Doing carnival after only DCL

[Ben E N]

Carnival has more ships. They could not charge what Disney charges and fill their ships. Disney is expensive because it's Disney

This statement is not 100% accurate. They have the same number of ships as Royal Carribean, who charges more per cruise. They account for 22% of all cruisers, but only 9% of cruise income. They specifically target people who want to spend less on cruises. Seabourn, Holland America, and Princess are all part of the Carnival brand, and they are intended for higher spenders.
Still, there is a reason they are called the "fun" ships. I cannot deny having a good time on their super old ship, 3 day cruise that my wife and I went on years ago I am sure one of their nicer ships will be great.

As for Disney, they can charge more because people associate the Disney name with being premium. They have a responsibility to uphold in terms of defending that association in all of their products. For me, their cruises are the best, especially Castaway Cay, but it's really hard to make them significantly better than the competition to the point that it is worth paying 30% more to sail with them. However, if they were all to turn the quality of all of their shows into Beauty and the Beast levelvproductions, then I would be more tempted to go with them again.

 

[mevelandry]

We are now tossing up either the 5 day out of mobile or the 5 day out of New Orleans with carnival. As long as there is a pool and a slide I think DS will be happy. As for me. I just like the peace of being warm and on the water. We don’t spend a lot on excursions typically. One of our best ports was st Martin, we just went to the beach by the boat and had a great day. Just hope my parents have a good time. They really loved the shows on DCL. Thank you everyone for all the comments good and bad.

Which ship in Mobile? Which ship in Mew Orleans?

 

[mevelandry]

My family did 9 Carnival Cruises before going to any other Cruise Line. We then did DCL with one RCCL cruise in between doing 5 more DCL cruises. Here is how I would rate the Cruise Lines based on experiences...

1. DCL
2. RCCL
3. Carnival

My Dad has since done Norwegian and Princess Cruises, and he says he would rank them above Carnival as well.

Now, my family liked Carnival a lot, but we had nothing to compare it to. I am now not going to go back to Carnival UNLESS the price is right. However, I would be willing to spend a couple hundred more dollars to cruise RCCL, because they offer a nicer form of cruising in my opinion. I am not the "party" type of person, and RCCL has a lot of options for people especially if you go on their bigger ships. Carnival is really trying to get on the same level by adding a lot to older ships or coming out with brand new ships. I just don't know if what Carnival is doing is going to get me on any of the ships again.

In terms of DCL, RCCL is more like a DCL cruise, but still doesn't hardly compare. It's hard for me to compare Carnival to DCL.

I know it sounds like I am bashing Carnival, but here is how I compare the 3 cruise lines...

- I don't like walking through a casino filled with smoke like on Carnival. It's really hard to escape the casino on Carnival. The casino on the RCCL ship we went on was way out of the way that I didn't even know it existed for a while. DCL doesn't have a casino.
- The food on DCL is the best in my opinion. I actually didn't like the food on RCCL as much unless we paid for the extra restaurants. I always thought the food on Carnival was good until we went on DCL.
- DCL wins in entertainment hands down followed by RCCL. I compare Carnival shows to Las Vegas style shows. Some things are not appropriate for the "younger" crowd. I also liked Carnival back when they had a live orchestra during their shows. Now they are starting to get away from that. The one entertainment thing I liked on Carnival is they actually have a dedicated comedy club on most of their ships (not sure if it is on all of them or not). I really enjoyed that once I was old enough for it.
- In terms of ships...It's honestly going to depend on which ship you go on. I wouldn't go on an older Carnival ship. I would only possibly give the newer ones a try. The one RCCL ship we went on was nice. DCL ships are definitely the cleanest and the most beautiful in my opinion.
- I never liked the kids clubs on Carnival, so I never did them after my first cruise. I have no experience with RCCL or DCL kids clubs.
- In terms of staff...DCL wins in this for me. RCCL and Carnival are about even in terms of staff in my opinion.

Good comparison. The only subject I disagree with is the food. To me, with the exception of Palo and Remy, the food on DCL is nowhere as good as the food on Carnival, especially when you add Guy's Burger, Blue Iguana, Pig & Anchor and the wood oven pizza to the deal. I find the MDR on both lines equal. The Lido almost just as good as Cabanas (although I miss those Mickey Waffles sometimes). Cucina del Capitano, the Steakhouse and especially Jiji Asian Kitchen are just as good as Palo & Remy (and much more affordable)

For me, Carnival definitely wins for the food...

While I liked some of the Disney shows, the Carnival comedy shows are definitely more popular in our house. My husband hates the Disney shows and complains all along.

I agree with you that new ships are better than older ships. However, I sailed on the Victory and loved it (I'm about to sail on her again as she is fresh out of dry dock and looks even better now, very excited!)... And next fall I will try the oldest ship/one of the oldest of Carnival and while I am a bit nervous about it, I'm genuinely curious about how I'm going to like or not.

I would compare this to going to a restaurant. You love italian food and you've always been satisfied with it. Yet, there's this chinese food place that is less expensive. It's still a restaurant, it's still food but the type is different. If you try it, you might find that you like chinese food after all.

 

[mevelandry]

This statement is not 100% accurate. They have the same number of ships as Royal Carribean, who charges more per cruise. They account for 22% of all cruisers, but only 9% of cruise income. They specifically target people who want to spend less on cruises. Seabourn, Holland America, and Princess are all part of the Carnival brand, and they are intended for higher spenders.
Still, there is a reason they are called the "fun" ships. I cannot deny having a good time on their super old ship, 3 day cruise that my wife and I went on years ago I am sure one of their nicer ships will be great.

As for Disney, they can charge more because people associate the Disney name with being premium. They have a responsibility to uphold in terms of defending that association in all of their products. For me, their cruises are the best, especially Castaway Cay, but it's really hard to make them significantly better than the competition to the point that it is worth paying 30% more to sail with them. However, if they were all to turn the quality of all of their shows into Beauty and the Beast levelvproductions, then I would be more tempted to go with them again.

Have you tried other cruise lines private islands? I haven't yet (supposed to try Half Moon Cay in October) but I wonder how different other cruise lines private island are vs Castaway Cay.

 

[Ben E N]

Have you tried other cruise lines private islands? I haven't yet (supposed to try Half Moon Cay in October) but I wonder how different other cruise lines private island are vs Castaway Cay.

I have been to Labadee, Haiti with RCCL. It was also nice, but Castaway Cay's location tops it. The real perks of CC is the characters just walking around having a good time, to good food so close to the beach, and the fact that no one tried to upsell me on anything for the whole 8 hours I was on the island.
I will be checking out Amber Cove on the Carnival cruise this summer, but have to admit that I am already not excited. There is no beach there, and 2/3 of their advertising about the location is about the ease of getting alcohol while lounging in their pools.

 

[Ben E N]

Good comparison. The only subject I disagree with is the food. To me, with the exception of Palo and Remy, the food on DCL is nowhere as good as the food on Carnival, especially when you add Guy's Burger, Blue Iguana, Pig & Anchor and the wood oven pizza to the deal. I find the MDR on both lines equal. The Lido almost just as good as Cabanas (although I miss those Mickey Waffles sometimes). Cucina del Capitano, the Steakhouse and especially Jiji Asian Kitchen are just as good as Palo & Remy (and much more affordable)

I agree with you here. I still remember how awesome it was dining at Palo 6 years after doing it, but the MDR was just average on my last cruise. Some dishes were great, most were fine, and none were bad. My eyes were not popping out of my head the whole time I ate, though. For the price I paid, they should have been. I had like 8 Mickey Waffles in 4 days, and I normally don't like waffles...

While I liked some of the Disney shows, the Carnival comedy shows are definitely more popular in our house. My husband hates the Disney shows and complains all along.

You need to see Beauty and the Beast. I didn't expect much of it, and am a little worn out on it after the live action movie came out, but was amazed by what I saw. I am not even a theater fan and I couldn't keep my eyes off the stage for the whole performance.

 

[mevelandry]

I have been to Labadee, Haiti with RCCL. It was also nice, but Castaway Cay's location tops it. The real perks of CC is the characters just walking around having a good time, to good food so close to the beach, and the fact that no one tried to upsell me on anything for the whole 8 hours I was on the island.
I will be checking out Amber Cove on the Carnival cruise this summer, but have to admit that I am already not excited. There is no beach there, and 2/3 of their advertising about the location is about the ease of getting alcohol while lounging in their pools.

I will visit Half Moon Cay & Grand Turk in October (they seems to be loved by many cruisers so I can't wait to visit them).

I'm supposed to try Amber Cove next spring (with Grand Turk again). To me, the incentive of Amber Cove is the scenery. I like to take pictures from the ship and on site. When I visited Jamaica (Ocho Rios) I fell in love with the hills... and I see Amber Cove is surrounded with hills too so I'm a bit excited about it. (It's strange, I know.)

For us, characters are not a "wow factor" so it won't change our appreciation of the destinations. We spent 99% of our time in Serenity Bay.

 

[mevelandry]

I agree with you here. I still remember how awesome it was dining at Palo 6 years after doing it, but the MDR was just average on my last cruise. Some dishes were great, most were fine, and none were bad. My eyes were not popping out of my head the whole time I ate, though. For the price I paid, they should have been. I had like 8 Mickey Waffles in 4 days, and I normally don't like waffles...



You need to see Beauty and the Beast. I didn't expect much of it, and am a little worn out on it after the live action movie came out, but was amazed by what I saw. I am not even a theater fan and I couldn't keep my eyes off the stage for the whole performance.

We saw Frozen. It was the best of all shows we saw. Would love to see Beauty & the Beast if I could do a short cruise my friends. My husband definitely would not follow me on another DCL cruise, he says he's done with them.

 

[Sanchez]

I have been to Labadee, Haiti with RCCL. It was also nice, but Castaway Cay's location tops it. The real perks of CC is the characters just walking around having a good time, to good food so close to the beach, and the fact that no one tried to upsell me on anything for the whole 8 hours I was on the island.

I would say that location is the primary reason I favor Labadee over Castaway Cay. CC is simply too far north. We primarily cruise in the winter months and even on a nice day the water is too cold.

 

[starvenger]

I would say that location is the primary reason I favor Labadee over Castaway Cay. CC is simply too far north. We primarily cruise in the winter months and even on a nice day the water is too cold.

Yeah latitude definitely works against CC in the winter months. We did our Disney cruise during mid-October and CC was fine as long as the sun was shining (and the weather was sweet). Stick CC where Labadee is and it would be perfect.

 

[Ben E N]

I would say that location is the primary reason I favor Labadee over Castaway Cay. CC is simply too far north. We primarily cruise in the winter months and even on a nice day the water is too cold.

Makes sense to me. I did Labadee in the summer and CC in the spring, so the weather at CC was much more pleasant for me.

 

[mevelandry]

Ok, this is very sad, but we are thinking of taking a carnival cruise. DCL has just priced us out but it is the only cruises we have ever taken. ( 3night wonder, 5 night dream and 7 night fantasy) we are considering a 5 night on the carnival fantasy out of Mobile. While I know it won’t be as nice or magical, what have others experienced (good and bad) doing a different cruise. We are not gamblers nor do we enjoy going to clubs. It would be me, DS11(will not do kids clubs regardless) possibly DD25, and parents (71). Any advice is appreciated

Any update?