D"

 

[Max Webster]

It will be 5 people. kids and adults. One of them is 18 so i guess cruise lines consider that as an adult. Both go to to Bahamas--5 nights. Carnival: Freeport and Nassau. Disney: Nassau and Castaway Cay twice. Both look great. Last time we cruised was to Bahamas for 4 nights on Disney Wonder. We hope things have changed at DCL especially that we went on the Wonder last time and its on the west coast now! HAHA!

PS we are ''even'' on both cruise lines. Carnival gives us location advantage but Disney gives us a more luxury advantage....

I hear you saying that from a price perspective, the price is similar. In that that case, I would go with DCL, even with 5 hours more driving each way. However, the 18 year old may like Carnival better. Plus, I like Castaway Cay better than Freeport.

Cheers!

Max

 

[mickeyfan1]

customer service...

Hands Down Disney!!

Robin & Angel "D"

And I have to disagree with that. I have been on 4 Carnival ships and the service was as good as I have had on my 3 Disney cruises. Everyone friendly, everyone smiling, saying hello, etc. I was on the Fantasy in the 90s, it was a nice ship and a great cruise. I found the food to be as good on the Valor as it was on the Wonder, I sailed both last year. But each ship in each line has differences in the kitchens, so food will vary from ship to ship, and sailing to sailing.

However, I would have to grade Carnival down on the fact that it goes to 2 of my least favorite ports, Nassau and Freeport. Nassau, I would stay on the ship. Freeport, I would really have to look at excursions, in case I didn't see a Spa treatment I wanted to do in port. If Carnival would stop at Half Mon Cay rather than one of the ports, I would not even consider DCL.

And I found all my rooms on all 4 CCL ships to be larger than any I have sailed in on DCL.

So if all things are equal, I would go with the closer ship!

 

[noladave]

WE went on a Carnival cruise line for our honeymoon, and loved it. A few years later, we went on the Magic, and loved it.

personally, I think it comes down to kids. Not sure that Carnival is the cruise line, if you have young kids. I think they would enjoy DCL much better. Again, just a personal opinion.

Older kids and adults would PROBABLY enjoy Carnival more. It just all depends on how much of a "Dinsey Freak" they are (that's a good term, not a bad term)...

We live in New Orleans, and can take a Carnival (or other) cruise ship right out of New Orleans - a 10 minute drive from the house. However, we chose to go DCL this time around. Unfortunately, there are quite a few reports of "non-DCL" type of service going on right now, ever since the Dream launch, so I'm not 100% sure DCL is the right choice NOW. I will let you know in about 3 weeks!

Good luck, either way.

 

[beccadoby]

Honestly, there is no way you can compare CCL Fantasy with DCL Dream.
You are taking an older CCL ship and comparing it to Disney's newest.
Thats a strawberry to a watermelon.

Seriously, I have sailed both CCL Fantasy (4 times) and DCL Dream (1 time and sailing her again in Nov)

When I boarded Dream Jan 30th, I had on my mind to book RCCL Freedom of the Seas OR NCL Epic for a 7 nighter for my family in Nov.
My 2nd day being onboard, I choose to pay extra $$ to book the 4 night Disney Dream for my family and forgot all about Epic and Freedom!

If you are looking at $$ wise, go with CCL.
If you want quality, class, and unreal service, go DCL Dream

 

[Havana]

We were on the Fantasy in 09. It was our first cruise. I thought it was ok. It was nice getting used to the smaller size of the fantasy for our first cruise. I could tell the ship was a little older, but it was still in decent condition.

We have a Dream cruise booked for Sept. I am very anxious to try they disney cruise and see the difference. Especially since it is soo much more $

 

[jrm11697]

OK--after doing our "homework" on Carnival and Disney we have eliminated the Carnival Fantasy. It has good location but we would like a ship thats bigger and newer. I'm skeptical about Carnival now with older ships with the ship off mexico that lost power a few months ago....any way, its now down to the Disney Dream and Carnival Dream. Disney would be 5 night Double dip CC cruise. Carnival would be 7 night eastern caribbean cruise.

P.S. I give my self a grade of a B on my homework!!!

(a B for just going in a circle and still don't know which cruise line to choose...)

 

[5lilfish]

I posted a Carnival Fantasy review and comparison to DCL. Let me find the link...

Here it is....
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2625270

Jess

 

[jrm11697]

I posted a Carnival Fantasy review and comparison to DCL. Let me find the link...

Here it is....
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2625270

Jess

Thanks for the review! good thing to cruise will be in summer. I can't believe there was no heat on the ship! after reading the review, it makes me want to go on the Carnival dream. we dont want to pay $2,000 for a cruise and then it will be mediocre and a waste of money. of course maybe in the summer they have better service because there is more people...?

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Thanks for the review! good thing to cruise will be in summer. I can't believe there was no heat on the ship! after reading the review, it makes me want to go on the Carnival dream. we dont want to pay $2,000 for a cruise and then it will be mediocre and a waste of money. of course maybe in the summer they have better service because there is more people...?

We went on the Carnival Dream last summer and had a FANTASTIC time.

 

[jrm11697]

We went on the Carnival Dream last summer and had a FANTASTIC time.

what was it like? did you go to the eastern or western caribbean? I'm looking at the east Caribbean

 

[ldo]

I would take 7 days Eastern over Bahamas cruise any day. Also, the new Carnival ships are very nice. I took the Splendor 2 years ago in Europe and it was very nice---as nice as Celebrity, IMHO. I sailed 2X on older Carnivals to the Bahamas/Mexico--and I can tell you that the newer ships are really top flight vs. the older ones. So, if price is similar, try the Carnival Dream. Also, I believe they might have some family cabins that sleep 5??

 

[PrincessTrisha]

In March I'm doing back to back on the Carnival Dream (14 nights total) for the same cost as the Disney Magic.

I've done a fair bit of research and I am expecting to enjoy the Carnival product very much.

That being said, the Fantasy is a smaller and older ship and I wouldn't chose it because of the ports it stops at. Nassau and Freeport aren't very exciting to me.

I too would suggest the Carnival Dream out of Port Canaveral.

 

[jrm11697]

In March I'm doing back to back on the Carnival Dream (14 nights total) for the same cost as the Disney Magic.

I've done a fair bit of research and I am expecting to enjoy the Carnival product very much.

That being said, the Fantasy is a smaller and older ship and I wouldn't chose it because of the ports it stops at. Nassau and Freeport aren't very exciting to me.

I too would suggest the Carnival Dream out of Port Canaveral.

that's what i was thinking. Carnival to the east caribbean will probably be it. maybe when the DISNEY Fantasy comes in 2012, we will take a cruise with Disney again...if we can afford it.

 

[NoodlesMom]

It looks like you may have made your decision but I just wanted to chime in. We sailed the Carnival Fantasy last year and I didn't care for it at all. We've been on 5 cruises in the last 5 years and it was by far the worst. We've also sailed on the Carnival Conquest and it was a great cruise. The Fantasy was just really old and not very clean. I can see comparing a Carnival cruise to Disney, just make sure you are comparing it to their newer ships. I wouldn't sail the Fantasy again even if the port was in my backyard.

 

[mom2cobysyd]

Just to give our experience on DCL vs. CCL:

Our family (myself, hubby, 10 yr old, 8yr old) went on the Carnival Valor to the Western Carribean this past November. We have been on 2 Disney Cruises prior to that. We went on a family reunion trip and the Carnival was picked by other family members.

I think your decision will need to have a lot to do with the age of your children, especially if you use the kid's club and what you plan on doing on the cruise. We thought Carnival was just okay- we loved our ports (but did all excursions on our own and not through the ship). Overhearing others, we were happy we set up our excursions on our own. Our ship had horrible lines to get back on the ship at every port- none of the other big ships near us had lines at all!

I am the Disney Addict in our family and was surprised to hear my
husband say that he would much prefer a Disney Cruise over Carnival after our trip. The food was good on both ships and the rooms were comparable on both. Our 2 biggest complaints were the kid's club and the shows.

Kid's Club:
Disney would just feed your kids if they happened to be there during meal times. On Carnival you had to check your kids out and they closed down. Disney was open until midnight where Carnival's kid's club closed at 10 and then you had to start paying. Well, they conveniently scheduled the extra fun activities at 10pm and were sure to tell the kids during the day. We felt like all we did was check them in for an hour, then we had to come back and check them out- very upsetting to my daughter who wanted to stay. The activities were NO COMPARISON to Disney's kid's club. By the 5th day, we were irritated with the whole process.

Shows:
The shows were really bad on Carnival in our opinion. The dancers were not in sync and for a couple of the shows their costumes were like g strings and showed their bums (quite a shocker for my 10 yr old son). We felt that this was not necesssary for the show and was just a way to get reactions.
Disney was much higher class all around with top performers.

Everyone will have their opinions as some of my other family members thought the Carnival Cruise was nice (but they didn't have kids and have never been on DCL). To each their own.

My family will not cruise Carnival again and are looking at booking another Disney Cruise in 2012. While we have young kids, we feel that the trip is the best for all of us when everyone is having fun (and our kids really wanted to do activities at the clubs with other kids).