Just back from Carnival (yikes!!!)

[BTSEN5]

4. A huge difference in guests. I don't know how to say this without being politically incorrect, but DH and I felt really out of place. I guess the best way to say this is that I think DCL attracts more upper-middle class families while I noticed mostly lower middle class families. PM me if you want more details on this topic...

Jennifer

Wow!! I am not sure if you are aware, but being lower middle class does not make you a partier, or a less moral, civilized human being. I would love to know how you decided (noticed) lower, middle class families, because on the Disney cruise I could not tell one families class from another. Of course, I was not looking for clues in that respect. You have people from all classes that have "issues"; just look at the current events of the day.

I believe DCL attracts families...lower, middle, and upper class....some of us just have to work harder to make it happen. It does not necessarily attract upper middle class. All of us dream of a magical Disney vacation for our children. God bless all who work so hard to make it happen for them. You won't get judged by me, just admired.

 

[disneycutie84]

Wow!! I am not sure if you are aware, but being lower middle class does not make you a partier, or a less moral, civilized human being. I would love to know how you decided (noticed) lower, middle class families, because on the Disney cruise I could not tell one families class from another. Of course, I was not looking for clues in that respect. You have people from all classes that have "issues"; just look at the current events of the day.

I believe DCL attracts families...lower, middle, and upper class....some of us just have to work harder to make it happen. It does not necessarily attract upper middle class. All of us dream of a magical Disney vacation for our children. God bless all who work so hard to make it happen for them. You won't get judged by me, just admired.

I agree completely. DBf and I are a young couple & you could say our socio-economic status is "low" (because we are college students) but you could still find us on the DCL.
But I will say thanks for your (OP) observations...I had a feeling alot of other cruise lines were like that. When I decide to take my first cruise, I don't want vegasy theming or out of control guests. Good insight on that aspect of your report.

 

[rockyroad]

My family did a five day cruise on Sensation last August.

We did not experience any of the problems that the opener of this thread describes.

I saw no drunks or passengers out of control.
The food in the dining room was excellent and food was always available somewhere.
I did not eat any pizza the whole trip. The dining room lunches were excellent.
The ship was clean.
The waiters were attentive.
The room was acceptable.
The bedding was nice.
I did not see anyone who resembled the Beverly Hillbillies, the Dukes of Hazzard, or the arrestees on Cops.
The layout of the ship was not confusing to us.
All the passengers I spoke with seemed fairly well educated.
Everyone I saw eating seemed to have acceptable table manners.
I am very sensitive to smoke and had no smoke related problems; however, I did not sit in any bars and I did not do the casino. Both of which I imagine would be smokier.

The only thing our trip seemed to have had in common with hers was that, yes, the atrium of this ship has a lot of purple.
Maybe you like purple, maybe you don't.

 

[disneygatorfan]

I have cruised other lines... some of the reasons I didn't like them as much were...

did not like the dining experience as much. With other lines, you are in the same large dining room every night. I like the smaller dining rooms, and the dfferent themed rotation dining. Also, think DCL's food is better quality, then the other lines I have sailed (RCCL and Carnival)

I thought that other lines had less to offer as far as adult activites during the day time, then DCL.. only thing going on was going to the casino really.

When I sailed Carnival, the pools were salt-water... didn't like that. But that was a while ago, might have changed.

Also, prefer the Disney shows. Thought they were better productions overall, and I just love Disney.. so probably biased with the entertainment.

I like the fact that DCL isn't a MASSIVE ship.. Thought it was big enough to have that "grand" feeling, but still easy to get around.

Also, DCL's stateroooms are MUCH larger. And I really enjoy the split bath. In addition, think boardng and disembarking especially is easier with DCL.

Not to mention the full-scale movie theater, and all the first run movies.. RCCL and Carnival didn't have that..

Of course I love the characters, love the disney theming, and the overall decor. Enjoy the adult only pool and adult only areas.. and found less smoking overall in the adult areas (maybe this has just been luck)

After cruising Disney once, I never went back to other lines... only reason I might is to see different ports.. especially Hawaii and Alaska...

Disney is more, hands down.. but you are paying for the Disney brand. Just like going to WDW costs more then going to 6 flags. Everyone has a preference. But I say, if you like Disney, are new to cruising and are a family.. its a great option.

 

[BTSEN5]

I have cruised other lines... some of the reasons I didn't like them as much were...

did not like the dining experience as much. With other lines, you are in the same large dining room every night. I like the smaller dining rooms, and the dfferent themed rotation dining. Also, think DCL's food is better quality, then the other lines I have sailed (RCCL and Carnival)

I thought that other lines had less to offer as far as adult activites during the day time, then DCL.. only thing going on was going to the casino really.

When I sailed Carnival, the pools were salt-water... didn't like that. But that was a while ago, might have changed.

Also, prefer the Disney shows. Thought they were better productions overall, and I just love Disney.. so probably biased with the entertainment.

I like the fact that DCL isn't a MASSIVE ship.. Thought it was big enough to have that "grand" feeling, but still easy to get around.

Also, DCL's stateroooms are MUCH larger. And I really enjoy the split bath. In addition, think boardng and disembarking especially is easier with DCL.

Not to mention the full-scale movie theater, and all the first run movies.. RCCL and Carnival didn't have that..

Of course I love the characters, love the disney theming, and the overall decor. Enjoy the adult only pool and adult only areas.. and found less smoking overall in the adult areas (maybe this has just been luck)

After cruising Disney once, I never went back to other lines... only reason I might is to see different ports.. especially Hawaii and Alaska...

Disney is more, hands down.. but you are paying for the Disney brand. Just like going to WDW costs more then going to 6 flags. Everyone has a preference. But I say, if you like Disney, are new to cruising and are a family.. its a great option.

I agree with you about many of these points. The ship was smaller, but I do believe it is very classy and beautifully done. I love the theatres on Disney too and the movies they show. I was never bored and it was the most relaxing trip I have ever had. I do not gamble, so I never missed a casino.

I would love to sail Disney again and again, but unfortunately, the price is a big problem for me. It is more than twice as much as other lines, so with a family of 5, it is not an easy option. We are very fortunate to have done it this time.

We will do Disney again for sure, but until then, I will have to try other lines.I am sure they won't compare to the Magic, but we started with the best, so I will have to remember that.

 

[aprilgail2]

I took a 7 night Carnival cruise and it was terrible. It just reminded me of a giant frat party. People drunk all over, the servers really really pushed the alcohol on you no matter where you were. I agree with the difference in the people though-not sure its a middle or lower class thing, I just think its a different group that go on carnival, they could be rich or poor but they were just more trashy acting on there. The smell of smoke was terrible, everywhere you went they were smoking. The dining situation wasn't much better, they sat us at a big table where no one spoke English except us, it was every uncomfortable.
Last Disney cruise when we were in Cancun there was a group of us up on deck watching the people reboard on the Carnival shipped docked next to us. Some of them were literally dragged back to the ship by other people, so drunk they couldn't make it on their own. One stopped before boarding to vomit all over. What a show it was!

 

[Amlee]

I say it does have to do with the different ships that you sail on. The older the ship the worse you will find. Also the shorter the trip. We did a 5 day on the Fantasy and I was really shocked at the type of things that went on. AND it wasn't just the younger crowed either. Let's just say the topless deck isn't for the 80 year olds. YIKES!!!

I think the worst was while we were leaving the ship. A 50ish year old man from New York (reason this is known because he kept screaming if this was New York, he would really take care of things!) But everyone knows that you can't be on the deck that you exit out of before time. They told us where to wait. This guy thought he had the right over everyone and should be the first one off. The young carnival employee asked him nicely to return to the area. We were standing to be the first ones off in the right area. You could hear this guy go off on her. I mean he was in her face screaming at her. To the point he had already balled his fist up. She kept trying to explain to him that he couldn't be there. By this time he had this poor girl crying. I had enough of it. So I made to step up to tell the girl to walk away. I got to her about the time the cruise director got to her. When the guys wife saw the two of us, she jumped in with her opinions. I took the girl who was now so upset she was sobbing over to get her to calm down. Security came and got the guy and his wife. You could hear him screaming threats to the poor girl as they took him down the ramp. LOL but the best was him ranting he was never going on a Carnival cruise again. I thought nope I bet you don't. Someone came and got the girl and we got off the ship. Got down to luggage claim and the guy was still screaming.

 

[pounder207]

Although new to DIS and yet to take our first DCL cruise this coming January, I feel constrained to comment on the blanket condemnation of CCL. The crowd on ships varies with the length of the cruise and the time of the year. Cruises to nowhere, the overnight drinking/gambling junkets, are notorious for the type of behavior noted by the OP and others. Shorter cruises, generally younger crowds with more partying. Older crowds on longer cruises.

My wife and I have sailed on Carnival several times, always on the Legend out of NYC. The crowd is a NYC metropolitan mix and there's a lot of gambling. But while the activity level may not be designed especially for children, there are a number of them on board on cruises when school is out and I have not witnessed any grossly improper behavior that would shock a child. And the food on the Legend is very good to excellent, as is the level of service. The theatre entertainment is the best I've seen at sea. We've already booked our Legend cruise for next year.

That being said, the big question will be if we like DCL enough to do Europe with them in 2008 rather than with CCL.

 

[misseulalie]

I apologize if I offended anyone by my statement. It was not meant to be generalized. But when you are surrounded by parents swearing in front of their kids, carrying around "buckets" of beer, and having dad participate in the hariy chest contest where strangers ran their fingers over dad's chest.
This is just a completely different level of backgrounds.

Even if it is a short cruise, Disney, Celebrity and other cruiselines offer 3/4 day cruises and this behaivor/ type of environment is not found. It seems to be "you get what you pay for"

A perfect example that sums up a lot of the people sailing;

A family was standing at the elevator waiting for the elevator. Mom's hands were filled with a drink and shopping bags, and dad's hands were holding the bucket of beer. By the end of the cruise it was obvious that the elevators opened and closed very fast so you only had a few seconds to run in. Well, they didn't make it and the elevator doors were starting to close. Mom starting yelling at her daughter(around age 8) to stick her hand in the door to stop it from closing. Daughter starting screaming "I don't want my hand cut off!" and mom starting yelling "Stick you D*** hand in the door!" The daughter didn't and mom went off on the daughter, "See you made us miss the F***** elevator, now we have to wait another G**D**** 10 minutes, and this whole time the daughter is crying and screaming "I didn't want to get my hand cut off!"

We are standing there looking at these people and couldn't beleive how the parents would speak to their kids this way.
By the way, these elevators don't just re-open when you stick a hand or leg in the way, they kept closing. DH almost lost a finger trying to re-open it.

Could you imagine if the daughter got hurt? The family would have sued Carnival for faulty elevators!

So again, I apologize if I offended anyone by mentioning different class levels, but again this is why even in college I never went to parties or joined a Sorority. I was too busy being a member of the Young Republicans and getting people to vote.

 

[Amlee]

I also have to point out that on our Disney Cruise, my parents and I were taking the elevater up to the top deck to get a spot for the sail away party. As we went to get off the elevater a man in his 60s or 70s was slobbering drunk. He was leaning up againts the wall, talking to himself, with a drink in his hands and He wasn't making any sense at all. He said something to us as we walked by, but we couldn't make it out. This was even before we had left port.

I've ran into rude people on ALL of the cruise lines I have been on. Another was while we were waiting in line for the Golden Mickeys. This bulldog of a guy came pushing through the line. He shoved my 5 year old nephew and my 10 year old niece out of the way. He then pushed past me stepping on my toe with not so much of a excuse me. He was trying to get outside, but he went about it in the wrong way.

You find all kinds on all cruises.

 

[NeedingVacation]

3 years ago, my DH, DD (10 mos old at the time) and I took a last minute Carnival Victory cruise sailing out of NYC to Canada. I have to admit the price was super cheap which is what attracted us to book this spontaneous cruise in the first place.

The best thing about the cruise was our verandah stateroom, we were aft on a corner and had a large triangle shaped room and private wrap-around balcony. This would have been fabulous for a Carribean cruise, but then again, it was Fall in Canada.

My biggest complaint was the food. The dinners in the dining room were OK, but the buffets were simply awful.

I guess you get what you pay for. When I was on a tighter budget, fresh out of University I was less particular. Now, I am in the midst of a busy career and work extremely hard 49 weeks out of the year. I am willing to pay more for a greater class of service so that I can relax during those 3 well deserved weeks off.

We are leaving for our first DCL trip in a few weeks. My expectations are pretty high based on all that I've heard and read. I hope I won't be disappointed.