Disney VS Carnival

[DaParkers]

To answer a couple questions on this rather popular, debatable, and loaded statement....the Walt Disney Company did in fact file for bankruptcy.

The Laugh-O-Gram Studio, founded by Disney in 1922, went bankrupt in 1923. Technically, you're right. Kind of.

 

[Edd]

Where was the article you read? In what publication? Does the two top cruise lines advertise in that publication? If not don't expect them to be rated or even get a rating. Kind of like eating at a Mom & Pop restaurant. It is close and you know the people so stay away from the big mega restaurants because they have so much more choice of foods.

My point was they don't have the market to build more ships. The Wonder and the Magic are old and will be taken out of service or sold in the next 5 years and they will be back to two ships as they have no more planned after the Fantasy. I don't think filling up the ships mean much since they are only cruising roughly 10,000 each week compared to maybe RCI and Carnival 68,000 per week.

 

[DaParkers]

Where was the article you read? In what publication? Does the two top cruise lines advertise in that publication? If not don't expect them to be rated or even get a rating.
Kind of like eating at a Mom & Pop restaurant. It is close and you know the people so stay away from the big mega restaurants because they have so much more choice of foods.

Traveltruth.com NO cruise line advertises on their site.
This is on their website.

*
We are the only major consumer travel site that
does not accept advertising or financial
support from any cruise line.

 

[Edd]

I just looked at it. They have no cridibility to rate cruise ships. With some of the articles they posted I really think it is a one-person negative web site. No wonder they have no advertising. Who would advertise on that site? it is crude.

 

[speicher46]

This discussion is ridiculous. I am a retired member of senior management from of Fortune 10 company (not Disney). It is common knowledge that the Walt Disney Corporation is admired as one of the best managed companies in the business world and has been for years. Other very well managed companies hire Disney to teach them their management methods. They have sound business plans based upon a never changing vision and that is to bring Walt Disney's dream to everyone who experiences the Disney magic. Disney's goal is not to become to biggest cruise line. It is simply to bring the cruise experience to the millions of Disney fans who want to take the magic from land to the sea. If this requires four ships or fifty ships, that is what will be. I can assure you that the topic of how many ships other cruise lines have built never comes up in a Disney management meeting.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

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.

As the OP, I wanted to address this post. Hopefully you're still around reading, even though this thread has gone off on several tangents.

Anyway, I just wanted to point out to book early for Disney. The Disney Fantasy started booking for summer 2012 last October. I booked a cruise on the first day we were allowed to book rooms. We have 5 in our family and I had to book two rooms. We chose a Cat 5c verandah room and an 11b inside room across the hall.

A few weeks after we booked, the price of our rooms jumped by about $725. About two or three weeks ago, the prices jumped by another $2,225!!

On the day we booked our cruise, I looked at the RCCL Oasis. It was over $1,100 more than the DCL Fantasy for the same 7-night eastern leaving on June 2, 2012. I looked at nearly identical room categories on the Oasis to compare apples to apples.

A week or so ago, Carnival opened up their summer 2012 booking and I looked at the Carnival Dream 7-night Eastern leaving on June 2, 2012. The price for the Carnival Dream was about $175 more than what we paid for our Disney cruise!!!! That surprised me quite a bit.

The point is that DCL can sometimes be less than the other major cruiselines - especially when looking at their new ships for the 7-night itineraries. I was surprised that DCL Fantasy 7-night eastern was less than both Carnival and RCCL leaving on the same day and visiting the same two eastern Caribbean islands. The other two ships visit Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten on the exact same day. Disney visits St. Maarten and St. Thomas on opposite days and then ends the cruise at Castaway Cay. I'd pay extra just to visit Castaway Cay rather than Nassau again!

Unfortunately, you cannot get the "bargain" we got on Disney as you waited too long to book summer 2012 on Disney. If you want to try Disney, you might wait until fall 2012 or summer 2013 open up for booking. Book on the very first day. If you find a better deal, you can always cancel Disney and get a full refund (assuming you don't book a suite or certain special itineraries with nonrefundable deposits.)

Good luck and enjoy whatever you ultimately choose.

 

[Edd]

May be less for you, but according to yoou it is not less for anyone else. I have checked out the 4 and 7 day Dream and Fantasy cruises and they are in the range of what you stated. A four day in a verando room 12/11, thinking about a B/B Freedom/Dis costs $1289.00 which is more than the 7 day Freedom cost $1039.00 in a single inside room. I guess they sold out the DCL inside rooms as none were shown.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

May be less for you, but according to yoou it is not less for anyone else. I have checked out the 4 and 7 day Dream and Fantasy cruises and they are in the range of what you stated. A four day in a verando room 12/11, thinking about a B/B Freedom/Dis costs $1289.00 which is more than the 7 day Freedom cost $1039.00 in a single inside room. I guess they sold out the DCL inside rooms as none were shown.

You are correct. Disney is no longer less for anyone else for summer 2012. It was at one point, but unfortunately that's no longer the case.

I was not trying to change the OP's mind. The OP said he might wait until 2012 for the Fantasy, so I wanted to make a point that he waited too long. If you want to try DCL, book as soon as possible.

I have yet to find any of the major cruise lines that can beat the price that we are paying for our summer 2012 cruise on Disney. I was really expecting Carnival to be less, but it wasn't to my shock as so many like to post on here that Carnival is usually half the cost of Disney. Perhaps for their older ships, but their newer ships are similarly priced to what Disney charged during their first few weeks of booking. If we had waited, we would have paid more for Disney than we would have for similar cruises on other lines.

I think DCL saw that the ships were filling up for summer 2012 and other cruise lines were similarly priced, so they raised their prices quite a bit recently based on the higher than expected demand.

 

[Rogillio]

This discussion is ridiculous. I am a retired member of senior management from of Fortune 10 company (not Disney). It is common knowledge that the Walt Disney Corporation is admired as one of the best managed companies in the business world and has been for years. Other very well managed companies hire Disney to teach them their management methods. They have sound business plans based upon a never changing vision and that is to bring Walt Disney's dream to everyone who experiences the Disney magic. Disney's goal is not to become to biggest cruise line. It is simply to bring the cruise experience to the millions of Disney fans who want to take the magic from land to the sea. If this requires four ships or fifty ships, that is what will be. I can assure you that the topic of how many ships other cruise lines have built never comes up in a Disney management meeting.

Very well said. I agree totally. I read once about Disney's management philosphy to to "paint Main Street everyday!" Like you wrote, many top companies acknowledge Disney as being a very well managed company!

 

[mickeyfan1]

May be less for you, but according to yoou it is not less for anyone else. I have checked out the 4 and 7 day Dream and Fantasy cruises and they are in the range of what you stated. A four day in a verando room 12/11, thinking about a B/B Freedom/Dis costs $1289.00 which is more than the 7 day Freedom cost $1039.00 in a single inside room. I guess they sold out the DCL inside rooms as none were shown.

Edd, pricing is due to OMG, Popularity! The earlier you book the lower the fare. True of most cruises. So for DCL if you manage to book on day one, you are going to get a lower price. There are fewer inside cabins on the Dream and Fantasy, they tend to sell out 1st. When DCL 1st did the Panama Canal Crossings in 2005, pricing jumped up from tier one to tier 3 in 2 hours. Both ways. When they announced Alaska, same thing.

But since DCL is not popular, I guess that was just Disney raising fares because they know people will pay them?

I still don't see why you keep insisting DCL is a bad product compared to RCCL. It isn't. It's different. It serves a different audience.

PS having characters on the ships must also be a bad idea. One that passengers don't like. Ooops. I take that back, NCL does Nickolodean cruises to appeal to families. Rccl has Dreamworks on more than one ship and has expanded them to several others this year. Are they seeing the draw from DCL or did they just decide to do it on a whim?

 

[Edd]

And I don't understand why you keep saying that I have said Disney is a bad product. I have stated I don't think it is as good as the RCI or Carnival, but I didn't say it was bad. The ship is a nice leisurely cruise in which there is not much to do for adults and a lot of kids running around. There are times I would just like to lay around the pool and not do anything.

I really don't think the larger cruise ships are copying DCL when they put characters aboard. It is their attempt to involve the kids aboard the ship with more activities and things to do. RCI, Carnival and NCL are innovative like that. Of course, you being a Disney fanatic would come back with the statement you made. More than likely dreamworks went to Royal Caribbean in an effort to market their characters.

The RCI do not price the same way. The price is the same from the beginning and is only reduced as the cruise gets closer and rooms are available.

 

[lovethedream]

Where was the article you read? In what publication? Does the two top cruise lines advertise in that publication? If not don't expect them to be rated or even get a rating. Kind of like eating at a Mom & Pop restaurant. It is close and you know the people so stay away from the big mega restaurants because they have so much more choice of foods.

My point was they don't have the market to build more ships. The Wonder and the Magic are old and will be taken out of service or sold in the next 5 years and they will be back to two ships as they have no more planned after the Fantasy. I don't think filling up the ships mean much since they are only cruising roughly 10,000 each week compared to maybe RCI and Carnival 68,000 per week.

Where did you read that they were going to scrap or sell the two older shps in 5 years? I just got off a 20 something year old ship that I thought was in better shape than the Freedom when we sailed her and she was only three or four years old at the time. Based upon my experience, I look forward to many more years of the Magic and Wonder being around.

 

[lovethedream]

To answer a couple questions on this rather popular, debatable, and loaded statement....the Walt Disney Company did in fact file for bankruptcy. It was talked about in a long documentary about Walt Disney that I watched on (PBS?, not sure about the station). Secondly, I believe alot of people on here might be to the slightest extent, bias towards towards DCL. that is just SLIGHTLY. because alot of people on here, NOT EVERYONE, has just cruised with DCL and only know/used to the DCL ways. and they also focus mostly on what other people say in trip reports rather than experiencing it themselves and actually getting their own opinion. instead of doing comparisons, focus on having a good time on your vacation and experience something that most people dont have the priveledge to go on as of now. for instance, many many people on here, especially on this thread in particular, label Carnival as the all out party ship and give them a bad reputation/connotation all across the board. so obviously you dont want your family in that sort of "atmosphere". we had an absolute blast and the negative "partying boat" label was basically only in effect late at night like 11:30 PM or later and most of the time it is low key. only if your out hunting for it will you actually see it. but in fact, when my family and I went on our Carnival cruise in July, we threw the fact that we have been on 6 DCL cruises completely OUT OF THE DOOR, and went on just as any regular vacation!! not a competition between cruise lines and not focusing on whos better at what in all aspects!! I am sick and tired of seeing that. View your cruise as a vacation and a good time, not the chance to be a snob critic

Unfortunately, it found us on our last Carnival cruise. And it was well before 11:30 let me tell you.

 

[lovethedream]

I just looked at it. They have no cridibility to rate cruise ships. With some of the articles they posted I really think it is a one-person negative web site. No wonder they have no advertising. Who would advertise on that site? it is crude.

They are no less credible than anybody posting on these boards! ??

 

[lovethedream]

And I don't understand why you keep saying that I have said Disney is a bad product. I have stated I don't think it is as good as the RCI or Carnival, but I didn't say it was bad. The ship is a nice leisurely cruise in which there is not much to do for adults and a lot of kids running around. There are times I would just like to lay around the pool and not do anything.

I really don't think the larger cruise ships are copying DCL when they put characters aboard. It is their attempt to involve the kids aboard the ship with more activities and things to do. RCI, Carnival and NCL are innovative like that. Of course, you being a Disney fanatic would come back with the statement you made. More than likely dreamworks went to Royal Caribbean in an effort to market their characters.

The RCI do not price the same way. The price is the same from the beginning and is only reduced as the cruise gets closer and rooms are available.

And I believe DCL is better than RCCL or Carnival. And for us, we found just as much stuff to do, kept as busy on every ship we have been on, doing what we love to do! Were finding we like the smaller ships better.

 

[CruznLexi]

I am just thankful to go on vacation and spend time with family and friends. I like DCL and I like Carnival both have very good products too. Carnival does have many ports to choose from.,

 

[mickeyfan1]

Saying it's bad, not in so many words, but that is how you come across. You say DCL is unpopular, because they have fewer ships. Silly reasoning. It seems to me that you have nothing good to say about DCL and everything good about Carnival and RCCL. WHich could be OK, but the way you express it is always painting DCL in a negative fashion. Maybe you don't, but that is how I read it.

Yes, I am a Disney fan. However, I am a cruise fan, more than a DCL fan. IMy worst cruise experience was on the Wonder. My best overall cruise experience was on American Hawaii. The bad experience has not kept me from sailing DCL again, however ,as good as American Hawaii was, they are now no longer in business and the ship is in the bottom of the ocean. never to be seen again.

If you honestly believe that RCCL did not look at DCL and the licensed characters as something that might enhance their cruiser's experience, because it is not something that is easy to do after the fact. But even if Dreamworks approached them first, do you really thing that RCCL had not looked at DCL and realized that they could tap into the family market even more than they have with the flow rider and the rock wall? You really think that cruse lines operate in a vacuum? RCCL has ice rinks, NCL put some in. NCL have mini golf, DCL added it.

I have been on 4 DCL cruises, I have seen kids running around. I have been on 2 RCCL cruises, I have seen more kids running around. I have been on 4 Carnival cruises, I have seen even more kids running around. Manyl cruise lines push the family aspect. They have some sort of kids programs. There are also a lot of parents on all cruises who don't want their kids in programs and keep them out. When the kids get bored with hanging with parents, they tend to roam. DCL has activities through out the day, evening and night for adults. If you don't want to learn to fold towels, go to the movies. Don't like the movie? Go to the Spa. Have kids? Do a family activity. I will give you points on other cruise lines having more to do at night for adults, but remember, DCL is first a family cruise, so most families with children tend to go to bed earlier. It isn't a bad thing, it is just knowing your target passenger.

 

[lovethedream]

Saying it's bad, not in so many words, but that is how you come across. You say DCL is unpopular, because they have fewer ships. Silly reasoning. It seems to me that you have nothing good to say about DCL and everything good about Carnival and RCCL. WHich could be OK, but the way you express it is always painting DCL in a negative fashion. Maybe you don't, but that is how I read it.

Yes, I am a Disney fan. However, I am a cruise fan, more than a DCL fan. IMy worst cruise experience was on the Wonder. My best overall cruise experience was on American Hawaii. The bad experience has not kept me from sailing DCL again, however ,as good as American Hawaii was, they are now no longer in business and the ship is in the bottom of the ocean. never to be seen again.

If you honestly believe that RCCL did not look at DCL and the licensed characters as something that might enhance their cruiser's experience, because it is not something that is easy to do after the fact. But even if Dreamworks approached them first, do you really thing that RCCL had not looked at DCL and realized that they could tap into the family market even more than they have with the flow rider and the rock wall? You really think that cruse lines operate in a vacuum? RCCL has ice rinks, NCL put some in. NCL have mini golf, DCL added it.

I have been on 4 DCL cruises, I have seen kids running around. I have been on 2 RCCL cruises, I have seen more kids running around. I have been on 4 Carnival cruises, I have seen even more kids running around. Manyl cruise lines push the family aspect. They have some sort of kids programs. There are also a lot of parents on all cruises who don't want their kids in programs and keep them out. When the kids get bored with hanging with parents, they tend to roam. DCL has activities through out the day, evening and night for adults. If you don't want to learn to fold towels, go to the movies. Don't like the movie? Go to the Spa. Have kids? Do a family activity. I will give you points on other cruise lines having more to do at night for adults, but remember, DCL is first a family cruise, so most families with children tend to go to bed earlier. It isn't a bad thing, it is just knowing your target passenger.

I am typically a night owl. But on all four of my cruises, after running around all day and enjoying all that the different ships had to offer, I found it hard to stay up past 11 oclock. Usually in bed by 10. This is even without kids.

 

[Rogillio]

Where did you read that they were going to scrap or sell the two older shps in 5 years? I just got off a 20 something year old ship that I thought was in better shape than the Freedom when we sailed her and she was only three or four years old at the time. Based upon my experience, I look forward to many more years of the Magic and Wonder being around.

I completely agree! I'm am looking forward to having grandkids some day and taking them on the Magic 'just like we did with you mom/dad when they were your age'.

The last B-52 rolled off the assembly line in the 1950. The continue to be a major backbone for the US Air Force and are expected to stay in service at least 15 more years. They have been re-engined and re-skinned and all new avionics. Like my grandfather's hammer that he's had for 20 years...he replace the head once and the handle 3 times.

Granted, the sea salt environment is harsh but the USS Mosouri sailed for nearly 50 years! I think with periodic maintenance/refurb the Magic and Wonder will sail under a Disney flag for very long time to come. Goes back to the Disney concept of 'painting Main Street every day in the MK'.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

And I don't understand why you keep saying that I have said Disney is a bad product. I have stated I don't think it is as good as the RCI or Carnival, but I didn't say it was bad. The ship is a nice leisurely cruise in which there is not much to do for adults and a lot of kids running around. There are times I would just like to lay around the pool and not do anything.

That's about a back-handed complement as I've ever seen. "Nothing to do", "Kids running around"...hmmmm

On our last cruise, we had a couple at our table who had previously cruised on RCCL. It was their first DCL cruise. They ended up rebooking onboard to return with their kids the following year. On the last night of the cruise, they asked us how we did it with kids as there was just so much to do that they don't know if they'd have time to enjoy it as much with their kids.

I think you should state that the activities are not what you'd like. I couldn't argue with a statement like that. However, some adults find lots of activities they enjoy on DCL. And I agree that there are not a lot of port-day activities, but don't most cruisers do things at the port. The port itself is the activity. If you don't like the ports, don't book that cruise line IMO.

Don't all cruise lines that cater to families have "kids running around". Honestly, on our last DCL cruise, we left our kids at home and spent most of our time in the adult-only areas. We ate at the late dining and we rarely saw kids running around. On the cruises with our boys, the boys spent so much time in the clubs on Sea Days that we had plenty of adult-only time as well.

I really don't think the larger cruise ships are copying DCL when they put characters aboard. It is their attempt to involve the kids aboard the ship with more activities and things to do. RCI, Carnival and NCL are innovative like that. Of course, you being a Disney fanatic would come back with the statement you made. More than likely dreamworks went to Royal Caribbean in an effort to market their characters.

So DCL was not innovative when they brought their characters onboard. It's only other cruise lines that can be innovative? Seems biased to me....

Also, what about the 3-D theater on DIsney? They were the first to introduce it and now other cruise lines have 3-D theaters. I suppose only the other cruise lines were being innovative to cater to their guests with 3-D theaters.

The RCI do not price the same way. The price is the same from the beginning and is only reduced as the cruise gets closer and rooms are available.

On October 19th, I booked a cruise on DCL for June 2002. On that day, I priced the Oasis of the Seas leaving on the same day for nearly the identical itinerary. At the time, the price was $1,200 more for RCCL than what we are paying on DCL. I checked the price for those same rooms a few minutes ago and now RCCL is $1,500 more than what we are paying on DCL. To help with the math, the price of RCCL went up by $300 since last October. This is contrary to what you posted above. Perhaps other lines are starting to learn from Disney's supply/demand pricing models.


And as I've posted before, I think each cruiser needs to choose what line works for them. IMO, there is no "best" or "better" line, just different cruise lines. They all have their loyal fans and can vie for their own niche of the market. Why does this always have to be a competition about who is best? Can't you accept that others may have opinions that differ from yours and that their opinions are also valid? It is okay for anyone, whether they are a child, teen, young adult or older adult to prefer any particular line, including DCL.

I tended to give credence to your posts for quite a while, but anymore, it's becoming more difficult as the bias shines through and after the personal attacks in other threads, I had to stop giving them credence altogether.