For those of you who have cruise other lines....:?

[jelo]

We had a wonderful time on the Dream in March, our first cruise.

So my two girlfriends and I are thinking about a beach vacation in August, and a cruise idea materialized.

Of the three choices we have, Carnival, Norweigan and Celebrity. Has anyone cruised with them before? Are they terrible compared to Disney?

I'm afraid nothing else will measure up! But it's just three adults, surely we can have a good time without Mickey?

 

[cruisinwithmaandpa]

It depends on which ship. There are good and bad on each cruse line. Which ships are you looking at?

 

[TXDCLfan]

We had a wonderful time on the Dream in March, our first cruise.

So my two girlfriends and I are thinking about a beach vacation in August, and a cruise idea materialized.

Of the three choices we have, Carnival, Norweigan and Celebrity. Has anyone cruised with them before? Are they terrible compared to Disney?

I'm afraid nothing else will measure up! But it's just three adults, surely we can have a good time without Mickey?

We have done 8 DCL and 7 Carnival and I am here to tell you that all the bad rap that Carnival got from years ago is not true today. Carnival puts on a very nice cruise experience,we have found there food quality to be slightly better than DCL, there service is almost as good as DCL, and the food options at lunch time are greater than DCL ( try a conquest ship that has the Mongolian wok-to die for or one that also has a English fish and chips that also serves fried oysters) The adult comedy on Carnival is more risky than DCL. There are more adualt things to do on Carnival but now that our daughter is 17 she likes that Carnival teen club just a little better than DCL. PM me with any questions you may have.

 

[woody73]

. . . Are they terrible compared to Disney?

I'm afraid nothing else will measure up! . . .

It looks like you've already made up your mind.

Woody

 

[happenin2you]

I've cruised once on Royal Caribbean, four times on Carnival, and I just got off my first disney cruise on the Wonder last week. My husband and I don't have kids, so just two adults ages 27 and 29. Of co

urse we had to compare everything between our experiences and we decided that the food overall was better on Carnival. We had three outstanding meals on Disney, a Palo brunch, an embarkation lunch buffet, and the first night's dinner. Other than those select meals, the food was not as good as Carnival. And Disney's food is good, so that tells you Carnival is delicious. I've heard Norwegian has the worst food, not bad, just not as good as the others from a cruiser who's cruised all the major lines.

We noticed there was way more stuff to do on the Carnival ships whereas on Disney there were several times when nothing was planned, there were just blank gaps in the navigator. The cabins on Carnival are slightly larger than Disney. I love afternoon tea on Carnival and was sad there wasn't anything similar on Disney. They serve tea on sea days in one of the dining rooms and have accompanying tea sandwiches and desserts. The cucumber sandwiches are amazing! There is always something going on from trivia to towel animal folding classes.

The shows on Carnival are not nearly as good as on Disney, but who can compare with a company built on entertainment. The comedy is hilarious, you will leave there hurting from laughing too much.

The adult Serenity deck are is lovely and peaceful. If you go on a ship that has it, you'll love it. All the Carnival ships have an adult only pool and area, but the ones with Serenity are great.

I've cruised on Carnival Destiny, Spirit, and Splendor. They are three different class ships and I enjoyed them all. I'm not sure when you're planning this trip for, but Destiny is going in for a huge overhaul and will re-emerge as Carnival Sunshine.

Our final thoughts are that based on experiences had on both cruise lines, we'd pick Carnival 100% of the time without kids. We don't have kids yet, so I'm not sure if that will change when we do. The shows and movie theatre on Disney were awesome, but other than that, they're not that different and Carnival is usually about half the price of Disney. We're DVC members, so if we weren't trying to use up points before they expired, we wouldn't have gone on Disney because of the price. We loved our Disney cruise, but we would rather use that extra money for something else, like another cruise

Also, if you're a drinker, the drinks on Disney seemed to be about 5-6$ each and you can bring your own liquor on board. On Carnival they are slightly more expensive, 6-9$ each and you can only bring 1 bottle of wine per person. Just an FYI. Although if you're looking to bring your own liquor, there are whole threads on cruise forum sites about how to get it past security.

If you have any questions about the differences or anything more specific, let me know, I'm glad to help. I'm a cruise addict. We did the Mexican Riv on the Splendor in Jan, just got back from Alaska on the Wonder, and I'm now planning my next Caribbean cruise for Feb on either Carnival Magic, Dream, or Breeze. Can't wait!!

 

[jdb in AZ]

We've cruised on Celebrity and their food was better than DCL. Beautiful ship, great itinerary. DCL did win in the entertainment dept.

Overall, our favorite cruise line is still Disney, but we look for different itineraries and crunch the numbers.

 

[Flight]

A travel agent once told me that Carnival cruises are a blast but they stear away from booking families with kids that are not looking for a party time on-board.

 

[MickeyMinnieMelanie]

I've been on several Carnival and one disney. I love the Disney because I LOVE DISNEY. It's been 3 years since I've been on Disney so I couldn't say much about the food. I do think the pizza is good on Carnival but better on disney. Food was good on both. I love that disney has free cokes. On carnival, you have to buy a coke card and other than the dining room can only get them at the bars My kids didn't like that either. The shows on disney are much better and tasteful. The adult clubs are not as "adult" as the carnival but still good. The adult comedy is good on Carnival and would be a whole lot better if there wasn't as much cursing. If I had to choose one, I would say disney because it is more family oriented. I only saw 1 person drunk(loosely) on the last disney cruise. On the carnival, they are everywhere. When you walk on to the ship, there is the bar right in front of you. Not so on the Disney. Disney doesn't have the casino but we don't do that anyway because we don't have much luck. Our kids choose disney over carnival as well. If you can afford it, I would do disney. But, Carnival are not bad cruises either. I think you would have fun on either one.

 

[FJS961]

We have loved DCL and are committed to 2 more cruises (non refundable deposits).

We also recently booked the Norwegian Pride of America Hawaiian cruise for next year and cannot wait. I would also like to try Celebrity too, perhaps a Southern caribbean out of San Juan hitting ports I'll never see with DCL unless they start mixing up their itineraries more.

 

[OrcaPotter]

I've been on Royal Caribbean and Norwegian prior to Disney, and overall I loved Disney the most. I did feel that the food was better on RCCL in the MDR's, but I'm not a picky eater and found most of DCL's MDR food "really good". I did not get a chance to try Palo.

Myself and my family, we love Disney. When we cruise, we're not 100% concerned about being active the entire time. One of our favorite aspects of cruising is just relaxing on deck ... napping on deck ... reading on deck. We felt the entertainment on board was vastly superior, though what we saw on RCCL was very good as well. I don't remember there being much more offered "for adults" during the day on RCCL than Disney. We have only been on the Dream so far, and found that we didn't have enough time to experience everything.

I will say this ... the staterooms on DCL are noticeably bigger. I have not been on Carnival, but my brother sails pretty exclusively with them (and loves it). After showing him photos, he agrees that Carnival rooms are smaller (and he's been on the newer ships). We were in a 4C on the Dream and it was significantly bigger than what we had on RCCL--I would venture to say what we had then was comparable to DCL's category 5.

I wouldn't hesitate to book at trip on RCCL again. But my family is dying to experience the Fantasy and I'm planning to work toward booking an eastern on her for next summer (hopefully they'll offer VGTs again). It all depends on what you like to do with your cruise vacation--but if you're just doing a "quickie", any cruise is a good cruise to me!

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Carnival is still a party and drunks cruise line. We did 2 carnival cruises....never again! IMHO......some things have come out since the Concordia accident that raises issues with the vessels designs, maintence and operational policies.

NCL.......generally poor food.

Celebritiy and RCL are good possiblities, not DCL, but pretty good!


AKK

 

[dvc deernut]

We do Celebrity in the Caribbean. Its a classy line. The crows is older. The last few years we sail out of San Juan and do all the islands. We do back to back 7 day cruises and hit different islands on each cruise. The price is half of DCL and destinations DCL doesnt do. Since we have been to many of those islands more than once we know what to do and where to go. We are DISNEY fanatics but long cruises are to expensive on Disney. I think Celebrity is one of the few lines CARNIVAL doesnt own. I would choose Celebrity, I think its only a small step down from DCL.

 

[sue]

We have cruised Carnival and so have 2 other people we know. I would have to say they are a "party ship" We experienced a LOT of drunk people onboard. We would never cruise their ships again after cruising on Disney. Don't take me wrong, we are not against having a drink or two. We don't think it is necessary however to get so plastered that your falling down in the hallways and acting like idiots.

 

[declansdad]

A travel agent once told me that Carnival cruises are a blast but they stear away from booking families with kids that are not looking for a party time on-board.

Then you TA hasn't kept pace with the times. As an earlier poster mentioned, the rap against Carnival being only party ships is not true.

And I totally disagreee with all the posters who say there are drunks everywhere on Carnival ships. We have done two cruises, including one over spring break, and that simply was not the case.

 

[MickeyMinnieMelanie]

I also agree with the size of the rooms. Disney is bigger. If there are only 2 in a room on Carnival, it's ok. If there are 4, NO WAY. It was a nightmare. We have cruised carnival several times because that is what our friends cruise. We've only taken the kids on carnival once. With the price being so much cheaper than disney, next time we sail carnival we will have 2 rooms. Last time on Disney we had a regular size room. This time we are getting a bigger room. So excited.

 

[cruisinwithmaandpa]

We have sailed NCL, CCL, RCCL, DCL. We are loyal to Royal. My take on this is Disney is way over priced. Your costs will be at least half on a Carnival cruise. If you don't feel like partying you don't have to. My elderly parents also cruise Carnival and never felt like it is party central, it is all in how much you want to do. Sure you can bring your own alcohol onboard Disney, but the extra you pay for a Disney cruise doesn't make up the difference by any stretch of the means.

 

[Floridagram]

I have to jump in too and say Carnival as a line does have a bad rap IMO. We last sailed in 08 for a 7 day cruise and had a great time. We are not partiers and and did not see a lot of drunks. I think that depends on who is on any given cruise.

I have heard, and it makes sense, that 3 and 4 day Carnival cruises have more partiers. People just getting away for a week end, which may be what the OP intends to do. I do think you could go on any of the lines and have a great time.

Mostly it sounds like your fun with be getting away with your friends. I think cruising is great because you have everything right there. No driving to a restaurant or for your entertainment. Memorial Day week end we went to Orlando and as we were sitting in bumper to bumper traffic around Downtown Disney I was missing the DCL cruise I had been on earlier in the month.

Have fun whatever you decide to do!

 

[NancyIL]

I just got off Celebrity Silhouette last week, and I'll be on Brilliance of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) on Saturday. The Silhouette was beautiful, and it had the best buffet food of any ship I've sailed. I also enjoyed cruising with Holland America and Princess - in addition to 3 Disney 4-night Bahamas cruises. Other than the much larger number of kids on Disney, I haven't noticed much difference between DCL and other cruise lines in terms of service. In spite of DCL's much-touted superior service, we had the worst dining room servers on 2 Disney cruises.

 

[eyenerd]

I will definitely give other ships a try in the future. We loved Disney, but Princess was really nice too.

We will, however, never sail on NCL again. That cruise left a lot to be desired, and there was no one willing to help with any of the issues. We should have forked over a little more cash and went with RCCL or Celebrity.

 

[cruisinwithmaandpa]

I will definitely give other ships a try in the future. We loved Disney, but Princess was really nice too.

We will, however, never sail on NCL again. That cruise left a lot to be desired, and there was no one willing to help with any of the issues. We should have forked over a little more cash and went with RCCL or Celebrity.

I agree with you on NCL, however, we will be on the Norwegian Epic this fall, this is the ship our kids picked, so it will be interesting to see how it rates.