Just back from a Carnival cruise. My impressions of Carnival vs Disney

[TexasGirl]

Okay. So we just got back 3 days ago from a Carnival cruise.

Cast...2 late 30th something married couple, 9 yr old daughter & 4 year old son.

Background. Have been on DCL annually for the past 6 years...going again in about 90 days on the 7 nighter to St. Croix. Whoop!

Went on Celebrity 3 years ago when DS was 1 and DD was 6. Worst cruise ever. Been on RCL 3 times pre-kids. Always had fun...athough felt crowded and cattlelike. Went on Carnival on honeymoon. On the Carnival Fantasy.

Ship: 4 night cruise out of New Orleans on the Carnival Fantasy. Fantasy recently went through a multi-million dollar renovation per their webpage.


Next up: The compare

 

[TexasGirl]

Embarkation.

Almost a tie. Carnival's went VERY smooth. No complaints, very organized and line moved swiftly. Will give this to Disney though. DCL has nicer terminal than Port of New Orleans and how do you top walking through the Mickey Ears and the "Welcome >>>> Family!"

Sail Away Party

No contest Disney. Disney beats all lines on this one. I did have my sail away drink and a nice view...but just some canned music. No real celebraion.

Cabin

Almost a tie. I like the split feature of Disney better for privacy. But....I felt less crowded in our Carnival room surpisingly. The bathroom seemed much larger although there was just one...not a split. The nod for storage goes to Carnival. Much more closet and drawer space. Decor goes to Disney.

Slight win to DCL.


Ship:

DCL is more elegant and "special." Also super easy to navigate. Carnival was great too though. Slight nod to DCL.

 

[Fawn]

This is great...we have a Magic and a Carnival cruise booked for next year...keep going!

 

[TexasGirl]

Dining room Food:

BIG win to Carnival. Surprise, Surprise. We thought they blew away DCL, RCL and Celebrity. Did not expect this.


Casual Food

Taste. Definitely Carnival. Their hamburgers, Mongolian barbque, hotdogs, etc were great. Access: DCL. Love the access right by the pools on Disney. Carnival was harder to get to and long lines.

Will give this slightly to Carnival. Didn't like the hassle to get it on Carnival... but food was noticeably better.

 

[TexasGirl]

Ice cream:

DCL! DCL! Love the soft serve right by the pool and the Only on Disney "MICKEY MOUSE ICE CREAM BARS"

 

[TexasGirl]

We experienced two, make that three different clubs on Carnival.

Dear son, 4 was in Camp Carnival in the 2 to 5 year old class. He loved it. It was just as good as DCL. I think it was better suited for boys though. They were doing race car games, Bob the Builder Games, Races, Face painting, pirates, decorate a Carnival shirt, Fun Ship Freddy games and visits. He loved it. Tie with Disney. Loved the smaller group size. Only about 12 in his class vs who knows how many on DCL.

Now if son was a girl I'd give the nod to DCL. Princess visits, Do Si Do with Snow White, Visit from Wendy, etc.

Dear Daughter who is 9 started off in the 9-11 class. She didn't care for it. She only stayed for an hour before she asked to be moved down. She thought it was too computer game focused and didn't like being the youngest.

Rest of cruise DD was with 6-8 year olds. She said she loved it. She played Wii. There were lots of organized games...she loves structure and organized play. She also liked the art projects. Only about 6 kids in the 6-8 year old group. SMALL size compared to DCL.

Facilities of course weren't as nice as DCL...but were fine.

Overall...this win definitely goes to DCL....but was happy with Carnival too.

 

[sharen24]

Loving your comparison! We just sailed on the Splendor in May (swine flu cruise) to Canada for 7 days out of LA. Had an excellent time. So far I agree with everything you have said. The best part of the trip was the price - $623 for 2 adults and 1 child in a Spa Balcony stateroom!!!!! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[TexasGirl]

Obviously this is Disney. It is the main draw!

I will say the kids loved "Fun Ship Freddy" on Carnival. They danced with him, gave him high fives whenever they saw him...which was frequently....Gave him hugs. They even begged me for a stuffed Fun ship Freddy.

 

[TexasGirl]

Service

Dining room.

Our main server was very friendly...always had a big smile. She made napkin hats for the kids. took dear daughter for a conga line, was helpful with food recommendatoins. All the things you'd except on Disney....not Carnival. Surprise! The kitchen was slow though. As stated earlier the food was fantastic though! Almost a tie...better than many I'd had on DCL worse than some of Disney's Best. Oh, and they brought cake with a candle and sang happy birthday to me!!


Wine Steward:
Server misunderstood our order and brought the wrong wine. Bottle was already open before we realized the mistake. She was very snotty. Disney would have been gracious.

Room Steward

CARNIVAL!!!!! I can not rave about our guy enough. I know it is luck of the draw who you get but this guy was fabulous! Best of all 12 cruises we've been on. He made room immaculate every time and even put our suitcases under the bed for us without us asking...to give us more room.

And of course...cute towel animals.

 

[TexasGirl]

Pools

Nod goes to Disney. I liked that Disney has 3 pools and one for adults only. Also love the FRESH Water. On the Carnival Fantasy...there was only one pool and it was saltwater. It was lovely and remodeled with palm trees etc around it and large... but still...DCL wins.


Slides

Carnival, Carnival, Carnival.

They had a large area called Waterworks...I think was the name of it. It had a 3 story slide...and ADULTS can go down it. DD said it blew away the Mickey slide.

The also had two racing slides that were GREAT.

Also liked Carnival's splash area better than the Magic's new Spash area. It was larger and wasn't slick. DS was always falling on the Magic's. Did miss the Mickey ears though.

 

[MississippiMom]

We've only tried NCL and Carnival with the children. DH and I have also been on Carnival and Crystal pre-kids. I've been wanting to try DCL, but can never seem to get the "timing" right. (I'd like our two, of three, children in the same kid's club age range.) And, of course, there is such a big price difference.

 

[TexasGirl]

Disney has Quiet Cove on the Magic..love it.
Carnival had Serinity (sp?) Bay.

Nod to Disney as they have the pool and Quiet Cove Cafe there. Yum.


Carnival had better view and 2 hot tubs...a shaded and non-shaded area with thickly padded loungers. Loved it.


Still...DCL.

 

[TexasGirl]

Price

Of course...Carnival. We felt Carnival was a great value and we got quite the deal.

 

[TexasGirl]

Will post more tommorow. Will compare...

On deck activities
Evening activities
Shows
Bands and Singers
Passenger Mix
Disembarkation
Maybe something else if anyone has questions.

Overall we had a GREAT time...I am a Glass Half full type of gal though... so it's hard for me NOT to have a great time...it is a cruise after all!!!

 

[TexasGirl]

Okay...

On Deck Activities.

Win to Disney. There were two things on the stage by the pool on Carnival I quickly exited my kids from. The hairy chest contest...dd 9 said they were being "gross." and an Air Guitar Contest at which a girl was taking off her shirt to win. Never on Disney on # 2.

Carnival did have some fun on deck events. We enjoyed the live ice carving demo, the bands that would play live music, the line dancing, etc.

Evening activities.

Win to Disney for family activities. Only one night did they have a Family Dance Party. (We DID win the Gold trophy. Whoop.) Other than that the evening choices were swiming, going to the show or Kareoke. (I don't think I spelled that right.) DH would normally go to Casino while me and kids went singing!


Lounge singers and Bands
Win to Carnival. Very talented soloist..reminded me of David Cook from American Idol. Super Jazz band. Great sounding reggae band, Female vocalist, etc. Not to mention the full orchestra used at the shows.

 

[TexasGirl]

Tie...Depends on your taste. For the Disney lover of course DCL wins. However, the singers and dancers on Carnival were very talented. One thing I greatly preferred on Carnival was the "real" orchestra accompanying the show. I am disappointed DCL has "canned" music. We really enjoyed the band. The Carnival shows were Vegas style...a little cheesy but I enjoyed the one we went to. Skipped the other nights.

 

[TexasGirl]

The Bed was hands down Carnival. The DCL bed are a bit uncomfortable...admit it. I can say from experience even..we've slept on them for 6 years.

Carnival has white ribbon-cut down duvet and fluffy white down and feather pillows covering the brand new Carnival Comfort Beds. SOOOO comfy. They sell them on their website supposedly..and DH wants me to consider buying us one. Haven't looked into it...prob overpriced...but they were VERY comfy. Husband loved the soft bed.

Oh and one other thing that contributed to good sleep. Disney cabins really creak and pop. Don't know why but our Carnival cabin didn't. Also never heard the neighbors on either side or anyone above us or under us on Carnival. Don't know if that was just good luck or if they are more soundproofed.

 

[TexasGirl]

I'll do more Sat...

 

[disdancer]

TexasGirl- Your thread is amazing! It's good for a non-DCLer to know! We've done a carnival cruise once before, had a lot of fun! I'm trying to convince DF to do a DCL cruise in the future! Do you mind me asking what type of stateroom you had when on your carnival cruise? (Inside, ocean view, ect) I believe we had an ocean view and our beds were definetely not comfortable! Just wondering, things have probably changed since my cruise, that was 6 years ago!!

 

[TexasGirl]

We were in an outside cabin on the Empress Deck. One thing I liked is that the window had a little ledge around it and the kids (and me to a lesser extent) could sit in it and see the ocean. No balcony.

We had a king sized bed and 2 seperate pull down bunks.